“Hello, hello, I want speak to the Dr, its urgent. Are you the Dr?”
“I’m Dr McKendrick’s receptionist. The Dr is busy at present, can I take a message?”
“It won’t wait, I’ve done something awful and it’s going to get worse if I can’t speak to him.”
“Has Dr McKendrick seen you before?”
“Yes of course he has; hurry, please hurry, it’s getting worse all the time.”
“What name is it?”
“It doesn’t matter about my name; just tell him it’s worse than before. He’ll remember about the Garden Party and the… the raffle and what happened…”
“I really will have to give him a name.”
“It’s Alex. Plee..ese let me speak to him.”
The William Tell overture comes on the line, its tinny cheerfulness contrasting with the mood of those in need of psychotherapy. The music stops suddenly.
“Hello, Alex, Dr McKendrick speaking. I understand you’re in a bit of trouble?”
“Please help me Dr, I can’t cope.”
“Would you like to tell me what it’s about?”
“It was in the newsagents and…”
“Had you gone there for anything in particular?”
“It was my magazine, I go there every week for it.”
“And this time?”
“It’s a very busy shop. Usually I have to push between people to get to the rack and then wait in the queue to pay and… it’s a relief to get out. It was different this week; the place was empty. I hadn’t really seen the sign before, but there it was, all blue and white with its little desk and a pen just waiting for me to pick it up and…”
“And what?”
“I couldn’t stop myself. I knew it wasn’t right at the time, but nobody could see me so I paused on the way to the counter with my magazine, and… and just did it.”
“You went to pay?”
“Yes, of course I did, I’m not a shoplifter.”
“And then?”
“I gave it to the woman with the magazine and it didn’t cost much more than usual so I didn’t feel so bad about it; almost as if I hadn’t done anything after all.”
“Did you go anywhere else?”
“I was on my way home. I always look forward to my weekly read: by the time I’d made a cup of tea and sat down I’d almost forgotten all about what I’d done.”
“So you weren’t troubled any more.”
“I was alright during the next day but then it was all over BBC 1 in the evening.”
“What was?”
“The coloured lights, and a man shouting, and all those balls rushing round and round and then they started popping out, one at a time. I had to go and find it.”
“Did you know where to look?”
“In the tea caddy, silly. That’s where I kept the raffle ticket.”
“So you hadn’t really forgotten about what you’d done.
“Umm, no; I suppose not.”
“Was the telly still on?”
“Of course, I couldn’t stop by then. I looked at it in my hand and then at the telly, and each time my head spun more, and then it was all over.”
“I see, and afterwards?”
“I couldn’t sleep. I’ve heard about what it does to people who’ve had this happen to them.”
“Really?”
“They lose all their friends, and their family won’t speak to them, and neighbours patronise them when they buy a house and…”
“That sounds worrying.”
“Some of them take to drink, and worse, and the there’s the fast cars, speeding and being over the limit, and I can’t even drive.”
“That might help of course.”
“And there’s the holidays abroad. I can’t speak foreign, and I’m frightened of foreigners and I’ve never been on an aeroplane and…”
“Have you told anyone else?”
“No, but everyone was looking at me when I went out on Sunday, they must have known.”
“Are you sure they weren’t looking at your piercings and the long black coat and boots and the tattoos and…”
“No of course not, they’d realised what I’d done.”
“You do sound very distressed Alex, I’m sure I can help you like last time. I made it alright for you then didn’t I?”
“Umm, I suppose so.”
“Come and see me right away. Just bring it with you and I’ll take care of it. Just as a matter of interest, how much is the winning ticket worth? There was a roll over this week wasn’t there?”
“A million pounds.”
Click.