Chapter 36

Patients coming in to see Martin were either quick to congratulate him and Louisa or amazed that he "had it in him!" By dint of a superhuman effort he managed to keep hold of his temper and treat both types just the same. That is, until it came to Jimmy Millinger.

Millinger, along with his wife had come to seek help with their infertility problems. Martin had recommended them to a specialist but then found out that Mr Millinger was taking steroids in the mistaken belief they would "boost his performance." Martin had "enlightened him" in no uncertain terms but then had to listen to the confession from Jimmy that he was gay.

When the results came back from the specialist Mr Millinger was found to have a low sperm count. There were enough to assume that fertilisation could happen, but it might not happen quickly. As they'd already been married for more than 5 years this was something Jimmy could grasp.

Martin called out "Next patient" and then jumped when the door to his office was hurled open hard enough to slam it against the wall. Seeing Mr Millinger with a semi snarl on his face, Martin knew the next 10 minutes wasn't going to be comfortable.

"Please take a seat, Mr Millinger. What seems to be the problem, today?"

"It's you!" shouted Jimmy. "You haven't been married 5 minutes and already your wife is pregnant! It's not fair!"

"The status of my marriage, Mr Millinger, is not up for discussion." Martin said sternly.

"You don't know what it's like! Five years we've bin, trying! Five years!"

Martin could see that Jimmy Millinger was genuinely upset. Reluctant as he was to pry any further into their sex-life, he could see no alternative. "Mr Millinger, what do you know about a woman's fertility cycle?"

"She's fertile until her period, then she's not," was Millinger's concise view.

"It doesn't work as easily as that. Let me explain." Martin went through the cycle as simply as he could. Eventually he saw understanding come to Jimmy's face.

"How can we tell when she's most fertile, then?"

"One indication is a rise in her basal temperature," began Martin and then saw he'd lost Jimmy again.

"The normal temperature for a woman is between 36.1°C to 36.4°C. with me so far?"

Jimmy nodded. "Now when she's producing eggs her temperature rises. It will go up to 37.0°C. When it rises like that it means she will be producing eggs. At that point you should have intercourse, er.. sex."

"For yourself, your sperm production is not very rapid, so to have the best chance of conceiving you should refrain from intercourse until you know your wife is ovulating. That way you will have more sperm present and hopefully conception will occur."

Jimmy brightened at the word "conception" but asked Martin how to measure his wife's temperature.

"I'll give you a prescription for a thermometer, which you can get from Mrs Tishell. If you ask her, she will show you how to use it. Measure your wife's temperature just after she wakes up, but before she gets out of bed. Write down each day what her temperature is. You will then see over the course of her cycle just when her ovulation period is."

"Seems a bit complicated, Doc. Why don't we just use '2 weeks after her period starts'?"

"I wish it were that simple, Mr Millinger, but not all women are so precise. Fluctuations occur which alters the schedule."

Martin wrote out the prescription and handed it to Jimmy. "If you need to come back with Mrs Millinger for further discussion, please make an appointment with Pauline."

Jimmy took the script and said sheepishly, "Thanks Doc."

Thankfully, he was the last patient of the day. Martin wrote his notes up and left them for Pauline to file. He tidied the surgery and then went to the kitchen.

Louisa was at the stove cooking their evening meal. She looked at him as he walked in and her lovely smile shone up at him.

"Louisa…" was his breathy opening remark.

"Hello love, how've you done this afternoon?" Louisa stirred the fish stew she was making.

"Ohh don't let's rehash that." Martin was less than charitable about the comments which had flown his way. He walked across to her and kissed her cheek.

She smiled and returned the salutation.

"Tea won't be long, it's fish stew, do you want a dessert?"

"I'll see. Apple and cheese would be enough, if I do want any."

He went upstairs to wash up and tidy himself.

After tea, Louisa settled herself onto the couch and leaned up against him while he read his BMJ.

"I had some lovely comments from the Staff, today. Pippa was the first person I told after Joanna, and I'm fairly sure she lost no time in informing the world! How about you?"

"Well, some said "Congratulations" and others "didn't think I had it in me!"

She looked up at him and saw the hurt in his eyes. "Well, I know differently, don't I?"

He glanced down and saw the coquettish look on her face. Reaching around her he hugged her to him and began to kiss her slowly.

Friday soon came around and once again they were on their way to Wadebridge for Louisa's check-up.

"I went to some of the shops at lunchtime. Several women congratulated me and a couple of the shopkeepers. Called into the chemists for some mouthwash and Mrs Tishell looked daggers at me! I don't know what her problem is, Martin?"

"No idea, she's odd to everyone as far as I can gather." With that he turned the conversation to her upcoming appointment.

"I've been keeping an eye on you and you seem to be just fine. You won't need a scan this time, just weight/bloods/general health questions."

Louisa nodded, "hard to believe we've now only got 6 months to wait, isn't it?"

