Chapter 70
They quietly lay together in bed. Louisa's hand lightly stroked his chest as she slowly relaxed and began to fall asleep. Martin cuddled her in as he mulled over the last few hours. He knew he'd fallen back into old thinking with regards to his parent's mores and expectations. He now could acknowledge that he just couldn't physically chastise a child. It hurt him to admit that his parents hadn't really loved him and that he was just a "prop" to their chosen lifestyle. To be picked up and discarded like some stuffy toy or aged pet, whenever the whim took them. It was something of a revelation as to how deeply the behaviour was ingrained into him. He would have to redouble his efforts to discard that old thinking and instead embrace the new panorama which was going to be his future, with Louisa and the baby.
Slowly he let go of any thought and drifted off to sleep, himself. His last conscious thought was for the lovely woman beside him. A half smile moved across his face as he slept.
When the morning sun lightened the room Louisa woke up. Turning her head she looked across at Martin who was still sleeping. The sheet had slipped down his chest and she felt some remorse when she caught sight of the small bruise she had created. She hoped that the unorthodox methods she had employed would have a positive effect on Martin's thinking. She knew that it would hurt him again to reflect on his appalling parents and their methods but sometimes the end justified the means. Sighing she turned and extricated herself from under his arm and padded across to the bathroom.
She was almost finished showering when his arms enfolded her into a close embrace. "Louisa, I love you," was his breathy greeting. She smiled and turned to face him.
Looking up at him she could see the truth and love in his eyes. Her arms went around him and she kissed the sore spot on his chest before lifting her head for a warmer embrace. They stayed together as passion built but were actually forced to step back as the baby bump came between them. Martin rumbled that they'd better go back to bed and set about drying some of the water off. Eventually they were able to get back into bed where their mutual passion could be fully satisfied.
Both of them fell asleep again and it was later in the morning before they roused themselves. Louisa once again headed for the shower and this time finished her ablutions before going back into the bedroom to get her clothes. Martin was propped up on his pillows looking for her as she re-entered the room.
"Ah, you've rallied, have you?" she smiled at him and gestured to the bathroom. "You're welcome to the bathroom now."
Martin nodded. "Thank you, not just for that, but for once again coming to rescue me from my devils. I know in my mind that they were wrong, but occasionally I'm having trouble translating that into our everyday lives. You chipped away some more of the wreckage from my childhood and that can only be beneficial. Come here and I'll thank you properly."
She smiled and went to him. Before it got too intense, she pushed him back and said, "I've had two showers this morning, anymore and I'll wrinkle up like a prune! I'll get dressed and start breakfast while you shower and get ready."
Breakfast was on the table when he came in and he was ushered to take his place. His espresso was swiftly put next to his plate as he began eating his boiled egg.
"Where do you want to go today, Louisa?"
"How about a walk around to the flower farm? I've never seen fields of daffodils. They must be a wonderful sight! We'll take it steady and stop for refreshments, or picnic. What do you say?"
"If you're feeling up to it, that would be fine by me. There may be other things we can look out for, as well."
After packing up a small picnic they left the house and set off for the flower farm. As they walked, they talked about how the future might pan out once Junior made their appearance. "I'm feeling apprehensive about not being at school and having to stay home looking after the baby." Louisa told Martin.
"Why? The baby will keep you fully occupied, if some of my patients are to be believed. I will help you where I can, in terms of housework and perhaps doing some of the work with the baby." Martin was concerned by Louisa's admission, and wasn't really sure as to what exactly was bothering her.
"It's not so much the care of Junior which is of concern, more my lack of social interaction. One of the things I enjoyed about school was talking with my colleagues, not only discussing schoolwork, but general chat about our lives."
"Gossip, you mean?" asked Martin, who despised the villager's predilection for the habit.
"No, Martin. Not just gossip in the nasty sense, just chatting in general about our lives. Who is getting engaged, who is going on holiday and where, who has got a promotion and of course if anyone has lost their job. It's called making a cohesive society. Reinforcing our bonds, if you like."
"Still sounds like gossip to me," huffed Martin.
Louisa just shook her head, despairingly.
They stopped to have a look at the Coastguards Lookout tower and then moved on past the golf course and soon the bright yellow fields of narcissi came into view. The colours actually ranged from a paper-white flower through to the full deep yellow of the daffodils. "OH Martin, isn't this wonderful?" Louisa's eyes shone with delight. Martin's eyes weren't on the fields, but rather on Louisa's glowing visage. "Er, yes, it is," and quickly switched his eyes to the fields. They stopped so that photos could be taken. "Joan would love to see this, I'm sure," said Louisa. She persuaded Martin to stand in front of the camera and took a picture of him. He looked very debonair in his new clothes, she thought. Martin insisted on taking some of Louisa.
They walked on to the Trenoweth flower farm. Along the farm track they spotted a low building with cars parked outside. This turned out to be the farm shop, and Louisa was delighted to see that they sent bouquets out by post, all over Britain. "Let's send a bouquet to Joan!" exclaimed Louisa. "That way she'll know we are enjoying ourselves." Martin nodded and they went over to the counter to make their request.
"Do you know if she likes any particular type, Martin, or shall we just send a mixture?"
"Well, she does have some of the deep yellow flowers in her garden, so a range of some of the paler ones might be more suitable. I'll go and look at the postcards to see if we can get one to send to her, while you make a choice."
