Chapter 64
He stood looking at her as she did her marking. The sight of her and also the baby bump made his chest swell with love. "Louisa.."
Her head turned and the smile switched on like a searchlight, illuminating him in the dark. "Martin, are you done already?"
"Er, no. I've just had Paul Clarke phone me. Apparently, Mrs Tishell saw me going into the vicarage, yesterday. She goes there on Fridays to play the organ and get ready for Sunday services. Anyway, she was travelling on a passing bus on Thursday morning in time to see me. If you go into the pharmacy, she's likely to try and find out what I was doing there." He looked down to the floor and Louisa could see he was unhappy at this new development.
"Thanks for telling me. I tend not to talk to her except in the most basic of generalities. I can be on my guard even more. I'm sure most of the gossip which doesn't come from Bert or Dawn Lamb, emanates from her. Grrr. Dratted woman."
"I'm nearly finished this, and then I'll make a cuppa. Do you want one?"
"Yes please. I'm going back to start on my clock. I've finished my speech, but I'll read through it again before Sunday, to check for any errors. He turned on his heel and went back.
Louisa pondered the situation with regards to their privacy and the local gossips. She knew Martin was a very private man and hated having his business aired in public. She had to agree that it was disconcerting at times to find out that people knew about what was going on in their lives, almost before they did! However, she had grown up in Portwenn and it didn't come as much of a shock to her, as it did to Martin.
She finished her marking and put away the books, ready for Monday. Louisa made some camomile tea for herself and ordinary tea for Martin. It was too late in the evening for him to have his espresso coffee.
Just as she was picking up the cups he came back into the kitchen. "I thought you were going to carry on with your clock project?"
"I can't settle to it. The thoughts of the gossip-mongers discussing my business keep intruding."
"Come and sit over on the couch, then. You know Paul won't divulge the reason for your visit, and now you've told me about Mrs T's nosiness I'll be on my guard with her, as well."
"Yes. It's just that I find it so intrusive, Louisa. Every time I try to do something, people want to know every detail of my business. I'm not used to it and I resent it."
"I know Martin. I grew up here, so it's not a surprise to me, but I can see that it does annoy you. I also have to say that it does get on my nerves too, at times."
Louisa turned the subject of their conversation to Sunday's talk by asking him if he were all ready with his speech and if he'd had his suit cleaned?
"Yes, I'm fairly confident the speech will be good. I've got to go and get my suit from the dry-cleaners tomorrow afternoon. We'll be seeing Joan on Sunday, so would you like to go to St Kew's for a meal out after I've picked up my clothes?"
"That's a good idea, Martin. It will give us both a chance to let our hair down, won't it? Although you've not got so much to let down!" she grinned at him.
Saturday was given over to housework chores by Louisa. She also decided to do a chicken casserole which would keep for Sunday tea. That way she wouldn't have to cook before Martin's talk. She felt sure that he was nervous about talking to the villagers. Especially as some of them were still a bit hostile to the manner in which he spoke to them.
Martin meanwhile, had a relatively quiet morning and had time to check his medicine cabinet. He added to the list he'd made out the other day and told Pauline to lock up when she left. "I'm going to put an order in to Mrs Tishell," he said, waving the list.
"Righto Doc. See you Monday."
"Yes." Martin left the surgery and proceeded to the pharmacy.
He looked in the window and saw that only Mrs Poustie was talking to Mrs Tishell.
"Oh Doctor Ellingham, how nice to see you," gushed Mrs Tishell. "Is that all, Mrs Poustie?"
"Yes, thanks Sally."
"That will be £14.57, then."
Martin waited with barely concealed impatience, as Mrs Poustie fished around in her purse for the right amount of change.
"Thanks." She said to Sally and turning to Martin, "Good afternoon, doctor," she smiled at him.
"Er, yes." Was the reply from him.
"Mrs Tishell, do you have these in stock, or will you order them for me, please?" Martin thrust the list at Sally.
Taking it from him she disappeared into the back storage room and fished out several of the requested items. Some quick searching yielded no further results. Going back into the front she informed him that only these were available and that she would order the remainder. "I can't promise an immediate delivery, but I'll let you know when they come in. Is there anything else?" Martin thought for a minute, "No, I don't think so at the moment. Put them on my business account."
"I hope everything is all right with everyone at the surgery?" Her bright eyes looked lovingly at him and she began fiddling with the buttons at the neck of her pale blue cardigan.
Martin scowled at her, "Perfectly well, thanks."
"I spotted you going into the vicarage on Thursday and I thought perhaps Reverend Clarke was ill. I was happy to find out that he was fit and well, also." She looked enquiringly at him.
"Yes."
"You know I'm always here for you, Doctor Ellingham," Sally pushed her luck a little bit too far.
Martin angrily told her, "I wish you would mind your own business, Mrs Tishell, as much as you seem to relish looking into mine!"
"Oh but Doctor, I was only thinking of helping you!" Sally tried to backtrack, but this annoyed Martin further.
