King's College.

Chapter 26 - Weekend

King's College School of Medicine had a rich history. It was first organized in 1173 as a place where students could learn rudimentary healing skills, but primarily they studied the primitive sciences that were available at the time. St. Thomas's Hospital came into being that same year. In 1550, the St. Thomas's School of Medicine was established, bringing some of the most brilliant scientific minds of the times to one place. That was about the time the first Ellinghams began matriculating at the school. In 1721 a Sir Thomas Guy opened Guy's Hospital which was designed to accommodate patients that St Thomas's had turned out. During that period it became clear that St. Thomas's was going to be a surgical center, while Guy's would be a hospital more dedicated to chronic illness and medical diseases. It was the largest medical school in London, with students dispersed on multiple campuses.

Martin had explained that he had a legacy at the school, with generations of Ellinghams before him attending. He was expected to excel, as all his predecessors had. Martin certainly had the brain to excel, but he was sadly lacking in social graces, so his friends had to help him out.

Anatomy lab on this Friday had the students dissecting the urogenital diaphragm and pelvic anatomy.

"As I said," Martin started. "This,will be a time when our best bet will be to observe other's dissections. Obviously, our body is a woman, and we need to know male anatomy too, but even then, our lady here was very worn out and had prolapsed her bladder into her vagina. It's not normal anatomy."

"I think she didn't care," Rosemary said. "I think she had a great life with lots of kids and grandchildren. She didn't care about a bloody prolapsed bladder."

Chris noted this angry outburst. He had noted that Rosemary had been quite irritable lately, and as such, walked on eggs around her. He was thinking that the stress of the whole semester and finals week was taking its toll.

"All right then," Chris ventured. "What are all your plans for the weekend? We have Anatomy, Biochemistry and Microbiology finals next week...as well as "Clinical Medicine" interviews. Let's go out and have some fun….whoopee." He was being ironic, obviously.

Rosemary spoke up. "No Chris, you're right...we have to take a few hours off this weekend to blow off some steam. What do you think Martin?"

"Well, I'm preparing for my lecture on Monday and otherwise will be preparing for the tests," Martin stated. "I'm not sure I understand the question."

Rosemary looked up from her dissection. "That movie "Alien" is at the cinema nearby. We should go and eat popcorn and forget everything else for a while."

"Well," Chris countered. "My mate, Thomas, is having a barbecue in his garden on Saturday night. I think we should go there. Free food and drink and a chance to meet more of our colleagues...you never know which of these guys we'll have to associate with in the future. I'm going anyway. There's a certain nurse I have my eye on. Who knows, maybe you and Martin will meet someone too. It's just a few hours."

"I'm not good at parties," Martin said.

"Think of it as a "study break", besides, mate, you have to start meeting some people...and Rosie, there'll be plenty of blokes there. You don't have to drink or anything...it's just an opportunity to distract your mind and relax," said Chris.

"Well, Parsons, if you put it that way, I'll give it a go," Rosemary acquiesced.

"I hate parties." Ellingham was paralyzed. He had no wish to be among strangers. He would rather sleep with his textbooks than to socialize. He didn't need a "break".

"Mart, I won't leave you alone. You have to start and try to make contact. I won't say you have to "fit in" because you are a little different...but we both like you and other people could too. Don't shut us out because of things that have happened before." Chris's eyes were focused on Martin's. He began to get nervous and said, "I'll see you later and we can firm up our plan," before leaving the lab.

Chris looked at Rosemary. "Seriously, it will only be three hours. He needs to do this."

The evening and the whole morning Saturday was dedicated to study. At 2 pm Rosemary and Chris rang Martin's apartment. Tommy's flat was only a short walk off campus. It was fortunately one of those few crisp, but sunny afternoons in London. The garden was full of dead leaves, but that didn't stop the students from enjoying the party. Blokes were playing footie and others were just enjoying the lager and barbecue food. Despite the relaxed nature of the "do" there was still the rarified atmosphere of contained anxiety. Everyone was concerned about the following week. They tried to relax the best they could.

Chris noticed the nurse he had encountered and headed off to converse with her. Rosemary was always surrounded by potential suitors and other women. Her kindness and "no nonsense" personality were attractive to many. She had a tremendous circle of friends.

Martin was on his own. He leaned up against the side of the house, one knee up, glass of water in hand. He really just wanted to leave, until he heard his name.

"Ellingham?" It was Edith Montgomery. "Well, I would never expect to run into you on a day like this." She was wearing an extremely small jean skirt with boots and a jumper...not exactly the things that dreams were made of, but the skirt was mighty short. She stood next to Martin, mimicking his posture.

"I'm just here to "blow off some steam", or so I'm told," Martin answered. It was glaringly obvious he was out of his element.

Edith touched his elbow gently. "Look, let's get some food and sit and talk for a while. Pretend you're not at a party, but having lunch with a friend. They have a nice green salad that you might enjoy." They walked to the buffet and found a place to sit. "Ellingham, I'm going to miss your Biochemistry tutorials," she purred. "I so looked forward to them."

"Well, they aren't necessarily gone. We can start them up again if people find it advantageous," Martin replied nervously.

"Advantageous? They were brilliant...and I hear you'll be lecturing Monday." Edith was sitting next to him coveting as much body contact as possible. She even uncrossed her legs showing her black lacy knickers.

Martin was getting unnerved. He was feeling things in his groin that weren't really acceptable in a public environment. "Well, Montgomery, I think I may just have to get back to studying again," he said, springing up from his seat. Edith couldn't help but smile at the tell tale bulge beneath his zipper.

"Ellingham, wait," she said, and pulled herself up, planting a chaste kiss on his cheek. "I really want to continue this visit at a later time. Let's keep it in mind."

Martin exited the garden and the party without a word to Rosemary or Chris who were otherwise engaged. "Introduction to Enzymes" was his project for the afternoon.