He looked at her smiling face and he knew he couldn't express again the doubts he had about himself and his suitability to be a father.

What he didn't realise was that Louisa could see the momentary hesitation, and accurately ascribe it to the concerns he still felt about paternity.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. Mrs Porter was in the supermarket and she was saying how kind you were to Janice, that day she was injured. She looked a bit sheepish and said that beforehand she wouldn't have believed it possible." Not only that she said "you'd got the doctors at the hospital to give her more details about Janice's recovery."

"She was ever so grateful, Martin."

Martin shifted uncomfortably behind the wheel, "Hmm," was all he said.

Louisa saw his ears redden and knew he'd appreciated the compliment.

The appointment went briskly with not having to wait for scan results. Dr Lewis saw them briefly for any concerns and as nothing untoward had occurred he happily said he would see them next month.

Martin and Louisa went back to the car, each of them happy with the progress made. "Do you want to go straight back, Louisa, or go out for a meal?"

"To be honest Martin, I just want to go home. It feels like it's been a long day."

Martin nodded, completely happy not to have to go anywhere.

He made soup, accompanied with crusty bread. It was hearty enough, that neither wanted anything else.

They settled on the couch, with Louisa's head on Martin's lap. He read, but she drifted off to sleep. An hour later she woke with a start as his phone went off.

He answered it with his trademark "Ellingham" and then she heard him say "Hello Chris, what can I do for you?"

She got up and went to the toilet while he conversed with his boss. Coming back down she saw Martin seated back on the settee. "Did Chris have anything to say?"

"He was telling me to be on the watch for people with flu symptoms, apparently other areas have had a large rise in cases. I thought he'd phoned to relay patient complaints, but he'd not had any!"

Louisa grinned at him, "See? I told you honey catches more flies than vinegar!"

"Pah!"

"Do you want some tea?"

"No, I'll just have some water, please."

She got up and made her own drink before bringing him his water. "I'm going to have a quiet morning tomorrow while you are in the surgery. Thought I'd put some washing in and then do my marking. Have you got any plans for the afternoon?"

"The paper said the weather would be rain and gales, so I thought I'd look at my clock. Is that OK with you?

"Yes, that's fine. I might see if Joan wants to come for a natter. We've not seen her for a bit."

"Yes, that would be good."

Louisa checked her cupboards and fridge to see if she could make any fairings. Happily, there were enough ingredients to make a small batch. Probably not as good as Joan's, she thought, but then again at least Martin wouldn't be able to make too many comments about empty calories.

She could see that he was engrossed in his BMJ and decided an early night was called for. "I'm going for a shower and then I'm going to bed."

"Right, I'll read this and then be up," he promised.

The warm shower was soothing and she swiftly got dry before smoothing her body lotion on. Her pyjamas followed and she was soon tucked up in bed. When Martin came in the room all he could hear were her soft snores. Smiling he picked up his pyjamas and went into the bathroom.

He got quietly into bed and then soon he too was asleep. The buzz of the phone woke him shortly after 2a.m. "Ellingham."

He listened while the caller outlined the emergency. "Where are you?" He wrote down the address on the pad next to the bed. "Call an ambulance, I'll be there in about 15 minutes."

Louisa stirred, "Call-out?"

"Yes, go back to sleep, I'll lock up before I leave."

"Mm," was her only reply as he kissed her cheek and then left.

The caller lived on Tintagel Terrace, so the car would be quicker than walking. He soon arrived at the door and was ushered swiftly inside by Mr Lowry, husband of the patient. "She's been complaining of chest pain, Doc, but it's just got progressively worse. Her arm is aching, too."

"Did you call for the ambulance, Mr Lowry?"

"Yeah Doc, right after I got off the phone from you."

Martin went into the bedroom. "Mrs Lowry, how are you feeling now?" Martin listened as she explained what was the matter.

"Open your nightgown if you would, I want to listen to your heart." He used his stethoscope to amplify the chest sounds. There were some interruptions to the normal beat of the heart.

He thought she was having a heart attack and so gave her some aspirin to mitigate the formation of blood clots.

The ambulance arrived and he quickly outlined the situation detailing what he'd given her. "Obviously she needs to get to hospital as soon as possible. She will need the appropriate scans upon arrival."

"OK Doc, we can take it from here." The men were accustomed to this sort of emergency and lost no time in getting her into the ambulance.

Mr Lowry decided to use his own car and followed them.

Martin stretched and then went back to the surgery. Climbing the stairs, he saw a light on in the bedroom. Opening the door, he saw that she was sat up in bed. Alarm crossed his face "Are you alright?"

"Yes. I woke up not long after you left and couldn't get back to sleep. I miss you," she smiled.

"Aah, I see. Give me a couple of minutes and I'll be right with you." He quickly undressed and then joined her.

As he got comfortable, she snuggled in and gave a contented sigh. He put his arm around her and closed his eyes.