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‘Excuse me, are you a doctor?’ Olivia said. ‘I was wondering if you could help me with my scrape from last night? I think my Steri-Strip came off.’
Her name badge read ‘Dr Tove’, and Olivia felt vindicated in her chase. The doctor looked pale, the skin under her eyes a sickly blue-green, as if she’d been awake all night.
Dr Tove gave Olivia’s forehead a cursory glance. ‘You’re fine.’
‘Well, maybe you can ask Doctor Ranjeed …’
‘He’s pretty fucking busy right now,’ the woman snapped.
Olivia blinked back her shock but didn’t say anything, searching the woman’s face. The doctor’s eyes caughtsomething behind Olivia. She turned to see Elisabet walking behind with one eyebrow raised in their direction.
The doctor rubbed her brows with her fingers. ‘I … I’m sorry. I apologize. I overreacted. I shouldn’t have sworn at you – it’s been a long night and I haven’t had my rest yet. You know how it is. Bad Drake crossing and the medical staff are up all night, as if we don’t get seasick too.’ She put her hand protectively over her stomach.
‘Oh, gosh, I completely understand,’ said Olivia. ‘That’s why I wanted to talk to the doctor from last night, but when I saw you I thought maybe you could help? But that’s so selfish of me. You go ahead and get your rest. I think I have some plasters back in my cabin.’
‘No, no. I will help you. Let’s go and take a look.’
They walked in silence down the stairs to the medical bay. Olivia’s heart was beating so hard, she felt sure the doctor could hear it too. She hadn’t thought through what she was going to ask, or why she had chased after the doctor, interrupting her much-needed rest.
Once they were inside, Olivia sat back on the bed. She had more of an opportunity to take it in now. There were rows of locked cabinets, packed with bottles of pills, bandages and boxes of face masks and gloves. A defibrillator was strapped to the wall, along with oxygen and an external pacemaker. They seemed pretty well equipped to handle most on-board crises.
But poison?
She had to find out.
Dr Tove came up and shone a small torch into her eyes. She asked Olivia to follow her finger, checked her reactions – the same checks that Dr Ranjeed had done.
‘No signs of concussion. That’s good. You haven’t been sick at all?’
‘Just nauseous but that started before my fall, so I think that was genuinely related to the storm – not my head.’
‘Good. OK. Your wound looks as if it might bleed still, so I’ll put another strip on. More painkillers – I can give you that. I’ve got a stronger anti-emetic as well that you can try for when the seas get rough.’
Dr Tove got up and went to one of the cabinets, sorting through the myriad pill bottles. Olivia swallowed, staring at the door to the next room.
‘So was it an unusually rough crossing for injuries?’ Olivia asked.
The doctor’s shoulders stiffened beneath her fleece jumper. ‘What do you mean?’
‘The helicopter. We watched it take off this morning.’
‘Oh yes. But I’m afraid I can’t discuss the medical condition of other patients.’
Olivia needed to press if she was going to get to anything resembling the truth. ‘What about the poisoning?’
Dr Tove shut the medicine cabinet door quietly, then turned. Her features were blank – her clinical professionalism taking over. Olivia recognized that expression. It was the same one she’d had on her face when the market crashed, and she’d been forced to explain to her client why their investments were worth half what they had been the day before.
Cool. Calm. Collected. Nothing wrong. Or at least – it’s all in hand. ‘I don’t know what you are talking about.’
‘I heard you talking last night. Dr Ranjeed confirmed it with me after.’
Her blank expression waivered. She was tired – no,more than that, exhausted, her body quivering with it. Olivia almost felt guilty taking advantage. ‘He was the one who told me it was poison,’ Olivia reiterated.
‘He shouldn’t have said that,’ said the doctor after a moment’s pause. ‘Not until we know the full results of the autopsies.’
Olivia’s breath hitched, though she tried her best to keep her expression neutral.Autopsies.That meant … Her mouth went dry. ‘You seemed pretty sure last night. If someone has been poisoned, are we in danger?’
‘No,’ the doctor said sharply. ‘We believe they brought the substance on themselves – they had a champagne bottle in their cabin but our ship doesn’t carry that brand. If I had to guess, it was a party drug overdose gone wrong, but until we get the results back, we won’t know for sure. Cabin sixteen has been quarantined. You have my assurance.’ She stepped forward and applied the bandage to Olivia’s forehead. ‘All done. I’m afraid I really have to go now. There are other patients on board that I need to check up on.’