Chapter 16

The next day brought scattered storms in the late afternoon that battered the village with gusts of wind and pelting rain. Martin had suggested to Louisa that they postpone their dinner with Ruth but Louisa insisted. "I've bought the chicken and the vegetables and a special pie for afters. I don't want it to go to waste." Then she peered out the back window and decided that the rain was letting up.

"Let me call Ruth and tell her you will come and walk her over. You can take your extra-large umbrella."

The rain had briefly stopped, but by the time he reached the Platt, it came roaring back with a vengeance. He started to run, splashing through several puddles and soaking his shoes and the hem of his trousers. It only took a minute for him to reach Ruth's home and rush up the steps to knock on the door.

"Martin!" Ruth exclaimed. "Come in. Why didn't you wait for the rain to let up?"

"I did, but then it started up again a minute ago." He entered her home and, leaning over the threshold, he shook the water from his umbrella before closing the door. He took a step forward and felt his socks squishing inside his shoes, "Gawd, my feet are soaked."

He set the umbrella down and took a breath, "I tried to explain to Louisa that it would be best to wait until tomorrow, but she had her heart set on seeing you tonight." He peered out the window. "I hope it lets up soon."

"Perhaps I should pack a bag, stay the night."

"I'm sure it won't come to that. The forecast was for intermittent showers … should have been for intermittent downpours", he muttered under his breath before turning his attention to Ruth, "But if you'd rather …?"

"No, no. I'm sure it will end soon." She patted his chest and turned toward the window where the two of them stood and looked out as the rain pounded the window panes.

Ruth turned and leaned against the window sill, "We haven't spoken in a few days. You've been interviewing nurse practitioners, haven't you? Have you found anyone suitable yet?"

"Yes. A young man, been working in Bath at a large surgery. Chris tendered him an offer and he has accepted. Should start Monday."

"Ah. That's good news. I imagine you'll be glad to be back at work."

Ruth picked at a loose thread on her cardigan, "Word in the village is that you refused to hire your former receptionist Pauline Lamb. It seems there are those who feel you should have given her a chance."

Martin raised his head in exasperation, exhaling noisily, "Yes, I've heard. The word 'tosser' has been bandied about more fervently than usual since yesterday."

"I assume you had a good reason for choosing this young man over Pauline. Good enough to placate the locals?"

Martin looked at her incredulously, "Of course I did. She just graduated from nursing school, with no meaningful work experience. I need someone who can step up right away without significant training. I will have more demands on my time than previously and I will need competent help. I believe this young man will fill that role."

"Ah yes. I assume you anticipate that this IT project may be time-consuming."

"It will."

Noticing that the sound of the storm has abated, Ruth turned towards the window, "The rain appears to be easing a bit. I'd like to hear more about this project of yours, but maybe not right now."

"Right." Martin peered out the window. "The rain has slowed. I think we should make our getaway quickly."

Ruth shrugged into her raincoat. "Well then, let's go."

They managed to escape down Ruth's lane and up the hill to the Ellingham home before the rain recommenced its battering. Louisa had been on the watch for them and opened the front door so they could slip inside quickly. She helped Ruth off with her coat whilst Martin shook some of the water off his umbrella and placed it in the stand near the door. He peered down at his shoes and then over to Louisa before he headed up the stairs, announcing, "I need to go change my shoes, and my suit. I'll be right down."

Louisa scanned him up and down, then looked up at him, "You are wet."

"Yes, all the streets are ponding, water everywhere." He shouted down at her as he turned into their room.

Louisa gave Ruth a hug and then glanced down at her feet as well, "Would you like to take your shoes off as well, Ruth? I could lend you some slippers."

"I don't think that's necessary," Ruth replied, but then changed her mind and slipped out of her shoes. "Well maybe."

"Wait right here." Louisa ran up the stairs and grabbed some warm slipper socks and handed them to Ruth before leading her into their kitchen where she handed her a mug of hot tea, "Dinner is almost ready, but it's so cold and wet out, I thought you might enjoy this."

"Yes," Ruth agreed. "So very thoughtful." She took a sip and sat down at the table warming her hands on the sides of the mug and then putting the socks on her feet. She looked around the room and asked, "Where's James Henry?"

"He's upstairs playing with his bricks." She walked over to the stairs and called up, "James, come say hello to Auntie Ruth."

