Chapter 27
Back home they brought their presents inside and put them on the coffee table. "Well Martin this has been a lovely day, hasn't it? Louisa looked up at him and then hugged him.
"Yes, it has been good. In fact, this has been one of, if not the best, Christmases I've ever had," he told her quietly.
Her eyes quickly filled with tears, "Oh, Martin."
He put his hands on her shoulders, "Come on, we've still got the rest of the night to celebrate in."
She smiled and he picked up his new CD and put it on. The soft introduction to Rodrigo's Concerto de Aranjuez filled the air. He pulled her down onto the sofa and they cuddled as the music flowed about them.
After it had ended, they decided they didn't want anything to eat so Martin made tea for them both and they talked about what they would do on Boxing Day. A whole day to themselves in which to do as they liked!
They checked the weather forecast only to find that it would be wet and windy, so that ruled out travelling anywhere. Louisa then was in favour of a pyjama day. Martin was puzzled by that. "What is that?"
"Don't you know?" queried Louisa. "It's simply a day when you don't get dressed!"
Such decadence had clearly never occurred to him. However, when Louisa came across, put her hands on his chest and moved very close to him, he conceded the idea had some merit. "I should do some reading of my BMJ's" was his half-hearted protest. She kissed him and he lost the thread of what he was saying. They went to bed "to practice for tomorrow" as Louisa put it.
In the morning Martin looked at his dozing wife, marvelling again how beautiful was. He reached out to stroke her hair which cascaded across the pillow. She'd woken as he moved, but kept her eyes closed to see what else he'd do. After an amazing night where both had reached several pinnacles of ecstasy, she felt like the cat who'd had the cream.
His finger traced the line of her collar bone and she smiled. "Hello handsome," was her throaty greeting.
"Mm, hello witch. You've put a spell on me, and I can't break free."
Louisa was delighted at this hitherto hidden Martin, playing with pillow talk and oddly freer from his inhibitions than she had seen him before.
"I'm going to have to leave you for a minute, the bathroom is calling." She shook a finger at him and said "I command you not to move!" She'd emptied her bladder and then quickly brushed her teeth. "Now where were we?"
Martin asked for permission to go and do likewise, which was swiftly given. He quickly got back into bed and pulled the covers up so they were snug again. He encouraged her to lay on top of him while he moved his hands languidly up and down her spine. She began biting softly at his neck and chest, in reply. The temperature was beginning to rise, when there was a thunderous knocking at the front door.
"Who the hell's that?" snarled Martin. Upset that the next hour had been interrupted.
He got out of bed and put on his dressing gown, going rapidly downstairs to answer the door. Penhale stood there ashen-faced.
"What's the matter Penhale? You know Dr Lewis is on call today!" Martin fairly shouted at the constable.
"Can you come, Doc? Janice Porter has pulled a pan of hot water onto herself and she looks to be badly scalded. She's 6 years old."
Martin went into doctor mode immediately. "Tell the mother to wet a clean tea towel with cold water and wrap it loosely around her. Just keep her still. You call an ambulance. Where do they live?"
"Called the ambulance Doc. They live up past White Rose cottage. I've got my car and I'll drive you on blues."
Martin raced up stairs to get dressed and then raced back down again to get his bag. Penhale meanwhile had relayed the message to the mother. Martin quickly explained to Louisa what had happened. "I don't know when I'll be back, sorry." His eyes pleaded with her to understand.
"You go, Martin. I'll still be here when you get back."
The Landrover sped off back down the hill and was soon outside the Porter's house. Martin didn't waste any time, going straight to the kitchen.
He found the mother trying to calm the screaming child, but at least she'd done her best to follow his instructions. The father was stood uselessly in the corner not knowing how to help his injured child. "Ambulance is on its way," Martin told them.
"Janice, I need you to be quiet, can you do that?" She looked at him and somehow seemed to find his presence calming because she stopped yelling.
"I'm going to take this towel off so that I can look at your burns. Keep still for me." He peeled the towel away gently, assessing the skin coloration on her face and upper chest. It wasn't good news, but he did his best not to let that news show.
There were blisters already on one side of her face and down onto the top of her chest. There was red skin also. He took some gauze dressings from his bag and put them gently onto the worst of the blisters. The dressings were thin and of an open weave. He managed to hold them in place with sticky tape. Janice whimpered as he attached them. "You're a good girl, Janice, well done. I'll give you a small injection so you won't feel as much pain. Can you hold still for me, again?" He used a mild liquid painkiller especially formulated for children. Janice held still.
To her mother he said that Janice would need to go to hospital and that she should go with her. Mr Porter should follow in his car. After another couple of minutes, the ambulance could be heard approaching.
The paramedics were alerted to the incident and gently carried the little girl into the back of the vehicle. They could see that the wounds had been protected and so they wasted no time in setting off for the hospital.
Martin spoke to Mr Porter. "Although the blisters look bad at the moment, I don't think that long term there will be any deep scarring. She needs the blisters and red skin to be thoroughly assessed in Casualty, however I do think she will be kept in overnight as a precaution against shock."
