night at the hospital, then we had to go straight out to work. Colin broke down at assembly when he announced it, then he caused a bloody awful scene with Krystal Weedon in front of everyone. And then Stuart decided to play truant. And Mary's falling apart ... but I'm so sorry, Minda, I should've called.'
'... iculous,' said Parminder thickly, her face hidden behind a tissue she had pulled out from her sleeve. '... Mary ... most important ...'
'You would have been one of the very first people Barry called,' said Tessa sadly, and, to her horror, she burst into tears too.
'Minda, I'm so sorry,' she sobbed, 'but I was having to deal with Colin and all the rest of them.'
'Don't be silly,' said Parminder, gulping as she dabbed at her thin face. 'We're being silly.'
No, we're not. Oh, let go for once, Parminder ...
But the doctor squared her thin shoulders, blew her nose and sat up straight again.
'Did Vikram tell you?' asked Tessa timidly, tweaking a handful of tissues from the box on Parminder's desk.
'No,' said Parminder. 'Howard Mollison. In the deli.'
'Oh God, Minda, I'm so sorry.'
'Don't be silly. It's fine.'
Crying had made Parminder feel slightly better; friendlier towards Tessa, who was wiping her own plain, kind face. This was a relief, for now that Barry was gone, Tessa was Parminder's only real friend in Pagford. (She always said 'in Pagford' to herself, pretending that somewhere beyond the little town she had a hundred loyal friends. She never quite admitted to herself that these consisted only of the memories of her gang of school mates back in Birmingham, from whom the tide of life had long since separated her; and the medical colleagues with whom she had studied and trained, who still sent Christmas cards, but who never came to see her, and whom she never visited.)
'How's Colin?'
Tessa moaned.
'Oh, Minda ... Oh God. He says he's going to run for Barry's seat on the Parish Council.'
The pronounced vertical furrow between Parminder's thick, dark brows deepened.
'Can you imagine Colin running for election?' Tessa asked, her sodden tissues crumpled tightly in her fist. 'Coping with the likes of Aubrey Fawley and Howard Mollison? Trying to fill Barry's shoes, telling himself he's got to win the battle for Barry - all the responsibility - '
'Colin copes with a lot of responsibility at work,' said Parminder.
'Barely,' said Tessa, without thinking. She felt instantly disloyal and started to cry again. It was so strange; she had entered the surgery thinking that she would offer comfort to Parminder, but instead here she was, pouring out her own troubles instead. 'You know what Colin's like, he takes everything to heart so much, he takes everything so personally ...'
'He copes very well, you know, all things considered,' said Parminder.
'Oh, I know he does,' said Tessa wearily. The fight seemed to go out of her. 'I know.'
Colin was almost the only person towards whom stern, self-contained Parminder showed ready compassion. In return, Colin would never hear a word against her; he was her dogged champion in Pagford; 'An excellent GP', he would snap at anyone who dared to criticize her in his hearing. 'Best I've ever had.' Parminder did not have many defenders; she was unpopular with the Pagford old guard, having a reputation for being grudging with antibiotics and repeat prescriptions.
'If Howard Mollison gets his way, there won't be an election at all,' said Parminder.
'What d'you mean?'
'He's sent round an email. It came in half an hour ago.'
Parminder turned to her computer monitor, typed in a password, and brought up her inbox. She angled the monitor so that Tessa could read Howard's message. The first paragraph expressed regret at Barry's death. The next suggested that, in view of the fact that a year of Barry's term had already expired, co-opting a replacement might be preferable to going through the onerous process of a full election.
'He's lined someone up already,' said Parminder. 'He's trying to crowbar in some crony before anyone can stop him. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Miles.'
'Oh, surely not,' said Tessa instantly. 'Miles was at the hospital with Barry ... no, he was very upset by it - '
'You're so damn naive, Tessa,' said Parminder, and Tessa was shocked by the savagery in her friend's voice. 'You don't understand what Howard Mollison's like. He's a vile man, vile. You didn't hear him when he found out that Barry had written to the paper about the Fields. You don't know what he's trying to