Chapter 28
"That didn't go too well", Louisa thought as she lay on the floor next to her hospital bed wondering how she was going to pull herself back up before Martin returned from checking on his parents.
They had had a lovely few hours together whilst she was in recovery, where the nurses were extremely attentive, checking her vital signs and inspecting her incision every 15 to 20 minutes. She was certain that this level of care was unusual and due solely to the fact that Martin was with her the entire time, making the same checks on both her and the baby every few minutes as well. As happy as she was having him by her side as they bonded with their daughter, he could be a bit overly solicitous. Eventually she sent him out of the room to make the calls that were essential: to Ruth and Miriam to let them know the good news, and to Emily and Amy to arrange for the boys to spend the night with Amy.
Whilst he was out of the room, she took the time to enjoy just holding her daughter, confiding in her all her hopes and dreams for their life together, and letting her feed for the first time. Finally, they were released to their private room, another perk allotted to her, the wife of a department head. She felt uncomfortable receiving special treatment and she had tried to convince Martin that she would be fine on the ward, but he would have none of it. She might not feel the need for the privacy of her own room, but he required it if he were to stay and help her through the first night before her anaesthesia wore off and she was able to ambulate safely on her own. It made sense when she thought about it. She knew the staff was curious about his family life and the three of them would be exposed to all sorts of gawking and intrusions on the ward.
It was nearly the end of the working day when they were finally in their room and Martin had ensured that she was comfortable. He had ordered a meal for them from one of the local restaurants he frequented when he was working late, braised chicken with roasted potatoes, broccoli and carrots. It was simple food, but quite delicious, and perfect for restoring her strength after the day's events, along with the low-fat milk that Martin insisted she drink to provide all the nutrients she would need in nursing Joanie.
He had been checking messages throughout her recovery and responding as needed, but now he really needed to go back to his office and he felt obliged to check on his Dad. Louisa knew that he was concerned even though he had complete confidence in Jake. Before he left, he had admonished her in his strictest doctor's voice to stay in the bed and call the nurse if she needed anything. But she had been able to wiggle her toes and she felt fine, so …. when the baby cried, she swung her legs over the edge of the bed, took a step, and then …. Well here she was, lying on the floor. The baby was still crying and her legs weren't quite ready to support her, and the call button was up on the bedside table.
As luck would have it, she heard the door swing open and Martin's voice cry out, obviously concerned when he didn't see her in the bed, "Louisa? Louisa?"
"Martin," she squeaked, dreading his inevitable tirade at her foolishness.
He stepped over to her side and she could see the exasperation he was trying to contain as his shoulders rose and fell with a huge sigh. "Oh, for goodness sake. Didn't I tell you to stay in the bed? Let's get you up."
He bent over and, placing his hands under her arms, pulled her up and then placing one arm around her back and one under her legs, he lifted her up and placed her on the bed, but not before she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him on the cheek, "My hero" she whispered in his ear.
He coloured just as she knew he would, her words throwing him off guard. He jerked his head away and spluttered, momentarily at a loss for words. She could see confusion in his eyes so she smiled at him and kissed him gently on the lips.
He smiled back at her and then tucked her blanket up over her waist, kissing her forehead. "Perhaps, but that doesn't excuse the fact that you got out of the bed when I expressly told you not to."
The baby was still crying, and he walked over to her cot, picked her up and carried her over to Louisa, refocusing on the matter at hand. She reached out to take the baby from him and defended herself, "My legs felt fine and I thought I could walk the few steps to the cot. I realize now that I was wrong. Yes, I should have listened to you."
"Yes". He tugged on his ear and turned to avert his gaze as she released her breast for the baby to feed. She thought how funny it was that, even after all the passionate nights they had shared, even after three children, he felt the need to offer her privacy when she first started to breast feed. "You are allowed to look, you know."
"Mm … yes." He raised his eyes, walked over to her side and sat gently on the bed, his hands tucked between his thighs. "The two of you are so beautiful together."
She smiled at him and raised her head, "Martin. Give me a kiss."
He leaned over and gave her a delicate kiss on the lips. She responded, "The three of us are beautiful together. Remember that."
"Yes." Stroking the baby's head as she suckled, he became thoughtful. "I often wonder how it is that I have you and our children. What did I do, how have I possibly deserved you?"
'Oh Martin, you are such a lovely man. How can you not deserve us?"
"Sometimes I wake up at night and am afraid to look at your side of the bed, afraid that you won't be there, afraid that I will discover that you are all a dream."
"Noooo…." She pinched his arm.
"Ow." He reflexively grabbed at his arm and glared at her, "Why did you do that?"
"We are not a dream. We are real and we belong together. You know that."
He delicately stroked the baby's head looking sombre. "Yes."
Louisa looked down and saw that little Joanie had fallen asleep and she gently pulled the baby from her breast and laid her against her chest. Martin threw a flannel over his shoulder, then reached over and took the baby, raising her to his shoulder, "Let me wind her."
As he patted her back, ever so softly, Louisa took a deeper look at her husband, his brows knitted tightly together as in deep thought. "Is everything sorted for your father's procedure tomorrow?" They had discussed his assessment of his father's condition whilst they were together in recovery and she knew it was serious.
The baby let loose a loud burp. He gave her one last pat on the back and rose to lay her in the cot next to Louisa's bed. "Yes."
"But something is bothering you, yes?"
"Oh Louisa," he groaned, slumping into the chair at the head of her bed. "I don't want those people back in my life."
'It's that bad? Do you want to talk about it? We're not going anywhere."
"You really need to rest whilst you are able."
"Yes, but this is important. What happened?"
"My mother congratulated me on the baby's birth. My father overheard and he wanted to know why we had a third child, when two were more than enough. Said we were breeding like rabbits."
