Smoke and Flames Doctors

Did you take the recycling out?

-No.

-If you don't do it, it'll be two weeks before they're back.

-I'll do it.

-You said that two weeks ago.

Sorry, I will.

-You won't. I'll do it.

-Carrie...

Just do something instead of watching the TV all day!

-I'm sorry.

-Oh, stop saying you're sorry!

-I want you to come to the doctor's with me.

-But I've seen him already.

You know what I'm asking you. We can't go on like this, Nick.

Hello, Gladys.

-Hey, nice bath?

-Er...yeah, fine.

Have you packed my trousers?

-I've packed three pairs, and your jeans.

-No, the slate-grey ones, the ones with the pleats.

-Oh, I took them to the dry cleaner's.

-What are they doing there?

I thought you might wear them at the weekend, so I got them cleaned.

I was going to wear them today. They're my Friday trousers.

-I was supposed to pick them up yesterday.

-You don't understand.

-I do understand.

OK.

Oh! Gladys, back so soon.

Swifty Cabs?

Yes, I would like to request one of your taxis, please.

As soon as possible.

The address?

Brunswick Street.

51.

Oh, my name? Gladys.

Mrs Gladys Smith. Thank you.

That's the guy out the paper. Hey, you're that Nick Chalmers, aren't you?

Sorry.

Don't worry, love...

In you get.

ENGINE STARTS

Ah!

-PHONE RINGS

-Hello?

-How's Immie?

-Er, yeah, she's fine. I haven't seen her.

-What kind of duvet has she got?

She can't have feather, she's got to have hypoallergenic, you know, a synthetic one.

-Right, OK.

-'And those curtains, they're like paper.

-'You could read a magazine through them. She's got a blind at home.'

-Fine, I'll...

Immie really needs to get a rest, you know, these exams are very important.

-Karen, I'll get double lining on the curtains.

-'Yeah, but...'

And I'll get a hypoallergenic duvet.

-Really?

-'Yes. We needed a new one, anyway.'

Um...

Erm...

This is a bit personal...

In the period leading up to Immie's exams,

-'if you and Jimmi could only...'

-Could only what?

Well, you know, tone down the nocturnal gymnastics.

-Karen!

-See, I've seen you two coming into work

-bleary-eyed, and those partition walls may as well not be there.

-'Karen!'

Imogen will be fine.

-'Really?'

-Really! Goodbye.

-Please tell me that wasn't my mum?

-Who else?

I can't believe she's checking up on me!

-She's just trying...

-Trying to wind me up, like everybody else!

Why can't people just stop interfering?

Mrs Smith, your chariot awaits.

Goodbye, Gladys.

I've got an appointment with Dr Granger, it's Carrie Chalmers.

One of our trainee general practitioners, Dr Tyler,

-will be also be in attendance. Is that acceptable to you?

-Fine.

Can I also have an appointment for my husband, Nick Chalmers?

You are in luck. There is an appointment at 12 midday with the same doctor.

Thank you.

-You OK if I go for a walk?

-Nick...

-I can't stay here all that time.

-All right.

Just make sure you come back.

I will.

Promise.

See you at home.

Earl Grey?

Oh, thank you very much, Dr Carter.

Er...Kenyan.

Ah, solidarity between continental near-neighbours.

That is stretching the geographical definition of neighbours.

Talking of which, your next-door lady, Mrs Smith, how's she faring?

I would say she is doing very well.

Living on her own?

Her garden is always well-kept.

I had a report from the Social Services and they think she's getting some help.

No doubt from some well-meaning individual,

acting more out of perhaps compassion than judgment.

Have you spotted anything, Mrs Tembe?

No.

It's just this morning I noticed you were quite...

Excuse me, Dr Carter, I think I can hear the phone.

ECHOING CRIES OF A BABY

'Your scan is fine.'

I know that with your history you've been concerned,

-but it looks as if your baby's developing perfectly normally.

-Good.

Great news to pass on to your husband.

-He doesn't know.

-About the scan?

-The pregnancy.

I haven't told him.

Well, you're 14 weeks. If you're waiting for the right moment...

I'm not sure there is a right moment.

