They were in an out of town hotel, just off the main ring road. The lift hummed and purred somewhere down the corridor and the room, simply but comfortably furnished was webbed with a late night shawl of shadow.
They sat and conversed, two very different people with two very different views.
'But we need to work with them now, there aren’t any other options, this is going straight to the statute book.'
'I know, but think about your principles, you know in your heart of hearts that this bill is just plain wrong.'
She sighed and got up off the edge of the bed.
'Don't walk away from me. You know as well as I do that change is always hard and always splits people in two, those who agree and those who don’t.'
'Of course! But do you really owe the politicians that much? Do you really want them to divide and conquer? Should you just give up on your values and walk away?'
There was a soft knock at the door but they both chose to ignore it. The discussion, hushed and as circular as the flow of traffic outside carried on into the early hours of the morning. Eventually, exhausted and confused she tore herself away from her companion.
As she looked at her reflection in the dimly lit mirror she was alone. There was no disagreeable companion. She had been alone like this all evening.
There was just her, the empty silence and the room full of questions.
Dr Kevin Hinkley is a GP in Aberdeen
