Disclaimer: Doc Martin is the property of Buffalo Pictures.
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Chapter 1
A little voice in my head kept nagging me. It had been so easy to be mad at Martin. Well, it always is. He is so irritating at times. Well, at times? After all, he had stood me up at the pub. He had promised to be there at eight. Instead, I had found myself in Danny's company, who told me again what a great guy he is. My eyes, however, always wandered to the surgery across the harbour, fuming with anger that I was stood up. I nurtured my ire for almost a week, and it grew and grew, as I added all sorts of misdemeanours and mishaps Martin had accumulated over the years.
It had been easy, so far.
It had been easy until our encounter on the playground earlier today. Of course he only came because he was a doctor, doing his duty. He was looking for Maureen Tracy, poor woman. So, Maureen finally had found the courage to go to the doctor because she was feeling tired and out of sorts. I mean, Martin is a brilliant doctor. Medically superb. But what good does it do if the patients are too frightened to go to him?
When we bumped into each other, after this clumsy bugger almost knocked over one of my pupils, he was quite evasive. I couldn't help but confront him about our busted date, or whatever it was. I thought it was only fair to let him know that I was less than happy to be stood up. I won't tolerate this behaviour, not with him, nor with anyone else. I'm no object to be messed around with.
He had his usually confused look when I interrupted his medical focus by something as trivial as our relationship. Then he defensively told me that something had 'cropped up'. Information not suited to get me on his side. He had looked at me cautiously before he decided that he had to add more information to get himself out of trouble.
"Your friend, Tricia Soames. And you were right, she was in a bad way."
The information hit me hard. I had urged him to be more interested in Tricia's welfare, and he had to do it exactly when we were about to have a date.
There is something about this man that makes me want to stand my ground, no matter what. I don't understand myself sometimes when it comes to the way I treat him. Neither do I understand the more visceral reaction I always have when he's too close, but that's the main problem, I think.
It is widely known that nothing comes in the way of Dr. Ellingham when he has an emergency to attend. Nothing and no one. Not even me.
To be honest, I wouldn't admire him as much as I do if he would dismiss a patient because it suited him. The dedication he has for his job is one of his best assets.
On the other hand, I didn't want to give in too easily. So my brain feverishly came up with something to criticize him for. I had nurtured this little plant of fury so carefully over the last week, it had completely ruined my weekend, and I didn't want to let it go without a fight.
"You could have called." was the best I could come up with.
This man astonished me over and over again. Instead of defending himself, justify the importance of a medical emergency over a date at the pub, he simply nodded: "Yes."
And off he went, attending his own business. Business that didn't include me.
Unfortunately the class I had to give didn't occupy my mind enough to get this little episode out of my head. The worst part was that my perspective shifted the longer I thought about it. Standing on the playground with him I was absolutely convinced that the very least thing he could have done was to call me.
Then I thought of Trish and how strange her behaviour was at times. The shock when she paled because I wanted to make her leave the school for the fire drill was still in my bones. She had told me before that Martin had refused to see her. Some fuel for my anger. But thinking about it, that behaviour was very unlike Martin. There were many things you could say about Martin Ellingham, most of them not in his favour, but he was and probably always would be a good doctor, who invested a lot in the welfare of his patients.
Actually, he was so much the doctor of Portwenn that it was difficult to imagine how he would spend his time when there was no patient to be fixed. Well, I did know that he switched from bodies to clocks. Close enough, but at least the clocks didn't keep nattering on.
So what if Martin really had planned to come to our date, leave his little hermit hut, just when Tricia burst in? I had urged her to see Martin. I had also urged Martin to have a look at Trish. So, in the end I would have been to blame that our date was ruined.
I pondered over these issues while trying to get the basics of English history into the thick heads of eight-year-olds.
I was about to meet Danny in the afternoon to have a bite together before going to the talent night. I'd promised him to help him to fix his mum's house the next afternoon. I had a good excuse to postpone my visit to the surgery. But visit I must. I had to apologise to Martin, although I didn't have the slightest idea how. Martin could be so... difficult to talk to, even at the best of times. And coming to him to apologize wasn't exactly the best of times.
To be continued…