We're barely talking and...

he sits in front of the TV all day, not even watching it.

Do you think he needs stronger anti-depressants?

-Well, we could...

-While we can't discuss his treatment directly,

we'd be more than happy to see him.

He's got an appointment later.

He won't tell you anything, though.

He won't tell you that he doesn't sleep,

he won't tell you that he goes off driving alone at night.

He won't tell you he can hardly function.

-Dr Tyler and I will make sure that...

-Ask him about the fire.

That's when our life stopped, when he went into that house.

DOOR SHUTS

Dr Wilson, how can you tell when an elderly patient

is finding independent living a struggle?

Am I being mentored during lunch now?

Well, there's nothing in Hippocrates about lunch or tea breaks.

-So come on, what are the indicators?

-OK.

Evidence of growing incapacity, physical signs,

perhaps bruising or injuries as a result of falls or accidents.

Excellent. Go to the head of the class.

-Kevin will get jealous.

-So he should be after your excellent summation.

Now, take a patient I had this morning, 83 years old,

seems sprightly, her house, especially her garden, in excellent condition.

But it seems she is being assisted in this by a well-meaning but ill-advised...

Oh, I confess.

Sorry?

I confess.

I have been helping Gladys.

-Good on you.

-Dr Wilson!

No, surely if she's helping, that reduces the amount of hazards?

-Exactly.

-Freya!

-And that can only be a good thing.

No, it is not a good thing.

And I am going to explain why it is not a good thing.

-We will elucidate this as one of our case studies.

-Oh, um...

-is that the time?

-Do you have a pressing engagement?

Yes. I forgot that I have to go to...a lunchtime concert.

Who is the featured composer?

Schubert. His...mature period.

He died at 31.

But his Wanderer Fantasy is a wonderful piece.

It's my favourite.

When I say I confess to helping Gladys,

I do not mean it as an act of contrition.

I believe she has a right to independent living for as long as she should choose.

-And if in order for her to do that...

-Mrs Tembe,

when I examined Gladys this morning, she had a severe scald mark on her arm.

Mr Chalmers suffered partial thickness burns to his back

after not applying his flash hood properly.

Seems to be healing well.

-Your wife said that...

-What did she say?

-She's just concerned.

-About what?

That you're not recovering as well mentally as physically.

-So you think I'm nuts?

-No, I didn't say that.

What Dr Tyler means is that you may have PTSD,

-which is post-traumatic stress...

-I know what it is.

-I believe the Fire Service offer counselling.

-Or if you'd prefer...

-I'd prefer to be left alone.

-We can help.

-No, you can't.

Yes, we can. It's not just medication or counselling, it's a combination.

The only way you can help is by changing what happened. And nobody can do that.

Nobody.

Well, well, well. Need I tell you that that could have gone better?

Oh, come on, that's classic PTSD - the fire being the trigger event.

I've read a case study on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy...

What does "diagnosis" mean?

It's the relation of cause and effect in...

In Greek, it means to discern or distinguish.

Which, to me, means using skill, experience...

and caution.

She thinks the accident occurred when she was boiling an egg.

She reached out to turn down the gas, and scalded her arm on the steam.

-I know I should...

-What if she had used a tea towel to grab the pan?

What if the tea towel had caught fire?

What if she hadn't turned off the gas?

Please, I understand.

I don't enjoy reproving you.

But you are. And quite rightly.

"Rightly" implies an absolute, and you were acting with the best intentions.

We all need help at some stage.

But it has to be the right kind of help.

ECHOING CRIES OF A BABY

Mr Chalmers?

Hello?

Cherry?

Yeah, get real, she'll be listening to The Saturdays.

Hiya, love.

Hiya.

What are you doing? A car boot sale?

Oh, worse, town on a Friday. You on lunch?

No, right now, I am attending a Schubert recital.

Actually, I'm seeking refuge from Heston.

He was using me as a stick to prod Mrs Tembe.

Oh, that sounds painful.

Yeah, Heston's pinged her for being over-eager in the welfare department.

-She means well.

-That's the problem.

-Let me give you a hand.

-Thank you.

-New frock for the weekend?

-No.

-Jimmi's trousers.

