Chapter 86
Time ticked by slowly, as it always does when you are waiting for news of a loved one. Eventually after two hours they made their way back to A&E's waiting room.
Martin went across to the administration desk and asked if there'd been any news.
"Not yet, Dr Ellingham, but hopefully it won't be much longer." The nurse was sympathetic but unable to comment further.
"There's been no news as yet, Mrs Evans. We'll just have to stay here, until there is."
They sat back down and twenty minutes later a woman in hospital scrubs came across to them. "Mrs Evans?"
Gloria stood up, I'm Gloria Evans. Have you got news about my husband?"
The doctor smiled, "Yes. I'm Mrs Stafford, I'm the resident surgeon here at the hospital. I've just operated on your husband's leg and am happy to tell you that it was a simple fracture, that is no bones were poking through the skin. We inserted a rod into the bone itself to provide support for the bone to heal. The rod will stay in there permanently."
"Your husband will be groggy after he wakes up, so try not to take offence at any strong words he may use! We've put a plastic cast on his leg to further support it and aid the healing process. His arm as well, has a plaster cast on. You will be able to see him in about a quarter of an hour."
"However I would ask you not to stay for too long, as he will be very tired."
Gloria began to cry with relief, to hear that Gabe would be OK. "How long will he have to be in for, Mrs Stafford?"
"At least a week, initially. Possibly longer. During that time we will monitor him for pain, and as soon as we can we will try and get him standing. He will be having physiotherapy to ensure as little damage as possible remains. It may be slow progress, but trying to rush things is usually detrimental, in the long term."
"He will be going to the orthopaedic ward now, so you can see him there. If you have any questions, I'll be around to check up on him shortly, or you can contact your GP."
Gloria suddenly remembered Martin and said, "Mrs Stafford, this is our GP, Dr Martin Ellingham."
The surgeon turned to look at Martin, and then the significance of the name registered. She put out her hand, "Pleased to meet you, Dr Ellingham. Would you like to come through to discuss any questions you may have?"
She turned and led the way back towards the Admin. desk.
Gloria and her sister, Lily told Martin they would go to the ward, and wait there.
"I'm glad to hear that it was a simple fracture, Mrs Stafford. Did you check for any damage to the femoral artery? I noticed significant bruising when I examined Mr Evans."
"Yes, we did check carefully, but there were no leaks as far as I could see. He wasn't on blood thinners, was he? There was no mention of it in his notes."
"No, he wasn't on anything like that. My concern was the bruising and, from what I could ascertain, the length of time he was laid there before I arrived. Apparently, his wife was out and nobody heard him shouting."
Mrs Stafford acknowledged Martin's concerns. "You must have seen quite a few fractured leg bones in your time, Dr Ellingham?"
"Enough to know that more than a cursory glance is required, yes." Martin was making sure that his patient had been properly assessed.
"I understand, and as I said, there was no further evidence of arterial bleeding."
"Do you have any more concerns, Dr Ellingham?"
"No, that's all I require. Thank you. I'll check on Mr Evans and then go home." Martin was business-like, stopping only to shake the surgeon's hand before making his way to the orthopaedic ward.
He found Mr Evans reasonably coherent and was able to stress the importance of following the instructions given by the nursing staff to enable a speedy recovery. "I'm leaving now, but will check up on you in a few days' time, Mr Evans. Goodnight."
When he went to his car, he noted that there were still no others parked in proximity to it, and sneered. Consultants have it easy these days, he thought.
Looking at his watch he saw it was well after 10 pm and knew it would be closer to midnight by the time he arrived home.
After an uneventful trip he let himself into the front door of Fern cottage, stopping only to top up his bag and then go into the kitchen. He got a drink of water from the tap, before sitting at the table. He contemplated on the evenings events and was glad they'd ended on a reasonably positive note.
A movement caught his eye and he turned to look fully at her. "Louisa! Are you alright? Is anything the matter with you or the baby?"
She held her hand up as if to stop the torrent of questions. "I'm fine, or I should say we're fine. I heard a noise down here and came to investigate. I hoped it was you. Just couldn't get to sleep without you." Smiling at him, she stepped closer into his arms.
"I see. Nowhere to put your cold feet, I take it?"
She slapped playfully at his arm. "No, silly! I don't know why I'm restless. Just couldn't get off. Do you want any tea?"
He indicated the glass – "I've just had some water, thank you. Are you ready to go back to bed to try again?"
They went up and Martin went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. He came back and slid in beside her. Like a shot she had folded herself around him and had her head on his chest.
"Ahh! This is better, my own hot water bottle!"
"So much for all that expensive medical training, slaving to become a surgeon and GP, just to be reduced to a hot water bottle!" he grumbled.
"But you're the best in Portwenn, and you're mine," she cheerily told him.
He carefully squeezed her and bent to kiss her forehead. "Don't you forget it!"
The next morning when he got up, Louisa was already downstairs. He got ready and went into the kitchen, to see her dishing out boiled eggs with soldiers. "I thought you'd need a good breakfast this morning as you didn't get any tea last night!"
"Thank you, but there was no need for you to do this. I could have managed."
Her eyes flashed, "Just say you appreciate it and enjoy!"
Recognising his faux pas, Martin hastily sat down and a cup of espresso was quickly added to the table.
"I appreciate your doing this for me, but what got you up so early?" he asked.
Louisa shrugged. "I couldn't sleep and thought I'd only be disturbing you if I tossed and turned, so I decided to get up."
