Chapter 28
The alarm the next morning awakened Martin and he laid back contemplating the day ahead. He was opening the surgery for just half a day. In years past he would have opened all day, but had decided that now he was married, and with a child on the way, some concessions to a family life for him needed to be firmly established with the villagers. He pushed the covers aside and went for his customary shower.
Returning to the bedroom he saw that Louisa was stirring too. He got dressed and was about to leave the room when she said "Martin? I was satisfied last night."
He went back to the bed and leaned down to kiss her cheek. "Me too. I love you." Then he was off to get some breakfast.
Promptly at 8:00 Pauline arrived and brought in the post. "Morning Doc," she yelled. "Did you have a good Christmas? Al and I did. No work for either of us was bliss."
Martin acknowledged her greeting but ignored the rest of her babble. "You remembered just to schedule patients until 1:00 o'clock, didn't you?"
"Yeah Doc, you have 10 patients this morning, plus anyone who rings up before 9:00."
As he was going to his office, he heard the door go and a familiar whining voice assaulted his ears. He hastily closed the door and went to sit behind his desk and collect his thoughts about Florence Dingley.
"Next patient," he yelled and Pauline brought the notes in before holding the door open for Mrs Dingley.
"What is the problem, Mrs Dingley?" He tried not to wince as the grating voice began talking.
"My scratches aren't healing, Doc." She held out her arm and Martin could see that they were still inflamed and on one of the scratches could actually see pus oozing out.
"Did you take the medicine, I prescribed?" "Did you avoid alcohol over the holiday?" He saw her eyes turn down and knew at least one of the requests had been ignored.
"It's Christmas Doc. I was offered drinks as I went visiting. You can't turn down hospitality, now, can you?"
"You should if you want to be healed, Mrs Dingley. How many tablets have you got left?"
"Just 8 Doc. I did use the cream, though."
"I'm giving you a prescription for another two weeks, for the tablets, and some more cream. Mrs Dingley if you imbibe any more alcohol between now and when the tablets are finished in a fortnight's time, I suggest you travel to Wadebridge and see Dr Lewis for any future treatment. Am I making myself clear enough?"
"You just want to ruin the fun for everyone, you do. It's the New Year next week. Everyone has a drink then."
"Well, I don't and if you want to keep your arm, I don't think you should either." Martin was firm in his delivery and then called out "Next patient." To signify this appointment was at an end.
Several more patients with hangovers and over-indulgence problems came and went. Martin made an espresso at 11:00, and Pauline her customary coffee. He didn't see Louisa and assumed she'd gone out shopping. The rest of his shift went in a similar pattern as the morning and he breathed a sigh of relief when it was over. After telephoning the hospital to check on Janice Porter, he called Dr Lewis to outline why he had not been summoned to the case. "Perfectly understand, Martin. Much the better solution, by far. I hope you have a quiet New Year." With that they ended the call and Martin tidied the office before going for his lunch.
"Louisa!" Martin's breathy greeting sounded soft in the quiet of the kitchen. Louisa turned around from the kettle and smiled at him.
"Morning Martin. Had a good morning?"
Martin harrumphed and muttered about overindulgent morons.
Louisa sighed. "Do you want a turkey sandwich? I got some this morning when I went shopping."
"Yes, please. Did you need much shopping? You could have left it until this afternoon and I could have gone with you to carry the bags."
"No, we didn't need a lot. Just milk, fresh bread and some sandwich fillings. I could cope and it was nice to walk in the fresh air," she explained. "Most of the people I spoke to seemed to have had a good Christmas, although plenty were asking after little Janice."
"You didn't tell them, did you?"
"No Martin, I just said that you didn't discuss your patients with anyone. They've heard it plenty of times before, so they don't persist."
"Good. Do you want to go out anywhere this afternoon?"
"The weather doesn't look up to much, so I think I'll put some washing in and clean around a bit. You can do whatever you want."
"I've not had much time for my clocks lately, no pun intended, I'll go and do some work on those."
"Fine – see you later."
Louisa got the washing together and put the first load in. Moving on up the stairs with her cleaning materials she made a start on the bathroom. She'd finished the bath and shower when her phone rang. Her caller display told her it was Joan.
"Hello Louisa, how are you?"
