Thanks again to everyone for the kind reviews and PM's. I am very glad you are enjoying the story.
Chapter 21
A week later, we are sitting around the kitchen table at the farm enjoying a meal prepared by Aunty Joan and the conversation of marriage rears its ugly head. Phillip is finished with his feeding and I have taken him to walk around the lounge winding him. Louisa and Joan are discussing why we weren't married.
"I don't understand why?" Aunt Joan announces, "You are living together in a house that you have secured for your future together, so why not go down to the registrar's office and take it one step further?"
"Joan, we are discussing it, but we need to discuss the where, when and how but not be rushed into marriage because you and the entire village say so," Louisa responds.
Holding up her hand, Louisa signals enough as I walk into the kitchen, handing Phillip to Joan so I can gather his blanket and place it in his nappy bag. I look over to Louisa to catch her attention so we can leave.
"Joan, thank you for the great meal, but I think it is time for us to get Phillip home and bathed," Louisa states.
I am quiet on the trip back home, and knowing that look Louisa touches me lightly on the thigh,
"Martin, we need to talk once I get Phillip bathed and settled in his cot."
My grunt acknowledging a response. Tightly gripping the steering wheel, I think about how I want the conversation to play out. I know tomorrow that I will be talking to Doctor Hayes and need to complete my assignment to talk to Louisa.
I am waiting in the kitchen with a fresh pot of tea when Louisa comes downstairs; she sits down opposite me, and waits as I pour her tea.
"Martin, Joan and I talked this afternoon about marriage," Louisa started, "She feels we should get married."
"We should marry, be a proper family for Phillip," I mumble, "I want to be married to you because I love you and want you to be my wife and spend the rest of our lives together."
Louisa reaches across the table taking my hand, squeezing it as she nods,
"I love you too and will marry you whenever you wish," she says as she continues to squeeze my hand.
"I was thinking we could quietly go away alone, maybe one of those estate homes turned wedding venue," she adds.
Relived she wasn't interested in the big church wedding again,
"Most of those places are booked several months in advance, I don't want to wait that long," I said.
She nods, and letting go of my hand Louisa walks over to her satchel and pulls out her laptop.
"Why don't we look around a bit and see what is available," she affirms as she opens her web browser.
We sit together for quite a while, as each site shows us that nothing is available for several months, 'seems everyone wants to marry in the summer' which I don't understand. We finally find a place that has an opening the day after Louisa's post-natal appointment. Louisa immediately calls to book it. I notice Louisa is nibbling her lower lip, a sure sign she is nervous when she hangs up and looks at me.
Do you think we are rushing it again," she asks. "It is less than three weeks from now. Remember last time?"
Taking her in my arms, I kiss the top of her head and say,
"No, I would marry you this afternoon if I could but if you really want to wait, we can."
She looks up at my face, and smiles, "I would like to marry you now, too, I am worrying for no good reason. It is different now. We know each other so much better. I will need to go shopping for a dress. Maybe I can call Joan to go with me; for now I would like only Joan to know about our plans."
"We will need two witnesses, I was thinking of Chris Parsons," I reply.
"Why don't we ask both of them; with Joan watching Phillip, we could have a small dinner with family and our best friends to help us celebrate."
With that settled, we make the phone calls. Tracy talks to Louisa and offers to meet her and Joan in Truro to shop for the essentials.
The next morning Joan picks Louisa up for their trip to Truro; I have my appointment with Doctor Hayes and happily babysit Phillip. Doctor Hayes and I discuss different things, to include my problem being just near Louisa all the time. I have emotions that I don't know how to handle as I am not use to such a beautiful woman wanting me and then finally I ask the question I am most worried about, so much so that I researched it and the answers frighten me,
"I …mmm, doing some research, I came across studies that show sex is more important to the male population and after child birth females are less likely to want to engage in sexual relations. I don't want to force myself on Louisa when she marries me, uhm … what should I do on our wedding night?"
"Have you discussed your concerns with Louisa?"
"Um … no, she will feel the need to reward me, but I have abstained from sex for many years, I … can … continue but it will be difficult. My father didn't want to spend time with his wife after I was born. I don't understand as Louisa is more desirable every day. My mother told me that I ruined her life by being born. I can't live that way with Louisa, I love this beautiful woman and when she touches me, I feel calm with all my insecurities melting away."
"Your feelings towards Louisa are normal and I am sure she feels the same way. You do remember our conversation last week; do you really want to take cold showers the rest of your married life? Martin, please talk to Louisa. And your parents … well that is another conversation."
