The Mystery of the Golden Buddha
By Gy53byg
Few days have passed since the car crash and early birth of their baby and Martin and Louisa have decided on an arrangement for living together. That afternoon, Martin was unpacking his stuff from the move when he felt like he was missing something. He carefully looked in every box, and every place until he realized what was missing, his golden Buddha. The last time he saw it was on the passengers' seat of his car with a vodka bottle by its side. Then he thought that maybe he put it in the car boot when he and Louisa took Tommy to the pub. He picked up his car keys and went to the car, but when he opened the boot, it wasn't there. Now he was a little bit concerned about the fate of the ornamental object. He walked inside the house thinking about where it could be and continued what was now a frantic search. As he kept looking was more and more convinced that it was lost forever.
Martin sat down on the sofa and his head was filled with memories from the time since he acquired that Buddha; so many years he thought, so many but he was amazed on how little his life had changed in 20 years and how much it had changed in the last 4. Now he had a son, who would have bet on that happening, certainly not him, and Louisa. Oh God! He exclaimed to himself at how near he came to losing her because of his stubbornness, but also he felt the hand of Edith in this. Yes her being in Cornwall didn't help when it came to fixing his situation with Louisa but he knew that he took the lion's share of the blame for that.
He had forgotten how manipulative Edith was for a while; it was refreshing having someone to talk to for a change. Six months in agony since Louisa left after the non-wedding, working every single hour of the day, bored of bunions and malingerers and there she was, a blast from the past and for a few hours he felt like before, like Martin Ellingham, the best vascular Surgeon in St. Thomas' Hospital and maybe of all Britain, but that last less than a whisper as soon as the door on his kitchen was knocked and he opened it to find Louisa on the other side. His life took a 180º turn, except that it took him some time to assimilate what was happening, she was pregnant, at his door, with a suitcase looking more lovely than ever. He was in shock, he immediately knew he was the father but only now he would admit to himself that he should have handled the situation in another way.
Suddenly he remembered his Buddha again, that gilded figure of "the enlightened one", as Buddhists call Siddhārtha Gautama. That figure that he had acquired as a engagement gift for Edith, as she was so interested in all that oriental stuff at the time he decided to propose to her. It was just after they had finished their medical training. He bought it in an antiques shop and it cost him an arm and a leg but he was very pleased with it. The Buddha needed a bit of restoration, so the shop was to deliver it later that week, which gave Martin time to prepare his speech to Edith.
The Buddha arrived at his flat on a Wednesday, so that night he prepared dinner as usual, and when Edith got there he was all prepared, what to say, how to say it and how to act, but Edith came in euphoric, waving an envelope. That night she told him about a job in Canada, she had applied and they had accepted her, so as soon as she'd finished this year she was to go to Quebec. She was so excited, she told him, "this is a big step in my career, if I play my cards right soon I will be head of the research department", if I, my career, Quebec…those word hit him like a rock on the head, all he could articulate was "congratulations" and that was all.
They had their dinner that night, but there was no proposal, no Buddha, no nothing. After cleaning and tidying up, Edith discovered a box wrapped in gift paper,
'What is this, Ellingham?' she asked.
'Oh, it is for you, something I found in an antiques shop,' said Martin like it was a meaningless and cheap present.
She opened the box and was very surprised,
'It is gorgeous Ellingham, thank you,' she said.
They stayed up a bit longer, he reading some medical journal and she studying for her medical round next day at the hospital. After 1 or 2 hours they went to bed, like it was an ordinary day.
Months passed after that Wednesday, the end of his training years came fast with all the usual ceremonies and as soon as the rituals finished Edith told Martin that she had the tickets to go to Quebec the next month. That day he told her that he was to stay in UK, there was nothing for him abroad and Robert Dashwood his tutor in Imperial Hospital had proposed him for a job at St. Thomas' Hospital, and he was accepted immediately. That day they ended their relationship and she went back to her flat with all her stuff (there wasn't much, she had never moved fully into Martin's flat and always kept hers). That night she left for good, just leaving behind a very wounded Martin and a golden Buddha.
Martin was brought back from his past by a baby's cry, and soon after the voice of Louisa asking,
'Martin! Are you busy? Can you help me?'
He got up as quick as a flash from the sofa and walked to where Louisa was fighting with a very unsettled new born. As he was getting near to them he thought to himself…fuck the statue!