'Ring! Ring!' rang out Tom's alarm clock loudly. He winced, since his earache just became a whole lot worse. He wished that he had asked his Dad to turn it off when he took him up to bed the evening before.
Their doorbell, which worked temperamentally, created a flat, dull 'Ding-dong!' Gordon went to answer the door.
"Mr Ormerod?" said a strong Ukrainian accent, "I am Dr Joseph."
"Good morning, Dr Joseph. Please, do come in. Jill, Dr Joseph is here!" he called upstairs to his wife. "Tom is upstairs. Shall I take you up to see him?" he asked of the Doctor.
"Good morning, Doctor. Jill Ormerod," she said, smiling sweetly, whilst holding out her hand to greet him.
Dr Joseph took her hand and said, "Good morning, Mrs Ormerod," slightly too sweetly for the liking of the couple. "So, where is Tom?" he asked, diverting his stare away from Jill, much to the relief of them both.
"Tom is through here," answered Jill, pleased to change the subject.
"I will take him through, whilst you get Katie ready for school," Gordon stated matter-of-factly.
"Gordon, can I have a word, please?" Jill whispered.
"Jill, I'm sure he is a very good doctor," Gordon reassured her, "You worry too much, love," he smiled.
"Gordon!" she ushered urgently. "Gordon!"
He sighed, annoyed. He turned around to face his wife.
"Gordon, Katie's not well."
He started, looking concerned. He had a soft spot for his young daughter.
"Gordon, she's started her periods," Jill announced out of the blue. It took a few seconds to sink in.
"Is she all right? That must be why she was bleeding this morning," he realised, thinking out loud.
"You've already seen her this morning?" Jill asked him confused.
"Yes. She had collapsed downstairs. I heard a glass shatter this early this morning, so I went to investigate and found her lying on the floor, surrounded by glass!" he finished without taking a breath. "Talking of glass, I must go and sweep up the broken glass on the kitchen floor," he said, seeing Jill's expression go from bad to worse.
"She was surrounded by glass?" Jill asked him, looking horrified. "Why on earth didn't you tell me?" she questioned, despairingly.
"I thought Katie would have told you," he assumed, "You two are fairly close now – like mother and daughter." He smiled at her when he said this.
Jill shook her head. He really wanted her to become a true mother to Tom and Katie. But she wasn't their mother; only their step-mum and she liked it that way. She didn't want to impose and ruin the memory the children had of their late mother.
"Mr and Mrs Ormerod," came the distinctive Ukrainian accent, from Tom's bedroom.
Gordon and Jill both turned round to face the doctor. His expression was serious.
"I am afraid that Tom has contracted Scarlet Fever," he told them softly. "He must be quarantined at once to avoid transmitting it to anyone else. I am afraid that since you and your family have been near him recently, you must also be quarantined!"
