Chapter 5: See Chapter 1 disclaimer
Martin tried Louisa's mobile once again, but while it was ringing a call came through from her.
"Louisa, I was trying to call you to warn you about the ice. Are you alright?" Martin asked.
"Doc, it's Al Large, I'm using Louisa's phone. I was on my way home from the hall when I found Louisa on the ground. I think she must have slipped on the ice and hit her head. She's conscious, but I'm not sure if she's really well enough to get herself home. We are inside the Chemist's to get out of the snow. Luckily, we were able to alert Mrs. Tishell. "
"I will come down, no, wait, I have the children. Let me think." Martin started gathering his bag and other things he might need while he considered how to be in two places at once. Al was able to solve that problem.
"Not a bother, Doc, I'll come to the surgery and stay with James and Mary. It will take me a little bit to get there because of the ice. Morwenna will stay with Louisa, given she did a proper job with Angela when she hit her head on Christmas Eve so I figure she knows what she's doing."
"Good thinking. As soon as I see you, I'll start down the hill. I'll bring the car. Damn, no, I don't have a car to bring. Have Morwenna call Penhale and ask him to come down to the Chemist's with his vehicle. I'll work my way down, it's not that far."
"Brilliant, Doc. Be careful though. The street is really icy."
"I have some rock salt. I'll leave now and distribute it as I walk and that way you will have an easier time of it. I think I can leave James for the few minutes it will take for you to make your way here."
Martin went upstairs to James' room. "James, I need to step out for just a few minutes to meet your Mummy on her way back from the party. In the meantime, Al is going to come up to stay with you and Mary until we get home. Can I trust you to play in your room and wait for him to arrive?"
James replied, excitedly, "Can Chicken come up with me?" James had always wanted Chicken to be allowed in his room. Martin cringed at the slippery slope this could introduce. "Actually, James, why don't you come downstairs and play with Chicken while waiting for Al." Martin made sure that Mary was safely in her crib and closed her door, then went downstairs followed closely by James. Mary had so far shown no propensity to climb out of the crib, but Martin didn't want to take any chances of her falling down the stairs if tonight was her first adventurous night.
Martin grabbed his medical bag and James' wagon, put the bag and the rock salt into it, and slowly made his way down the hill, distributing rock salt ahead of himself as he went. The footing truly was treacherous and it was slow going. He could already see Al working his way up the road, slowly and carefully. They met up outside the Pottery studio.
"Hi, Doc, Louisa seems to be doing pretty well but might have a little concussion. She's got quite a bruise on the back of her head, and said she felt dizzy and a little sick. Mor didn't have a torch to check her pupils."
"Thank you, Al, this was really quick thinking by both of you."
"Alright, Doc. Good luck." Al took the wagon with the rock salt with him as he walked up to the surgery.
Martin made his way carefully to Mrs. Tishell's while Al was able to walk a bit more confidently up to the surgery by following the gritted path. The Chemist's was brightly lit inside, and he found Mrs. T, Morwenna, Bert, Caitlyn, with Louisa sitting up in a chair with a bin by her side and her hand over her eyes. "Louisa, are you alright? Tell me what your symptoms are. How is your vision? Are you having ringing in your ears?"
Martin was a bit manic in his concern for Louisa. It was difficult for him to remain professionally distant when treating someone he cared for. He took a deep breath to calm himself, but still could taste acid.
Louisa answered in a somewhat tremulous voice, "Ah, I'm fairly well I think, it's hard to tell. My head hurts where I must have hit it on the pavement, and the light is really bothering me. Martin, who is with the children?"
"Al went up to stay with them. Mrs. Tishell, can you dim these lights?"
Mrs. T replied, "I'm sorry Doctor, they are either on or off. As a chemist I require bright light to ensure I'm able to interpret and count out my prescriptions carefully, not that I have any trouble at all interpreting your handwriting. Surely you unders.."
Martin interrupted her, "Yes, that's enough. Shush!" He directed the next command to Louisa. "Show me where you hit your head."
Louisa pointed to a spot on the back of her head, and Martin gently palpated the area, causing Louisa to wince and whimper a bit. Fortunately, it seemed as if all the bones of the skull were intact. He also felt along her neck to ensure she didn't hurt herself there upon impact. That didn't elicit any reaction, which was good. Her pupils were a bit large for the amount of ambient light in the room. Louisa asked, "Martin, did you bring the children?"
That wasn't a good sign, as he'd answered that question already. "Louisa, I do think you have a concussion. I think it would be good to get checked at hospital. Morwenna, is Penhale on his way?"