"Thanks for coming Doc. We know you were supposed to be off-duty but we couldn't wait for the other doctor to come." Mr Porter was understandably upset, and shaking himself.
"You did the right thing, calling me." Martin told him. "You should get some clothes for your wife as she might be able to stay with Janice overnight. Make sure you drive carefully; Janice will be well looked after and doesn't need to hear that you've been in an accident as well!"
Ported nodded and held out his hand. Martin shook it, and then left.
Penhale was waiting outside to give him a lift back. "How is she Doc?"
The standard answer of "I can't discuss my patients" hovered on Martin's lips, but all he said was "As well as can be expected. Joe, well done for coming to get me. It was the right thing to do." He noticed that Penhale seemed to sit up straighter at his words.
After being dropped off by the constable Martin entered the surgery and went to write up the notes. He then re-stocked his bag before going to find Louisa.
She was sitting at the table drinking a cup of tea. "Martin, how is Janice? She's in my class at school and I'd like to know how long she will be off, after this?"
Martin thought for a minute. "I can only tell you that it will be up to the people at the hospital to determine the severity of the burns. She will be well-looked after and hopefully, will not be away too long."
Louisa was astonished she'd got even that small amount of information.
"I'll go over there this afternoon to check on her progress. You can come along if you want, although you'll have to wait in the car for me."
They were approaching the hospital when Louisa suddenly asked, "Do you know how it happened? How Janice got scalded?"
"Penhale said that she'd pulled a pan of boiling water off the cooker. Other than that, no I don't. it was more imperative to treat her than ask exactly how it happened. I daresay I'll find out shortly."
He looked at her quickly "Why do you want to know?"
"I was thinking that we should perhaps do a project in school, about dangers in the home. This would be a good way to introduce it."
"Don't you think they're a bit young?"
"We don't have to do an Emergency Ward 10 presentation, Martin. Just some general ideas of what might be hazardous and what to do if something does happen. That sort of thing."
"Emergency what?"
"Early medical show on TV. They were showing reruns a couple of years ago and I watched a bit of it."
Martin digested that information. "Do you think people would come to a First Aid course in the village hall if I run it? Would you help to tailor it to the average layman?
"I think that's a very good idea, Martin. I'm sure quite a few villagers would come and yes, I'd help. We should leave it for a month or so, just to let Janice heal. Don't you think?"
"Yes, it will take a little time to decide what to put in it. I don't want to over-complicate it, as I would consider this a very basic course."
He pulled into the car park and found a vacant space. "I'll try not to be too long."
Walking into the foyer he headed for the Reception Desk. "I'm Dr Ellingham, do you know where Janice Porter has been taken? Should be Children's or Burns Unit?"
The receptionist consulted her computer. "Burns Unit, Dr Ellingham. Floor 3, which is to your left."
Martin headed to Floor 3. When he got there, he found out that Janice was in ward 2, in the 4th bed. Mrs Porter was seated alongside her. "Hello, how is Janice doing?"
Mrs Porter turned worried eyes to Martin, "I'm not really sure, Dr Ellingham. The doctors here haven't said much except she's progressing. I don't know how badly scarred she'll be or whether she'll have very few."
"Hm," said Martin, taking the notes at the foot of the bed he read through them. Turning he walked back to the Nurse's station. "Is Dr Franklin here?"
"I can page him for you, Dr Ellingham." Martin's reputation for not suffering fools was well known throughout the hospital.
Dr Franklin eventually appeared. "What can I do for you, Dr Ellingham?"
Martin looked at him. "Can you tell me what the prognosis is for Janice Porter, the young girl brought in with scald burns?"
Dr Franklin gathered his thoughts. "She should make a good recovery, with slight scarring to her right shoulder and chest. We think the actions taken by her mother to cool the burn with the wet towel has been beneficial in that respect. Her face escaped most of the water with only mild contact there."
"Thank you. Now could you repeat that to her mother who, from what I can see, has been by her bedside for the last 24 hours?" Martin looked narrowly at the young doctor who recognised impatience when he saw it.
"Certainly, Doctor."
Franklin walked across to the mother and repeated what he'd just told Martin. Mrs Porter visibly sagged and tears began to roll down her cheeks. "Thank you, Dr Franklin. I've been so worried about Janice." Franklin nodded and asked if there was anything else he could do?
Mrs Porter shook her head. "No, it's a relief to know that she will be only lightly scarred, and that she will recover. Do you know how long it will take for her to get back to normal?"
Franklin said, more kindly, "It will take some time, but you should see rapid progress in a month or so. The skin will regenerate under the blisters and, with some physiotherapy, she will recover virtually all the movement in that arm and shoulder." He nodded and turned to leave.
Martin said to him "You should always tell patients what you found and what progress they should expect to make. This is particularly important to relatives and especially those of young patients. I know that sometimes they don't take it in immediately, but just hearing the words helps a great deal."
