Back to the doctor today - bloodtest, and then bloodtest on Monday too. In my head I imagine an obstetrician's having at most half a dozen women in the waiting room, but there are a dozen doctors at the practice, and so there are mazes of corridors and waiting rooms everywhere, all thrumming with nurses and administrators and patients.

I wonder what percentage of patients come out with bad news. Ten percent? Twenty-five? It must be normal for the doctors and nurses, at any rate. My doctor looks like a quoll, or a dunnart. She often has empty afternoons, and sometimes she seems out of her depth, or like she feels guilty.