"Any particular reason you couldn't sleep? Do you feel well?" his finely honed instincts were telling him she was being evasive.
"I feel good, Martin. Just a wee bit excited at the thought of going to see Chris and Carol, perhaps. Oh, I've checked my calendar and I've nothing scheduled, so either weekend is good for me."
"When Chris rings me I'll be able to let him know, immediately. Good."
"Have you been to Chris' house before, Martin?"
"No, not since he's been down here. I went a few times to their house in London. They were more or less the only visits I made to anyone else's place."
They finished breakfast and Louisa went up to shower and get ready for school. Martin washed up before making another cup of espresso to take into the surgery.
Louisa popped her head around the door to tell him she was off. "Take care, I'll see you at lunchtime, hopefully."
"Yes, you too."
He looked at his calendar and noted that this Friday was Louisa's check-up with Dr Lewis. Other than that, at the moment, the next two weekends were free.
When Pauline came in, he reminded her not to make any appointments after 2:00pm on Friday. "Yeah Doc. I remembered. Here's the first five patient's notes." She left the brown packets on his desk.
Looking at the first one he saw that it was for Mary Maxwell, a young girl of 6.
"Next patient," he called.
The door opened and in came a young woman with a small girl clutching her hand.
"Mornin' Doc. I'm Donna Maxwell and this is my daughter, Mary. We've come in so that Mary can have her health check before she starts at the Primary School."
Martin looked over at the girl and greeted her. "Hello Mary. I just need to do a few checks, none of which will hurt. Can you go and stand on those scales there, please?" He indicated the machine and then stood up.
Obviously when seated the child didn't gauge how tall he actually was, but when stood he looked like a giant, to her. She paled and then clung to her Mum, hiding her face.
"Mary, it's nothing to be afraid of. The machine will just tell me how much you weigh today. Then next year when you come back it will tell me how much you've grown." Martin used his quiet voice and tried to persuade her to come and stand on the scales.
With her mother giving her a little push she moved forward. Martin showed her where to stand and then adjusted the weights to reveal the balance. "18.5 kg, which is good. Now would you stand with your back to this ruler so that I can see how tall you are?"
She moved to the ruler and did as he asked. He brought the level down to see that she was 112 cm tall.
"Come over to my desk and unbutton your blouse so that I can listen to your heart."
Mary looked apprehensively at her mother. Donna said, "It's fine. I'll undo your buttons and Doctor Ellingham will use his stethoscope to listen to your heart. He'll put the metal disc on your chest and through the earpieces he'll hear your heartbeat." Suiting actions to words she undid the buttons.
Martin quickly listened and counted the beats. The sounds were clear and normal. He took the earpieces out of his ears and then picked up his small light. "I'd like to look in your eyes now and shine this light in them."
Again Mary looked at her mother. "It won't hurt, Mary."
Martin shone the torch into each eye making sure that the pupils reacted properly. He then picked up the otoscope and asked her to hold her hand out. When she did, he shone the light on her hand. "Did that hurt?" Mary looked up at him and said timorously, "No."
"I'll shine it into your ears to see that they are clear." He did as he said he would and then said, "Well done Mary. As far as I can tell you are exactly where you should be for your age, your eyes are clear, as are your ears. Do you have any aches or pains anywhere in your body?"
Mary shook her head and retreated to the safety of her mother's side.
"Mrs Maxwell, do you have any concerns, at all?"
"No Doc, as I said this is just a check-up before she begins at the Primary School."
"Everything looks good, so no need to come back." He wrote up the notes and asked Mrs Maxwell to give the packet to Pauline on their way out.
The rest of the morning passed in routine fashion and he was glad when lunchtime came.
Louisa had taken in her cards and some of the posters she brought back from the holiday. She displayed the posters on the walls and introduced the subject of animals and birds. The children were fascinated by the puffins especially when she told them that they were called pufflings when they were young.
The photographs of the dolphins and seals were also much discussed.
"When we go out at break time we'll look into the bay and see if we can see any dolphins, playing." Sadly, despite looking all over the harbour they didn't see any. The gulls were very much in evidence, wheeling overhead.
The children then went about their play and Louisa went inside to get her tea.
At lunchtime she strode along quickly to get home. "Hi Martin, what's for lunch?"
"A salad sandwich and some fruit, if you want it?"
"Yes please. I showed the children the posters and cards I brought home from our holidays. They were fascinated by the puffins."
Martin tuned out talk of school and children. An occasional "Hm, or Yes" was as much as she got in response to her chatter.
"Of course the blue sea also got a mention. What do you think?"
Martin realised he'd been asked a question, and couldn't think of any reply.
"You weren't listening, were you?" Louisa looked daggers at him.
"Er, no. Sorry, my mind was on other things." He hoped she wouldn't ask him "what things" because he was really just daydreaming.
She tossed her head and her trademark ponytail swished from side to side. "Really, Martin!"
"I was thinking it's time for your check up with Dr Lewis, on Friday. Have you remembered to book the time off?"
"Yes, Martin!"
"Oh, well that's good, isn't it?"
"What do you think of this program about geriatric mothers which Dr. Lewis was talking about? Should I go on it, or not?"
"He's not got back to me yet, to tell me who is running the course. We'll ask him on Friday when we're there."
Louisa said "OK." She then looked at her watch and sighed. "Time to go back. I'll see you later." She went around the table and kissed him, before getting her coat and leaving the cottage.