FRAGILE
Doc Martin belongs to Buffalo Pictures. This is a work of fiction only and not for sale. No copyright infringement intended.
Here is my take on what could have happened if S1E4 (The Portwenn Effect ) was just a little different and if the Doc and Louisa, especially the Doc, were just a bit introspective.
Chapter 1
Martin
What a day, I thought as I walked toward the dance after my afternoon appointment with Stewart the ranger and his "friend" Antony. I had to find Mark Mylow and we would need to go and get Stewart sectioned as soon as possible in the morning. I would just have to leave a note for Elaine to reschedule my early appointments.
I dreaded going into that dance like the plague. Having to push my way through those villagers groping and gyrating! Oh well, best to get it done quickly, I thought. Outside the beautiful night was marred by couples engaged in matters best left at home and inside was a mess. I could already see it from the doorway.
Good grief it was loud in there! Didn't these people have any concept of a safe volume? Why was it necessary to have music as loud as you possibly could and lights so low as to make slips and falls almost a certainty? I just wanted to find Mark as quickly as possible and get out of there. And then, oh great. There he was, with an arm around Louisa and she was speaking into his ear. I didn't want to see that. Then she looked up and caught my eye. She frowned. I decided to get out of there and just call Mark early in the morning.
But of course my Auntie Joan had to stop me and make some remark alluding to her thoughts that I have some attachment to Louisa. I really wish she would stop that. There is no reason for her to believe there is anything between Louisa and me. Sometimes I feel as if she can read my thoughts but of course she can't! She made some remark about me having an odd look on my face as I was looking at Louisa and Mark. Odd! I didn't know what on earth she was talking about.
As I walked out and pushed through the couples to make my way home, her words made me think. "Odd," she had said. "An odd look." And for some unknown reason, something that Stewart said today popped into my mind. Referring to himself, Stewart had said something about being a tiny bit "fragile". But if you were fragile, he said, Portwenn was the place to be. Was I fragile? Was there something odd about the way I was?