Chapter 3 – Diagnosis

I looked at my watch, and it was 8:45. "Where is that girl?" I was in my reception room, an empty reception room, which was vacant of patients (because surgery opened at 9) and my receptionist.

"What's that?" Louisa asked.

"Morwenna. Not like her to be late."

"Now, don't you bite her head off, when she gets here."

"Louisa, she has a job and I need her… and I do not bite…"

Louisa crossed the room to stand near me. "You can and you do. Don't be a grouch."

Just then the front door flew open and Al Large barged in practically carrying Morwenna in his arms. "Doc! Got a bit of a situation here."

"Oh my God," Louisa said. "Morwenna?""

As I went to help Al, I assessed the girl. Morwenna's complexion was pasty, skin looked clammy, her eyes looked sunken, and she was barely on her feet. "Bring her through!" I took one of her arms and with Al on the other we got her into my examining room. I detected an odor of sweat and vomit about her. She was not quite a dead weight, but close. "On the exam table."

Al took her upper body as I swung her legs up. "Now, what's all this about?" I took her pulse which was rapid, then I picked up my stethoscope and made ready to listen to her heart. Cardiovascular? Respiratory? "What did this start?"

"This morning," Morwenna moaned. "Basin!"

Louisa had stayed with us, so she grabbed a pan and held it before the girl's mouth, who promptly leaned forward and spewed bile-filled fluid into it.

"Any idea what caused this?" I asked. "Something you ate, or drank, perhaps? Any sensation of general malaise, along with the nausea?" There has been a strain of flu spreading. I touched her forehead which was clammy and cool, but not hot.

Morwenna stared at Al and he intently looked back. "Uh, sorta," Al muttered.

After a few seconds, Morwenna broke the gaze, turned her head and softly said, "I'm… pretty sure…"

Al cleared his throat. "That is, we think…"

Morwenna sighed. "Doc, I'm pregnant."

Louisa covered her mouth with her hand, but I could tell she was grinning.

I stared at her and Al. "How did this happen?"

Louisa coughed. "Mar-tin, you know how these things happen."

I looked from Morwenna to Al, who was rubbing the girl's shoulder. "Ahem, right. How long has the vomiting been ongoing?"

Morwenna gagged.

"Just this morning, Doc," Al said. "And she can't stop."

I took her pulse which was still rapid, then I examined her pupils. "Have you had any food this morning?"

Morwenna shook her head. "Don't say that word."

I sensed a disapproving reaction from Louisa, so I softened my actions. "Are you sure? Pregnancy."

"I'm late, and I'm never late," Morwenna told me. "Along with nausea, soreness… my uh, baps. They're sore."

I took her blood pressure which was a little depressed, which was not unusual, given the vaso-vagal response.

"All signs of a developing pregnancy," Morwenna added, then she gave Al a little smile. "Been reading up on my lunch break."

Louisa cleared her throat. "Congratulations then. Martin, need me around?"

"No." Louisa walked out as I held up a home pregnancy test kit. "Have you seen one of these? The Chemist has them."

She shook her head. "Mrs. Tishell isn't open yet, and even if she had been…" Her eyes appealed to me with unhappiness, or perhaps wariness. "I… don't want the news to get out just yet."

Al rubbed his neck. "This news'll travel like a bushfire."

"If you are able, I want you to go into the loo. Then fill this sample bottle, with, uhm, urine. Cap it and return it to me. And wash your hands, before and after. Then we'll perform a pregnancy test."

Al looked rather dazed, so I addressed him. "Are you able to get her to the toilet?"

"Uh, right," he said. "Come on Morwenner. Off we go."

With his help, she slid off the table, as I held the door for them.

Louisa was standing just outside. "Oh, sorry," she said as she moved out of their way. I saw she was holding a packet of crackers.

"What are those for?" I asked her.

"For Morwenna. Dry crackers for morning sickness."

We watched as Al stood outside the loo, nervously wringing his hands together.

"Brings back memories," Louisa muttered.

Except that Louisa had been in London and I was in Portwenn. "Right."

"You think she is pregnant?" she whispered.

Or she has a tumour, I thought. "We'll see."

"The signs are right. All the symptoms, and they are living together." Louisa smiled. "Poor kids."

"They are hardly children. I hope they know what they are doing."

"Oh," She touched my arm, "does anyone know what they are doing when they are having babies?" She glanced over her shoulder at Al. "Can you be nice to them? They're not just some random people off the street."

I grunted assent. Al and Morwenna entered surgery glumly. I started the test and while we waited for the reaction, I did a quick general workup. Fortunately Morwenna was the sort of person who took care of herself, unlike so many.

The test was positive.