Adjusting

Over the next few days, school for Lousia was different. First and foremost, her coworkers treated her with a sense of both awe and shock that she'd actually done it; had married the village GP. Next were the comments or pointed questions about just how they got stuck out on the moor less than 24 hours after their wedding. Lousia would deflect those by saying, 'Got lost' or 'Storm.'

Also, she was asked pointed questions from some of her female staff asking, 'How is the Doc? And how are you, Lousia? Weathering things?' That last question was sometimes asked with an arched grin or a slight sneer, for they were really asking – or so Lousia imagined – about their bedroom habits.

Sally Chadwick, for one, seemed, to sum it all up as, "It was an amazing weekend, front to back, wouldn't you say?"

Lousia sighed as the school secretary lounged just inside of her office doorway. Lousia was staring at the mountain of paper which was the quarterly summing up report, and she was far from enthusiastic about working on it. I fact she'd rather bin it all and strike a match on the mass. "Thanks, and yes it was," she answered. Louisa was tired and a bit grumpy after the last few days, and she and Martin had not gotten a lot of sleep, for obvious reasons. Last night she had started things going in the romance department, but the previous night Martin was reaching under her pajama top just as she was nodding off.

"Bit of a whirlwind?" Sally asked.

"Hurricane more like it." Louisa started to say, "Martin and I did actually date for very long…"

Sally said, "I see," then she stepped into the office closing the door behind her.

Startled, Lousia asked, "Want to talk about something?"

Sally took a deep breath as she sat in the visitor's chair.

This must be serious, Lousia thought. "And what can I do for you?"

Sally tipped her head as she smiled. "My dad had a theory that love was nothing but a biochemical process created through Nature to ensure that our genes get passed on."

"Oh? Not very romantic."

Sally grinned. "But my dad was a biochemist. Not a lot of tenderness in my dad."

"I see," Lousia replied wondering where this was heading.

Sally ducked her head. "But I don't believe that at all. We're not ants or birds. We think about these things… and… we wonder what it's all about," she sighed, "Then we try to make sense of it all." She finished with a laugh. "All I'm saying is that relationships are for the long haul; ups and downs, roses and thunderclouds."

Lousia shook her head. "And thank you for the love advice, not that I asked for it."

"Louisa, I hope you understand I'm not being an agony aunt, but, well… Dr. Ellingham…"

"What about Martin?" snapped Lousia, automatically springing into defense mode.

Sally shrugged. "He's not like other people, so I'd expect there will be adjustments that each of you is going through."

Lousia looked away. "Is this about me or Martin?"

Sally stood up with a grin on her face "Yes." She looked down at her boss. "I never married. Thought about it, but never quite happened. My mum would say to me, 'Sally my dear, when the right one comes along you'll know it.' My case? Never the right one." She turned towards the door.

Lousia shook her head. "Why are you telling me this?"

Sally turned back towards the desk. "Louisa you look exhausted and tired."

Despite herself Lousia did yawn. "Yes, I am."

Sally peered into the bin where Lousia had binned most of her lunch. "You've not been eating well."

Lousia threw up her hands then waved them over her paper strewn desk. "Look at this! Does it look like I have time to eat my lunch?"

"I know. Icky paperwork. I can help with some of that."

"I just need to buckle down. Get stuck in…" The phrase made her laugh. "As if I'd have any enthusiasm for filling out forms."

"I know."

Louisa wiped her brow. "I became Head Teacher; campaigned for it because I like education and teaching. But this?" She looked at her desk in distaste. "Not exactly what I had hoped it would be. I mean I love being in education but…" she sighed. "Sorry." Suddenly she needed a tissue for her eyes were tearing up. She snatched a tissue from the box on her desk and wiped her eyes.

"Go home, Louisa," Sally told her.

"But it's only four o'clock."

"Go put your feet up. Have a lie down."

"But Martin will still be seeing patients and besides…"

Sally walked around the desk, picked up Lousia's handbag and gave it to her. "Home, Louisa. Have a snack. Put your feet up. Get some rest." Sally was thinking that Louisa might be getting sick, based on her pallor. "Do you feel well?"

Lousia shook her head. "Fine. I cry uncle." She got up, turned away from her desk and headed for the door. "Thanks Sally." Lousia looked back at her desk. Tomorrow, she thought. I'll deal with it tomorrow.

