Chapter 4: Shopping

"And I need a good bonking, I don't feel alive."

I felt half dead too but that was no excuse for a wanton fucking with someone I had not known beyond an hour.

I still thought I was stupid to pair up with Little Miss Bonk, the useless nurse with an inflated opinion of herself. Doctor! She was not old enough to empty a bed pan.

But the trouble was; the more she spouted off the more she made sense.

With some sealed bottled of water in a haversack, we went out to town. No shops were open but we came on College Street Pharmacy. Of course, only open for emergency medicaments.

It was I who went in with a list that Sarita had made up.

"We're only fulfilling prescribed medicines." The white coated man said from behind a grill. I was looking at the hair dying stuff in a locked glass showcase.

"Sorry, Boyo," there was a Welsh accent there somewhere. "Your money's no good.

Haven't you been watching the news? Money's not worth a penny."

At the way he laughed at himself he believed that was joke.

Approaching the far end I presented a list to him, sliding it though a gap in the grill,

Sarita had written out for some basic antibiotics and a string of other stuff that anyone might need in the coming weeks.

"Granny's just been discharged early from hospital," I explained the printed hospital printing on the under above the doctor's signature

"They should have done this in the hospital pharmacy."

"They are over-run, and half the staff's off ill too," I argued. And then he found a list on which to check off the signature I had offered. He examined the two and then, to my surprise, started to make up the prescription.

"I heard they stopped taking admissions and had deaths coming out of the doors."

"I don't know. My mum kept quite quiet. Was that what it was?" I had no idea what tale to make up.

He stumped around for a good ten minutes. By the cringe, Sarita had gone to town here. The load that he plonked down and started putting in a large carrier bag and then a second was enormous. "I can put them all in the rucksack," I said helpfully

He nodded and fed them through a small hinged window bandages and lint and antiseptics as well as sterile dressings and antibiotics.

"Now I'll explain about all these..."

I did not let him finish. "We'd be here for a week. It's OK, Mum was a nurse. She was with Doc when they were prescribed. Oh this one's for her. With all the trouble coming she thought..."

I passed over another prescription, "That's a freebie too, isn't it?"

Prescriptions for certain categories of patient don't even need the payment of the basic charge.

He nodded, "All family planning requisites on prescription are free. But six! That's good for eighteen months. I shouldn't really," he shrugged and returned from the back room with a selection of items. "The jab, she can inject herself, a three month's shot."

I took out a bottle of water from my knapsack and I saw his eyes light up.

"Sure I can't buy some hair colourant for my mum? She's been dying to be a blonde. And she's stuck at home with Granny?" I passed over the list made up by Sarita and took out another four litres of water, one by one.

Now, at this stage, you would be quite right in asking why I was bothering to buy hair colourant. Little Miss Nursey had this idea that if anyone had seen me clobber the big bad man then a different hair colour for both of us wouldn't be a bad idea. To me, it seemed far-fetched, after all, she was Indian in appearance! What could disguise that?

This time, Mr Chemist man, without saying anything, let himself out of the cage, went and locked the front door and then unlocked a display cabinet and asked, "Which blonde do you want. This or..." His hand hovered over two brands and about seven shades of blonde from silver to golden.

"Er, that one labelled, 'Corn'."He took it. Silently, he withdrew other items on the list and returned to his station to produce some latex gloves, "Typical nurse, she forgot these. I hate to imagine what her hands would be like without them."

I shrugged and then took out another bottle of water, "Thanks very much."

"Can I ask where you got the water?"

"Bought it yesterday before the balloon went up." he nodded resignedly. As I left, I passed a stand with sunglasses. "Can I have a pair?"

His eyes were fixed on something and when he turned up the volume I recognised a news broadcast.

I almost saw his face go grey in front of me as his eyes were fixed on the screen of a small TV. "Holy Shit! Heathrow Airport, full of dead people, it can't be true!

"This thing's not going to be over very quickly. I ought to think about putting some stuff aside for my own family." His attitude was zombie-like.

I was regarding him standing still when the man, demoralised and looking as if he had aged ten years spoke up, "Turn the OPEN sign around on the door, I can't..."

Taking a cheap heavy pair of specs I went out, dropping the sign to 'CLOSED' as he had asked. Before I went through the door I took out another bottle of water and left it there for him.