They could hear knocks and dings from the upper floor as James dropped his bricks and ran down into the kitchen, chirping a quick "Hi Auntie Roof" before he dropped onto the floor next to Buddy in his basket and started to hug the little dog.

Martin walked into the kitchen at the same time and over to the cooker to check on their meal, lifting the lids of several pots and opening the door to check on the roasting chicken. "Louisa, I believe our meal is ready."

"Okay, can you plate up our meal and I'll go help James wash his hands. She leaned down to take James' hand and then nodded to Ruth, "if you'll excuse us for a few minutes Ruth."

"Certainly … Martin, is there anything I can do?"

"No, everything is in hand."

Finally, all were seated and ready to enjoy the chicken and vegetables that Louisa and Martin had prepared.

"This looks delicious."

Louisa replied, "Thank you Ruth. I always think of you and Joan whenever we have chicken."

Ruth looked up, "Yes. I wonder how the chickens are doing. I don't think that the Lewises were planning on farming."

"The Lewises?" Martin queried.

"The people who bought the farm. A young couple, seemed very nice. They had an IT company that they sold for a fortune and decided to retire down here in the country. They didn't strike me as the type to tend chickens … although you never can tell. I should ask Mrs. Trappett if they kept the chickens. She might know."

"Fresh eggs would be nice to have." Louisa commented. "But I can't imagine killing and preparing them for dinner." She shuddered.

"No, I always let Al do the honours."

"Auntie Joan would just wring their necks." Martin grimaced as he lifted his hands and made a twisting motion. "Very quick. Then she'd take them into the kitchen and chop off their heads."

James had been focused on his dinner as the adults began their conversation, but he glanced up at Martin, eyes as big as saucers, as his father demonstrated Joan's method of dispatching the chickens. Louisa gave Martin a cautioning look, and then turned to smile at James, comforting him, "It's okay sweetie." She patted his cheek and then changed the subject. "Ruth, Martin and I have some news."

Ruth had just cut a piece of chicken, but rested her knife and fork on the plate while responding, "I hope you're not planning on raising chickens."

Louisa laughed, "No, nothing like that."

She reached over to take Martin's hand, and beaming, she announced, "Martin and I are expecting another child."

Ruth let go of her utensils and sat up straight, raising her eyebrows in an attempt to express surprise, "Well!" She paused a moment, "That is wonderful news. When can we expect the blessed event?"

Radiant, Louisa answered, "Yes. We are quite happy. We went for my first doctor's visit yesterday. She says all is proceeding normally and gave us a due date of 21 January."

"A mid-winter baby. What about your coursework?"

"The fall term will end just before the holidays. I plan to take the winter term off, and return in the spring. I will take just one class which will meet once a week. I'll need to find a child minder for that afternoon, but I should be able to study from home the rest of the time and care for the baby as well."

"Humph …" Martin grumbled.

"Martin?" Ruth prompted him to articulate his concerns.

Martin looked at Louisa and said, "I really think it would be best for you and the baby if you waited until summer term to return to classes."

"I'm only talking about taking one class, not a full course. As it is, I won't earn my certificate for six or nine months after I had planned."

"But the baby will need you and James will need you, and it's not that easy to find a child minder as you may recall from the time when James was a baby."

Louisa looked down at her plate. Ruth could tell that Martin had struck a nerve, and Louisa responded in a challenging tone. "Yes. Well, we have several months to think about it, don't we?"

Ruth thought a detour in the conversation was needed, and she asked, "James will stay at Portwenn Tots?"

It was the right tact and Louisa brightened at the thought of James, and turned to beam at him, "Yes. You like going to school, don't you James?"

He grinned back at her, "Today we planted seeds in the garden. It was fun."

Louisa grinned back at him, "That does sound like fun." Turning to Ruth, she continued, "He seems to be learning fast, and they encourage him to develop at his own pace."

Ruth thought back to the day of Morwenna's wedding, "I remember telling you that I think he is gifted, and you said it was going to be an interesting year. Did you know about the second child at the time?"

"Yes, I had just done the test that morning. Of course, I didn't know that Martin was going to resign his job with all that has led to, getting his job back, expanding the surgery perhaps, and this IT project work as well. It really is proving to be a very busy year."