Louisa hands flew to her mouth in shock, "That's horrible."
"I can understand their knowing about Joanie. Morwenna put up an "It's a girl" balloon outside my office." He rolled his eyes, "Ridiculous."
"Oh, that's so sweet, and traditional."
"Hmmph. I took it down as soon as I saw it."
"Did you keep it? We can hang it outside our home."
He looked at her as if she had gone 'Bodmin' then continued his thought. "Thanks to her, I'm sure the staff was discussing her birth in the hallways, but how did my parents know we had James and Robert?"
"Martin. You yourself are always telling me hospitals are cesspools of gossip. They probably overheard one of the staff members gossiping about us."
"It's not anyone's business but our own. Why must we be a topic of conversation?"
She smiled at him, "It's because you are a mystery to all the staff, you know. Always such a private man, strictly business in hospital; they are curious about you away from hospital."
"Humph."
He looked back over at the sleeping baby, "Why don't we get you back on your feet, see if you can walk a few steps. I'll help support you."
He rose and helped her up out of the bed, supporting her weight with his arm. "Now take a step."
She was wobbly at first and wrapped her arm around his middle to steady herself, but she was taking more confident steps by the time they reached the door. "Let's go out into the hall."
"No. This is enough for now. You need to rest. We'll try again later after Joanie's next feed. In the meantime, I want you to lie down and close your eyes. Here, have a drink of water first. You need to stay hydrated."
"What are you going to do?"
"I have some patient notes to review."
"Okay."
It seemed like she had just closed her eyes when she heard the baby cry. Martin was changing her and heard her rouse. "Just give me a moment. She needed some cleaning up."
"Yes." Louisa lay back down and closed her eyes whilst she waited for Martin to bring the baby over. She could see that it was going to be a long night. Thank God she had Martin by her side to help. In a moment he brought the baby over. As she opened her gown and put the baby to her breast, she mentioned, "Martin, I'm beginning to feel a lot of discomfort near my incision. Do you think I could get some pain medication?"
"Of course. I thought Edith had prescribed something for you. Let me check with the staff." He walked out the door and within moments a nurse was in with the prescribed morphine drip. Martin was scolding her, pointing out that it should have been made available as soon as Louisa had left recovery. Louisa could tell the nurse was flustered as she inserted the IV with Martin hovering to ensure she did it correctly. And Louisa found herself anxious that the nurse might have trouble with Martin watching her every move. In an effort to lighten the situation she turned to him, "Martin could you fill up my ice bucket Please? And get me a glass of water? I'm feeling really thirsty."
By the look in his eyes, she could tell he was wise to her ruse, but he went along with her after he had satisfied himself that the nurse was competent enough. He looked back up to Louisa nodding, "Of course," and he marched out of the room in the direction of the supply cupboard.
Louisa smiled down at the nurse, "Sorry about my husband. He can be something of a perfectionist."
The nurse glanced up, no smile on her face as she finished up, and replied, "Right. That should do it. You should be feeling better in a few moments. Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help." Before Louisa could answer, she scurried out of the room passing Martin on his way in.
"Here's your water and ice. Were you able to continue nursing whilst that idiot was fumbling with your IV?"
"Yes, Martin. I'm fine and Joanie's just about finished, aren't you my love?" She gazed down at her daughter's big blue eyes as the baby spit out the nipple and wiggled in her blanket. "Would you like to wind her?"
"Yes." He threw a flannel over his shoulder and then took the baby and started to pat her back, nuzzling the top of her head. He was obviously devoted to his daughter already.
"Um … Louisa," Martin addressed his wife. When he started a conversation in this manner, Louisa knew he had something of import on his mind.
"Yes, Martin?"
"Um … When I went to check on my Dad earlier, my mother … um." He paused and she could tell he was struggling.
"What about your mother?"
"She wants to see Joanie." He hurried on, "I told her that you were recovering and that you couldn't have any visitors, but I am afraid she will persist. I told her that I would discuss it with you and let her know if she could view the baby through the glass tomorrow."
Louisa could see that he was grappling with his mother's request, a request she thought was reasonable, but with which Martin obviously felt uneasy. "I've told Ruth and Emily to bring the boys tomorrow after school to visit. They can't come in the room, but they can see her through the glass and I should be able to go out and give each of them a hug."
"Ahh …" Martin was his usual loquacious self.
"I suppose she could come for a few minutes before that. But it's up to you Martin. You don't want her to see Joanie?"
'I don't want either of those people to have anything to do with our children, but I know she won't take no for an answer. "
He continued to pat Joanie on the back until she belched up a small amount of milk. "Do you want to hold her or should I place her back in her cot?"
"I'll take her for a little while. Do you think I could get up and walk in a few minutes?"
"Of course."
He handed Joanie to Louisa and stood watching as Louisa started to unwrap the baby blanket and twiddle with her tiny fingers. "So, what do you want to do about your mother?"
"Best to get it over with, I suppose. I will have Ms. Newcross tell her to come at the beginning of visiting hours, that she may see the baby for a minute or so, no more. Dad should be in recovery by then and she should return to stay with him for his remaining time in hospital."
"That's fine Martin. Will you be here for that then?"
"Yes. I will supervise her viewing and then escort her back to Dad's room. I want you to stay out of sight. She doesn't need to know what you look like. She might try to insinuate her way into our family and I don't want that."
"Okay." Louisa agreed despite her curiosity about Martin's mother. What kind of woman could be so odious to her only child? It was a puzzle to her.
Author's note: I hope all of you have enjoyed the story so far. There is much more to come. And a big "Thank you" to all the readers who have left comments and reviews. All feedback is greatly appreciated.
Happy Passover and Happy Easter to all who are celebrating holidays this spring.