"Feeling OK, Joan. What about yourself?"
"Very good, thanks. I could come down for a cup of tea if you want?"
"Be good to see you. 2:30 OK?
"I'll be there," said Joan and rang off.
Louisa finished in the bathroom and went and made the bed. She always liked the feel of fresh sheets. She vacuumed the carpets and then went downstairs to put the kettle on. Going into the study she told Martin that Joan was coming. He wrinkled his nose and smiled. "When?"
"About 2:30, are you coming to have a drink with her? You could then come back to the clock?"
Martin sighed. "I suppose so." Louisa went and ruffled his hair, dropping a kiss on his cheek. "Attaboy" she laughed.
She escaped to the kitchen before he could retaliate.
Joan was prompt, as usual. "Only me," rang out as she came in. "Ah, Louisa, I've brought some more vegetables which should keep until New Year at least." She put a carrier bag on the table.
"Thanks Joan, I should be able to use them. Please sit yourself down. Do you want cake or chocolate digestives? Or be really sinful and have both?"
"Are you sure you don't want to invoke the wrath of the calorie counter? Where is he?"
Martin's voice came from directly behind her, making her jump a little. "I'm here. I take it you are referring to me? I'm only thinking of you when I point these things out, you know."
"Yes Martin," chorused Louisa and Joan.
Martin scowled and sat down. "How are you," he asked Joan, politely.
"Very well, as you can see. What about you? I heard about the Porter child. That must have been quite distressing to see that?" Joan angled for information but Martin just agreed with her.
"I called at the hospital, later in the day. She is progressing." Was all he said of the incident.
Joan told them that she'd tried on her new twin set and confirmed it fit perfectly. I wore it to Muriel's do yesterday. I felt very chic." She laughed. "Even Muriel said it matched my eyes."
"Joan, would you like to come for lunch on New Year's Day? Martin is on call, but fingers crossed there will be no emergencies."
"That will be great. Thank you. About what time?""
Arrangements were made and all were satisfied. Joan because she would make it home to see her favourite comedians, Morecambe and Wise, and Martin because he could then spend the rest of the day with Louisa. Call outs permitting that is. Louisa was just glad that she could return the hospitality of Christmas day.
Martin excused himself and returned to his clocks.
They chatted on about various aspects of village life, mentioning the Porters and others who had come to their attention. "I see Clive Tishell is home for the holidays," remarked Louisa.
"Aye. I saw Sally in the supermarket all flustered because Clive told her at the last minute, and she'd not prepared much in the way of festive food. She thought she would be on her own. You know I feel sorry for that woman because Clive is absent for much of the time. She must get lonely?"
"Hm." Was all Louisa would say. "Don't you feel lonely at times, up there on the farm?"
Joan thought about it. "Not really, because between the animals and veg and then delivering the veg I get to see quite a lot of people. Most of them have a bit of time for a chat and I learn about what's going on."
Louisa informed Joan that she was returning to school on the 3rd of January, but that it would be a short week, giving her a chance to get back into the swing of things.
"Right, I must be off, Louisa. Call me if you need anything." Joan briskly got her coat on and went.
Phew, thought Louisa. I don't know where she gets the energy! She turned her attention to the washing and put a new load in. As she was folding the wet clothes to get them in the basket her thoughts strayed to Sally Tishell. Louisa shuddered, and yet there was something about her that ruffled Louisa's feathers. Other than the remaining washing, Louisa decided she'd done enough for the day and retired to the couch with her book.
Martin found her asleep when he came back in to see what was for tea. Smiling, he decided that if he wanted anything, he'd better do it himself. Checking the fridge, he saw ham and salad and decided sandwiches would be enough for today. They didn't take long to do. Just as he was putting the finishing touches to them, Louisa stretched and looked across.
"Martin! I would have done those. I guess I fell asleep again."
"Hm, you need as much sleep as you can get while the baby is growing. It was no problem. Do you want some soup before we have these?"
"Yes please. Whatever you are having will be fine for me."
After the meal Martin told her to go back to the couch and he would wash up. When she protested, he said "Shush" and motioned her towards the sofa.