Ruth noticed Martin as he gazed at his wife. There was a tender look in his eyes, a look that Ruth had never seen before, not just a look of love, but one of contentment. She was certain that it was unconscious; he was the most private of men, and he would never consciously reveal the depths of his feelings for his wife and his child, but it was there.

She had a theory about his haemophobia. Conventional wisdom said that the condition was anchored in a childhood experience, and certainly Martin had had a difficult childhood, but she thought there was more to it for him. She often wondered about the onset of his haemophobia, how his observation of the love and closeness of his last surgical patient and her family had affected him so deeply that it scuttled his career and sent him into exile in the countryside. He once told her that he had never thought about the families of his patients, other than to communicate the results of the procedures he performed; but the family of this particular patient were clinging to her and wouldn't let go, and their devotion struck him profoundly. When he finally saw her laid out in front of him, it suddenly occurred to him that she was somebody's wife, somebody's mother and he was unable to complete the procedure.

As a psychiatrist, she was always searching for the reasons people behaved the way they did. It had started to occur to her that Martin may have seen something in that woman and her family that sparked a deep-seated longing, certainly unconscious, to be part of a loving family. His parents had never provided him with the love that a child deserved; only Joan had given him that on the school holidays when he was sent to stay with her so his parents didn't have to curtail their activities. Where did he decamp to when the haemophobia hit? He fled to Portwenn to be near Joan, the woman who had loved him as a son, who with her husband had given him a loving family for the few weeks or months he had been allowed to spend in Portwenn as a child.

In the ensuing years he had created a little family of his own, including herself for however long father time had left to her. Despite the turmoil of the past several months, he seemed content, and possibly happy. Perhaps his life was coming full circle. His unconscious longing to be part of a loving family had been the genesis of his haemophobia leading to his inability to perform surgery. Now that he was part of a loving family, would he be able to return to surgery. Certainly, this IT project was bringing him back to the surgical world. With a family of his own to love him, would he be able to conquer the haemophobia and return to surgery, to his true calling? His situation was an intriguing study

"Turning philosophical in my old age" she pondered as she grinned to herself.

Louisa was cutting up some more vegetables for James and Martin was quietly enjoying his meal. She lifted her glass of water to her lips and took a sip before turning toward Martin forthrightly, "Martin, I haven't asked you, but how are you finding Dr. Payne?"

"Seems to be competent." He had speared a piece of broccoli before Ruth spoke and he raised it to his mouth and chewed thoroughly before continuing, "We've only met a few times so far, but he was able to help me manage during my trip to London."

"Ah yes, good to hear he has been helpful. Tell me a little more about your project."

"Right, we filmed one of the more rudimentary vascular procedures whilst I was in London, and the IT team is starting to develop the training tool. I will be responsible for testing and ensuring that the virtual procedure is rendered accurately. I will also delineate areas where trainees could make errors, so that they can program simulated crises."

"Sounds complex."

"Yes, it will be, which is why I need adequate help in my surgery. I am hopeful that Mr. Marshall will be more than competent."

Louisa had risen to refill James' glass of milk, but she had been listening intently to this conversation, and she spoke up, "Speaking of Mr. Marshall, I have to tell you that Mrs. Richards and several other village women accosted me on my way back from the green grocers this morning. They were quite upset that you didn't hire Pauline for your assistant."

Martin groaned. "Mrs. Richards? Son is Bobby Richards?"

"Yes." Louisa was surprised that he remembered Bobby's name. As tempted as she was to tease him about it, she held her tongue.

"She was one of the first villagers to confront me when I fired Elaine when I first opened the surgery."

"I can imagine. She was insistent that you should have given a villager preference over some stranger, and she was adamant that I should convince you to hire Pauline."

"Hmm …"

Ruth interjected, "That's one thing you can say for this village. They take care of their own. What did you say, Louisa?"

"I told her that it was Martin's decision, and that I don't interfere with his work."

Ruth screwed up her mouth, "… and how did that go over?"

Louisa sighed, "Didn't seem to satisfy her, so I added that Doctor Ellingham evaluated each of the candidates on his or her merits and chose the person that he felt would provide the best care for the villagers."

"Thank you, Louisa." Martin nodded his head towards his wife.

"Be excused?" James had finished most of his dinner and had grown restless. Martin inspected his plate and responded, "Yes James, you may be excused."

