Chapter 114
Once back in the quiet of their own home, Martin re-stocked his bag and then came to sit on the couch.
"Do you want something to eat, Martin?"
"I don't want a dinner if that's what you're asking. Just some cereal, I think." His head went down as he said, "I vomited when I saw the little boy."
Louisa crossed to him and sat by his side. She put her arms around him as he cried, at the thought of the boy, his parents and grandparents. Their lives would never be the same again.
"Thank you for coming, Louisa. You helped me contain my emotions a lot when I saw you. I do wish though, that you hadn't seen the crash site."
"I'm not going to say 'I'm sorry for that,' but the truth is it gives me an insight into what you have to go through every time you attend one of these accidents. I was so proud of you today."
He sat back and rested his head on the sofa. She leaned across and kissed his cheek softly. Getting up she went and made the tea. She found that she didn't want much either and settled for cereal for herself. After she washed up, she looked at Martin as he settled back down on the sofa. To her eyes he still looked grey. Indeed, he'd not even removed his dirty clothes at all. Something which indicated to her just how shocked he was.
"Martin, why don't you go and have a bath, or at least a shower? You might feel a little better after it." Time is getting on and we might as well have an early night. "Go on, you go up."
It was still early on in the evening, relatively speaking, but after the events of the day Martin felt glad at the thought of a bath and then an early night. He nodded and then took himself upstairs.
Louisa picked up her book, but couldn't concentrate on the pages. Her mind replayed over and over what she'd witnessed. She decided that going to bed herself would be a good thing. She knew she had to be in school tomorrow to watch the installation of the computers and their software. She made sure all the doors were locked, and then climbed the stairs. When she got to their bedroom, Martin wasn't in bed. She knocked on the bathroom door and peeped in.
He was sat back in the water, but he hadn't begun to wash the dirt off. He looked up at her and she could see the tears still in his eyes. Reaching for the soap and flannel she told him to sit up and she washed his back, before handing them to him to finish the job. "Will you be alright now?"
"Yes, thank you."
She left him to get on with it and then went and undressed before putting her robe on.
After he came out, she went in the shower and soon joined him in bed where she cuddled up to him, just holding him. She heard him sigh as he relaxed. She rubbed his back and was rewarded when she heard his slow breathing. Shutting her eyes she drifted off to sleep, herself.
There were no further callouts and they both enjoyed a night of uninterrupted sleep. When the alarm went off Martin roused himself and went in the bathroom first. When he returned to the bedroom, he picked a different suit to wear. Seeing that Louisa was awake he asked her if she would take his dirty suit to the drycleaners when she went to school?
"Yes, I can do that. I'll have an egg with soldiers this morning, please?"
"As my lady commands," he replied with a twinkle in his eyes.
He went smiling downstairs to make breakfast.
When she joined him, she saw that he'd folded his suit and put it in a shopping bag to make it easier for her to carry. "Good thinking," she said, pointing at the bag.
"Erm, yes. I thought if you took it with you to school, you wouldn't have to make two trips."
She sat down to her breakfast and watched as he prepared his espresso. He looked more like his normal self this morning and had lost the 'grey' look of yesterday.
"I slept well last night, did you?"
"For the most part, yes. It got a little too warm with the octopus around me," he smiled taking the sting out of the words.
"Will you be going to the hospital at all to check up on the victims?"
"Not today. I'll phone and see how things are developing, and I might go on Thursday. In fact we could go together, maybe have a meal?"
"Like on a date?" Louisa's eyes twinkled at him as she thought instantly about putting her finery on and her half-decent shoes.
"Perhaps," he said, noncommittally.
"I'll mark it in my diary as a red-letter day, then."
"You don't need to do that," he protested. "I'll remember."
She just smiled, mysteriously.
"OK, I'm going to get ready. See you later, handsome." She walked over and kissed his cheek.
He grabbed her hand and pulled her closer. "I think I can do a little better than that," he murmured as he lengthened the embrace.
When she drew back, she was breathless. "Damn work and damn surgery times. Can't we just hibernate for the day?"
He smiled. "Glad you appreciate my efforts. Perhaps tonight?"
"I'll hope for the best," she said.
He began the washing up and she went to get ready for school.
She passed Bert on her way down, as he was coming up. "Hi Bert. How are you doing?"
"Very nicely thank you. I've lost some more weight this last month and I'm feeling a lot better, for it. I should have begun this years ago!"
"Better late than never, Bert!" she laughed as she continued on her way.
At school the door was unlocked and she went along to the staffroom to see if Trisha was there. She put her coat on its hook and sat down to wait. Ten minutes later Trisha arrived and they began discussing their weekends.
"Wasn't it awful, about that car going out of control? I heard about it last night when we were in the pub."
Louisa nodded in agreement. "Martin was there and I brought some things to him, from Mrs Tishell's."
"What did you see?" enquired Trisha, eager for some more gossip.
"Not a lot really, as one woman was knocked off her feet but managed to hang on to her baby. It was crying and Martin gave it to me to hold, so I took it away from the scene, further up the hill."
