To Walk in Her Shoes Doctors

UPBEAT MUSIC

If you keep skipping lectures, they're bound to ask questions.

But I don't even know what they're going on about!

Oh, for goodness' sake, it's history! It can't be that difficult.

Hello?

Hi, love. How was your shift?

Oh, all right, but my body clock's all over the shop.

I'll just have a decaf and get my head down.

What are you two talking about?

Oh, nothing important.

You had some breakfast, Donna?

-Oh, here we go.

-Has she?

For goodness' sake, Annie, will you just leave it alone?!

-Hey!

-I would, if you could be responsible for your own...

Are you OK?

Yeah, I just... I just...

Not again!

-Did she have breakfast?!

-Well, she said she did.

Did you check? James!

And...this bit can be screened off, especially in the off-season.

Well, it could be used for private functions.

Yeah, good idea. What do you think of the colours?

It is a bit hot for the climate.

Perhaps something a little cooler.

Yeah, Botswana blue?

-Now you are making fun of me.

-Not at all!

I need your artistic eye on this.

We need to think about menus, as well.

Well, it is important to look what is available locally,

-but we have plenty of time for that.

-What do you mean?

Well, I will have to have to give a decent amount of notice to the Mill.

-At least three months.

-Three months?

Well, yes!

Look, if I am to up sticks and move to another country,

there needs to be a smooth transition.

The upheaval will not be fair on the practice

and we are still recovering from the mess caused by Mr Harker.

It's just a job, Winifred.

You know it is more than just a job!

The Mill is very important to me. I cannot leave them in the lurch!

No. No, everything will need to be planned carefully.

We can't wait three months. Trevor needs someone ASAP.

Well, that is impossible.

Look, I know it's hard to believe,

but I'm sure they'll find someone to replace you.

Come on, Winifred, this is a chance for us to build something!

Our own venture, our own business in the sunshine.

You're always going on about how much you miss the sun.

I'm going to be late for work.

Will you at least think about it?

I'm serious, Pitman, send something interesting my way,

or I'm going to go on strike and it will be all your fault.

You are so funny.

Oh, hi, Annie!

Hi, Karen. I rang earlier about the drop-in clinic? Donna Chappell.

Oh. Actually, it was me you spoke to.

Dr Haskey is ready and waiting.

I was, um...I was so sorry to hear about Samantha.

Thanks.

Righty ho, let's see what the problem is. This way.

Okey-dokey. Mum and Dad, if you, er...take a seat on the couch.

Stepmum.

Stepmum, right.

OK. So, Donna?

Donna? How can I...how can I help?

She's been passing out and confused when she's awake.

-Is that right?

-I guess, yeah.

OK. So, Donna Chappell.

Type 2 diabetes. Have you been eating properly?

-Yeah.

-No.

OK. Well, let's check your glucose.

Is that absolutely necessary?

I'm sure it's just a precaution, love.

Ooh! That's nasty. How'd that happen?

This? Er...it's a flu jab.

Summer bugs going around.

Right. Well, I'm sure you know the procedure by now.

It'll be just like the one you do at home.

Well, I can't do them! I've got to do the flipping VPAS forms today!

Well, get Mrs Tembe to do them.

I can't do that - it's not her job any more!

And anyway, she can be a bit funny about that.

I'm sure she won't mind just this once.

She's not in there, is she?

No, she's boring Ruhma to death

about regional protocols or something.

The intake forms have been filled in wrongly again,

so, can you tell her about that as well, please?

-Can't you do that?!

-No! I'm far too busy!

Oh, thanks a bunch!

Mm-hm!

-Did you hear that?

-I did.

I'm very sorry.

Just close the door, please.

Right, so you're hypoglycaemic,

which would partially explain the symptoms.

But with Type 2, it's usually

because you're taking too much medication, right?

-Well...

-She can't have done that.

I've been giving her them recently.

-Standing over me like a hawk.

-Why's that?

I just... I keep forgetting.

Forgetting?

You've been diagnosed for three years now,

and now's the time you forget to medicate?

It's been very stressful. We've had a family bereavement.

Yeah, my sister.

Oh. I'm...I'm really sorry.

Yep, Metformin, that's correct.

Correct dosage. But something is not right.

Maybe we should, um...send you for some tests.

Are you sure that's necessary?

I mean, you mentioned her diet earlier.

Yeah. I'll eat better, I promise.

And if I still have problems, then I can come back.

It's up to you, but I would recommend you go.

He's right. You really should take the tests, Donna.

I will, I will. Just when term ends, yeah?

Sorry for wasting your time, Dr Haskey.

I'll keep an eye on her.

It's her choice.

MOBILE PHONE RINGS

TV BLARES

Hello?

Yes, we did.

No, no, it's not a bad time at all.

