First Do No Harm

On an inspection tour of the hospital, Professor Caroline Edgewater and her grand-daughter Phoebe are pleased to encounter Mitch, Caroline's former student and a friend to both of them. Mitch was a close friend of Caroline's daughter Sarah, who died of cancer when Phoebe was little and he was emotional support to all of them during the difficult months of her illness. Time and tyranny of distance have meant they have lost touch but Phoebe and Mitch quickly fall back in to their former affectionate, teasing relationship. Phoebe feels so comfortable she asks "Uncle Mitch" for a favour—will he give her a prescription for the contraceptive pill without telling her beloved Gran? Mitch—who is still slightly in awe of Caroline—finally agrees to consider doing so, But proper to reaching for his pen, he asks Phoebe some routine questions about her menstrual cycle and is disturbed enough by her answer to insist she has a full gynaecological examination before he will giver he what she wants.