After my appointment, I sit in the study reviewing my research and the studies Doctor Hayes emailed shortly after our discussion. I realize I am over reacting as I remember the times I was embarrassed with my body's reaction to Louisa, and she told me that she couldn't wait for her all clear as she wanted me just as much.
The next couple of weeks drag on; finally, the morning of her appointment arrives; we drop Phillip off with Joan and make our way to Truro. We walk into the hospital from the car park, Louisa takes my hand to help calm me, and once again I worry Louisa may not receive her all clear, maybe she was injured during childbirth or she has not healed completely. Louisa notices my worried frown, and squeezes my hand tighter as if she knows of my worry, while she gives me her biggest smile. I take a deep breathe to calm myself further.
Doctor Rawle performs a thorough examination and declares Louisa healthy. The night before Louisa and I spoke on the best contraceptive choice to use and Doctor Rawle agreed with us.
I sit in the waiting area, I let my mind wander back over the last six weeks; Louisa said I was a good father and if I logically look back I would agree. I am nothing of the terrible example my father was and I know if I have difficulties, Louisa will provide a better alternative. Doctor Hayes said the trauma my parents placed on me contributed to my inabilities and with my shy personality made me feel insecure with the outside world. I chose a profession to help others and to do no harm, together it would blend into my personal life so I could love my son unconditionally and Louisa. At first, I thought I could not change my routine to accommodate an infant; however, the moment I held my son I realized he would never be a burden. My eyes light up as I spot Louisa coming down the hallway towards me; my heart skips a few beats, as my mind acknowledges that my heart is beating in response to the image of the woman I love and will marry tomorrow. My eyes are glistening with tears of joy and my mouth pulls into a minuscule smile, but for me it is huge. Louisa sees me, her face lights up into her terrific smile that shows pure joy of seeing me. I can get used to seeing that vision for the rest of my life. This thought not so long ago would never have entered my mind; I was unloved for so long and just ten months ago, Louisa left me for London, but her letter did say she loved me. Have I really changed that much that she is now willing to marry me? She walks up and I apprehensively ask,
"Everything good?"
"Yes," she says, touching my cheek to calm me.
"Good, he was able to take care of the … cont…?"
Louisa places a finger over my lips,
"Yes, he did. The one we discussed, he said we made a good decision," she said as she takes my arm to leave.
Martin Christopher Ellingham smiles, his odd smile, as he walks out of the hospital with Louisa on his arm.
We pull into the drive at the farm an hour later. Joan steps out to meet us, and seeing our expressions, she knows all is fine and suggests we sit down for lunch, as Phillip is still asleep. As we finish the fish-stew, Phillip announces he is ready to see everyone. Louisa settles him in her arms as I pull out his blanket and lay it over her shoulder. While Phillip feeds, we discuss the itinerary for the next day. I wind and change his nappy, and return him to Louisa to finish feeding. Joan is astonished at how easily we work together with Phillip, hoping we can easily work through our entire life without any problems, but we all know life is full of surprises. Later that afternoon, I settle Phillip in his carrier, snap it into the backseat of the Lexus, and help Louisa in next to him. We wave goodbye to Joan to head home.
"Martin can we stop at the chemist on the way home? I need to make a purchase,"
"Yes. Do you want me to run in and purchase it?"
"No, I'll only be a minute."
I stop just outside the chemist shop and Louisa pops in to make her purchase.
"Hello Mrs. Tishell," Louisa happily announces upon entering the shop.
"What can I do for you?" Mrs. Tishell responds. She can see Martin in the Lexus just outside the door and seems a bit distracted.
"I just need to pick up something." Louisa says as she scans the shelf.
Mrs. Tishell is surprised with my purchase and stammers as she looks out the window towards Martin.
"Are you sure you need these?" she asks.
"Oh yes, yes indeed. You see I just received my all clear and I want to be prepared. He said he can hardly wait for us to get home, so if you can, may I have my purchase now."
Stumbling a bit as Mrs. Tishell moves over to the register to ring up my purchase and then places it in a bag.
"Please put it on Martin's personal account will you." Louisa says as she picks up the bag and walks out the door with a satisfied smile on her face.*
Mrs. Tishell stands there stunned to hear the news. She walks slowly over to the door watching as Louisa gets into the car and leans over to kiss the Doc on his cheek. Slowly Mrs. Tishell flips the 'closed sign' around and locks the door. She turns off the lights as she heads upstairs to cry her heart out again.
