Chapter 48

All afternoon, after her conversation with Ruth, Louisa thought about Martin's parents. It had been obvious even before they married that his parents had hurt him deeply. Joan had hinted at abuse, and Ruth's rare comments were disparaging. Why else would he never speak of them, that is until now when his father's illness, and his parents' neediness, forced him to resume the relationship. Despite his attempt to keep the relations with his parents as impersonal and business-like as possible, he was miserable. Their presence cast a shadow over his entire disposition, and by extension over their family life. Even though she might not be able to mitigate any damage they were inflicting on him now, she truly felt it would be beneficial to meet each of them to understand what he was facing each time he had to interact with them. The dilemma she faced that afternoon was how to approach him, how to ask him for an introduction.

That night, after they had shared supper, bathed the children and put them to bed, Louisa prepared their nightly cup of tea and carried it into the lounge and sat beside Martin on the sofa. "A little time to ourselves, right?"

He picked up his tea and lifted it to his nose, inhaling the aromatic steam as it wafted up, "Yes." He paused for a moment, "I noticed that Robert is a little congested. I took his temperature, but he's not febrile."

"Yes, I noticed that as well. Most of the children at his nursery are sniffling. It's that time of year. Lots of cold viruses going around. He'll be home tomorrow. I'll ask Emily to keep an eye on him when she takes him out to play."

"Don't you think it would be better to keep him inside to rest and recover."

"Perhaps. I'll see how he is feeling in the morning. If it's just a cold, a bit of fresh air can be quite beneficial."

"Yes. I suppose. Just don't let him overdo it. And we don't want Joanie to come down with a cold."

"I don't know how we can prevent that. She's going to catch all these bugs eventually you know, but don't worry. The children will be fine." She wrapped her hands around her cup, warming them, "How was your day, then?"

"Busy."

"With patients, or with your dad?"

"Both."

He peered at her over his cup, and she could see confusion in his eyes. Had Ruth already spoken with him about introducing her to his parents? She could tell he was debating what to disclose. Better to start with something easy. "Any problems with your patients?"

"Not really. Pretty typical day."

"Your dad then?"

He sighed, "It's not good. Hip replacement early tomorrow morning. I should be there before they start. I'll try not to wake you."

"Are you assisting?"

"Noooo … not my place."

She raised her eyebrows and tilted her head, encouraging him to continue.

"I'd like to check him over before they start, and I'd like an update before they begin, any overnight changes I should know about, that sort of thing."

"Okay."

They sat on the sofa quietly enjoying their tea and Louisa slid over a bit to sit closer, smiled up at him and settled her hand softly on his thigh. "You are a good man, Martin Ellingham."

He glanced back at her and raised his eyebrow sceptically. "Mm."

She stroked his thigh nervously, tapping her fingers as she slid her hand up and back. "How long will his recovery take?"

"Mm. Hard to say. They will likely use spinal or epidural anaesthesia because of his stroke risk, but he will also be sedated, and it may take him the rest of the day to recover from the sedation. If all goes well, he will be fully conscious and under minimal pain medication by the day after and he will be encouraged to sit up and possibly try to walk."

"Walk? Is that wise?"

"It's best to start moving to avoid blood clots. Usually patients are discharged after three to five days, but I imagine he will be in hospital longer than most given his advanced age and will be discharged back to a care-home where he will require extensive physical therapy."

"Sounds daunting."

"Yes. I doubt that he will be returning to Portugal for months."

He took a sip of his tea and stared out into space and sighed. "I suppose I should look into finding a better care home. This last one came highly recommended, but to let this kind of thing happen to one of their patients? It's neglect of the highest order," he growled.

"Mmm …" Louisa lifted her hand off of his thigh and shifted her legs so she was facing him, "Will your mother come back to London while he recovers?"

"I don't know."

"Oh."

She finished her tea and set her cup down on the end table. "I was wondering … "she paused.

"What?"