"Oh. Must have given you a bit of practice then, for later on!"
Louisa smiled and was saved from more explanations when a man shouted "Helloo" from the schoolyard door.
They got up and went to answer the call.
A tall young man was there and a second one was opening the back of a van, parked in the yard.
"Mrs Ellingham? I'm Daniel Sutcliffe from the PCT in Truro. This is Owen Williams, and we've come to install the computers for you."
Louisa smiled, "Yes I'm Mrs Ellingham and this is Trisha Soames, my colleague."
"Would you show us where they are to go, please? Then we can get them into place for you."
Louisa and Trisha took them along to the classrooms and showed them where they were to be installed. Tables had been set up close to power points and away from radiators. "Where does the server go? Does it have to be in a different room to the computers?" asked Louisa.
"Ideally yes, but next to one of the computers is fine." Daniel explained. "The server is linked wirelessly to each computer. No cables," explained Owen when he saw their puzzled looks.
Enlightenment dawned and they showed the men where the power points were for the computers. In one room there was room for a printer, together with its own electricity supply.
"We'll keep the printer in another classroom, away from the server. That should prevent accidents," Daniel said.
Going back to the van, the young men retrieved a hand barrow from the van and stacked two computer boxes on it. They wheeled them into a classroom and deposited one box there before moving to the next one. They took the third computer and the server into Louisa's room.
Initial installation was easily done as the cables were attached and the computers orientated on their tables. The server and printer were also easily installed. Everything was switched on and the main software opened.
"Have you got your password ready?" asked Daniel.
"Er no, we weren't told anything about that." Trisha looked a bit flummoxed by this request.
"It's easy. You need a combination of letters, numbers or symbols of at least 8 characters. I tell you what, we'll use LOUisa12 for now. When you come back after the holidays, you must change it immediately for something else. We'll put that one into all the computers, but you can have three different ones, if you want."
Louisa and Trisha agreed. That seemed sensible to them.
Daniel said "Now, which software package do you want in each classroom. I know you want the word processor, spreadsheet and art package on all the computers, but I also know several different programs were requested."
They were in Louisa's room and she had requested an animal themed program. Owen showed her how to install it, and set it up. She'd had the forethought to bring a notebook so she could write down all his instructions.
Trisha did a similar thing in her room, but with a flower program.
In Pippa's room the theme was on history. All the software was aimed at children between 5 and 10 years old.
They were shown how to back-up the computers to the server, and lastly how to print out work.
"You can get in touch with us at the PCT if you need any more help," explained Daniel. "We appreciate that it has been a lot to take in."
"Daniel, Owen, thank you very much for doing this for us. Especially for taking the time to show us the software installation." Louisa was extremely grateful for the tutorials.
"Right, we'll be off. Bye, for now."
The men left and Trisha and Louisa looked at one another in glee. "Wow, this is something great, isn't it?" asked Trisha.
"Let's have a go with our chosen software, shall we?"
Louisa sat down in front of her computer and opened up the animal package. There were pictures of animals, explanations of "families" such as lions, tigers, jaguars being "cats" and then wolves, coyotes and dogs belonging to the canine group.
"Oh, this is fantastic," exclaimed Louisa. "The children will love this." She selected a picture of a cow and sent it to the printer, which now had paper in it. A bit of whirring and shuffling of the paper and the portrait duly emerged. It took some time as the picture was in full colour.
Trisha said, "I think we ought to set it on black and white, otherwise we will be here all day waiting for pictures!"
Louisa agreed, "Not forgetting the cost of coloured inks!"
They went around to Trisha's computer and got a flower picture, and then finally to Pippa's where they chose a Roman soldier. All the pictures looked good, even in black and white.
"This all seems to be working well. We'll shut down the computers, and while I do that, you go and find the caretaker to lock up."
Louisa sat down and began to shut down the equipment. She remembered to turn off the power to them as well.
By the time she had finished Trisha was waiting with the caretaker and Louisa's coat and bag.
They left the building and saw that the doors were locked.
"Enjoy the rest of your holiday, Trisha. I'll write up my notes and bring copies in for everyone, next Monday."
"Thanks Louisa – you too!"
Louisa went along to the dry cleaners and put in Martin's suit. She glanced at her watch, amazed to see that it was already 12:30p.m. I'll have to hurry, or Martin will be sending out a search party, she thought.
When she got back home, Martin was in the kitchen calmly eating his salad sandwich. "Computers are installed then, I take it?" he asked.
"Yes. The men were a great help in setting them up, and I took lots of notes so that we will be able to operate them fully. You should see the software for the children to use. It is great!"
Martin smiled indulgently. He still couldn't fathom why she was so excited, but accepted that she loved her job, and any upgrade to any equipment was a source of pleasure for her.
"I'll give Chris a ring to thank him, today. Next week I'll get my class to draw a picture of thanks and send that to him as well."
Martin wondered why two lots of thanks were needed, but wisely kept quiet.