Chapter 21 – Spleen

Another person approached the table.

He nodded to the other persons present. Then he said 'Hello Doc….tor Ellingham!'

Martin turned his head and looked up to a very young man, a boy actually. He was properly dressed in a suit, a size too big for his stature, but a nice suit anyway. He was wearing a light blue shirt, neatly ironed and a modest dark blue tie with small stripes.

'Well, Doctor Ellingham, are you going to introduce your young friend to us?", Martinus Elzenbosch asked.

'If I knew who it is, I most certainly would', Martin mumbled between his teeth.

'Would it help if I showed you the scar on my abdomen, Doctor Ellingham?', the young man laughed

Martin frowned, his brains working at hundred and fifty percent, mentally scanning all the patients he had treated over the past twenty-five years.

'Peter Cronk?... ', he said hesitantly.

'Yes sir, from head to toe', Peter answered.

'But, I don't understand, what are you doing here?

'I participated at a contest. Participants had to write an article on a subject related to phobias. The winning prize was a place at a conference of your own choice. I wrote an article on living with a person suffering from any kind of anxiety disorder and won the first price.'

'Hmm, the subject doesn't surprise me…' Martin replied and, remembering Louisa's lessons to try a bit harder on socializing, he added 'What level are you in, are you preparing your A-levels?'

Martin couldn't exactly recall how long ago Peter and his mother left Portwenn. He remembered that they went away to a place where Peter could go to a high quality and high level secondary school. The boy was too smart to waste the potential intellect. His mother had understood that and with the help of Louisa, in her function of head teacher, an appropriate scholarship has been offered to make it possible for him. Joy Cronk shut down her fish and chips in the village and went to work in a fish restaurant in the city.

'No doc, I mean, sir, I am in my second year of med school. I am going to be a doctor, just like you! I skipped two classes at secondary school and started at the university at the age of sixteen.'

'Well Ellingham, this seems to be an interesting addition to our table, sit down, young man – will you finally introduce him to us? Elzenbosch insisted.

"Uhm, yes of course, Peter Cronk, former patient of my surgery in Portwenn, Martin Helling, Martin Lefoll, Martinus Elzenbosch, Mateo Sancristobal, Markos Staikos and Martine de Jager, all doctors, or doctor to be'.

'You're breaking the rule, Markos Staikos said with a twinkle in his eye, your name doesn't start with an M!'

Martin Ellingham scowled, not sure what to think of Markos' remark, but Peter countered the remark with a smile. 'No I'm not, my first name is Maxim, I'm called Maxim Peter Cronk. My mum preferred Peter as day to day name..'

'Very well then, Maxim Peter, join the M's table, please come and sit next to me', Martin Lefoll concluded, pushing the chair backwards and inviting Peter to be seated between him and Martin Ellingham, who was seated next to Martinus Elzenbosch.

Peter sat down. It felt a bit awkward for him, to have lunch with all these great doctors. None of them very talkative, although the professional surrounding seemed to loosen them up a bit.

Doctor Elzenbosch addressed a word to Martin Ellingham. 'What about the scar, Martin? How on earth can you – as his former GP - recognize him by that?'

'I can't discuss my patients with you, I'm afraid', Martin replied, somewhat absentmindedly. His thoughts brought him back to that evening in his first year at Portwenn.

The day had started badly with a waiting room full of patients pretending to need blood tests even for an ear infection and then being called to an emergency at the pub, where Bert Large had had an accident with a chainsaw or something like that. It appeared to be a setup and just when he was getting nauseous by the idea of all the blood, his perfect sense of smell had saved him. He discovered that Bert was simply covered with tomato ketchup, which he proofed by dipping his finger in the red stuff and then actually tasted it.

All persons present were laughing out loud, as he stormed out of the pub. It wouldn't have been Portwenn if Caroline Bosman hadn't facilitated a gossip our on the radio later that day.

Then there was the emergency at the school. Peter Cronk had made a huge smack during PE, but the boy had self-diagnosed himself and Louisa told him he was fine. That ignited his anger even more, so he told them to go to hospital and have the boy checked there. At that moment he was fed up with all the villagers never listening to his advices. Later he regretted his behaviour very much and felt guilty about being cross to the boy. Peter always looked up to him. The boy remembered him of himself at his age, always being teased, always the odd one out.

The hospital hadn't done a good job either, they should have ruled out the ruptured spleen. Apparently the boy had been a genius in hiding his abdominal pain, so they gave him the all clear and sent him home.

Louisa had been called by a panicking Joy Cronk in the late evening. Really sharp of her to recognize the critical situation and to wake him up from – umh - his very pleasant dream…

Martinus Elzenbosch's 'No need to blush, colleague, this is a professional exchange, tell us about it!, brought him back to the lunch table.