-You're picking up his dry-cleaning now?

-I was supposed to pick them up yesterday.

They're his Friday Trousers.

It had been a quiet night.

Always seems to happen that way,

just when you think the shift is going to pass without a shout and then...

..it was one of the worst fires my watch had ever been called to...

-You saved the baby, though, eh?

-No.

No, I didn't.

Petrol. It had been poured through the letterbox as an accelerant.

The whole place had gone up like a candle.

Cheap furniture, curtains...

The smoke was...

I thought,

"No-one's alive in this."

Then I heard the baby.

It was coming from a room up ahead.

Crying.

And crying.

ECHOING CRIES OF A BABY

Don't see anything wrong with doing stuff for him.

It's not a fear of flying, it's a fear of creases!

Jimmi's just very particular.

So should you be...

particular that you're a woman with skills and a brain.

-Thank you.

-Cherry, I mean it!

This isn't the 19th century, you're not some skivvy in Lark Rise To Cranford.

Candleford.

Whatever, it's suppression by bonnets!

You should learn to stand up for yourself.

What, like you did with Heston, saying you were going to a concert by Chopin?

Schubert. And that was different. He was being pompous.

Yeah, well, that's just Heston.

It's not the same as being a slave to his ticks, quirks and bugaboos.

I'm not a slave. He was at work and I had the day off.

He'd do the same for me.

OK, but just say, instead of doing his laundry and the washing

and all the general wifey duties on your day off,

you do some things for yourself, something fulfilling and thrilling, like...

A Schubert concert?

Any kind of concert!

Going to a gallery, the cinema, meeting up with mates, going shopping, doing something exciting!

Jimmi likes shopping.

I meant something for you.

I like helping.

What's the point of helping somebody if they don't notice?

-He does notice.

-Yeah, when you don't do something.

If it was me, I would just be looking for more of a balance in things.

Gary was my best mate.

Joined the service with me.

We trained together, crewed the appliance together.

He always requested to be on my watch.

When I was made Commander of Red Watch, he kicked up a fuss until he was transferred as well.

We had some big shouts.

The Brelsford Flats. Brewer's Department Store.

He dragged me out of that one, when I was hit by a beam.

That night it was my turn. ECHOING CRIES OF A BABY

I could hear the baby.

I knew it was in there, but...

I couldn't move.

Don't know why. I just...

..couldn't move.

Then Gary came in.

He went forward, looking for the baby.

I wanted to go with him, but...

I took the baby from him.

I thought Gary would be right behind me,

that he would be on my shoulder as always,

so I just kept going.

It was in all the papers the next day, the photos of me with the baby in my arms...

the hero...

there was one line about him:

"Officer Gareth White lost his life in the blaze."

-But you brought the baby out...

-I should have gone back for Gary.

The upper floor collapsed. They said he didn't stand a...

He would have come back in for me.

I see him every night, in the shop fire,

dragging that beam off me, pulling me out. I owed him the same.

You were ordered not to go back in.

Even then they had to hold you back.

Terry Mills held me back.

Because he was the senior officer.

I'm glad he did.

Do you think Georgia is?

Georgia?

It's Gary's widow.

I've always wanted to say sorry, sorry that I wasn't able to save him,

but I don't even have enough nerve to pick up the phone.

-Why don't you go and see her?

-I don't think that's...

There's this thing called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, for PTSD.

It's a way of reconciling your thoughts of the event

with the reality...

But I remember it. Every detail...

What if Georgia sees it in a whole different way?

But what if she does blame me?

You said you tried to go back in.

What if she doesn't know that?

Being clear about that might be good for both of you.

-Would you come with me?

-Nick...

I've got afternoon surgery.

I can't do it on my own. You're a doctor, you can explain what's been happening to me.

Yeah. OK.

KNOCK ON DOOR

-Hi. Can I come in?

-Yeah.

-Who was...?

-It was Freya.

She was avoiding Heston by pretending to be at a Schubert concert.

Or did she say Sherbert? I don't know.

Is the revision not going very well?

It's not going at all.

Maybe I can help?

DOORBELL RINGS

-Nick...

-Georgia.