Who gets a flu jab in May?

-Is this a joke?

-No, I'm serious. Who gets a flu jab in May?

Dr Haskey, there you are.

I'm just getting a coffee, Mrs Tembe. I'm allowed to do that.

I have just had your favourite patient on the phone.

Oh. Not Dicky Drayton, by any chance?

Correct. He has received your letter of apology in the post.

-Well, you're welcome.

-And it is completely illegible.

Really? I don't know what to say.

Seems today that if something's not in double-spaced Times New Roman,

then folks get flummoxed.

Well, perhaps you can unflummox Mr Drayton.

-That's not a word.

-Well, it is now!

I want you to rewrite the letter,

double-spaced Times New Roman, if you please!

What about Bookman Old Style?

-I want it on my desk by the end of the day.

-Or Courier New?

All right, fine. You know what, my heart bleeds

for the death of a hand-written epistle!

By the end of the day!

-DOOR SLAMS SHUT

-Having a good day?

Don't.

That man is...

Have those repeat prescriptions not been done yet?

I'll get Sid to do them at lunchtime.

All right, well, see that you do.

That was Jeff Harlow.

He is stuck trying to get out of Stoke,

so he won't be able to make your 12:30, unfortunately.

Ah, right. He's stuck in Stoke(!)

This day just gets better and better(!)

Ooh. She's in a bit of a mood.

I think that might be my fault.

Or Zara's. Actually, more Zara's than mine.

-MOBILE PHONE RINGS

-Oh, sorry. I'll tell you later.

-Hiya!

-Hi, love. Just had a call from Jane.

They've got an emergency placement.

Oh, OK. What sort of placement?

I don't think they know too much about it at the moment,

but they want us to go into St Phil's for a meeting later.

OK. Well, it can't hurt to talk, can it?

No, that's what I thought. So, er...see you there at 6:00.

You've already made an arrangement? What...what if...?

Hello? Honestly!

Karen? Um...your mate Annie...

She's more Ruhma's mate than mine. She's a nurse at St Phil's.

OK. Well, you said something about Samantha.

Oh, it was so sad!

She'd just got back from travelling. She was in a car with Donna.

They got hit by a truck on the dual carriageway.

She was killed instantly.

Donna walked away without a mark on her.

Oh. Thanks.

HE SIGHS

HE SIGHS

MOBILE PHONE RINGS

-Hello?

-Hi. Is that Annie?

It's Dr Haskey from the Mill Health Centre here.

Oh. Hello, Doctor.

-Is everything OK?

-Yep, fine.

Just, um...Donna left her bag in my room.

Oh, right. Um...I'll tell her.

One quick question, how long has she needed glasses?

-She doesn't.

-Well, she carries a pair in her bag.

What?

It was Sam who wore glasses.

Sam went travelling, didn't she?

Where exactly did she go?

Um...Malawi, Tanzania, all over.

Sorry, my, er...my next patient's here.

Um...I will...I will be in touch. OK, bye.

SHE SIGHS

The letter to Mr Drayton is on your desk.

-Typed?

-Spellchecked, too.

I do not enjoy getting on at you, Dr Haskey.

Well, you're very good at it, Mrs Tembe.

I feel like this is the point in the proceedings

when I have to remind you what an asset I am to the surgery.

You know, I'm a diagnostic genius, I'm an innovator.

I, er...I always buy really nice biscuits when I'm on the tea rota.

-You are also a fool.

-Yeah, but a useful one.

So, what brings you out here?

I find myself facing a fork in the road.

And you don't know which one to take?

Indeed.

You can't take both at the same time?

Well, there is only one of me, so...

Yeah, there is only one of you.

There's only one of you!

Oh, sugar my cornflakes! But that...

..that would be bananas!

Mrs Tembe, you're...you're a...you're a genius!

-What do you think you're doing?!

-I've got to get out of here!

-Ssh!

-I'm sick and I'm scared, Dad!

-Quiet! Annie is up!

-I can't do this any more!

-James?

I'm just popping out for something.

OK, love.

-Hiya, Rob.

-Hiya.

-What are you doing here?

I've got a fostering meeting.

-Here?

-Yeah, apparently.

I don't know much about it, only that it's an emergency.

Rob, the meeting's with me.

I don't know if you know, it's a baby?

I thought Karen said that you were just taking teenagers?

Yeah, usually. Er...Jane said it was only short-term.

Right. Yeah.

Is, er...Karen not with you?

No, not yet. She's on her way. I'm a bit early.

Well, I'm going to just do a bit of catch-up and I'll give you a shout.

-OK. Thank you.

-OK.

Er...I need to talk to you.

I think I need to talk to you, too.

OK. Come on through.

So, why would Donna have Samantha's glasses?

I don't know. A memento, maybe. Why's this important?

