Chapter 135

Louisa was just finishing off her crumbed pollock dish as he came in. "Tea's ready. I've made a salad to go with this.

Martin sniffed appreciatively at the rising steam from the fish. "Smells good, Louisa. I'll just wash up and be with you shortly."

Their talk over tea was limited to general chit-chat or of the doings in the village. Once the crockery had been washed up, Martin made a second pot of tea and then they sat together on the sofa.

"Chris popped in to see me at closing time. He apologised for not having time to come in and chat with you, but he had to go elsewhere before going home."

"Had he read that report, Martin?"

"Yes. He came to get my version of it, and I left him in no doubt about my opinion of Matthews. He already knew about my blood issue, so that wasn't a surprise. He did enquire about the patient with the gashed hand and what had happened. I explained that I had become pale, but that it hadn't affected my treatment of him."

Louisa nodded. "Sounds as though he's not too worried about things. Did you give him your written answer?"

"No. I told him about it, but he said we'd keep it in reserve in the unlikely event it would be needed."

Louisa was relieved at hearing this. She knew Martin had been extremely upset at the innuendo implied and was worried about his job. She put her empty cup on the table and inched closer to him to rest her head on his chest.

He smiled down at her and dropped a kiss on her head, before pulling her closer. They sat for a while, just enjoying each other's company.

"What are you going to do for the rest of the evening, Martin?"

"I'll go and tinker with my clock and let that calm me down fully. What about you? Is there something on TV you will watch?"

"Actually, there is. A new nature program is beginning and I thought I'd watch that."

He felt a bit better knowing that he wasn't just abandoning her to her own company. "Right, see you later then." She smiled at him as he got up and went back to the consulting room.

A short time later Joan rang. "Hi Joan, what can we do for you?"

"It's more what I can do for you, really. There's another quiz on at the Crab, tomorrow night. Do you want to go? I can pick you up and drop you back off if you do?"

"That sounds good. There's nothing on TV tomorrow that interests me. I'm sure Martin won't feel so guilty about leaving me on my own if I've got something interesting planned. What time shall I be ready?"

"Pick you up at 7:30 and the quiz starts at 8:00, so time for a quick one before it gets underway."

"Thanks Joan. I'm looking forward to it already."

She put her phone down just as Martin came back into the lounge.

"Looking forwards to what?" he asked.

"Joan's invited me to go along to the quiz at the Crab tomorrow night. She's picking me up at half-seven."

"I see. So, I'll be all by myself, then?" he put on a face of sadness.

"Don't you come that with me, Martin Ellingham! I just said to Joan you'd be happy to have more time with your clock and not have to feel guilty about leaving me on my own! Anyway, why don't you come as well? Give the gossips something to talk about?" she grinned up at him.

"No, no. Seriously I'll be Ok. If you're going with Joan there's no need for me to come as well."

"Coward," was her teasing reply.

"Hm. Shall I make our drink? What do you want?"

Louisa said straight away, "I'd like some hot chocolate, actually. Just fancy it."

Luckily, Martin engaged his brain before uttering a terse, "Yes."

They sat nursing their drinks and Martin leaned back to more fully relax. A sigh escaped from him, and then he turned to look at her. "You are beautiful, you know? All through your pregnancy you've had a soft glow about you. It's been lovely to see."

Louisa turned to look at him, surprised by his words. "Thank you, Martin. I really appreciate you telling me this. At times I've felt dowdy and fat. It's been something of a struggle to make myself realise I'm just me, as I've always been."

"Noo. You're not fat. You'll never be dowdy as you always look beautiful." He was quick to reassure her.

Having finished her chocolate she moved closer to him and they just sat and cuddled for a while. Eventually she decided she should go to bed. Tiredness was sweeping over her like a wave.

"I'll lock up and be with you shortly."

Before long they were in bed and he had his arm around her, as they both went to sleep.

Three hours later the buzzing of his phone on the nightstand roused Martin from a deep sleep. "Ellingham" he said quietly.

"Doc! Doc, can you come? My husband has had an attack of some sort, and he's lying groaning on the floor."

"What happened?"

"I don't really know. I found him outside the bathroom and he was making this awful noise. I asked him what was wrong, but he couldn't tell me. Just kept on groaning. I can't see any injury so I don't know!" The wife was obviously becoming panicky and so Martin found out her name and address and promised to be there as soon as he could.

He got out of bed and took his clothes into the other bedroom. Dressing hastily he peeped back into their room, but Louisa hadn't moved. He could still hear her soft snores.

He went downstairs and left a note on the table before getting his bag and going to his car.

He programmed the sat-nav and set off slowly through the town.

Eventually he arrived at Marshalls Way in Trelights, a small hamlet close to Portwenn. Going towards No 3 the door opened and a woman's voice called out, "Dr Ellingham?"

"Yes, where's the patient?"

"He's upstairs on the landing. Since I phoned you, he's been sick twice. I still can't get him on his feet!"

She followed Martin upstairs where he found the man laid down on his back, a pool of vomit near his head.

