Chapter 32

Back in school the next day, Pippa came over and apologised for what she'd implied about Martin. "I do know he's a good doctor, Louisa. I'm afraid I've listened to too many who want to tar him with the "unfeeling" brush. I'll make sure I speak up about it in future."

Louisa sighed. "Thanks for that, Pippa. It just grates on me the number of people he's helped or who's life he's saved, and a lot of them still won't give him the time of day."

"To be honest, Louisa, a lot more are coming around to the idea that he's not as fearsome as he seemed to be."

As the bell went then, Louisa was saved from replying.

Martin's day got off to a good start when both Florence Dingley and Malcolm Raynor cancelled their appointments. An unaccustomed thought popped into his head and he mentally chastised himself for frivolous, and probably scandalous, speculations.

The rest of his patients presented with simple symptoms which, if they'd only thought about them, they could have dealt with themselves.

His last patient however was a different kettle of fish. Mrs Taylor came in with her son Robert who was nursing his wrist.

"Have you come to see me about your wrist, Robert?" The boy looked at the tall man in front of him and shrank back into his seat. He nodded, uncertainly.

"Would you hold out your hand, please?" Martin could see the little boy was frightened and did his best not to overwhelm him. Robert gingerly extended his arm.

The wrist was swollen and slightly bent, where it shouldn't be. "Robert, I'd like to touch your wrist and see exactly where it hurts. I promise I'll be gentle, is that all right?" Again, Robert nodded. Martin reached out and took the wrist, palpating gently around the circumference. Robert's sharp indrawn breath informed Martin that the wrist was likely fractured.

"How did this happen, Robert?"

"I was running home from school and I tripped. I put my hand out to stop myself, but it hurts." Robert's bottom lip began to tremble.

"I see. I need some details for my records, Robert. Can you tell me how old you are?"

Robert said, "I'm 8, and next month I'll be 9. I'm in Mrs Ellingham's class. Is she your wife?" Robert looked at him questioningly.

"Yes, Mrs Ellingham is my wife." Martin was patient with the boy, much to his mother's surprise.

"Dr Ellingham, Robert has had several fractures in the last few years. He's broken his other arm and his ankle. I'm beginning to think I should wrap him in cotton wool, or not let him go out to play!"

Martin's suspicions were raised and he looked more thoroughly at the little boy. "Robert, come over here please and stand next to the ruler." As the boy obeyed him Martin looked at his gait and then went across to measure his height. The height confirmed that he might be right.

Mrs Taylor asked "What's wrong with him Doc?"

"I think Robert has broken his wrist, but an X-ray will be needed to confirm that. I'd also like the hospital to run some more tests, if you agree?"

Mrs Taylor looked doubtfully at him. "What do you think he has Doc?"

"I think Robert has what is called brittle-bone disease, and is therefore likely to break his bones more easily than another child." He saw Mrs Taylor bristle and quickly told her that it was a condition Robert had been born with and was not her fault.

"I'll put a support bandage on, but he needs to go to hospital tonight, have an X-ray and then a plaster cast will be put on, if my suspicions are correct. Do you have transport to get there?"

"Yes, my husband is home by 4:30 and he can take us. He's used to the journey," she sighed.

Martin turned to the boy, "Robert if you're good and do what the doctors ask you to do at the hospital, I'm sure they will let you choose the colour of your cast."

"Really Doc? Cool." Robert seemed more interested in his cast than the pain in his wrist.

Martin gave him some paracetamol to take and then told Mrs Taylor the doctors at the hospital might provide stronger painkillers if required. "By the way, Mrs Taylor, the hospital will also send the results to me so I'll contact you in a few days' time to set up an appointment to discuss them with you and Mr Taylor."

"Can you make it an early morning one, please Doc? Gordon doesn't start until 10:00 o'clock, next week." She explained.

"I'll see what I can do, yes."

She and Robert left and Martin wrote his notes.

"Hi Martin, good day?"

"Hmm." Was his monosyllabic reply. "What about you?"

"Pippa came over and apologised for her remarks. At least it's a step in the right direction."

"I've just done soup and turkey sandwiches for tea. OK for you?"

If Martin was surprised by this he didn't let on. "Yes, it'll make a change. Have you done some salad as well?"

"Yes, and fresh fruit for dessert," Louisa almost snapped at him, but it wasn't his fault she was feeling tired.

