Brides of Penhally Bay - Vol 2

by Various Authors

  She looked at him, elaborately casually, as if she had just thought of something. ‘In fact, I have a spare ticket. I was going with my cousin but she can’t make it. You could go as my guest if you liked. The hospital has done a lot for Dad, I’d like to pay a bit back.’

  For a moment Ed was tempted. Ellie was an attractive woman, intelligent, and had a great sense of humour. Any man would enjoy her company and be proud to be seen with her. But…why start something that he knew could never have a happy ending? He shook his head, smiled and said, ‘It’s just not my thing. I don’t like big parties. But I approve of the scanner so I’ll buy a book of raffle tickets at the surgery. Now, tell me about your father.’

  Ellie smiled sadly and said, ‘He’s not been too bad today. He’s waiting in his room to see you. Do you want to go up?’

  Isaac was sitting by the window in his bedroom. He looked up as Ed entered and said, ‘I’m all right, there’s nothing wrong with me. That daughter of mine—’

  ‘Is too good for you. She’s concerned about you and by the look of you, she has cause to be. Now, do you want to lie on that bed and let me have a look at you?’

  Just the usual examination. At first Isaac seemed reasonably healthy, but when Ed eventually listened to his heart he didn’t like the murmurs he could hear.

  ‘Are you taking your pills regularly, Isaac?’

  ‘Well, yes, more or less, but they don’t seem to do much for me. I don’t feel any better for taking them.’

  ‘They do plenty for you. And they’re not meant to make you feel better. They’re to ensure that you don’t get any worse. Listen, Isaac, it’s hard to take but you have to face up to it. You’re not the man you used to be. You can’t be, you’re getting old. And that happens to all of us. You go out into that farmyard of yours again, pretend that you’re a man of thirty instead of sixty-six and one day…’

  ‘I’ll be ready for the knacker’s yard,’ Isaac said with relish. ‘Don’t wrap things up nicely do you, Doctor?’

  ‘You don’t need nice, Isaac, you need truth. Now, we’re not stopping you from taking a gentle walk around the place, keeping an eye on things. I’ve told you exactly what you can and what you can’t do. And keep taking the pills regularly!’

  Ed nodded at the view across the fields that Isaac had been surveying. ‘You would miss this place if you had to spend months in a nursing home, wouldn’t you?’

  It was hard but it was necessary if he was going to get through to this stubborn old farmer. ‘Could it be that bad?’ Isaac asked. He was obviously shaken by that, if nothing else.

  Ed patted him on the shoulders. ‘We don’t want to find out,’ he said.

  There was a tap at the door. Ellie came in with a jug of lemonade and two glasses. ‘Have you talked sense into him?’ she asked. But there was an obviously fond look at her father.

  Ed smiled. ‘He’s got you to keep an eye on him,’ he said. ‘So he should be all right. Now, Isaac, you’re to keep to the house for the next three days. No further than the front door. Plenty of bed rest. Then take it easy, a step at a time after that. Ellie, if there’s any change you can ring me at any time, OK?’

  ‘OK,’ she said. And added hopefully, ‘Are you sure I can’t persuade you about the ticket?’

  ‘It’s just not my thing,’ he repeated. He saw the disappointment in her eyes.

  Driving back to Penhally, he wondered why he had turned Ellie down. He doubted if there was an unattached woman as attractive as her anywhere in the little town. And he had been attracted. So why had he refused her invitation?

  Partly, he knew, it was because he wanted to be fair to her. He knew he could never give her what she wanted. A purely physical relationship, that was fine—but she deserved more than that. He knew the closeness she wanted, because once he had had it himself. He had lost it. And he was not going to risk more pain by looking for it again.

  When Ed got out of his car to walk into the surgery he found his shirt sticking to his back. He’d already discarded his tie and jacket. Even moving slowly was like wading through warm water. He looked up at the grey skies and frowned.

  As he walked past the reception desk his father came to the door of his room, phone clasped to his ear. He waved at Ed to come and join him. After Ed entered the room, his father promptly shut the door behind him. Ed heard him say, ‘OK, Captain, you sort things out with your head office. I’ll make arrangements to come out to you at once…No, I can do it quicker myself…Fine, we’ll call it a private call.’

