The Doctor's Marriage

by Leah Martyn

  “You look terrific, Janey.”

  “Riley, I don’t know what I’m expected to say here. But surely you didn’t expect to just walk in and take up where we left off?”

  He snorted. “Fighting, you mean?”

  “No!” she said tautly. “We can’t go back to that. We have to move forward.

  Whether we do that together or alone is up to us—and how much we want this marriage.”

  “I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you,” he said quietly.

  “They’re just words, Riley.

  You left me!”

  “There’s a subtle difference here, Jane. I didn’t leave you—you wouldn’t come with me.”

  Dear Reader,

  Even mature doctors who take the care and welfare of their patients very much to heart can find their own marriages suddenly turn rocky. Such a couple is Riley and Jane.

  Although Mount Pryde is mythical, it is representative of country towns throughout Australia.

  And because I am continually inspired by the genuine qualities of the folks who make up rural communities and the absolute heart it takes to keep surviving in “the bush,” I wanted Riley and Jane to find their way back to each other against this backdrop.

  So I set out to write how, in the process, they discovered much about themselves and each other. It was confronting at first, but in the end gave them the self-knowledge and impetus to hold on to their marriage and to everything that was good and true in their relationship as husband and wife.

  To keep my medical scenarios interesting and up-to-date, I consult with my daughter, Claire, who works as a charge nurse in one of Sydney’s big teaching hospitals.

  I hope you will enjoy The Doctors’ Marriage.

  The Doctors’ Marriage

  Leah Martyn

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  EPILOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  RILEY knuckled the hard stubble on his jaw, peering through the window as the aircraft taxied to a stop.

  He was home.

  And he was impatient, itching to be first off the plane. But he held himself in check, waiting until his fellow passengers had gathered up their hand luggage and begun making their way slowly towards the exit.

  Riley followed, stepping out into the brightly lit lounge of the domestic airport in Brisbane. Lifting his head, he looked around him, the impulse to call his wife receding as quickly as it had taken hold. Would Jane have come to meet him, if he’d asked?

  Probably not.

  She had no idea he was back in Australia. They hadn’t exactly kept in touch over the past year. He’d written to her when he’d first arrived in Nigeria, and again when he’d decided to extend his original six-month stay with Médecins Sans Frontières for another six months.

  She hadn’t replied.

  Riley’s firm mouth twisted into a brief, faintly bitter smile. She was obviously still more than a little cheesed off with him.

  He found a cab without trouble and threw his bags in. It was late and, rather than disturbing his parents, he asked the cabbie to take him to one of the city’s five-star hotels, deciding, after the kind of year he’d put in, he’d earned a taste of luxury. He’d make the most of it, treat himself to some good Scotch and wallow in the longest, hottest bath his body could stand.

  And tomorrow? He dragged a hand through his hair leaving the dark strands rumpled. Tomorrow he would begin the difficult task of trying to put his marriage back together.

  Suddenly, being in Brisbane again brought it all back. Riley remembered exactly when he’d brought home the recruitment information for Médecins Sans Frontières—Doctors Without Borders. An action he admitted now had changed the course of their lives. It had been last September, a few weeks after their fifth wedding anniversary…

  Jane had left the surgery they’d both worked at earlier than he. She’d seemed to have been doing that more frequently. They hadn’t travelled to and from work together any more or discussed their day the way they’d once done.

  Jane’s excuse had been that she’d needed the independence that using her own car had given her. That she’d had things to do at home.

  Riley hadn’t believed her.

  It had almost been as though she hadn’t wanted him around—or if she had, it had only been when it had been the right time for her to conceive and she’d wanted to drag him off to bed. They’d been trying for almost all of that year for a baby.

  It hadn’t happened.

  After six months, they both had check-ups. Apart from Jane being slightly anaemic, nothing untoward was found. The specialist told them to relax. Conception would happen in its own time. Except Jane wasn’t able to relax. She was almost driven, eaten up with the need to become a mother to the exclusion of everything else.

  They had a terrible row before work that morning. Riley accused her of using him like a stud. She flung back that he was selfish, uncaring whether they ever had a baby. Couldn’t he see how much it meant to her?

  Riley sighed at the memory, staring out of the window, as the cab made its way through Hamilton along Kingsford-Smith Drive by the Brisbane River. The sight of the moored pleasure craft and houseboats dotted with twinkling lights jolted him. It was all so familiar and it seemed nothing had changed in the year he’d been away. Yet for Riley everything had changed.

  Again, his thoughts flew back to a year ago. Jane had been in the kitchen, browning meat for a casserole. Riley could remember the appetising smell of garlic and a dozen other herbs wafting through the house when he’d come through the front door that evening.

  ‘Hi,’ he’d greeted her warily. ‘Something smells good.’

  ‘What’s that you’ve got there?’ She’d brought her head up, eyes widening in query, as he’d spread the computer printout across the table.

  ‘Info from Doctors Without Borders. I downloaded it from the internet.’

  ‘Why?’

  Silence, broken only by the flat chink as she’d placed the lid on the casserole dish before sliding it into the oven. She’d washed her hands then, coming from behind the counter to join him at the table.