Franklin thought about protesting, but one look at Martin's face, decided him that it would be a losing battle, so he acknowledged the advice, and left.
"Thank you, Dr Ellingham. They didn't tell me before that the scarring should be slight. It's a relief to me."
"Mm. How did the accident happen?"
"I'd put the pan on to boil some eggs for breakfast. Janice was with me in the kitchen and as the water started to boil, I said "It's ready now", and then turned to get the eggs. She reached up to the handle and pulled it over. Her screams will live with me until the day I die."
She thought for a moment, "It was your advice to put the cool wet towel on her, wasn't it?"
"Yes, the coolness of the water extracts the heat from the skin and if done quickly enough will lessen the severity of the burn, or scald."
"Dr Ellingham, I can't thank you enough," was Mrs Porter's response.
"Well, just doing my job." Martin was ill equipped to deal with praise and told her he was glad the outcome wasn't as bad as first feared. "OK, I'll go now."
He turned and left the ward, before going back to Louisa.
"Hi Martin. How is she?"
"I can't.. hm, progressing."
"Thank you, Martin. That wasn't so hard, was it?"
"Yes, I mean no, erm do you want to go straight home or somewhere else?"
"It's Boxing Day and we'll never get in anywhere. Straight home please I've got some fish and I thought I'd do fish parcels, with filo pastry instead of shortcrust. What do you think?"
"Sounds reasonable. Less saturated fat in filo pastry."
"Yes, thank you Martin."
When they got home Martin went to the surgery to write up more notes on Janice Porter. Louisa went into the kitchen and set about making the fish parcels. She was utilising the fish varieties she'd bought and using a deep bun tray to help form the parcel, dropping a quantity of fish into each one, adding a white parsley sauce and folding the pastry over.
While she waited for the mains to cook, she made a fresh salad and set the table.
Eventually they sat down and Martin was quite pensive. Louisa let him sit and think knowing that he'd eventually remember where he was. She enjoyed the parcels and thought she'd do them again in the future.
"Tea, Martin?"
Martin startled out of his reverie. "What? Oh erm, yes please."
Louisa placed the mug in front of him. "Penny for them?"
"I was just thinking about what you said when I came here. About people skills being important to a GP. When I was coming home with Penhale I mentioned that he'd done the right thing in calling me this morning. It was as if I'd told him the Queen was coming. In the hospital I was able to get some information to a patient's relative, who was then extremely grateful for it. I've never really noticed it before."
"Most people like to feel appreciated. Haven't you heard the old maxim – honey catches more flies than vinegar? I don't mean that in a cynical way, just that expressing thanks or giving compliments makes people feel they have contributed in some way and makes them feel better. It's not rocket science, Martin."
"No, I've never felt comfortable with praise for just doing my job."
"Yes, but that is because you were more likely to have been chastised, than praised. I think that you are exceptional in what you do and what you achieve. You dismiss praise too quickly. Having said that I wouldn't want you to become big-headed!"
"Hmm, but you're biased in that you love me!"
"Yes, that's true, but it doesn't stop me seeing both sides, the negative and positive qualities. We all have both."
Martin reached over to touch her hand and said "You are perfect, Louisa."
She laughed. "If only. I'm human and I know my faults. Rushing in to fix things I know nothing about. Impatience when things aren't just as I expect them to be. Irritability for no apparent reason. The list goes on.."
He squeezed her hand, "You are to me."
She looked at him and smiled. "I guess we both have things to think about then, yes?" She got up and began the washing up. He left the lounge and then came back carrying the solitaire game.
"I'm determined to crack this. I've been close on a couple of occasions and then fallen at the last."
"Yeah, I saw you a couple of times coming close. You'll get there. If you are going to do that, I'm going in the bath with a book and read for a bit. OK?"
She'd been in the bath for about 20 minutes when she heard a loud "Yes" from downstairs. She giggled to herself and then she heard feet pounding up the stairs.
A quick knock on the bathroom door heralded his arrival with a single peg in the centre of the board.
"That's great, Martin. Now you need to do it again to make sure it wasn't a fluke and then I'll come and watch you do it to make sure you weren't cheating."
His eyes widened, "I wouldn't!" He then noticed her shoulders shaking as she tried to contain her mirth. "Witch!" he castigated her.
She waved him away and set about getting washed and dried. Tying her dressing gown snugly about her waist she went down to watch him clear the solitaire board. "That's great, Martin. I can see I'll have to find something harder to do, next time."
Louisa looked at him appraisingly. "What did you feel like when you got it right?"
"If I'm honest, an unaccustomed sense of achievement, which is ridiculous given it's just a child's game," he grumbled.
"That's how you should feel when you achieve something, regardless of whether it's a childish game, or diagnosing some complicated case. There's nothing to be ashamed about in producing a result which gives you satisfaction. She gave a coquettish smile and said "you've given me a lot to be satisfied about."
He blushed and ducked his head. He set the board up again and showed her that he had indeed, mastered it.