Doc Martin is the property of Buffalo Pictures.
Set from the end of series three to the beginning of series four.
CHAPTER ONE
Louisa wanted to turn around. But she couldn't. She could feel Martin's eyes on her back and she urged to turn and meet them with her own. No, she reminded herself. It wouldn't change anything. She couldn't even glance back for fear of showing him the tears, which had threatened to spill during the encounter in his kitchen and which were now streaming down her face. Luckily all of her close friends were still at the church. The rest of the village knew her, but she could probably avoid many awkward confrontations until she got back to her house and changed.
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Martin wanted her to turn around. As he watched her go, he felt an immense feeling of grief. He could vaguely hear the drycleaners incessant wittering. Shouldn't he be used to that in this village now? He had to snap to make the man shut up, but talking was a bad idea. He felt the tears rising – an effect that only two women had ever had on him. Louisa and his mother. He realised that he had made a colossal mistake. No, he thought. It wouldn't change anything. He watched her until she had made the turn into the harbour. Then he turned and tried to compose himself, and went inside to deal with the drycleaner.
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It seemed to Louisa that she was being avoided. When she got back to her cottage she changed out of the dress. That night she cried more than she ever had in her life, more than she ever thought was possible. They had not planned to go on honeymoon, but she had taken a week's leave from work, and Martin had got in a replacement. She stayed in for most of the day, but when she was forced to go out to buy some milk, she saw anxious glances being thrown in her direction. There were whispers, but nobody came to speak to her. She knew that they had all believed it wouldn't work out. They were right, she thought bitterly. He'd never change. The villagers were wary of the situation. They had expected this to come, but they loved and respected Louisa and could see just how miserable she was.
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The same could not be said for Martin. The villagers joined forces against him in a way similar to when he had sacked Elaine. The word 'tosser' was thrown at him on every corner, much more frequently than usual. He cancelled his replacement and on Monday reopened the surgery. He blindly carried on with his medical duties despite being insulted from all angles, and he reacted in the only way he knew how – retaliation. One of the most vocal villagers was Caroline Bosman. She and Martin had reached mutual understanding since he saved her life, but Caroline was a fierce woman who was loyal to her friends, and stuck up for Louisa at all opportunity. Martin was surprised by the way Pauline handled the situation. She, like the rest of the village, believed that Louisa had been the one to call off the wedding, but she for once got on with her work and didn't seem to gossip as much as the rest of the village. Another unexpected ally came in Roger Fenn, despite his close relationship with Louisa.
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Roger had taken his 'stand in father of the bride' position seriously, and after helping Joan to take care of the wedding guests, they returned to the village. After two days they decided that the couple had been given enough space. Though they both remained equally loyal to both Martin and Louisa, Joan went to deal with her troublesome nephew whilst Roger attempted to comfort Louisa.
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Martin was feeling unusually awkward about the entire situation. Louisa had brought about in him yet another emotion that he was barely aware he had. His normal, logical self would urge him to move on and simply go about his day to day business. Yet the likely prospect of running into Louisa filled him with dread. He didn't know how he should tackle the situation, and so avoided it. Unfortunately, fate brought them together again in yet another of their clumsy collisions. Striding down the main street, he was in a world of thought, barely registering the insults being hurled at him. He was suddenly brought right back to reality when he crashed into someone. Steeling himself for more abuse, he looked down to see a familiar face, partly obscured by long, dark hair. His heart leapt in a familiar way as he registered how beautiful she looked, even without the makeup that recently she hadn't bothered to apply. She looked mortified.
'Sorry Martin', she muttered. She walked briskly away from him, but he didn't miss her quickly brush her hand across her eyes, and he was crestfallen. You did that, he told himself angrily. You made her cry. The atmosphere on the street was cold, and everybody stopped and watched Martin as he looked after her. But nobody dared to say anything in her earshot, because they knew her loyalty and they knew she would defend Martin.