Free Bang Bang You're Dead by Narinder Dhami

a look. 'Get your coat,' he said, and walked out.
    'Why?' I chased out of the room after him. 'Where are we going?'
    'To see the doctor.'
    'But there's no point, Jamie.' I was still repeating the same thing over and over again as we reached the surgery car park, even though I was pathetically grateful that he'd taken charge of the situation. 'The doctor won't tell us anything about Mum. Medical confidentiality, remember?'
    'I don't need to know anything about Mum,' Jamie replied, striding ahead of me through the car park. 'I've lived with her illness for the last thirteen years. What I want to know is what the hell they're going to do to help.'
    When I'd phoned to make the appointment, the receptionist had told me that Dr Fields – jolly, charming, grey-haired Dr Fields – had just retired unexpectedly early, due to ill-health, and a locum called Dr Caroline Zeelander would see Mum.
    Dr Zeelander didn't exactly inspire confidence in me. She was elegantly tall and at the very extreme of skinniness. She looked like the horrific photographs of anorexics I'd seen in magazines where the skin barely seems to cover the bones. Her blonde hair was scraped back severely, showing every skull-like plane and bone of her face.
    'You are not Mrs Annabel Jackson,' was the first thing Dr Zeelander said as she stared at me with the pale green eyes of a pedigree cat. She did not say hello or any other words of welcome.
    'Sorry, no, I'm not,' I apologized. 'Mrs Jackson's my mum. She couldn't come—'
    Instantly Dr Zeelander whipped round and closed down the open page on her computer. I suppose Mum's medical records were on the screen and we weren't allowed to see them.
    'Then may I ask what you're doing here?' Dr Zeelander asked coldly. 'The appointment's in your mother's name. Didn't you tell the receptionist that your mother wasn't with you?'
    Nervous at being caught out, I glanced at Jamie, but he simply shook his head very slightly.
    'Er – we told her Mum was outside making a phone call,' I blurted out anyway. I didn't dare look at Jamie, but I could sense his immediate annoyance with me. 'Sorry.'
    'Stop apologizing, Mia,' Jamie said irritably. He glanced at Dr Zeelander, who looked utterly outraged. 'The most important thing is to explain why we're here—'
    'Please leave,' Dr Zeelander cut in crisply. She went over to the door and opened it. 'If your mother needs to see me, she has to come herself. I won't discuss her case without her being present.'
    'But—' Jamie began.
    'Please go. Now.'
    I don't really know why, but I got the feeling that Dr Zeelander was stretched as taut as wire. There were faint blue shadows under her eyes and her hands were shaking slightly. I don't think it was anything to do with us. How could it have been? But I also got the strange impression that she was almost enjoying what was happening, that asserting her authority was somehow giving her a much-needed sense of power.
    I glanced at Jamie. His face was suddenly very white and pinched, his black eyes burning coals. He was so angry, he was almost giving off sparks.
    Then, with one brief, swift movement, Jamie lashed out with his left arm and swept the in-tray piled with files and documents off Dr Zeelander's desk. It crashed to the floor, scattering sheets of paper everywhere.
    Jamie grabbed my hand and dragged me over to the door. There he stopped, right in front of Dr Zeelander. He was almost as tall as she was, and their eyes met, Dr Zeelander's huge and disbelieving, Jamie's cold, ice-cold, and filled with raging frustration. Then he pulled me out of the consulting room.
    Dr Zeelander was frozen to the spot with shock and made no attempt to stop us. I glanced back as we left the surgery and saw her still standing there, mouth open, shaking from head to toe. I couldn't blame her. The sheer, brutal force of Jamie's anger, displayed so openly, had frightened me to death too.
    'You've never done anything like that before,' I muttered as we crossed the car