He agreed to attend the symposium where Edith would give her speech because the head of the Medical Board would be there. They needed to meet face to face to talk about his future in medicine. Chris had informed him that Martin wanted to return to London. Edith, sure that his attendance was because he wanted to be with her, volunteered to reserve his room at the hotel when she made hers.
He made daily and discernable progress curing his phobia. Now he could slice open fresh beef liver and swirl the blood with his fingers while watching videos of surgeries. Some of them were videos that the hospital had made of his surgeries as teaching aids. It was surreal but, at the same time reassuring, to watch his hands inside a body. His hands twitched and, unaware of it, they echoed the movements he saw on the screen. Edith brought more bags of blood and he make surgical incisions and cut them open, blood spraying over his face and apron, dipping his fingers into the bowl with no ill effects whatsoever. "Well done, Ellingham!" He calmly watched and the surgeries from the balcony without Sam's support with no ill effects. Hospital staff spread the word that he was there and crowds formed around him asking him to critique the surgery, asking questions, telling him how reading his papers had helped them with some problem and, generally, just basking in the glow of being with the famous Dr. Martin Ellingham. Being back in the world of discussing medical procedures with other professionals and teaching was satisfying in the extreme and made him more determined than ever to return to surgery.
The gaggle of silly village girls, who seemed to have nothing better to do with their time than to wander about the village making senseless and often cruel remarks to everyone they met, made Louisa's life hell. They were obsessed with Martin's private life and spent many evenings sitting on the wall outside the surgery watching every move that he made. They especially waited for that red headed woman to show up and counted every minute that she was there. They would way lay Louisa some time during the next day and giggling, would call to her, "Hey, Louiser! That redhead was with the Doc again last night and they were kis-sin'! Whoo-o-o-o! Bet he used a condom this time!"
Louisa's only defense was to walk on. She clamped down on her imagination and hurt. This was her life now, get on with it.
It was time for her to have another scan. Joan had already done so much that she just couldn't ask her to make that long trip to the hospital again so rode the bus. It was clean and comfortable – for most people anyway. She had gone to the loo just before she left but was desperate to go again. Oh, the joys of being pregnant!
She was shown into an examination room and the nurse helped her up on the table, pushed up her blouse and down the top of her pants. And there was her belly on glorious display, navel poking out like a big pimple. A few minutes into the scan with Louisa craning her neck to see the screen, the nurse stopped abruptly and said, "The doctor will be here shortly." And walked out. That was potentially alarming. Louisa reached for the cart with the scanner on it trying to pull it close enough so that she could see the picture. And her upper body slid off the table, sort of like warm syrup off pancakes! She was hanging there, totally helpless and embarrassed when the redhead walked in.
"Oh my. You poor dear. Let's get you situated. We haven't been introduced. I'm Dr. Edith Montgomery. OBGYN. And you're Louisa Glasson from Port Wenn. It's time we met. Wouldn't you agree?"
She turned to the screen and a few seconds later said, "Yes. It's SGA, Small for Gestational Age. A normal fetus at this stage of a pregnancy would be approximately thirty-four centimeters. Not even close. Have you made a mistake? No, I don't mean by getting pregnant. When was the last time you had sex, and this should be an easy question to answer, with Elling…Dr. Ellingham?"
"Is there something wrong with the baby? Can you see something wrong?" Louisa asked frantically.
"Just answer my question. You may have gotten the date wrong. If you can't be exact, be as accurate as possible. So, when was the last time you had sex with Dr. Ellingham?" There was just a hint of amusement in Edith's smile as she repeated the question.
A memory flashed into Louisa's mind. Unbelievable tenderness and passion every time they made love. Sweet words and promises with that velvet voice of his whispering "Oh Louisa!". She knew exactly when the last time was but couldn't bring herself to tell the woman who looked to be her replacement. The memories were just too precious. It was grating to think that Edith had experienced the same things. "I'm not sure of the exact date. Sometime in the last two weeks of October."
"Oh dear, memorable then." She smirked. "Well we'll work with what we have. We'll schedule you for more tests. The nurse will set them up and explain the procedures to you." And she left taking that superior smile with her.
The nurse frowned at her retreating back, clearly disapproving of such a condescending and dismissive manner. But, she was more than courteous and helpful to the nervous mother-to-be. "Here are pamphlets detailing each procedure that we've discussed. They're very thorough but if you have any questions, just call Dr. Montgomery or if you prefer, the obstetrics department, although you'll probably be referred to her anyway."
Shaken and worried about the baby, Louisa knew that calling Edith was far down on her list of possibilities. She would talk to the doctors in Wadebridge instead. The nurse helped her off the table and waited till she wiped the gel off her stomach and adjusted her clothes. She heard Edith talking to someone in the hall. "Robert! I saw Ellingham two nights ago and he's ready to come back to London. Very ready I would say."
The man named Robert replied, "If he does, that would be a great thing for the surgical department at Imperial. Staff here are telling me about his visits. You know he generates excitement whenever he's in a hospital. We have to be sure about his phobia first. How would you assess his progress in dealing with it?
"He's advancing with remarkable speed. You know Ellingham when he sets his mind to something. You can rest easy about it." She answered with assurance.
"Weren't you two in medical school together?" He asked.
She answered with a soft little laugh, "Yes, and engaged until my career got in the way. He was devastated but it shouldn't be a problem now that we'll both be in London. He's escorting me to the symposium and we plan on staying overnight together." And they moved out of earshot.
That did it! The perfect end to a perfectly dreadful day.
By the time the bus dropped her off, she was desperate to wee, her back hurt, her ankles were swollen and aching and she had the mother of all headaches. She was slowly making her way home after stopping at the public convenience when Al saw her. "God! She looks awful! Wonder if the Doc knows?" He continued to watch to make sure she made it home then loped up the hill to the surgery. He paced nervously, waiting for the Doc to come out. Pauline assured him that he could jump line. Martin came out escorting a patient and saying, as usual, "Next patient."
Al said, "Doc, I need to see you for just a minute. It's real important."
Al was one of the few villagers that Martin actually liked so answered, "Come through." He sat behind his desk, hands folded, waiting for Al to speak.
Al looked closely at the Doc and thought he looked just as bad as Louisa. But his concern was for her. "Doc, I just saw Louiser comin' back from her scan and she looks real rough."
Martin had heard the expression 'the floor heaved beneath his feet' and never thought it possible till that moment. He grabbed the edge of his desk and asked, "What scan and what do you mean by rough? Please be more specific."
Al looked at him in disbelief. "Her scan! In the hospital in Truro! Didn't you know? Damn Doc! I know more about your baby than you do. How specific do you want me to be? You got to check on her – now!" And for the first time in their acquaintance he said with contempt, "You tosser!" And he showed the Doc that he wasn't the only man who could slam a door.
Martin immediately grabbed his bag, rushed past Pauline saying, "Reschedule the rest of my appointments and close the surgery." And he was gone, actually passing Al halfway down the hill.