'Doctor Ellingham saved my life, mr. Elzenbosch' Peter answered for him.

'As usual, I was teased by a schoolmate who pinched me in the calves, so I fell from the PE-set. My stomach hit one of the corners of the set. There has been a bad coincidence between me not listening to the doctor, to my teacher Ms Glasson and me trying to hide the pain. You see, my mother easily panics and I didn't want her to worry about me. Not very intelligent, but hey, I was only nine years old!'

'Your intentions were good!', Martin Ellingham grunted

Doc Martin stood up for him, Peter stated with astonishment and then continued,

'The hospital doctor took an X-ray, and concluded that it was only an abdominal strain and I was sent home. In the evening I became really ill, but as a stubborn nine year old, I withheld my mum to call the doc. But later, too late actually, she called miss Glasson. Ms Glasson was my hero at that time, so mum just wanted to call her for advice. That's how it works in small villages like Portwenn, you know..'

'I know, go on', Martinus encouraged him.

'Well, I only remember that both the Doc and miss Glasson came to my house. Doc took care of me, but not without giving instructions to miss Glasson to help my mother with her hyperventilation. Doc diagnosed me with a ruptured spleen and suspected blood leaking into my abdomen. He wanted me to get to the hospital as soon as possible. The PC was called, Doc Martin called for a helicopter, but there wasn't one, so I ended up in an ambulance, with the paramedic, Doc and miss Glasson. My mum was too panicked to be of any help, so she followed to the hospital in a normal car, driven by one of the neighbours. You have to know that from Portwenn to the nearest hospital takes at least 45 minutes.'

Peter suddenly became aware of the fact that he had used the terms Doc Martin, which he knew Doctor Ellingham hated so much. 'Sorry Doctor Ellingham, it is hard to get rid of that, I didn't mean to...'

Martin gestured him to go on, seeing that his colleagues were eager to hear the rest of the story.

'In the ambulance, doctor Ellingham explained why he had been cross to me and I remember that I advised him to let them tease him – he would end up being one of them.. That's what miss Glasson told me earlier that day and which ended up in that ambulance. Later at secondary school , I better understood what she had meant to teach me and it appeared to be successful. Did it work out for you too, Doc? Are you one of them now?'

Martin mumbled something not understandable, so Peter continued.

'Miss Glasson was really frightened, I could see that from the looks she gave doctor Ellingham, her eyes glistening with tears when I asked the doctor if I would be OK, if I could live without the spleen. He said 'If I have anything to do with it, yes!'. After that, everything turned black.. Miss Glasson told me later that the Doc took action as soon as he found out that the blood pressure dropped dramatically. They put in a line and miss Glasson had to squeeze the bottle to get all the fluid into my body. Doc decided to do an emergency operation right there in the ambulance. And you have to know – he doesn't like blood at all, so he even warned miss Glasson and the paramedic that he would probably vomit … which he didn't by the way. Everything that could go wrong went wrong, so Doc wanted to stop the bleeding with a Spencer Wells, but it broke down to pieces. There was no other thing to do for the Doc than to dug in his hands and to close the leaking veins with his own fingers until arrival at the hospital. His shirt was covered with blood and he was exposed to a lot of blood during that horrible ride. I wouldn't have made it, without his actions, so, yes, he saved my life. When I woke up after the operation, I knew it: I had to become a doctor as well!'

Martinus complimented Peter on the details he remembered and added 'I see, right, good job Ellingham!'

Despite all the therapy he had had with doctor Johnson, Martin still didn't exactly know how to react on a compliment and was relieved that the starters arrived – a healthy salad with stir-fried scallops on top of it.

Peter and the young woman, Martine de Jager, seemed to fit in really well in this somewhat odd group of brilliant doctors. None of them was really talkative and just exchanged on professional subjects.

Peter, who left Portwenn more than five years ago, was curious though. He wanted very much to get some news on the villagers. Finally he overcame his reserve and asked Martin:

'Doctor Ellingham, how is everybody in Portwenn? How is miss Glasson? Did it you ever get somewhere with her? I mean, she was obviously in love with you and she seemed to be the only one you weren't shouting at..

Martin scowled and grunted. 'Peter, I don't think this is of any interest for the others…'

Seeing the disappointment in the boy's eyes, he then added more softly, 'Look, why don't you join me at dinner tonight. We can talk it over and I will introduce you to my wife and son'.

'Yes sir, thank you sir!'

Then, the penny dropped.. 'What?… You are married?'

'Meet me at six thirty in the hall of the hotel – don't be late!', was the only answer he got. Doctor Martin Ellingham started a discussion with Martinus Elzenbosch on one of the phobias: 'Have you ever had a case of severe equinophobia* in your surgery?

To be continued

Hope you don't mind the details of episode S1E6 – it's one of my favourites..

*) equinophobia – fear of horses.