  Riley felt her tension and immediately reacted. Something had to give and quickly. If they didn’t break this emotionally draining cycle they’d somehow stumbled into, they’d both go round the twist.

  Recalling the harsh words they’d exchanged that morning, he set out to be placatory. ‘We talked about broadening our medical horizons and doing something like this a couple of years ago, remember?’

  ‘Joining Médecins Sans Frontières?’ she said. ‘We decided it wasn’t the right time for us, if I recall. And you’re surely not suggesting it’s the right time now, Riley?’

  ‘Isn’t it?’

  ‘No, it damned well is not!’

  Riley kept his cool with great difficulty. ‘Janey, it could be the circuit-breaker we need just now,’ he tried persuasively. ‘We could postpone the baby business and you could go back on the Pill for a while, take the pressure off us. We’d be helping those less fortunate, getting a new perspective, doing something constructive with our lives. It would only be for six months.’

  ‘You don’t consider trying for our baby is constructive?’ she countered thinly. ‘What kind of a shallow, self-centred person are you, Riley? Instead of prevaricating and diving behind this smokescreen of joining MSF, why don’t you just come straight out and say you don’t want a baby?’

  ‘You’re right!
’ He thumped the table with his fist. ‘I’m fed up to the back teeth with your obsession about having a baby! Can’t you realise that if we keep on like this, chances are we never will?’

  There! He was getting to the crux of it now, rejecting the emotional and physical treadmill she’d put them on. How could she not realise the powerlessness he felt, seeing the disappointment on her face month after month when her period arrived bang on time.

  Surely she’d have to see now and understand where he was coming from, suggesting this time away together, putting the needs of others before themselves, as a way for them to become whole again?

  Instead, she looked incredibly shocked. ‘You really don’t care one way or another about us starting a family, do you, Riley?’ She swallowed as though something was blocking her throat.

  ‘Right at this moment—no, Jane, I don’t. I’m sorry, but I would rather have us back the way we used to be—just you and me, our marriage intact—than have a dozen babies.’

  For the next few days, the atmosphere between them was icy. At the surgery they could avoid one another to some extent but at home…

  ‘Here you are, then, mate, Quay West.’ The cabbie interrupted Riley’s thoughts as he slid his taxi under the parking canopy at the entrance of the prestigious apartment hotel.

  Riley paid the fare, adding a hefty tip. The driver had earned it. Sensing his passenger hadn’t wanted to talk, he’d retreated good-naturedly, tuning in to some lightweight programme on his radio for the lengthy drive across the city.

  In his suite on the sixth floor, Riley raided the mini-bar. With a large Scotch and water in hand, he went out on to the balcony. The lights of the city blinked back at him.

  Even allowing for the lateness of the hour, he’d already tried to call Jane on their old number but he’d been unsuccessful. Instead, an answering machine had relayed that he’d reached some people called Ben and Tracey and that they would return his call, if he cared to leave his name and number. He hadn’t.

  And now, in the light of all that, he was forced to admit he had a far more serious situation than he’d expected. His wife had obviously done what she’d threatened to do.

  He took a slow mouthful of his drink, feeling its warmth hit his stomach, in his mind playing back those last few days before he’d left the country, with all their anger and heartache…

  ‘Jane, we have to talk.’ At the end of the working day and unannounced, he’d gone into her consulting room.

  She’d been at the window, staring out. She’d turned at his entrance. ‘Can’t it wait until we get home?’

  ‘No. Things can’t go on the way they are. Won’t you reconsider and join MSF with me?’

  She’d twisted the wedding ring on her finger. ‘You’re still determined to go, then?’

  He’d felt the hard lump in his throat. She’d looked so vulnerable standing there, her little face so pale and brave. And he’d known that emotionally she was holding herself together by a thread.

  Well, join the club, he’d accused silently, feeling the muscles in his throat tightening. He’d lifted a shoulder. ‘I feel I’m being stifled here.’

  ‘By me?’

  ‘By circumstances.’

  ‘Riley, I’ve been thinking…’ She came towards him, loosening her hair from the clip that held it in place while she was in the surgery and giving it a little shake. ‘We can make changes if that’s what you want,’ she said quickly to cover her nerves. ‘We could go and work in a rural practice, buy a house with a garden—’

  ‘And throw in a kiddie swing and a mango tree,’ he mocked. ‘May as well add a dog, too, and a kitten—no, I forgot you don’t like cats.’

  ‘Riley, please, listen—’

  ‘No!’ He swiped the air with his hand. ‘We’d be just changing one impossible set of circumstances for another, Jane. Can’t you see that? The bottom line is, you’d still want a baby—’

  ‘You’re being so bloody-minded!’ she spat out. ‘You make me sound like some kind of freak!’ Her colour had returned now in the form of two bright spots on her cheeks. She tossed her head up. ‘Well, maybe it’s a good thing all this has happened,’ she blazed at him. ‘Suddenly, I feel as though I don’t know you at all. And I seriously doubt whether I’d ever want you as the father of any child of mine!’

  ‘You don’t mean that.’ Riley felt as though some huge hand had gripped his heart and slowly squeezed the life blood from it. He shook his head and swallowed. ‘Can’t you see that getting away for a few months is the only way I can stay sane?’