How's she been since the accident?

Have you noticed a change of personality?

Er...she's been a bit all over the place, to be honest,

but that's because of all the stress.

Ah. Stress of losing a twin.

Of course.

I...I don't understand what you're...

She didn't have a flu jab.

I checked our records and there's no sign of one.

-OK.

-She could've got one elsewhere, but I'm not buying that.

And her dad acting all shifty.

Why was that? Why was he so shifty?

I don't know about shifty, but I know that he feels guilty.

Guilty? He wasn't involved in the car accident at all, was he?

No, I mean, when something terrible happens,

but you get something good out of it.

I don't understand what you mean.

James was having money problems. His business was going under.

-And?

-Sam had taken out life insurance before she went to Africa.

So Samantha dies,

he gets all the insurance money and pays off his debts?

Most of it.

-Why?

-The thing about twins...

..you see them side by side and you can spot the difference, but...

when there's just the one of them...

Well, even someone who'd lived with them...

Dr Haskey, what are you saying?

Samantha, Donna, what's the difference?

You think...?!

No!

-But that's...!

-It's bananas, that's what it is,

but, you know what? It is starting to make

the most peculiar, weird kind of sense.

No.

Well, I have had a very strange day,

-but it has given me time to think.

-I booked a ticket.

-I beg your pardon?

-For the ferry, on Tuesday.

What?! W-Why?!

Well, you were dragging your heels and I thought I'd force the issue.

Well, congratulations, you have succeeded(!)

Did you not listen to me this morning?

I did, but, Winifred, you're just going to talk yourself out of this.

You'll probably end up talking me out of it, too, given enough time.

And...I don't want to let this go!

So, what did you think would happen? Huh?

That you would leave on Tuesday and I would follow in a couple of weeks,

despite my commitments here?!

You're just scared of change, and I get that.

You said we were partners!

You said that we would make this decision together, and here we are!

I can't wait months for you to get everything perfect.

Look, if we don't take this on now,

Trevor will just give it to someone else and the moment's gone.

I was being spontaneous! You said you liked that.

To...to buy a holiday, or...or a guitar,

not to uproot my entire life!

I'm sorry, OK?

You see, if you are going to do this kind of thing, how can I trust you?

What's that supposed to mean?

You are supposed to be starting a business.

How do I know that you are not going to get bored

and sail off into the sunset on a whim?!

-I wouldn't do that.

-Really?

Look, I've gone overboard, I know, but like I said,

they'll find someone else to do your job. You can sell the house.

You see, this is what worries me the most.

Your total lack of respect for my life and what is important to me.

-A house? A job?

-A life!

One that I have spent a lot of time building.

Do you know how long it has taken me to buy this house,

to...to get my promotion?

I...I have friends, I have a...a community, my church...

So, what are you saying?

-I do not want to say.

-No!

Come on, Winifred, what do want?

Why do I have to choose?

Why can I not have this and you?

This is a great opportunity for us!

We shouldn't let it go!

We have something very special here.

We should not let this go.

Stay.

TV BLARES

Is everything all right?

You need to be quiet.

OK, we don't have time for denials and excuses, so...

-Annie?

-I can't. You do it.

AL SIGHS Fine.

What does that headline say?

-What?

-Go on.

Er...it says, um... Par... Par...

No, no. Try again.

I mean, um...para, er...

You can't do it, can you?

You need your glasses.

You need Samantha's glasses.

Honestly! A twin swap?

Hours after the death of your daughter, the death of your sister?

-Dad?

-Yeah, come on, Dad, what were you thinking?

Is all of this so you could save your company!

-No, it just...

-Doctor?

Yeah. An ambulance is on its way for you, Samantha.

-We're going to get you some help, OK?

-What? Why?

Why do you think?!

I've been making her take medicine she doesn't need for weeks!

And the doctor thinks she's got African sleeping sickness.

Yeah. The lymph nodes are definitely swollen, which is another symptom.

Why didn't the hospital pick this up?

Why would they check for a tropical disease

for someone who had apparently never left the country?!

Oh, God!

OK, Samantha, you need to stay calm, OK?

Look, it's not how it looks.

How about you two go and discuss this in private, hm?

Let's get your feet up, eh?

There you go.

How could you do this?

I didn't know what I was doing.

I'd just lost Donna.

Garbage! You planned this!

However grief-stricken you were, you exploited your daughter's death!

No, it just happened, honestly.

How?!

They told me Sam was dead,

but when I went in to see her, I realised they'd made a mistake.

-Why didn't you say anything?!

-I don't know!

I panicked! I didn't know what I was doing.

All the stress of the debts, and now losing Donna...

So, you thought, why not capitalise on the situation?

It seemed so simple. I didn't know it was going to hurt Sam.

I thought...