Louisa waited her turn in the queue and then asked for a bouquet to be made up and sent to Portwenn. She specified some Winter Waltz, Bridal Crown White and the rest to be scented narcissi. She gave Joan's address and paid for them. Then she went over to Martin who indicated several cards which he thought were suitable. Louisa checked them, as Martin wasn't noted for his card-buying efforts. (His last cards to me were a big improvement though) she thought. She flicked through them and was glad to see she didn't have to refuse any of them. "I'll send this one to Joan, and these to Pippa and Trisha," she told him.
"Really?" Martin raised his eyebrows at this information.
"Oh, Martin. Go and write the card for Joan and don't forget to address it!" She stepped over to a shelf and began writing hers to her friends.
Taking the finished cards she went back to the counter, got the stamps and attached them. There was a posting box attached to the wall, so she put the cards in there and they left to continue their walk.
"Joan will enjoy those flowers when she gets them. At least she'll know we haven't murdered each other, eh Martin?"
"I'm not sure. It was a close-run thing yesterday!" He managed to dodge the elbow she was going to give him, and she laughed.
They saw a sign for Bant's Carn Burial Chamber and crossed over to walk the short distance to view the ruins of an ancient site. The site wasn't extensive, but was very old. They peered into various caves and commented on the age of the place. Spying a flat stone they decided to have their refreshments and stayed a while enjoying the peace. Eventually they made tracks back to McFarland Down road and began walking home.
They'd almost arrived back at the flower farm when they saw a little girl sat down, crying by the side of the road. A bicycle was laid on its side nearby.
As they approached her, she saw them and began to cry harder. Louisa went across to her, "What's happened? Are you hurt?"
The girl nodded, but looked wary of them. "My arm's hurt, coz I fell off my bike," she told them.
Louisa said, "I'm Mrs Ellingham and this is my husband, Doctor Martin Ellingham. Would you let him have a look at your arm to see what you've done?"
The girl looked up at him, and must have decided to trust him because she tried to hold out her right arm. However her face crumpled into tears and she put her arm down by her side. Martin crouched down and did his best to view the arm without touching it. "May I put my hand on your arm to see if you've broken a bone?" he asked her. Again she nodded, and he gently palpated the length of her arm. When he got to her lower arm she yelped and tried to move it out of his reach.
He looked at Louisa with a bit of a frown on his face. "What's your name?" asked Louisa with a smile on her face.
"Martha." Replied the girl, succinctly.
"Where do you live, Martha? Is your Mummy at home?"
Martha's face turned sad again. "I want my Mummy," she cried.
"We'll make sure we find your mother, soon."
In the meantime, Martin fished out a triangular bandage from his rucksack and moved back to Martha. "I'm going to make this into a support for your arm, Martha. Can you hold still for me?" As Martha agreed, he stepped forward and placed the bandage under her arm, and then tied the two, longer-pointed sides into a knot around her neck. He tucked the edge around her elbow. "Does that feel a bit better, now?" Martha nodded.
"Now Martha, we need to find your Mummy. Where did you come from?" Louisa was smiling helpfully at the girl as she questioned her.
Martha pointed back down the road towards the town. Martin picked up her bike and they all went off in search of the house. A short distance down the road they came to a guest house and Martha pointed to it. Louisa went to the front door and knocked. A young mother with a baby in her arms came to answer the summons. When she saw Martha with her arm bandaged, she looked frightened and said to her daughter "What's happened to your arm?"
Martin stepped forward and introduced himself. "I'm Dr Ellingham, I think your daughter has sustained a badly sprained wrist, having fallen from her bike. She will need an X-ray to make sure that she hasn't, in fact, broken it."
Louisa told the woman that she would need to go either to a hospital or to another doctor's surgery because Martin and herself were just visitors to the island. "Is your husband here, and do you have transport?" she asked the woman.
"I'm sorry, my name is Sheila Graves. My husband is at work at the moment, but we have a car and he could come home to take us to the hospital. She'll be X-rayed there. Thank you very much for looking after her. I'll phone my husband now. Martha come inside luv and have a seat at the kitchen table."
Martha trooped inside and her mother took out her mobile phone. As she was having trouble juggling with it and the baby, Louisa gestured to take the baby. Mrs Graves handed the little boy over and then quickly made her call. Apparently, her husband didn't want to leave work early but when Martin heard that he asked to speak with her husband.
"Mr Graves? My name is Dr Ellingham and I attended your daughter after she'd fallen off her bike. I can tell you that she has a severely sprained wrist at best, and quite possibly, a broken one. She's in a great deal of pain and needs further treatment as soon as possible. I am only visiting the area and do not carry any painkillers with me. I urge you to come home and get Martha to the hospital. Have I made myself clear?" Martin was in no mood to have his diagnosis dismissed, lightly.
He handed the phone back to Mrs Graves. "I understand he'll be here inside a quarter of an hour. Can you manage until then? As you can see my wife is pregnant and we really should be getting back to our apartment. I'll leave you with a note which outlines to the hospital, just what I've said and request that they X-ray her wrist. I've also given you my mobile number in case the hospital want to check with me."
Mrs Graves agreed and then reached to take her son back from Louisa. "I can't thank you enough for what you've done."
"Mm," said Martin, as ever, embarrassed by praise. "Don't let Martha have anything to eat or drink until the doctors at the hospital give permission. Don't give her any medication, either. Her sling will support the injury for now." He turned to leave and indicated for Louisa to precede him out of the door.
They made their way to the road, to walk back home.
"Can you imagine, not wanting to come home after hearing your child has been injured? Unbelievable!"