Upon our return home, I carry Phillip into the house, taking him up to his cot. Louisa follows us upstairs taking a stance just inside the doorframe watching as I attentively place Phillip in his cot. As I turn to leave, she seizes my hand pulling me to the bedroom.
We have decided to wait until after the ceremony tomorrow to consummate our marriage. Louisa kisses me deeply as I walk her towards our bed. Gently lifting her up, I place her head on the pillow and lay down beside her. Louisa rolls me onto my back so she can nibble along my neck with her lips. I hug her now firmer body and ask,
"Are you sure you want to wait?"
"Yes, Martin. I want tomorrow to be special. A day to remember, expressing our vows to one another and the anticipation of you making love to me as my husband," Louisa says and then kisses the tip of my nose.
I pull her closer to me, and kiss her lips. Louisa lays her head on my chest and we cuddle together and fall into a comfortable slumber, as neither of us slept well the night before worried about the appointment. We are lying tangled together until Phillip wakes us a few hours later. I get up, and bring Phillip to Louisa to feed.
"While you feed him, I'll just take a quick shower," I say as I place Phillip in her arms.
Upon my return into the bedroom, I pull on clean pants and walk over to Phillips' room, watching as my beautiful Louisa changes our son's nappy. Just as she picks him up, I wrap my arms around them, whispering in her ear,
"You are so beautiful, I love you."
Surprised by my revelation of love, she snuggles her head into my neck, kissing me, proclaiming her love to me.
Phillip wiggles impatiently, his mouth looking to suckle again, I release Louisa from my arms and she sits in the rocker to allow Phillip to finish his meal. Phillips little fingers knead her breast while he feeds, I reach over to touch his hand and Phillip grabs one of my large fingers. Leaning over I encircle my family with my other arm; I am a happy man.
xXxXx
Later that evening as I am finishing the dishes from dinner my mobile buzzes.
"Ellingham"
"Doctor Ellingham, this is Doctor Ledford."
"Doctor, how can I help you?"
"Doctor Ellingham, I am the locum that Doctor Parsons hired for the village while you are on leave. I have a problem down at the surgery that I need your help with."
Now I am confused, "Doctor, as you stated I'm on leave so if this is an emergency you need to call for an ambulance."
"I have, but there was a terrible accident near Wadebridge, the road is blocked and all available ambulances are busy there. Please come to the surgery and help me."
"Yes, fine. I'll be there in ten minutes at the most."
I turn to Louisa, who has stood quietly listening to my side of the conversation, "I'm sorry Louisa, there seems to be an emergency at the surgery and I am needed."
"Martin go. Phillip and I will be fine." She reaches up and strokes my cheek before placing a chaste kiss on my cheek.
I drive down the hill from the house to the surgery; I can see Penhale's Land Rover parked in front. I am unable to get around his vehicle; I park and trot up to the front door, opening it quickly. My consulting room door is open and I can hear Penhale, the Locum and a woman's voice animatedly talking in loud mumbled voices. I call out,
"Penhale, you are blocking the road!"
"Doctor Ellingham, please hurry. I need your help."
"What is the emergency?" I ask as I step into the room, but the scene sets me in motion.
"I found them on the road coming into the village and bought them here to the surgery. I called 9-9-9, but that terrible mess in Wadebridge is using all the available ambulances," Penhale says as he is applying pressure to several wounds on the woman.
"How severe are her wounds?" I ask as I hurry over to the locum analyzing the man on the table that is unconscious and bleeding from his head and the nasty open wound on his upper leg to pelvis region.
"The other Doc says they aren't too bad, but the man is in terrible condition."
Grabbing gloves from the box on my cart, I slip them on, to start working with my counterpart. The man is mumbling regaining consciousness and suddenly he is trying to get up and pushing us away. Immediately I use my larger size and weight by practically lying across the upper torso to keep him on the table. Even in his injured state, I am having difficulty keeping him on the table, I yell out instruction at the same time,
"Doctor 5mg Midazolam now".
"Got it," the locum shouts back as he races to pull the medication from the cabinet drawer and draws the syringe up. He is quickly by my side again, as I struggle to keep our patient from striking out,
"Where you want me to inject it," he shouts.
"Penhale come here now. Carefully lay across his upper legs. Doctor inject him near his shoulder in the arm I'm not lying on."
Between the three of us, the patient receives the injection and a few minutes later, he settles down. I check his BP and heart rate to ensure he doesn't suffer cardiac problems to the medication, while the locum checks his respiration. Satisfied the patient is not in danger from the Midazolam, I turn my attention back to the injured thigh pelvis area.