I just thought if I could get the insurance money,

then at least I could save the business.

And Sam would spend the rest of her life

pretending to be her dead sister.

You stupid, stupid man!

-WHISPERS:

-She could've died! She could still die!

I was driving.

We were arguing about something...stupid.

I didn't see the truck coming and...

And when I woke up in the hospital, they were calling me Donna.

It was her car?

She'd been waiting for me at the airport for hours

and she was tired and...

So, me, I was full of adrenaline, I drove!

Remember, we're going to try and stay calm, yeah?

Am I going to die?

Well, hopefully we've caught it in time.

Of course, if you'd done something about that bite weeks ago, then...

-How did you know?

-Well, I'm very clever.

And also, who gets a flu jab in May?

Huh!

Are we in trouble?

Your dad is.

But you'd just lost Donna, so, who knows what the police will do?

The most important thing is for you to concentrate on getting better.

What are you going to do?

I really don't know.

I know what you've been through, but the lies?

Both of you lying to me for weeks?

For what it's worth, I am really sorry.

I don't think that's enough, James.

VEHICLE APPROACHES

They're here.

Let's focus on getting Sam better first.

And then we can talk, right?

You're going to have to talk to the police first.

Hiya! Sorry.

-You OK, love?

-Yeah. Nightmare parking.

Why are we in Maternity?

Because this one's a baby, Karen.

Ooh! Um...you didn't mention a baby.

Jane says it's only for a couple of days.

I mean, how much trouble can she be?

Ruhma says that she sleeps all the time.

Because of the methadone.

-Methadone?

-Why methadone?

Marnie suffers from Neo-natal Abstinence Syndrome - NAS.

When a mum-to-be is addicted to an opiate,

like heroin, during the pregnancy, it's passed on to the baby.

-Heroin?

-Marnie's mum was having addiction support,

but...but it didn't work out and she ran off.

That's why they're looking for emergency foster care.

The mum's an addict, not the baby.

Well, no. Technically, Marnie is a heroin addict,

although she's not technically using.

-Apart from the methadone.

-Yeah.

We've been weaning her off it, so to speak,

and she had her last dose yesterday.

Look, I'm...I'm not going to sugar-coat it.

In the next few days, she's going to go through withdrawal.

We're talking about seizures, trembling,

vomiting, that sort of thing.

Um...would you excuse us for two ticks?

Yeah, sure.

SHE SIGHS

A baby?

I know. It's a big ask, but they're desperate.

Addicted to heroin?

I'm sure they'll give us lots of support.

They won't just abandon us.

-Oh, I don't know.

-And I've got all this leave owing me.

I'll just be kicking around the house. It'll drive me nuts.

I could be doing something useful. We both could.

See, I-I don't really remember our own kids as babies.

No, but I do!

And believe me, babies are a lot easier than teenagers.

We can do this, love. It's just a few days.

Hold that. I need to think about it.

HE SIGHS

So, er...what are you going to do now?

I'll, er...go with Sam to the hospital.

And James?

I don't really think this is something we can come back from.

Well, er...good luck.

Thank you, Doctor.

SIREN WAILS

-Hiya.

-Hey.

Um...can I see her?

-Yeah. Sally, could you...?

-Yeah, sure.

How sick is she?

Well, um...apart from the addiction, she is very healthy, Karen.

Look, I know it's not going to be easy,

but I think you two can manage it.

I mean, especially with your experience.

Do they not have specialist foster carers for these kind of kids?

Yeah, they do, but Jane says that no-one was available now.

She's hoping to find someone in the next few days.

So...it's just a few days?

Yeah.

Yeah, and, look, I would be in constant touch with you both.

And if you were worried or anything, you just...you just call me.

Oh.

Aw!

So this is Marnie.

Oh, hello!

Ooh, hello!

Oh, my goodness me!

-Look at you!

-Ah.

Oh, my days!

Shall we do it?

Look, maybe there's another way.

I could go out, kick things off,

you could come over for long weekends.

It would not be workable, JJ.

Why not?

You haven't even tried it yet. People do it all the time.

We would just be waiting.

For what?

For it to end.

Only if we let it.

It could work.

Do you seriously believe that?

I'm trying. I'm really trying, Winifred.

-WHISPERS:

-I know.

I know.

SHE SIGHS

It is no use.

So...

..is it over?

Are we over?

I think so.

I don't know what to say.

We...

Well, we could say that, er...

..that we've had a...a lovely moment in our lives.

We could say that, er...

..we have no regrets.

So, are we agreed?

-Don't you care?!

-It's not about me caring...

It's your job to look after people!

The most important thing is that we do the best that we can for her.

We need to get in! Anything could've happened

and you're standing around, wasting time!

Oh, that's a lovely one! I couldn't resist, you look so romantic!