The older woman smiled at her boss. "Take it easy."

Louisa nodded at Sally. "And biochemistry?"

Sally winked. "Who really knows?"

=0=0=0=

Martin was trying to wrap up dealing with Mrs. O'Connell, who was old, nearly blind, hard of hearing and arthritic. She had been a borderline diabetic for a very long time and recently taken to working with the church ladies group in baking cakes – thereby dipping into her own wares. "You must resist your intake off sugary treats!" he was nearly shouting into her good ear, which was not that good at all.

"What about treats? Oh, I do like them!" the old girl responded in a quivery voice.

Driven to anger, he yelled, "STOP EATING CAKES and BISCUITS!"

Her faded blue eyes grew wide as they peered at him from under her wispy bangs draped over her lined forehead. "No need to yell, Doc!"

"And I'm sending you to the audiology group at Truro to have your hearing aids REPLACED!" he added for good measure.

The woman stood up, rapping her cane on the floor. "Doc Sim never yelled at me."

"Doctor Sim was an idiot," Martin muttered at her retreating back.

The old woman turned around. "How's yer missus?" she asked.

"None of your…" he started to say, but he'd resolved to Louisa to try to be more sociable. "Fine… Louisa is fine."

Mrs. O'Connell laughed. "Course you'd say that. You're a man!" she cackled then turned away and toddled off.

Pauline appeared in the open door when he called for the next patient. "Doc, there was an appointment for Chippy Miller but he's out on the boat, so he won't be here, but Roger Fenn just stopped by with one of the twins. Earache."

"Fine," Martin sighed.

Roger popped in carrying one of his twin boys. "Hello, Martin," the man said cheerily. "I was taking Jeremy for a little hike and we found ourselves here."

"Roger," replied Martin. "Earache?"

Roger nodded as he sat in the visitor chair, and Martin saw the tow-headed boy was holding a stuffed giraffe. Martin got his ophthalmoscope out, fitted it with the smallest tip. "Right. Which ear?"

"The left," Roger said.

Martin bent down to inspect the child's ear, but Roger protested. "No, Martin. It's me; I'm the patient."

"Yes…" He switched tips on the instrument then went to Roger's left ear. "Hm. Ear canal is inflamed. Have you been poking into it?"

"Well, yes. It was bothering me, so I…"

Martin retreated, then came back with a strange-looking tool which he gently inserted into the offending ear canal. "Don't move." Martin sighed, as he withdrew a fuzzy object and a lot of wax. "Roger, you impacted wax into your ear with a cotton swab!" he grumped as he displayed a ball of cottony fibers imbedded into an orange wax ball.

Roger looked abashed. "I… am sorry, Martin."

Martin considered Fenn as one of the more intelligent denizens of the village, so was disappointed at this result. He ought to issue a public health warning to the entire village on the dangers of sticking things into their ears. "I'll give you eardrops which will loosen and allow any more wax to come out on its own." He checked Roger's other ear which was clear. "And stop digging inside your ear."

"Alright," the man said. He looked down at his son. "Hear that Jeremy?"

The child gaped at the advice.

"Where's the other one?"

"Jerrold? With his mum. These two can be a handful sometimes so we split them up. Today's my day with this one." He leaned back and watched while Martin wrote notes on a pad. "How are things?"

"Busy," Martin sighed.

"Not what I meant, that is, I mean to ask, how are you? And how is Louisa?"

Martin sighed. "If you are asking for specifics I can only give you a generality. Fine. And fine." He looked up at Roger. "We're both fine."

"Still a wedding does take some changes." Roger looked around the office. "You up here, she's over that at school."

Martin shook his head. "We have jobs." He checked his watch. "Now, I have other patients."

Roger lifted the child to his chest and stood. "Lovely wedding."

Martin jammed Roger's notes back into the protective sleeve. "With a fill-in vicar."

"Got the job done, though."

Martin flashed on Mr. Porter's house and farm. "He…"

Roger said, "He doesn't like people."

"We're done here." He stood and walked the Fenn's to the surgery door and opened it.

"And you, Martin?"

Martin stared at the face of a man who was as close to a friend as he had in the village. "I do like some people…"

Roger nodded. "Such as a certain head Teacher," he said with a wink. "Who is also your wife."