Chapter 14 – Seaside
The morning had dawned bright and the whiskey bottle remained untouched and for that I was very glad. I managed to sleep a few hours and eat breakfast and even though felt unsettled, I was functional.
I was walking back from shopping when I encountered Louisa, standing near the Crab and Lobster pub gazing out to sea. My legs took me straight to her and my mouth spoke the words it wished, "Hello," I said warily. I was totally uncertain how this encounter would go, especially since we had parted with such acrimonious and disheartening words the day before.
"Martin, hello." She did not exactly look pleased to see me.
She was beautiful. The sun shone gloriously on her face, setting off her brilliant white teeth and blue eyes. Her dress, some sort of yellow and blue thing covered in giant daisys, with a yellow cardigan, looked new. Of course it's new, Martin! She won't fit into any of her other clothes! You idiot.
We spoke about jelly babies, which she'd been eating, and her face fell as I warned her that shifting the baby weight would be difficult later. Too many useless calories now would be a problem later given her age.
She seemed to take my comment well, but I was not entirely sure I should have spoken that way. I'd imagine pregnancy weight gain, though important to the health of the developing foetus, is likely maddening in a society that praises thin women.
Louisa told me some more of the odd behavior of her new boss, the head master of the school. She was quite surprised when I refused to discuss Mr. Strain or anything about his medical issues with her.
She described some of his off behaviors, mocking, skulking around, and strange arm movements. But she assured me that he'd not acted threatening in any way, which was good.
At this point, Auntie Joan drove up in her battered black farm truck. I thought she was looking for me, but the opposite was true.
Louisa went on, telling me that she was going to Truro for an antenatal exam, and Joan was taking her.
"Sh… shouldn't I be taking you?" I stammered.
"I'm fine thanks," she answered and with two backward looks though smiling, climbed into my aunt's dirty truck. And off they went. I stared at the departing vehicle stupidly. How could she accept assistance from my aunt and not from me? I sighed. Well the child will be Joan's great-nephew I suppose.
Louisa did say that she would call me if the head master did anything else odd. For that I was glad, until I could discern what his problem was. The test results should be back today and they might shed a light on his problem.
I made my way to surgery, feeling sad and proud as well. Sad that Louisa was getting on with her job, which was good, but clearly without any help needed by me. But I was proud realising that Louisa would take care herself, in spite of the extra jelly baby or two, and the baby would be fine. But with my next breath all the facts of complications of elderly prima-gravidas flew into my head, partly from the reading I'd done last night. High blood pressure, pre-eclampsia, early labor, premature rupture of membranes… the list ran on and on. One of the vast negatives of being a doctor is in knowing too much, and that does get me into trouble at times.
The office day started awfully with Pauline's uncle Jimmy yelling at me about testosterone while his wife Jen sat there with a stricken face. When I explained to the stupid oaf that by taking anabolic male steroids he was actually lowering his sperm count, the poor woman burst into tears. Mr. Mellinger sprang up and with more abusive shouts bolted from surgery with his wife in fast pursuit.
They bolted away and Mrs. Bollard got into a bit of shouting match with Mr. Strain over who was next. He asked if he could jump the queue, and she definitely said no.
"Feeling all right?" I asked him as Mrs. Bollard went in to my consulting room.
Mr. Strain trembled and smiled, but said nothing.
By the time I'd finished my exam of Mrs. Bollard and written her the scrip she needed, I felt prepared to see Mr. Strain. Though I had no answer yet, I felt certain that the proper test results would be a further clue. I called out his name and actually saw him head in, but James Mellinger burst in, slammed the door, and all but prostrated himself while admitting steroid use, as well as an embarrassing personal desire. It was upsetting for him and for me. Psychology or psychiatry is not my long suit but I promised him I'd do some research for him.
But the time I was able to usher a now partially relieved Mr. Mellinger from the room some time later, I emerged to see an empty waiting room. Expecting to see Mr. Strain waiting there, I asked Pauline, "Where's he gone?"
"He up and left. Bit jumpy isn't he?" Pauline leered.
I hated it when Pauline made judgments about my patients, and I should warn her again about it as she was playing with fire.
I then asked her about Mr. Strain's test results on the urine test which should be back now. Then, it turned out that because Pauline Lamb was occasionally unable to follow even the simplest directions Mr. Strain's urine sample had been left on a window sill and exposed to sunlight. The ultraviolet light activated the abnormal hemoglobin byproducts in his urine and it turned blue. Suddenly the pieces fell into place!
His erratic behavior, chronic gut pain, the lack of intestinal motility leading to massive bouts of constipation, and this also would explain his depression, paranoia, and odd twitches due to peripheral nerve damage. The man had porphyria, for god's sake. I should have determined that well before Pauline flubbed sending the sample out!
I must be getting soft in the head, but in my defense, porphyria is quite rare, and there had been a lot on my mind, that is a lot of people… well one in particular.
I explained to Pauline that we needed to call the school and have him come to see me. It was absolutely necessary that he get treatment before something worse happened.
She set off to the telephone and I reviewed what I'd need to do if he suffered a psychotic break. My eyes grew wide as I realized that Strain's paranoia about Louisa may lead him to do something foolish.
Pauline yelled from the other room. "He's not at the school - he's not there!"
I spoke to the school secretary who'd remained on the line. "Have him call me when he returns! NO!" I shouted at the woman. "You call me when he gets back!"
I heard her affirmation and then hung up.
I sat at my desk wondering where the man might be, when the phone buzzed, and Pauline shouted at me from the waiting room. "It's Miss Glasson!"
I scooped up the handset. "Louisa?"
"It's all very nice here at Rosscarrock Cove!" She spoke oddly like she was not speaking to me.
"What's wrong?"
"We could sure use some… help! Getting this beach all cleaned up!" Her odd tone continued.
"Mr. Strain is there?"
"That's right," she said quietly.
"And you can't talk?" This was terrible, I thought. No telling what he might do!
"That's right, that's right…" she said followed by a burst of static and the signal dropped.
I sprang up and took up my medical bag. "Pauline! Call PC Penhale and have him meet me at Rosscarrock Cove!"
"What's the matter?"
"Mr. Strain has gone mad!"
She smiled a strange smile and chased after me from the surgery.