They finished tea and Louisa told him she was going for a lay down. Martin looked at her with some concern. "Are you feeling off-colour, or just tired?" he enquired.

"Just tired I think, Martin. Please don't let me sleep more than an hour, or I might not get to sleep later."

He nodded and she went upstairs.

Martin washed up and then settled in to read. After an hour he went quietly upstairs and looked in on her. He smiled as he heard her gentle snoring. Going over to the bed he placed the back of his hand on her forehead. It seemed warm, but that could just be warmth from being snuggled in the quilt. He bent to kiss her, "Louisa? Louisa?"

Her eyelids fluttered open. "Gosh, that went fast. Is it really an hour?"

She sat up and stretched. "I feel a bit better now." Smiling at him she grabbed his tie and pulled him over towards her. A kiss on the cheek was all he got though. He was tempted to join her in bed, but thought the better of it.

"Do you want a drink when you come down? I'll make some tea, shall I?"

"Yes please. I won't be long."

She went into the bathroom and sorted herself out, combing her hair and taking a good look at her face. Sighing she went down to Martin.

"I've just done a cup of tea, but I can do some toast if you need some?" Martin's solicitude was typical. "Or one of your chocolate digestives?" he said with a smile in his voice.

Her head shot up. "How did you know?"

He looked down at his feet. "I was doing some cleaning of the cupboards and I found them."

She looked at his sheepish expression and melted. Crossing the floor, she wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

He looked at her and moved his hand up to brush her hair out of her eyes. "What are you sorry for?"

"For not knowing which way up I am. For changing my mind every five minutes, for not taking care of you as I should." Her eyes brimmed with tears.

His face became tender and he said "I know you love me. You wouldn't be like this if you didn't care. You're in a turmoil because of your job, because you're pregnant and therefore your emotions are subject to every hormone racing in your body."

"Louisa, look at me."

She looked up, half frightened that he was going to say goodbye, such was her emotional turmoil.

"I love you and want to take care of you for the rest of my life. Listen, if you want to apply for the head's job then I won't stand in your way. Your happiness means more to me. We could find a competent childminder to take care of Junior. Please remember that I only want what's best for you and Junior."

Louisa began to cry in earnest then, and just clung to him.

"Shush, shush, shush. I think you need a good night's sleep. Come on we'll go to bed."

She nodded and they went upstairs. When they were in bed he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. She listened to his heart beating and the rhythmic sound soothed her off to sleep.

The next morning, she woke up feeling much better. The alarm hadn't gone off yet so she quietly got out of bed and went to the bathroom. A shower, and her teeth brushed left her feeling good. Moving back into the bedroom she saw Martin was still asleep and she picked up her clothes and went into the soon-to-be nursery to get dressed.

Downstairs she put out the cereal and milk and put the kettle on. She put bread by the toaster and then made some scrambled eggs. She heard the alarm go off and knew Martin wouldn't be long.

She was right. He came down in his dressing gown, "Are you alright, not feeling ill or anything?"

"No, Martin. In fact, I feel much better. Thank you. Go and get dressed I've done cereal and then scrambled eggs." As he was about to turn, she blew a kiss at him and smiled. She saw the twinkle in his eyes as he went back upstairs.

In short order he came back down, suited and booted, to coin a phrase. He walked over to her and kissed her good morning.

Sitting down he looked at her and, taking a deep breath, "Louisa, you really need to slow down and accept the fact that you are pregnant."

Before he got any further, she retaliated, "Martin, I don't need one of your medical lectures, now!"

He held his hand up to stop her from going on. "It's not a lecture, I'm merely pointing out that you can't run around like a whirlwind at the moment. I'm not saying you are old and decrepit, I'm saying that a growing baby takes a lot of energy from you! Please try taking a rest in the afternoon when you come home. Both you and the baby need that."

"Oh. I thought you were going into medical lecture mode. Sorry." She looked down at the table.

"Louisa, I love you. I don't want anything to happen to you or the baby. Do you understand?"

"I suppose you're right. I just think I should be able to do this. Do my job and be a wife, too."

"You are a wife, and a good teacher, so don't fret. In a month or so, you may find you do have more energy. At the moment the baby is making huge demands on your body. It is developing fast and needs the sustenance that you provide. It is alright to take a break now and then." He cocked his head to one side and looked at her.

