Free The Doctor Is Sick by Anthony Burgess

stood easy. He turned his eyes on Edwin with something like animation, saying: ‘Funny you should say that. That was the school just round the corner from where we was. Sinter Gastin. We used to knock ’em about a bit comin’ ’ome. Didn’t stay there long, though.’
    â€˜No?’
    â€˜Up and down, we was, up and down for a long time. My old governor was very ’ard. Knocked ’ell out of us kids. So now I can’t read nor write. Not proper.’
    â€˜What do you do for a living?’
    â€˜What comes in, you know. A bit ’ere and a bit there. Carryin’ the boards about a bit just now. Advertisin’. One front, one back, as it might be a sandwich. Don’t know what’s written on them, though. Might be anything.’
    â€˜Yes, I see what you mean.’
    â€˜But that’s the way it is.’
    â€˜Of course.’ There was another very long pause. Edwin said: ‘I’ve had rather a tough day. I’d like to sleep. You can go now, if you want to.’
    â€˜I’ll stick it out.’ He was grimly at ease again.
    â€˜There’s no need to if you don’t wish.’
    â€˜She said I’d got to.’
    â€˜I see. But I’m going to try and sleep, just the same.’ Edwin lay on his side, watching this conscientious little man through his eyelashes. But feigned sleep became real sleep: the dull headache was something to escape from. When he awoke all visitors had long since gone. He wondered what the time was and looked painfully towards the locker-top where he normally kept his wrist-watch. The watch was no longer there. Curious. He sat up and looked again. Really anxious, for this watch had been a present from Sheila, an expensive present too, he opened up the locker’s two compartments. It was not easy to search through the jumble of towels and discarded dirty pyjamas while still in bed. Very gingerly, Edwin started to get out. The air bounced all over his brain and the pain hammered excruciatingly. On his knees, he searched both locker-compartments, searched beneath the locker, behind it. No watch. Well, serve her damn well right. It was her idea, wasn’t it? – sending in the odd disreputable characters she met in the public bar, thieves, adulterers,possibly murderers too. The pain in his anxious head was now nearly insupportable. He was just dragging himself back to bed when Dr Railton came cheerfully in.
    â€˜Good at disobeying orders, aren’t you?’ said Dr Railton. ‘Sometimes I wonder how you managed to achieve the rank of doctor.’ This was evidently, to this M.B., Ch.B., a sore point. ‘It’s a matter of elementary common sense, after all, to avoid pain if one possibly can.’
    â€˜It was my watch, you see. I was looking for my watch.’
    â€˜Never mind about your watch now. We’ve more serious things than watches to talk about. Perhaps we’d better have the bed-screens round.’ He dragged the screaming curtains-on-wheels to the bed where Edwin now lay again, creating a sinister fragile little private room.
    â€˜You’re not going to do anything now, surely?’ said Edwin.
    â€˜Not now, no. I want to tell you about the results of the tests you’ve been having.’
    â€˜Yes?’
    â€˜There’s something there all right. That’s been amply confirmed. Now we know exactly where it is.’
    â€˜But what is it?’
    â€˜Never you mind what it is. It’s something that shouldn’t be there, that’s all. That’s all that you need to know. Something that will have to be removed.’
    â€˜It’s a tumour, I suppose,’ said Edwin. ‘That’s what you told my wife, I suppose. You shouldn’t try and entrust her with secrets. It’s not fair. Why couldn’t you tell me?’
    â€˜Why upset you before it’s absolutely necessary? Not that it’s really anything to be upset about. The