"Mrs Tishell, I don't appreciate your trying to involve yourself with me and I'm asking you politely to concentrate your curiosity elsewhere! If you persist in your prying, I'll have to take my business to the pharmacy in Wadebridge. Am I making myself clear?" Martin frowned angrily at her.
A subdued Sally looked down at the counter, "Perfectly Doctor, and I'm sorry if my concern has upset you," she tried again to be conciliating.
"Good day to you Mrs Tishell." He stormed out of the shop, leaving Sally a picture of woebegone unhappiness.
"That man! I was only trying to be helpful, as well." Sally couldn't understand Martin's seemingly sudden hostility. She went to the doorway and turned the 'Closed' sign outwards before locking the door.
Martin was pleased to have been able to warn Mrs Tishell away from his business, or so he thought. He had forgotten the old saying, ' Hell hath no fury, like a woman scorned.'
He arrived back at the surgery to find Louisa preparing cheese and pickle sandwiches for lunch. "Hello," he greeted her, in the quiet voice he used when talking to her.
"Hi Martin. Are you finished for the day?"
"Yes, thankfully. My last job was to go and get some more medicines from Mrs Tishell. The cheek of the woman! Trying to find out why I was seeing Paul. I gave her a piece of my mind and told her in no uncertain terms to stay out of my business and confine her curiosity to her own life."
"Oh Martin, you didn't? Now she will be twice as curious about us."
"No, she won't, I told her that if she tried to pry any more, I'd take my account to the pharmacy in Wadebridge." Martin nodded his head as if that closed the matter.
Louisa bit her lip as she pondered the expected fallout from this outburst.
They finished their lunch and set off. Louisa called in at the dry-cleaners to collect Martin's suits while he sat in the car, ready to move if anyone else needed access out of the village.
Mission accomplished, Louisa put the suits in the boot and re-joined Martin in the front. They set off just in time to avoid a lorry climbing the hill behind them.
Martin drove as fast as he could and soon outdistanced the lorry, whereupon he slowed to a more reasonable speed. "It's still too early to eat, do you want to go into Wadebridge first?"
"Yes, I can call into the bookshop and get some more books. A cup of coffee wouldn't go amiss either! What do you want to do?"
"Nothing much, I'll come to the book shop with you. You never know, there may be some horology books in."
Louisa tucked her arm into his and together they made for the shop.
Leaving Martin at the door she made her way to the biography section and began to browse through them. She enjoyed reading biographies of different lives and felt she gained a bit of insight into the many facets of life that they encountered.
Martin wandered around and looked at the technical titles. Christian Barnard's "How to Live with Arthritis," caught his eye. Martin had several patients stricken with this painful disease and any insight into the condition might prove useful. The author was the renowned surgeon who had performed the first successful heart transplant, and as such, Martin felt that the discourse in the book would be skilfully handled. He continued to browse as he waited for his wife. In the "How to" section he found a book on fatherhood. As he skimmed through it, he saw a couple of chapters which interested him "Discipline" and "Guidance". He went and found Louisa, "I've found these, which interest me. I'll go and pay for them and then peruse them over there."
Louisa agreed and went on looking for more books. Eventually, with an armful of books, she too went and paid for them. Walking back to Martin, she saw he was looking at the "Fatherhood" book and smiled lovingly at him.
They left the bookstore and wandered about the town. Martin was just happy to see Louisa enjoying herself. Louisa was concentrating on the clothes displays, especially the maternity wear. She spotted a couple of tops and dragged Martin into the shop. He stood patiently by as she inspected the garments. Two of them were deemed appropriate and were quickly purchased.
Fearing more window-shopping, Martin suggested they go to the café for their afternoon drink.
Louisa smiled knowingly at him, and meekly agreed.
Following their tea they took a further walk around the town before driving to the St Kew Inn. As they were a little early, they sat in a quiet corner and talked quietly together.
"Are you nervous about tomorrow, Martin?"
"No, not really. I've given plenty of talks in seminars and I don't suppose this will be much different."
"You have remembered to keep it fairly simple, haven't you? On the other hand, you shouldn't talk down to them."
"That was the hardest part. Remembering to keep it simple, yet interesting. I must say, I was grateful for your reminder about the St Johns Ambulance Brigade and the Lifeboat crew. They will be able to assist in demonstrating bandaging and preliminary treatment. As long as the audience get to see some actual first aid, I think some of them will enrol on more advanced courses. My main objective is to make them think about their home safety."
The Village Hall was quite full when Martin and Louisa arrived. They quickly found Joan and Annie (who looked somewhat suspiciously at Martin, recalling the fiasco over the refreshments at the music concert, the previous year.) The tea and biscuits were available for after the talk.
At 2:30 Martin stood up at the front at a lectern and began to speak.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd like to thank you all for coming along today. I hope this talk will help everyone understand their role in future.
As you will have seen the title of this talk – provided by my wife, Louisa – is somewhat gory. However it seems to have piqued your interest and so I'm grateful to her for suggesting it!
May I ask you a question? Where is the most dangerous place in Portwenn, where most accidents occur?
He scanned the room and heard The Platt? The Harbour wall? The Crab and Lobster after several people have had too much? (This generated a few laughs.)