"Doctor now that our patient is no longer agitated start an IV with saline to keep his fluids going. Now let's look at this wound."
I wash out the wound and find foreign material, rinsing more thoroughly removing all that I can see. The deep circumflex iliac artery is damaged and I can see the neck and head of the femur, along the hip joint are broken and a crack on the upper femur. "Penhale, you said they were walking when you found them?"
"She was half carrying him. Actually more like she was dragging him along."
"Doctor, I need to stitch this artery and then we can pack the wound and hope for an ambulance before he comes around again."
I spend the next hour carefully stitching the man's artery. My mentor would be upset with my imperfect sewing, but I was out of practice. While I work on the major injury, the locum cleans and bandages the patient's head wounds and is now working on the woman's minor injuries. I finish packing the surgical area with gauze and start to take the man's BP and check his other vitals when the ambulance attendants shout out from the reception area.
Penhale leaves us to collect them. I look over to the locum,
"I … your name is?" I stammer, as I can't remember his name as usual.
"Ledford, Jim Ledford."
"Good decision asking for help. Do we know where these people came from? Their clothing is shredded and the debris in his hip wound was gravel and dirt."
"No, PC Penhale just showed up with lights and siren. We were having problems with the male patient and remembering you were a surgeon at one time and probably spent more time in the A&E than myself, I thought you could help and I was right."
I grunt with embarrassment and walk away to check on our male patient again. Penhale returns with two men rolling in the stretcher.
I ask Penhale, "Where did you find these two? He," I point to the unconscious male patient, "had gravel, dirt and other debris in his wounds. Like his body traveled along the side of a road for a great distance. Was there a motorbike or bicycle near where you found them?"
"No, didn't notice, but she said they had traveled a fair distance trying to find a house to call for help."
The attendants start the process of prepping the patient as I provide an update on the broken bones and injuries, explaining the procedure I performed on the man. Doctor Ledford filled them in on his medical findings on the woman. The attendants requested our help to move the male patient onto the stretcher; we carefully secure him and roll him into the waiting ambulance. The female, helped by Doctor Ledford was waiting for us in the jump seat in the rear of the vehicle. Doctor Ledford turns to me as they close the back door and with sirens blaring, the ambulance departs, extending his hand out to thank me once again for the help.
I return home to Louisa and Phillip exhausted. The only need I have is to hug and cuddle with both of them. The downstairs is lit only by the hall lamp that we keep on near the bottom of the stairs; I climb the stairs to find Louisa feeding Phillip in our bed, I walk up to her and kiss her lightly on her cheek,
"I need to shower and change before I touch either of you."
I quickly move towards our bathroom, perform my ablutions, and then return to my family. Phillip is busy nursing when I crawl onto the bed and wrap my arms around Louisa. For some reason I feel the need to touch her and be with my son. I don't understand this emotion as it brings tears to my eyes that roll down my cheeks as I look at my beautiful son and his mother. I lean in so my head is resting on Louisa's shoulder as I watch my son's cheeks become milk covered as he falls asleep while nursing.
"Do you want me to wind him and put him to bed?" I ask.
"Yes, I'll get ready for bed then. We have a long day planned tomorrow," she says with a wide smile and glowing face. "I become your wife tomorrow and need my rest for our wedding night."
This expressing of the events for tomorrow bring a smile to my face and my eyes soften as I kiss her again, but this time on her delicate lips.
Phillip is sleeping soundly on my shoulder as I burp him, but I still get subtle burps. I lay him in his bed and cover him with his blanket. I run the side of my hand down his cheek before wishing him goodnight.
Louisa returns to our bed moments later and cuddles into me. Kissing my cheek,
"Goodnight Martin. I will dream of you saying your vows to me and how you are going to show me how you will love me all night and every night of our marriage." She kisses me again more passionately on my lips before settling her head on my chest for the night.
I turn off my bedside light wrapping my other arm over her hip. Closing my eyes, I dream of making love to Louisa each night into the future; something I never thought possible just months ago.
End of Chapter
*I love the character of Mrs. Tishell and at the beginning and throughout this story she has made snide comments towards Louisa. Louisa always tried to be nice, but I just couldn't let the story end without Louisa getting a little revenge. Using the condoms was her revenge, as you all know Louisa didn't need them. Sorry if I offended anyone.
I am not in the medical profession; all information for the medical emergency I found on different medical web sites on the internet.