  He put down the phone, looked at Ed and said, ‘There’s an emergency. There’s a cruise ship just off shore and they need a doctor.’

  ‘I thought all cruise ships had doctors.’

  ‘They did have one. He was taken off the ship yesterday. And now they need him more than ever.’

  ‘Always the way,’ said Ed. ‘What’s the problem?’

  ‘A virus—it’s spreading like mad, turning into an epidemic.’

  Ed was aware that his father was studying him, and he knew why. But he managed to keep his neutral expression and said nothing.

  His father went on, ‘It’s gastroenteritis, but we’ve no idea what has caused it. Could be mild, it could be severe.’

  There was a moment’s pause and then Ed said, ‘Well, I’m available this afternoon, and I’m the obvious one to go.’

  He knew what his father was going to say next, but he waited for him to say it.

  ‘I think I ought to go,’ Nick said after a while. ‘I know the nurse who’s reporting it, we’ve worked well together in the past. She thinks it might be quite serious.’

  ‘But you’ve got surgery all afternoon and this evening. I’m available.’ Ed paused a minute and then said, ‘Come on, Dad, I know what you’re thinking. So say it.’

  Nick smiled, though it wasn’t a very happy smile. ‘Don’t have much time for the niceties, do you? But I appreciate it. All right, I’m not sure you’re fit to deal with a possible large-scale infection. It will bring back memories.’

  ‘But I am the man who has dealt with an epidemic. In this case, I’m the expert. I know you’re the best man to do the lab work, to work out what strain it is. But for the hour-to-hour medical care, the general organisation, I’m the best. And I can cope with my memories.’

  ‘Can you?’

  ‘I have to.’

  They stared at each other, aware of the tension rising. Ed wondered if it always would be like this between them. And what made it worse was that each was trying to do the best for the other. Both knew it.

  ‘All right,’ Nick said eventually. ‘The best thing will be if we go together. I can hand over my surgery. You get ready, meet me down at the harbour in half an hour and I’ll find a fisherman to take us out to the ship.’

  As he spoke there was the first rattle of rain against the window-panes.

  ‘Get a good one,’ said Ed. ‘There’s a storm brewing.’

  ‘They’re all good. Now let’s move.’

  Ed went first to the surgery dispensary, where he signed himself out a large quantity of antibiotics. He knew there would be antibiotics on board, medical centres on cruise ships were always well equipped, especially with anything needed to deal with gastroenteritis. But he liked to make sure. Then he drove home, packed a small bag with whatever clothes and toiletries he might need for a two or three day stay. Practice again. It wasn’t the first time he’d had to pack in a hurry.

  Then down to the harbour. The rain had slowed a little but now the winds were starting. Ed looked at the sky, at the sea. This was going to be a really bad one.

  His father was at the end of the jetty, waving to him. A fishing boat danced madly up and down below him. As Ed strode down the jetty he wondered how his father was feeling. In 1998 there had been a disaster in Penhally. During a storm like this a sea rescue had ended in tragedy. Among others, Nick’s father and brother had both died that night.

  So how did Nick feel now? Ed wondered. For that matter, how did he
feel himself? His uncle and his grandfather, both remembered, both loved, and both dead.

  He reached the end of the jetty, climbed carefully down an iron ladder and jumped aboard the heaving fishing boat. The fisherman grabbed his arm, helped him into the tiny cabin. ‘Going to be a bad one,’ he said, echoing Ed’s own thoughts, ‘and it’s going to get worse.’

  They were taken to the lee of the ship where the boarding platform had been rigged. It was still a hard job, jumping across. But both Ed and Nick were fit, and soon they were being taken up stairs and along companionways to the captain’s cabin.

  Ed took to the captain at once. He recognised the military training, the ability to see a problem and try to sort it out, no matter what the cost.