Martin picked up the mirror he'd brought and pointed it towards the audience. This should give you a clue. He angled it around the room at the people sitting there.
As a matter of fact, the most dangerous place in Portwenn is your own home!
I checked my files for the first year I came here as your GP. Home accidents accounted for nearly 40% of my case load. Last year that figure had risen to 45%.
Recognising this means that action must be taken to get as many of you as possible, familiar with basic first aid.
Martin used his outline to elaborate on how and why accidents occur. Things like, faulty gas boilers which can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning. Failing to store chemicals such as bleach, mould killer, polishes, washing up liquids safely. Not supervising young children properly when you are cooking in the kitchen. Worn carpets making a tripping hazard. In the garden, a failure to store tools correctly and again, not locking poisons away.
I got the following information from the RoSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) website. They make shocking reading:
Every year in the UK as a whole, 6,000 people die from accidents in the home! A further 2.7million have to go to A & E for treatment.
The costs for this are astronomical, estimated at £45,630 MILLION pounds. This works out to an average cost of £16,900 per person. Those sums of money do not include the deaths at home, nor the costs of a GP's patients.
He let the murmur of astonishment circulate in the room and took a quick swig from his glass of water.
I'm asking you all to pass this information on to those people who have not attended today. It is vital that we take as many preventative actions as we can to cut down home accidents.
So, what can we do to stop accidents? You should have gas boilers maintained once per year by a recognised Gas-Safe Engineer. Electrical wiring should be checked for problems such as faulty connections, your water pipes should all now be copper/plastic and not lead.
When you return home today look at your home from a Safety point of view. Look for any problems that you either know about now or, which you can now identify. Are your carpets laid flat and are not rucked up causing a tripping hazard? Is your stair rail securely fastened to the wall? Are your children's toys put away properly. Go into each room in your house and look critically at it for hazards.
In the surgery I have a notice up which tells me my office door lintel is low. This prevents me and other tall people from banging our heads! However I've not put a warning up about the low beam between the kitchen and surgery which has resulted in a number of bruises to my forehead! Note to self – must do better!
There are some leaflets on the tables at the side, please feel free to take one with you.
Also here in the room are representatives from the St John's Ambulance Brigade and our own Portwenn Lifeboat crews. They will be demonstrating various techniques. The first one is how to put a person into the recovery position.
At that introduction one of the crewmen lay down on the floor, where people could see him. Another crewman came over: I'm assessing whether or not the patient has any obvious signs of broken limbs. He seems to be OK in that respect. I'll now put him in the recovery position. Straighten his arms and legs. Take hold of the arm closest to you and lift it up alongside of his head. Then reach across to the leg furthest away from you, lift it so that the knee is raised and the foot is flat to the ground. Gently pull the knee towards you and the patient should roll over and face you. Move his other arm so that his hand is under the face thereby keeping his head off the floor.
A St John's paramedic then showed how to put a sling on a suspected broken arm.
If the casualty has suffered a burn or a scald and you are near to a source of cold water, get a clean cloth, soak it in the clean water and lay it on the burn. The wet cloth helps to take the heat out of the skin and lessens the severity of the burn."
Martin finished the demonstration off by asking for any questions.
"Here Doc, what if you live alone and fall over. How do you get help then?" Malcolm Raynor voiced a thought that a few others had as well.
"If you are at risk of falling then you can be given an alarm necklace which is connected by radio to a warden or emergency station. Usually though, these alarms are reserved for people with severe disability problems. Obviously, you could shout and hope that someone will hear you, or you might be able to crawl to a telephone and request help that way."
Martin looked around, and saw Bert put his hand up.
"Getting things fixed costs a lot of money, Doc. How do you pay for it when you don't have much money?"
"I've mentioned that maintenance of equipment should be done on a regular basis. You could spread the tasks out over a couple of years and save up for each task. That way you are not spending huge sums in one particular month." Martin offered a simple solution to the problem.
"I should remind to you that the St John's Brigade offer tutorials in First Aid and they would be willing to teach anyone a few more simple techniques. Just contact them and find out when their next seminar is taking place."
"Any other questions?" When there was no reply, he asked for a round of applause for the Ambulance Brigade, the Lifeboat crew and lastly but by no means the least to Joan and Annie for providing the refreshments!
Martin stepped back as the villagers made a rush towards Joan and Annie.
Louisa came to stand at his side. "Well done, Martin. I think that was pitched at the right level, and I could see them all picturing you bumping your head!" She smiled up at him. "Do you want some tea?"
Martin nodded and it wasn't long before he was sat with her enjoying the tea.
Christopher Gibbons came over to them, "What was the name of that website, Doc?"
Martin saw that the man had a leaflet and pointed out the web address on the back. He wondered if anyone there would be forced to put into practice what they'd heard and seen, today? Also, would anyone take it upon themselves to go to the courses offered by the services?
Sprintz clarification – the RoSPA statistics were taken from their current UK website, (On the day of writing) thank you to them. Doc Martin's surgery statistics were figments of my own imagination.