She stroked his arm, resting her head against his shoulder. He was tense; she could feel it in the way he was sitting with his torso held slightly away from the back of the couch, the muscles in his arm firm under her hand. This wasn't going to be easy. Best to be straight-forward. Martin wasn't good with the indirect approach.

"I was wondering if I could meet him, and your mother as well whenever she returns."

Martin held up his hand and shook his head against the idea, whilst acknowledging her request, "Yes. Ruth told me that she thought it wise for you to meet."

"You spoke with Ruth?"

"Yes. She came to see me after my last appointment and joined me when I went to check on Dad before coming home." He hesitated and gazed at her intently. "But Louisa", he continued. "I really don't want him to meet you."

She pulled away shifting her weight under her leg and then turned to face him head on, "Are you ashamed of me? Is that it?"

"No, no, never." He leaned in toward her, "Louisa, he is a pretentious snob and a lecher. He will either criticise you because you are from Cornwall, or he will leer and make inappropriate advances to you because you are such a beautiful woman. I don't want to put you in either situation."

She smiled inwardly at his assertion that she was a beautiful woman. She knew how he felt from the way he often gazed at her, love and appreciation unmistakable in his eyes, but he wasn't one to express his feelings verbally. It was nice to hear him say it, and she felt she should thank him for the compliment, but she didn't want to stray too far from the topic at hand. "Martin, I am perfectly capable of standing up for myself."

A smile flitted across his face and he replied whilst picking up one of her hands, rubbing it with his fingers. "Yes. I know you are."

"Okay. Maybe it's time for me to do just that." She placed her other hand over his and looked him sternly in the eye. "To be honest Martin, I feel shut out whilst you work through this family drama." She tightened her grip on his hand and continued. "Well, I am your family and I belong at your side whilst you are doing battle with them. I want to know the foe, and I can't help you unless I truly know with whom you are contending."

He gazed at her with his eyes wide open and once again a tentative smile flitted across his face as he sighed, "Very well. I will arrange it, perhaps in two or three days when he is fully alert after his surgery."

"Promise."

"Yes."

"Thank you, Martin."

She snuggled into his side whilst he finished the last few sips of his tea. He pulled his hand out of her grasp and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. Her hair was down, out of its ponytail and he ran his fingers through it, then kissed the top of her head. "James seems excited about his science project. I'd like to learn more about it. From what he's told us, his teachers seem to be challenging him. I had been concerned that his school might not be as rigorous as mine was. I'm hopeful that I was wrong."

"It's a good school, one of the best private schools in the city. I don't think you have cause for concern, my darling husband." She reached up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "But I'm glad that you care."

"Of course I care, Louisa. I want our children to have the best education possible."

"I know you do."

"I plan to ask James to show me what he has done so far, and explain to me what he is trying to do. Explaining it to another person is a good way to reinforce his learning and to encourage him to think creatively."

"Yes, it is. I've never heard you discuss educational concepts before. Very good insight."

"You seem to forget that I spend a part of each day training aspiring surgeons. Making them articulate their ideas and approaches to treatment is essential in assessing their understanding of the material."

"My husband, brilliant surgeon and esteemed educator."

"Yes … well …. Hmmm."

She grinned at him and gave him a tender kiss, "Perhaps we should make it an early night …. If you have to get up early tomorrow for your Dad's surgery."

He caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers, and returned the kiss, lingering over her lips longingly. Slowly pulling away, he gazed deeply into her eyes and whispered a reply, "Yes, good idea."

He leaned over to pick up the tea cups and stood up, "I'll just take these cups to the kitchen."

Louisa reached over and took them from him, and she headed to the kitchen herself, "I can do that. Why don't you go on up."

He stood fixed to the spot, gazing at her as she went until she turned around smiling and, tilting her head towards the stairs, encouraged him, "Go on then. I'll be right up to join you."

He tucked his head, and raising his eyebrows suggestively in her direction, headed over to the stairs, "Right. Good."

Delighted with his response, she smiled and echoed his sentiment, "Yes. Good."