"I hadn't considered that properly. I suppose I'm being influenced by the TV shows and adverts which portray pregnancy as something anyone can sail through."

"You are sailing through it. You look absolutely radiant. I do realise it's not easy, and I admire your determination to do your best, but you have to think of yourself." Martin pleaded with her to understand and to comply with his advice.

"Fine. I'll try.

Martin hadn't seen many patients when the phone rang and Pauline announced an emergency out on one of the farms. By the time Martin got there, the patient was sat in his kitchen holding onto his arm. "What have you done, Mr Paulson?"

Paulson described falling off a loft in his barn, and then falling off the hay which had stopped his fall. However, he'd then rolled down onto the floor. "It's me arm Doc. I think I've broken it!"

"I'll need to take your shirt off to have a good look at it. Is that all right?"

Paulson nodded, but his grey pallor suggested to Martin that he'd better be quick. After unbuttoning the shirt, Martin eased it off Mr Paulson's shoulders as gently as he could. When he looked at the arm, he could see that the farmer was right. A compound fracture of the ulna showed immediately. It was slowly dripping blood and Martin went white. The shirt had been disguising the fact the farmer was bleeding. He quickly used a bandage to keep the wound clean and then gave an analgesic injection to ease the pain.

"I'll call for an ambulance, you will need an operation to fix that." He stepped outside into the garden and threw up into a drain. Calling the ambulance and relaying the problem was soon finished.

They waited in the kitchen until the ambulance arrived. Mr Paulson was whisked away to A&E. Martin went back to the surgery, where he went upstairs and cleaned his teeth before greeting any more patients.

Louisa's day went smoothly. She was feeling a lot better after a good night's sleep. Knowing that Joan was coming the next day for tea she went along to the supermarket to get some turkey or chicken. Martin was going to do one of his oriental dishes which didn't feature fish. Louisa gave a silent "Hallelujah" and looked for the other ingredients he'd mentioned. Muscovado sugar, tomato sauce, garlic, malt vinegar, sugar snap peas, red peppers and a can of pineapple chunks in juice.

Knowing he didn't like things which were high in sugar content she was surprised by the muscovado sugar request. She shrugged and thought well, he must know what he's doing. Unfortunately, there wasn't any in the shop, nor were there any sugar snap peas. Looked like a trip to Wadebridge was called for, tomorrow.

She went into Eric's and spotted some tuna steaks which looked good. They would do for tonight's meal with some salad.

She went around to the bakery and ordered a cream sponge for the next day and got some crusty bread for their evening meal. Martin would have to pick up his dry cleaning tomorrow as well, because she couldn't carry it home, today. She felt sure that Martin kept the dry cleaners in business by himself, the number of things he had done on a weekly basis!

When she got home, she put the items away and set about assembling the salad. She'd just finished when Martin came in from the surgery. "Hi there," she greeted him before going over to give him a kiss.

"How are you feeling tonight," he asked.

"Much better than I did yesterday! I went to the shops and got most of the ingredients you wanted, for tomorrow."

"What happened to the lie down after school?" He raised his eyebrows at her.

"I felt fine and decided to forgo it." She explained.

"Right, go and get on the sofa and I'll bring you a drink. You can rest whilst I see about tea." He was in no mood to be trifled with so she obediently went and did as he asked.

From her vantage point she watched as he went about setting the table, making more tea and then frying the tuna steaks. While they were cooking, he cut several slices of bread. She thought it always looked like a military operation, when he cooked. Everything was to hand, and where he could, all the utensils were washed as he finished with them.

Soon the food was on the table and she looked at it carefully. "Something wrong, Louisa?"

"No, not really. I was just thinking it always looks so appetising when you make a meal. Mine never looks as good as this."

Just in time, Martin saw the minefield ahead of him, and wisely chose his words carefully. "Not really, Louisa. I just arrange it slightly differently to you, that's all. There's no reason to think it's any better."

She smiled at his adroitness. "Thank you, Martin. Did you say Joan was coming at 5:00p.m. for tea?"

Martin nodded. "We can go to Wadebridge as soon as I finish tomorrow and get those other ingredients. I'll get my haircut as well, there. Do you want anything?"

She thought, and then said, "I'll call in at the book shop and buy some new books. I've just about read all mine."

Louisa settled down to do some marking while Martin went back to his office to do his accounts.