The rest of the week went by and soon it was New Year's Eve. Martin was on call from 6:00p.m. until the 2nd of January and was anticipating the usual drunken attitudes of revellers, resulting in some accident or other. He was never very charitable to injuries caused by self-indulgence.
Sure enough, he was called down to the Crab and Lobster where a fisherman had cut his arm on some broken glass. The fact that he'd been staggering around drunk was something he neglected to tell Martin. However, Martin hadn't needed the statement because the man's breath reeked of alcohol.
Muttering to himself as he walked back home, he heartily wished that the next two days would go quickly. He entered the surgery, stopping only to fill up his bag again.
Going into the kitchen, he asked Louisa if she wanted some tea. "Just had some, thanks."
"Any trouble down at the pub?" she enquired.
"Just the usual moronic shenanigans, that's all."
Louisa knew enough about him to realise this was not the time to remonstrate with him about insulting the villagers. Instead, she motioned to the seat next to her and said "I'm just reading so there's room for you."
He brought his tea over and put it on the coffee table before plonking himself down next to her. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't take it out on you." He looked remorsefully at her.
She shrugged her shoulders. "No matter. Are we staying up to let the New Year in or retiring early?"
"What do you want to do? I know they will be letting off fireworks on the Platt at midnight and my beauty sleep will be shattered by that. Assuming I'm not out on call," he said fatalistically. He finished his tea and then swung his legs up on the couch and put his head in her lap.
She stroked his cheek and then, as she continued to read, absent-mindedly began to toy with his hair. Martin sighed contentedly and allowed his thoughts to wander. He'd never been so happy as he was today. This beautiful woman was not only married to him, but also bearing his child. He drifted into a deeper sleep as Louisa continued to read.
An hour later his phone went off again, throwing him out of the pleasant dream he was in. Sitting up he answered "Ellingham."
Doc, it's Mrs Rix here. Eddie's dislocated his arm again. Can you come, please?"
This time when Martin got to the Rix's house Eddie had managed to free himself from the rig and was sat at the kitchen table groaning with pain. Martin saw the tell-tale drop of the shoulder which was indicative of a dislocation.
"What on earth were you thinking about? It's no time at all since you had your appendix out! You could have pulled the wound open, again" He was about to lambast Rix again when he saw the look of pain cross Eddie's face.
"Right Mr Rix, you know the drill. I'll give you something for the pain and after it's taken effect, I'll reduce the shoulder for you."
Eddie paled, "Do you have to use a needle Doc? You know I don't like them."
"You have two choices Eddie. 1) you can let me do it, or 2) I can call an ambulance and you can wait in agony before enduring the jolting ride to the hospital where they will inject you with a painkiller before reducing the shoulder. Your choice." Martin was adamant that he wasn't going to do anything until Eddie had been anaesthetised.
"OK, you can do it." Eddie agreed.
Martin prepared the syringe and told Eddie to look at his wife. As Eddie turned his head Martin swiftly injected the analgesic.
"Oww!" squalled Eddie. Martin just looked at him, deadpan.
"That will take at least 10 minutes to work and so I'd like to discuss with you this weakness of the shoulder. You are dislocating it more easily now and I'd like to refer you to the specialist at the hospital. They could perform a procedure which would tighten the joint and hopefully stop the luxation happening."
"Luxury, Doc what's that?"
"Luxation or dislocation as it is more commonly known."
Eddie nodded, but wished he hadn't as a pain went through his arm. "Gotcha Doc. Will I be put to sleep while they do that?"
"Yes, you will be under a general anaesthetic and won't feel a thing."
"Right let's see if the painkiller has worked," so saying he took Eddie's arm and gently lifted it. Eddie didn't say anything or grimace.
"Mrs Rix, I need you to hold him steady whilst I perform the manoeuvre."
He lifted the arm up whilst pulling steadily on it. With a sudden twist the arm went back into its socket. "Oh, that was quick," Eddie spluttered.
"I'll bandage the shoulder up, but you must not take it off, nor engage in any strenuous activities. Understand? I'll make an appointment for you at the hospital on the 3rd. If I can. Pauline will confirm the time. "Any questions?"
"No Doc, thanks for coming so quickly," Mrs Rix was full of apologies. "Happy New Year to you and Louisa, too."
"Yes," was Martin's reply.