  ‘And, of course, it has to be always about what you want. We mustn’t upset Riley!’

  ‘I can’t stand any more of this.’ His voice was as thick as the air between them. ‘If you won’t come with me, I’ll go alone. I’m going home now to pack what I’ll need and move to my parents’. If you change your mind, you know where to find me.’

  There was a hard ridge of silence before she spoke again. ‘Riley?’

  He turned at the door, the faint urgent hope that she’d relented dying at a stroke at the closed look on her face. ‘Yes?’

  ‘Just so you know. I won’t be here when you get back.’

  Riley came back to the present with a start. He decided to take a shower—suddenly, the idea of a long, leisurely bath had lost its appeal. He swallowed the last of his Scotch. He’d been a fool, expecting her to have been here, waiting for him to return. Too much had happened between them.

  He turned abruptly and walked back inside. His wife had obviously got on with her own life. But where? And—perish the thought—with whom? He had to know. He had to find her—and he would.

  Jane Rossiter left the practice meeting in a state of shock.

  While she’d been away on leave, the senior partners, Ralph Mitchell and Angelo Kouras, had conferred and it was now a fait accompli. Riley Brennan was to be appointed as their new member of staff at Mount Pryde Medical Centre.

  ‘Dr Brennan is by far the best qualified for our particular set-up.’ Ralph Mitchell’s grey eyes had looked kindly across at Jane. ‘He’s very attracted to rural medicine and it showed in his interview. And he’s been with Médecins Sans Frontières for some months,’ Ralph elaborated, obviously impressed.

  I know where he’s been! Jane felt like screaming.

  Her teeth worried her lower lip and she felt a coil of panic in the pit of her stomach. Should she say something? Tell the senior partners now that she and Riley were—

  ‘I hope you won’t feel we’ve been sexist here, Jane.’ Angelo Kouras’s placating smile showed whitely against the dark olive complexion of his Greek heritage. ‘But, frankly, the only women medics who applied were inexperienced, wanting to dip their toe in the waters of rural medicine so to speak. Ralph and I had misgivings as to their staying power. And this job needs someone who’ll stay for the long haul.’

  And what about the long haul of marriage? The wonderful Dr Brennan hadn’t shown much staying power there! Jane’s heartbeat quickened uncomfortably. Well, he needn’t think he was moving back in with her as though nothing had happened!

  ‘We’ve offered him the use of the flat above the surgery until he can find something more permanent.’

  Jane opened her mouth and closed it. Ralph’s statement had answered at least one part of her dilemma. But the situation was intolerable. She’d have to say something… ‘Is Dr Brennan aware that I’m the fourth member of the team?’

  ‘Indeed.’ Ralph looked at her over the top of his spectacles. ‘Angelo and I explained you were on a few days’ leave, otherwise you’d have been present at his interview.’

  So Riley obviously hadn’t said anything. What kind of game was he playing? Lifting a hand, she tucked a stray lock of sun-streaked brown hair behind her ear, her long fingers agitatedly pleating it into submission. ‘When is he moving in?’

  ‘Some time over the weekend.’ Ralph shuffled the papers on his desk. ‘By the way, Jane, thanks for coming into the surgery even though technic
ally you’re still on leave.’

  ‘That’s OK.’ Jane managed a brief smile. ‘I arrived back this morning anyway.’

  Ralph nodded as he pulled himself upright, indicating the informal meeting was at end. ‘See you on Monday, then.’

  Once outside, Jane climbed dazedly into her neat little cream-coloured Mazda Metro and drove home.

  Home was the lovely cottage she’d bought at the end of her three-month trial at Mt Pryde, when her position as a family practitioner had been made permanent.

  And she intended to stay. She loved the community life of the south-east Queensland country town. Its surroundings of beautiful mountains and the undulating paddocks dotted with grazing cattle were picture-postcard stuff. And the small-crops farms with their fine rich soil were a sight to behold with row upon row of leafy vegetables, vines heavy with luscious melons and tall green stalks of ripening corn.

  Jane sighed as she pulled into her carport. She’d fought hard to become a doctor, to get to where she was. Naı¨vely, she’d thought Riley had understood she’d craved a settled life and a family more than anything. But they’d been at loggerheads from the moment he’d mentioned quitting their jobs at the large private practice where they’d worked in Brisbane and putting their skills to work for the less privileged people of the world.

  But that had been a smokescreen. Her mouth curled in disgust. The trigger he’d selfishly used to split their lives apart.

  As for their marriage—her face worked for a moment. She couldn’t think about that now. It was all too painful. But she had to think about it…

  The silence of the apartment after he’d left to move in with his parents had frightened her. Wherever she’d looked had been full of his presence yet unbearably empty. And he’d been gone only a week. She remembered thinking, How was she going to get through the next six months?

  Deep down she hadn’t meant it when she’d told Riley she wouldn’t be here when he came back. Then she’d realised she daren’t be. She’d had to get away. The situation had demanded self-preservation at any cost. Following not much more than her instincts, she’d given in her notice at the surgery.