I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and is looking forward to a happy new year. One very good thing is that I've read that there will be a S7 of Doc Martin!

Chris Parsons met her at the entry to A&E a full ninety minutes later. "Louisa… I was called down as soon as they realized that Martin was being admitted. He has been through triage and one of our best consultants is with Martin now. Martin is stable and everything that can be done is being done to make him comfortable."

"I just don't understand what happened, Chris. One minute he was fine and the next he was falling down the steps. He didn't trip or stagger or anything…he just… fell."

Chris did his best to keep Louisa calm, tried explaining that tests would be administered and then they might know more about what happened. But it wasn't working; Louisa was nervous and fretful, chewing her lip and at times pacing as they waited for Dr. Emerson to complete his examination.

It was another forty five minutes before a man who appeared to be fortyish, with light hair and dark eyes crossed the waiting room and nodded to Chris. "Are you Mrs. Ellingham?" he asked Louisa in a soft voice.

"Yes, how is Martin?" she asked anxiously.

"He's comfortable for now," Dr. Emerson said as he sat next to her. "I've spoken with the consultants that treated him before and we believe his fall was a result of him over-doing things a bit. He still has some swelling inside the skull and over exertion caused it to become even more inflamed. He said he felt a headache before he fell. His body hasn't recovered from the trauma of his accident yet and that was its way of telling him enough already."

Louisa let out a breath in relief. "So…he'll be… alright?"

"Eventually. We have to get the inflammation down and unfortunately the fall down the steps caused some bruising along his spinal column, especially along the lumbar curve. The blow to the spine caused some temporary paralysis and the jumbled speech. It's clearing now however. We'll keep him here overnight to be sure but he'll probably be able to go home in the morning."

Happily relieved, Louisa could not stop the tears that began to flow. "He's really alright?"

"He'll need to be more careful, not push himself. His original doctor will be by to check on him later but yes, in time he will be."

"Oh, thank you…" She turned to Chris. "He's going to be alright," she cried.

Chris nodded his agreement. "Yes. But you will have your hands full, Louisa. Martin will not take this set back lightly easily."

"I'll be fine… it'll all be fine. He's going to be alright…"

Chris smiled at her and nodded before turning to Dr. Emerson. "Where is he now?"

We're moving him to a ward but…"

"No. Put him in one of the private rooms, Chris instructed.

"But his condition doesn't require one," Emerson objected.

"Yes, I am aware of that. But Martin does require one. Believe me, you and your staff will be much happier if he is tucked away in a private room. He will be a much more compliant patient if he isn't in a ward with others all around."

Dr. Emerson frowned. "I don't understand."

Chris started to answer but Louisa cut him off. "My husband doesn't enjoy the company of others, especially when he is feeling poorly. He becomes rude and combative when he is extremely uncomfortable. He'll be more comfortable if he isn't in a ward and easier for your nurses to …tolerate."

"Yes, I knew he could be… discourteous from my encounters with him here with his patients. But, I had no idea…"

"Well now you do," Chris said emphatically.

"Right. I'll see to the changes in plan then," Emerson said as he turned to leave them.

It was almost an hour before a nurse appeared to inform Louisa and Chris of Martin's location. "He's just been moved up there," she said warmly, "so you might like to give them a few minutes to get him all settled in."

Chris walked with Louisa to the door of Martin's room. "I'll leave you here, Louisa. You and Martin don't need me in the middle of your reunion. Just… if you or Martin need anything, please let me know. And I'll stop in on him later."

Louisa smiled. "Thank you, Chris. I… I was frantic and you helped me remain calm."

Chris grinned. "Glad I could help. Mart's a rare one, Louisa. Life hasn't been easy for him at all but now… well, I'm glad he has you in his corner."Louisa smiled at him; feeling far too emotional to reply, she nodded her thanks.

Martin was dozing when she walked into his room. She was always struck by the gentleness of his features when he was asleep, looking like a little boy really. She wished he could find that kind of peace in his waking hours. Careful not to make noises, she settled in the chair by his bed and watched him, content that he really was going to be alright and thankful for it.

After a few minutes he began to stir. When his eyes fluttered open, a look of panic formed on his face, his eyes searching his surroundings. "Hello husband," Louisa said softly.

He immediately calmed as his eyes settled on her. Martin swallowed and with a croaky voice he replied, "Hello Mrs. Ellingham." A tiny hint of a smile quirked around his mouth and eyes.