James started to climb out of his chair, but Louisa reached over and grabbed his hands, "One minute young man. Let me wipe your face and hands …." As she finished cleaning his hands, she gave him a kiss and chirped, "There, all nice and clean."

James jumped down and ran over to the stairs to go and play in his room, and soon there were faint sounds coming down the stairs of bricks toppling over and small footsteps scuttling across James' floor. Ruth watched him go and commented, "James is developing quite nice table manners. He is a credit to you both."

Martin nodded his head in acknowledgement of the compliment, and Louisa replied, "Thank you Ruth. He has his moments, but overall, he is a sweet child."

She glanced over to the stairs and then satisfied that he was safely occupied, Louisa continued discussing the villagers' resentment of their Doc's failure to offer employment to one of their own. "Martin, you should be prepared for some of the villagers to confront you about Pauline."

"It is my surgery and my responsibility to hire competent staff, not give a job to any supplicant who walks in my door."

"Noooo … but be prepared." Louisa nodded her head in understanding.

"Good advice, Martin," Ruth added. "Have an answer ready, but be careful how you phrase it. Say it's your responsibility to hire the most competent staff you can fine. You don't want to imply that Pauline is not competent. Hopefully this will all blow over before it's begun."

Martin twisted his mouth in frustration, "Right."

Ruth leaned back in her chair and sighed, "Well, that was delicious. Can I help with the washing up?"

Louisa rose from the table and took her plate to the sink, "Thank you Ruth. I've been wanting to share our good news with you for a while now. And don't worry about the washing up – that's Martin's job. It was a pleasure to have you join us."

Martin rose as well and reached for James' dishes and took them to the sink as well. "I'm going to put the kettle on for tea. Would you like some Ruth?"

"Of course."

Louisa looked up at him, "I think I'll have my tea later. I'm going to go up and get James into the bath. Ruth, why don't you keep Martin company whilst he does the washing up. I'll bring James down once he is ready for bed."

Ruth watched Louisa walk out of the kitchen and head up the stairs, and then turned to Martin, 'I see that you two have a very modern marriage."

"What do you mean."

"You share in the chores and all that."

"Of course we do. Why wouldn't we?" Martin replied, somewhat puzzled.

"Never mind. Tell me more about your trip to London. There must have been a lot of blood during the procedures that your team filmed. Were you really able to manage?"

Martin nodded as he scrubbed the baking pan, "Yes, for the most part. I never fainted or vomited. Did have to turn my head away once or twice, but overall, it went well."

"Hmm… do you think you would return to surgery if you were able to conquer the haemophobia?"

He placed the pan on the drain rack and turned to Ruth, "Frankly, I've not given that much thought lately. I promised Louisa that we will stay in Portwenn and raise our children here. We have reached a place in our marriage where we are both ... aah ...happy, and I've come to realise that that is more important than the rewards of an important surgical position. Besides, there is no opportunity to practice surgery here..."

"Other than the occasional impromptu surgery required in your position as GP."

He gave her a blank stare before replying, "Right."

They continued their conversation, engaging in shop-talk so to speak, discussing recent articles of interest in their respective professional journals, enjoying each other's company. They were debating the merits of a specific article Martin had read some time before examining the interface between psychotherapists and general practitioners and the benefits to their mutual patients when Louisa walked in with James, He had both his purple dinosaur and his spotted giraffe tucked under his arm, and he immediately ran over to Martin and jumped on his lap.

"All bathed and ready for bed," Louisa announced.

"Sounds like my cue to head on home." Ruth rose and leaned down to give James Henry a kiss on the top of his head, "Good night James."

"Good night Auntie Roof." James yawned and rubbed his eyes and burrowed into Martin's chest, "Daddy, read a story now?"

Louisa went over to take James from Martin, "Oh James, Daddy has to walk Auntie Ruth home."

Ruth slipped into her coat and opened the door, "That's really not necessary. It's still light out and the rain has stopped. I think I can make my way home without breaking a hip."

"Humph, don't joke about things like that, Ruth." Martin replied in a huff as he carried James over to the door, with Louisa following close behind.

"I'll be fine, I'm not decrepit yet." She turned before leaving, "Wonderful news about the baby. Now go tend to James."

So sorry about the delay in posting a new chapter. Real life has had me in its grip leaving little time for writing. There's lots more to come, but new chapters will be more scattershot than usual. Thanks for your patience, and many, many thanks to those who take the time to leave a comment.