Morwenna replied, "Yep, Doc, he should be here any minute. As soon as he heard you needed him, he said he would drop everything to get here."
Martin didn't have the highest opinion of Penhale's competence as a police officer, but he did appreciate that he had a soft spot where Martin was concerned. Martin had full confidence Penhale would arrive as quickly as humanly possible given the weather conditions.
At that moment, Louisa leaned over the bin and appeared to need to vomit, although she didn't actually bring anything up. "Ugh, Martin, my stomach is so unsettled."
"That's likely from hitting your head hard. Based on my examination, Louisa, you should make a full recovery assuming scans don't discover anything. Your bone structure is intact and the symptoms you are exhibiting are in line with a mild to moderate concussion. "
At that point, the headlights of Penhale's vehicle shined into the front window, and he burst into the shop. "Got here as fast as I could, Doc. Just give me a minute to gather the facts and assess the situation so we can come up with our next steps?"
"We need to head to Truro. I'm sure ambulances are in short supply tonight, with the weather conditions."
"Actually, Doc, the conditions in Portwenn are bad but once you leave the village the A and B roads are clear. I want to help but I don't think I should leave the village." He sounded truly torn, because he felt as if he were abandoning the Doc in his time of need.
Martin hadn't considered that the icing condition might be localized. He wasn't thrilled, but he could understand Penhale's point, given he was the only police officer in the village. "Fine, let's try calling an ambulance and see what the response time will be." He dialed 999 and said, "This is Dr. Martin Ellingham, Portwenn Surgery. I have a woman, early 40s, who has hit her head on the road and has a moderate concussion. She has nausea, light sensitivity, dilated pupils, and confusion."
Louisa gave Martin a look at that last symptom.
"Alright, Dr. Ellingham, I can have an ambulance to you within 30 minutes."
He rung off with the Ambulance service, glancing at his watch so that he would know when 30 minutes was up. At that point, Mark Mylow walked into the Chemist shop.
"Hello, Happy Christmas, Happy Boxing Day, early Happy New Year! I saw the lights and some of my favorite people." exclaimed Mark, cheerfully.
Caitlyn replied, "Same to you, Mark. Things aren't all cheerful here though. Louisa hit her head and we're waiting for an ambulance, given the Doc's car is stuck to a tree out at Maitland's farm.
"I could drive you over to Truro if you need, Doc. I mean, if you want, or if it's appropriate, although maybe not without, but wait you have the medical training, so, maybe? I just came from Truro and the roads are fine outside here. Here, they're a mess! Not that I want to criticize, I mean, I'm sure people are doing their best and.."
"Shush", Martin said, recalling how Mark rarely traveled from point A to point B in a sentence in any semblance of a straight line. It wasn't a conversation style he had missed. But, an offer was an offer.
"Yes, Mark, thank you. That would be good if we could leave immediately. "
"Sure, Doc, I have my van outside."
Martin turned to Joe and asked, "Penhale, would you be able to contact Ruth and transport her from her home to the surgery so that she can stay with the children?"
Morwenna spoke up. "Doc, Al and I can stay with them as long as is needed. It's not as if we can't use the practice with children, right? And what with the road conditions and all, it wouldn't be that great for Ruth to be on her own with the children if they needed something."
Martin paused and thought about that for a second before saying, "Right, yes, good. And, um, thank you." Louisa chimed in as well, "Morwenna, thank you for everything tonight. Really, thank all of you." The effort was clearly not easy for her, as she was squinting and speaking as if the sound of her own voice hurt.
Bert finally spoke up, having had the good sense to keep quiet while Martin assessed Louisa and arranged a plan for her care. "Doc, you take good care of our Louisa, ya hear?" Martin just stared back. Caitlyn whispered something inaudible to Bert and he looked a bit chastened.
Martin and Mark helped Louisa get up and outside for the ride to Truro. Had Martin not been concerned about Louisa, he likely would have turned Mark down as soon as he saw the van. It was a bright matte blue with a green ocean wave underneath the logo M and M Home Services. In fact, it only had one large bench seat in the front. "Ah," escaped Martin's mouth before he could stop it.
"Brilliant, isn't it, Doc? I have the blue one with the wave because I'm the plumber and Mike Pruddy has the brown one with the yellow lightning bolt, because he's the electrician. We took the colors from the candy with the hard shell, or maybe I shouldn't admit, well, I don't know, could there be a copyright thing?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about Mark but let's just get Louisa into the front seat so we can go." With that, the three of them squeezed into the front seat and headed to Truro. Martin called to cancel the Ambulance as they left the village.
Author's Note: The original chapter had Al in two places at once. Thanks to ke0212 for the catch. It has been fixed.