Louisa reached for his hand and took it in her own. "You scared me."

His eyes grew wide and then he glanced away. "I'm sorry," he said meekly.

"Your doctors say that you pushed yourself too much, Martin. Looking at houses isn't more important than your health."

"Yes, erm… I know. I didn't realize … my head was beginning to hurt but I thought I would be alright for a while longer."

"Well, just don't do that to me again. I can't take frights like that and your little one in here," she said as she patted her tummy with her other hand, "isn't too happy about it either."

His eyes fell from her face to her mid section. "You…you're alright? Nothing happened, did it?"

"No, nothing happened," Louisa answered with a sad smile. "It's just that my doctor says I'm not to worry about anything."

"Mmmm, yeessss."

"Dr. Emerson says you will be fine, Martin. They are going to keep you here overnight but then you'll probably go home in the morning."

"Yes, he told me."

Louisa watched Martin and knew he was bothered by it all. "Will you be okay here, by yourself, I mean?"

Martin sighed. "Yes, of course. I just…"

"What?"

"I don't want to stay here. I want to go home… with you." He looked up at her shyly before glancing away again. It struck Louisa once again how very shy her Martin was when he wasn't being the overly confident doctor. "And I don't want to leave you here," she said with a squeeze of his hand. "James will miss his Daddy too."

"Ermmmm, yes." Martin looked down at where her hand held his. How could he have been so stupid? He knew his head was aching and he knew that it was a sign that he should rest but he'd insisted on pushing on. And now this! He didn't like sleeping away from Louisa; he'd had quite enough of that already. He really had been an idiot. "I'm sorry," he mumbled again.

Louisa bent over him and planted a soft kiss on the side of his face. It always created mixed feelings in him whenever she did such things outside the confines of their cottage. Embarrassment battled with happiness and something he couldn't quite find a word for and it did so again in the room. Not wishing to grapple with his emotions, he decided to change the tone. "Ummm, what did you think of the houses we saw?"

Louisa leaned back and looked at him, somewhat surprised. "They were nice, although I think we can scratch the first one off the list."

"Yes, but the last one?"

Louisa nibbled on her lip. "It's awfully large for just us."

"Yes, but when the baby comes, it won't be. I was thinking one of the rooms downstairs could be a workspace for you with a desk and table where you can spread out your papers and such."

Her heart leapt at his revelation. "You want me to continue teaching? You're willing to give me a space for planning and such?"

"Yes. Well, that is to say, I … I won't argue with you about continuing your teaching. I know it is important to you. And if you are to continue, you'll need the space to work."

Louisa began to nibble at her lip again. "Thing of it is, Martin; I um… I was thinking of giving it up." She watched as several expressions worked over his features in succession, beginning with satisfaction and ending with a frown.

"But I thought… you have said many times… Louisa, you love your work."

"I do; but not as much as I love you and our children and the life we are building together. And as difficult as it has been to have a minder for one, I don't see how we can manage with two. And I always feel like I am missing something important with James by going off to school every day."

"But you said it would make you feel like a kept woman if you didn't work. I've never understood why but…"

"I… sometimes I am so afraid of being dependant, Martin; it just makes me say and do crazy things. I could never depend on my parents and so I've always felt like it was up to me… But, I'm learning that I can depend on you; that giving up some of my independence isn't really such a bad thing, as long I'm doing it for the right reasons. And I am. I want to spend this time with our children, while they are little. I can go back to teaching later if I want to. But for now, I want to work on our family."

Martin blinked. "I… thank you, Louisa."

"For what?"

"For trusting me and… well, I never wanted you to work, if you'll recall. It wasn't …isn't out of some notion of possession but because I want to take care of you…and James… and the new baby. I… it makes me proud to have a family such as you and James and…" tears began to roll from his eyes as he swallowed to try to regain control of his emotions. "I do love you and I want you to be happy, Louisa. If you want to continue teaching, I want you to do that. But I won't deny that I would like very much for you to be there for our children each day, all day. You are their first and best teacher."

Louisa smiled as she grabbed a tissue from a box on the bedside table. Dabbing at his tears and then her own she smiled. "Thank you for saying that Martin."

"Mmmm, yes," he said as he glanced away, deflecting her response.

They sat quietly for a few minutes both sensing that they'd crossed another threshold in their relationship. Martin began to drift asleep as Louisa watched over him.