OK, so, Cherry's Rule No.1 is don't get flustered.

Cherry's rule No.2 is don't get flustered.

That's all right for you, you've got a photographic memory.

Yeah, that's by association.

-Association?

-Words, pictures, or sometimes I use songs,

like last week it was a combination of "kama" and "issues"

which reminded me of the faults in the dressings I had to sent back to Sutra Mediware.

Kama...Sutra...Issues.

And did it have to be songs by The Saturdays?

Maybe that's just me.

Listen, I'm good, visually.

So maybe picture association.

OK, what are you revising for at the moment?

I'm looking at issues of guilt.

Subject close to my heart.

What extracts are you using?

Hamlet's second soliloquy: "Oh, what a rogue and peasant slave am I..."

Slave, there's an image to remember...

Yeah, but there's loads of stuff to analyse, all about Hamlet's indecision

and his guilt about not acting on his instincts...

-Why don't I work on it with you?

-You're going away with Jimmi.

Let's see how far we get.

-Look, there's no need to for you to come...

-I was Group Commander.

-I should have made sure that Gary got out of that house...

-He tried to go back in,

-but the senior officer stopped him.

-Nick, let's...

Gary was everything to me...

..the closest friend I ever had.

That's nothing compared to...

This is Terry's jacket.

-He, er, stays here sometimes.

-You're sleeping with Terry Mills?

-We've...

Gary's been dead four months and you're already sleeping with his boss?

-We've been sleeping together for some time.

-What, before Gary died?

About a year. But you don't understand...

Terry stopped me from going back in.

-He wanted Gary out of the way. He wanted Gary out of the way so that...

-Gary knew.

-About Terry and Georgia.

-He was moving out.

-We were splitting up.

-He told you?

He told me the morning of the fire.

He was going to tell you that night.

Then you got called to the house, so...

I don't understand.

Why would Garry carry on working under Terry if...

He didn't want to leave my watch.

Nick, you mustn't...

He died because he wanted to stay on my watch.

Nick!

Looking forward to your weekend away?

Yeah. Showing Cherry the Gower.

-Bracing walks in the ozone?

-Something like that. Yeah, what about you?

Going to dig out my Schubert.

Freya went to a recital, I want to reconsider his oeuvre.

-Freya went to a Schubert recital?

-Amazing what you learn about people.

-Yeah, amazing.

Enjoy the music. Throw some shapes for me.

-I hope I haven't put you off doing good works?

-Oh, no.

-It's just reminds me that good deeds are not meant to benefit oneself.

-Have a nice weekend.

I'm sorry.

I should have told you.

-I thought...

-He could have made it out.

He was right behind me.

I don't think he wanted to make it.

-I think he...

-Nothing you think is going to change what happened.

It's not your fault.

Gary died that night, because of an accident.

It was his decision to be in there...

..not yours, Nick.

Psychologically, we like to square things up, you know, create an ending.

But events don't always let us do that.

Acceptance will help you move on, clear the way for the future.

And what a great future, especially with the baby coming...

Baby?

Yeah, there's a baby.

MOBILE PHONE RINGS

Daniel, yeah. Look, yes...

I know I should be at...

I'll explain when I get there.

Here we go. It's not far.

# This is my decision Do0 I need permission? #

-Hey...

-Oh, Jimmi, listen...

-Before you say anything, I just want to say I'm sorry for this morning,

-I was bang out of order.

-Jimmi, there's something that I...

Really, OK?

But I'm going to make sure this is the best weekend, OK?

We can't go away this weekend.

-Why not?

-Because I'm helping Imogen revise for her exams next week.

-Since when have Imogen's A levels been our problem?

-She's a friend.

-And she needs my help.

-But...

-I'll make it up to you.

How? We've had this planned for ages.

-It's important.

-More important than going away with me?

Yes. Sorry.

I will tell him, but not just right now, if you don't mind.

-I don't want him to know.

-Don't want him to know what?

-I can get you Viagra if you need it.

-Speaking from experience, are we?

When we lost our son, we made a vow...

that life wasn't worth living without the other.

Lillian, I'm a doctor.

We just have to wait, OK?

So you're going to have to lump it like the rest of us!

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