Martin grimaced at the noxious smell and set about taking a few vital statistics. "Mr Gardner. Mr Gardner, it's Dr Ellingham. Can you tell me what happened?"

"Went fuzzy and collapsed. When I try and move me 'ead spins."

Martin checked his temperature and it was elevated. He shone his torch into Mr Gardner's eyes, and then asked him to look at the raised finger and try and follow it. Gardner couldn't do it.

"Have you been ill recently?" Martin asked.

At which point Mrs Gardner said, "He 'ad a cold last week. Seemed to affect 'im more than usual, too."

"Are there any other symptoms, headache? Tinnitus? Hearing loss?"

"Me ear hurts. Right one, an' I got a buzzin' in my ears."

Martin took out his otoscope and checked the man's ears. The right one showed inflammation and the ear drum looked to be bulging slightly. "Hm. I think you have labyrinthitis, which is an ear infection. This is quite a disconcerting illness, but it is treatable. If I help you, do you think you can go back to bed?"

Gardner looked doubtfully at him. "I dunno Doc. I'll try."

Martin moved around to his side and got him to sit up. Gardner swayed a bit as the dizziness came back. He then put his arm under Gardner's arm and managed to get the chap on his feet. Mrs Gardner moved to his other side and helped him as well.

"Bedroom's behind you Doc. Jim sleeps on the right side."

Together, with a considerable effort on Martin's part, they guided the unlucky Jim back into bed. He groaned as he fell back on the pillows and lost what little colour he had. "Room's spinning. I'm gonna be sick!"

Thankfully he wasn't but Martin suggested a bucket by the side of the bed would be useful.

"I'll give you a short course of antiemetics which should stop you being sick. Take all the tablets as directed. Don't just take a few and then stop because you feel a bit better, understood?"

"I'll see he takes 'em, Doc."

"You need bedrest either laying down or sat up propped on pillows if that is more comfortable. Do not look at bright lights such as the TV. You should drink liquids, preferably water, little and often to avoid dehydration. Avoid sitting up, or standing quickly and make sure you are not feeling dizzy before you begin to walk.

I'll give you a sicknote for a week, and you should come back and see me if this doesn't clear up. Don't drive or operate machinery in the meantime."

"Won't he need some antibacterial tablets, if it's an infection?" asked Mrs Gardner.

"This sort of infection is usually viral in nature, and antibacterial tablets don't work on viruses."

"Oh. I didn't know that."

"Yes."

"Erm, the labyrinthitis can last longer than a week, so definitely you should make an appointment and come and see me if symptoms persist." Martin stressed the fact that it was possible for it not to clear up in a short time.

"Was there anything else, Mr Gardner?"

Jim started to shake his head but lost colour again as the room began to spin. "No," he said hoarsely.

"Very well, I'll leave you now."

Mrs Gardner followed him downstairs. "Thanks for coming Doc. I didn't know what to do. I was frightened he was dying." She looked tearful and Martin told her she'd done the right thing.

"Just make sure he gets plenty of rest and follows my instructions."

"Right, thanks again Doc." She ushered Martin out and went to get some water for Jim to take the tablet.

It was about 3:30 in the morning before Martin crept quietly back into bed. He tried not to disturb Louisa, but she turned over and snuggled into him. He sighed and tried to get back to sleep.

When his alarm went off the next morning, Martin groaned and was tempted to fling the clock at the wall. However, years of discipline forced him up and into the bathroom, to get ready for another day. He heard Louisa's alarm ringing, but she was slow to cancel it. Coming into the bedroom with a towel around his waist, he looked across at her to see if she was awake. "Louisa? Are you alright? Come on it's time to get up."

"Ugh. Leave me alone, I'm tired." Louisa complained.

He walked to her side of the bed and reached down to check her temperature. It seemed normal. "Any aches or pains?" he questioned.

"I'm tired, not ill, Martin." She snapped at him.

"Fine, perhaps you should stay off school then. Also you shouldn't be going to that quiz tonight, but have an early night instead." This was said with his tongue firmly in his cheek.

She opened a bleary eye and looked askance at him. "Alright. Alright, just give me a minute, will you?"

"I'm going to make breakfast. If you're not down in 20 minutes I'll be back up to check you over more thoroughly."

"Ohhh. Go on then. I'll be up eventually."

He finished dressing and went to make breakfast. A little while later he could hear the shower running and smiled to himself. Amazing what a little encouragement could do, he thought.

When she appeared at the table, she looked her normal, cheery self. She went to him and both hugged and kissed him. "Sorry Martin. I just felt I needed a bit of extra time in bed. What time was it when you got back?"

"About half past three by the time I came in and wrote my notes. I'd no sooner laid down than you were wrapped around me. Although I have to say I like it."

She looked over at him, recognising the humour of the situation.

They ate breakfast quietly and then Martin got up to go to the surgery.

"Oh Martin, I forgot to remind you. It's my day for yard duty, so I'll be a little later getting home at lunchtime."

"Well, be careful and don't wear yourself out, hm?"

"No, I won't. Love you."

"Love you too." He disappeared under the stairs and she went up to get ready.