Buffalo Pictures owns the "Doc Martin" TV series, and all credit goes to them and all the people who make the show what it is.

I don't own any rights to "Doc Martin," and I'm not making any money off it.

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Chapter 11

"I've brought your tea Martin."

"Hmm...yes...thank you Louisa...I was just thinking about going out there to make some myself."

He put down the newspaper he was reading and gently took the tray from her hands, setting it on the table. He then dropped two sugars in Louisa's cup and a bit of milk in Louisa's before pouring the hot steaming liquid into their cups

He looked up at his wife he was practically glowing at the small gesture.

"The children should be here soon."

Louisa's face, already wrinkled with age, creased further.

"I wonder what's taking so long."

"James' flight was delayed in New York."

"Yes, I know. But Joan, I mean she only lives over in Exeter-"

There was a knock at the door.

Louisa quickly sprang up, only to sit down in excruciating pain a second later.

"Your gout?" said Martin.

Louisa nodded.

"I'll go get you anti-inflammatories."

"But Martin-the door."

"They can wait."

Despite the intense pain Louisa managed a smile. She knew it must be killing Martin not to answer the door. After all, it could be a patient experiencing a serious medical emergency waiting outside.

But wait...

Martin was in his 70's. He didn't have "patients" as such anymore...right? For some odd reason, her memory of the matter was rather foggy. Must be age.

The man quickly came back with Louisa's pills and a glass of tap water, then marched to the door, swinging it open.

"Joan!" Martin suddenly said in a mildly surprised tone.

"Oh, Dad, it's so good to see you!"

Before he knew what was going on, his young daughter embraced him around the neck and planted a wet kiss on his cheek. He smiled softly.

"Joan!" Louisa cried. "My precious Joanie!" All thought of gout quickly disappeared as Louisa ran, or rather hobbled to the front door.

Before her stood a gorgeous twenty-something with auburn hair and green eyes, smiling broadly.

Within seconds mother and daughter practically collided, tears quickly being shed on both sides.

"I feel like it's been soo long since we've seen you Joanie," Louisa lamented.

"It's actually only been three weeks," Martin stated with his usual bluntness bluntly.

Louisa gave him a look.

"I said I felt like it'd only been a week...I mean that I've been longing...oh...never mine Martin." She suddenly noticed a figure standing behind her daughter.

"And who is this handsome young man," Louisa said, her voice full of scandal.

"This...drumroll please...is Jacques..."

"Oh?" Martin and Louisa said in unison, their eyebrows raised.

Joan smiled broadly, "He's my new fiancé!"

"Actually, it all happened rather suddenly, mum." He's a CEO of a big French financial firm, brought in a few years ago to sort of turn the place around. He got wind of the little corner bookstore in Exeter and next thing I know he shows up at my front door."

"Let me guess, love at first sight."

"Well, no, not exactly. That was last year. We strictly talked business and while he was really nice and he adored the store, but he couldn't work things out back at corporate and the deal fell through."

"Oh."

"Buuut..." Joan picked a flower off one of beautiful rose bushes Louisa had painstakingly cultivated over the years and sniffed it.

Louisa enjoyed these moments with her daughter-just them, talking about life. People always did say that Joan took after her mum.

Joan caught her mom's loving glance and smiled.

"Oh mom...it was lovely. I got this beautiful letter in the mail a few weeks ago."

"From Jacques?"

Joan nodded her head, her face practically radiating with joy. "It said that he couldn't stop thinking about me since that first day we'd met, and that he had made up his mind to express his feelings to me. I was a bit hesitant at first at seeing this stranger, but we met up and he was really quite amazing-not at all the conceited young executive type. We quickly fell for each other. Then last week he popped the question." She grinned. I'd already made up my mind a week before."

She grinned mischievously.

"He owns a very romantic-looking vineyard...in Provence."

Both women raised their eyebrows.

Tears began to fill Louisa's eyes. "Oh Joanie, I'm so happy for you." She opened her arms to embrace her daughter.

"Shut up!"

"What!?"

"I said-shut up!" The words came out of Joan's mouth, but the voice was gruff and male.

Suddenly there was a loud, metallic click.

Quickly, the rose garden and Joan and the Surgery and daylight itself disappeared.

Louisa found herself in a dimly lit room, tied to what appeared to be a small desk-not unlike those her students sat in at the school.

"Where am I?" she said groggily. She felt her skin. No wrinkles.

'Well that's a relief, at least,' she thought.

A tall dark form with a heavy tread approached her.

She suddenly felt cold metal touch her scalp.

"Quit the racket Headmistress...or else you're dead."

To be continued...

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