"If one chemist is open another might be." What was it about this girl and chemists' shops?

It was Boots. Sorry, for those not in the know, the name of the pharmacy in every High Street is Boots of Nottingham. Their shop is at the bottom of the High Street but there was a group of five police standing near the war memorial, all armed. I've never seen armed police in England except at the airport.

This time Sarita went in and I stayed outside idly looking in the shop windows at TV's. Suddenly a towering figure loomed over me, "And what are you doing here?"

Sarita, having disappeared inside the shop, I responded to the uniformed man padded with anti-stab vests and accoutrements. I knew the pale blue helmet was a part of their defensive riot gear. Your friendly neighbourhood cop looks more like a Robocop or Star Wars' aggressor dressed like that, not very friendly, "My girlfriend, she's in the chemist's."

"She getting her methadone?"

"Er?"

"She an addict getting her ... Oh forget it."

It was relief that Sarita emerged and he ordered her to take off her rucksack. When he opened it, the first thing he lifted up were loads of sanitary towels and tampons,

"You'd better get some for your wife if she hasn't stocked up," Sarita remarked.

"And better get stocked up on birth control. I'm off to the clinic."

Suddenly she broke off, "How's the wrist?"

A second officer in full gear stood solemnly beside his colleague a pace behind.

It took almost a minute before he recognised her. "The little doctor,"

"Not so little, five seven," Mind you, he was a giant of a man. "Why don't you come and get some supplies for your wife?"

What the hell was she doing?

"I forget your name. But I was just saying if this thing goes on there are some supplies that women need." She held up a tampon and female hygiene pack. "If the shops stay closed for long she'll thank you for asking the chemist to put some of these by.

"These are for the girls at the hospital," she lied, holding up her bag. "Now I'm off to the clinic in Church Road."

The first officer said nothing and looked at the second questioningly.

"A Doc from the hospital," he indicated Sarita with his eyes, "she sorted my wrist out." His reply was succinct.

They talked in short phrases.

Sarita continued, urging me on, "You might be a friend but I got you this job. Take my bag, it's heavier."

I saw she was trying to make this to look like a semi-official shopping foray.

She redirected her attention to the unformed officers, "I know, you boys. Are you sure your wives/partners have enough supply of birth control tablets? If you know the brand, I'll make out a six months' prescription and I can take it from stock at the clinic as long as I write her full name in the book.

"We're not meant to give that much out but these are special times."

So this was doctor's idea of bribery. She appeared to be accomplished at that but this time the suggestion was working, judging by their response.

"Miss, you really shouldn't be about here on your own."

"I'm at work. Do you mind addressing me as 'Doctor'? When I'm off duty I'd like you to call me, Sarita, please?" She smiled so sweetly they were both taken in.

Had she been taking me in?

I listened as the officer with the wrist warned her, "There's been a lot of violence, five beaten up, two of them died and there were three rapes just in this town last night.

"I'll walk that way with you," he said.

She busily chatted to them, eliciting the fact that the situation was worse with the rioting and the deaths from disease than had ever been expected.

"Yes," she responded, "that's what my boss told me," inferring again that she was acting for the Area Health Authority.

She was an intelligent young woman and she made a pretence of searching my rucksack as she got the police to arouse the caretaker as if they had been detailed to accompany her on a mission.

The caretaker recognised Sarita but it was certainly the presence of the two uniformed officers that stopped any argument "We've been sent from Area Health Authority to collect some supplies."

Once inside, she knew a code to access the professional side of the counter, the staff section. I waited in the public area but one of the officers went in. Later I surmised it was to ensure she did not take away drugs without authorisation.

"Now, can you tell me what your partner's tablets look like, a round dial box, a little card? Colour? Better still do you know the name?"

They had no idea whether it was an oestrogen or progesterone-only pills. As she started rattling of words like minipill, Micronor, Nor-QD, Ovrette; it was all a foreign language to me.

She went to a desk took out some keys and disappeared.

Finally she returned with various packages including one about the size of a large corn flakes box and another smaller box.

She started writing things in a book enquiring of the policemen's wives' names and only then did she slide packets over to them.

"Look, strictly speaking, I should examine the recipients to check their blood pressure but can you assure me that you'll have both of them checked, even if you have to go to that nice chemist's shop up in College Street?"