  ‘My first concern is the safety of the passengers,’ the Captain told them. ‘And their safety comes before their comfort. I will do whatever you think fit. I’ve been in touch with the port authorities, and the ship in effect is now quarantined.’ He looked at Nick. ‘Dr Tremayne, they’d like you to send them a report. My head office is not very happy—they’re losing money.’ He smiled without mirth. ‘Well, that’s just too bad. Since I spoke to you I’ve spoken to the passengers and explained the situation. All ill or possibly ill passengers will be confined to their cabins, where food and medical attention will be brought to them. I’ve ordered a VSP—a vessel sanitation programme—and had as much of the ship as possible disinfected. At my nurse’s suggestion I’ve stopped self-service at meal times.’

  ‘You obviously know what to do in cases like this,’ Ed said approvingly.

  The captain’s smile was bitter. ‘We’ve been to the Indian Ocean. When passengers and crew return from a visit on shore, each one of them is handed a napkin and told to rub their hands with it. It contains a disinfectant that is supposed to kill all known germs and viruses. My crew constantly wipe down and disinfect all handrails in the ship. And I’ve made sure these precautions have been carried out thoroughly! And then this happens when we’re nearly home.’

  Ed nodded. ‘You seem to have done all you can, Captain.’

  ‘There’s more. I don’t know if you realise it, but all medical attention has to be paid for. The one exception is stomach upsets. Passengers are told very clearly that if they have any suspicion of a gastric problem they are to phone the medical centre and all medical care will be free.’

  Ed was impressed. ‘With all these precautions it seems unfair that you should be struck down like this. But you are prepared.’

  ‘An old military rule. Hope for the best, plan for the worst. Now you’ll be taken down to the medical section and I leave you to do what you can. Please, let me know at once if there’s anything you need.’

  ‘I like a man who knows what he wants,’ Nick muttered to him as they were led along companionways.

  ‘You can always tell a military mind,’ Ed muttered back. ‘But I’m desperately trying to lose mine. I’m a doctor, not a soldier.’

  Ed still felt a little uneasy. He knew his father was watching him, looking for any sign of weakness. But he had been in large-scale disease outbreaks before. The fact that he had lost…He forced himself to keep his memories and his feelings in check. But he knew it would be hard.

  There was no one in the medical centre when they arrived and the steward left them there to find the nurse. Both took the opportunity to look around. There was a reception area and two treatment rooms, one of which could double up as an operating theatre. It even had X-ray facilities. There was a minilab, a pharmacy and five tiny wards. To one side was a corridor with the staff’s living quarters leading off it. It was a hospital and GP surgery combined and in miniature.

  Behind him Ed heard a feminine voice say, ‘Nick! It’s good to see you again.’

  ‘Maddy, it’s good to see you, too. You were the best nurse I ever had.’

  Ed turned to see his father stooping to kiss the cheek of a petite woman in nurse’s uniform. Then Nick stood aside and said, ‘Maddy, I’d like you to meet another Dr Tremayne. My son Ed.’

  Ed held his hand out. ‘Pleased to meet you, Maddy.’ And then he looked at her properly. She was about his own age, and had shoulder-length light brown hair, now carefully tied back. Her body was curvaceous. She was very attractive. Then he tried to distance himself from that thought. He was only a doctor here!

  Maddy smiled at him, and he found himself looking into her eyes. They were large, hazel-coloured and rather beautiful. But for the moment it was the expression in them that concerned him. There was apprehension there, but that was to be expected in someone who was faced with an outbreak of illness. And something more. Ed had a sense that something was haunting her, a fear perhaps, or a memory.

  He thought that he’d like to know more about Maddy, perhaps help her get over whatever it was that was troubling her. He could feel her anguish—after all, he had suffered anguish himself.

  But first he had his duty to attend to! ‘So how can we help you, Maddy?’ he asked.

  ‘I’d like you to tell me I’m wrong. But I know I’m not. I’ve now got fifteen people confined to their cabins and there are more who’re about to go down sick. At the moment I’m the only trained medical staff but there are stewards who’ve been on an elementary course and they can act as orderlies. They’ve been very good. The illness is…’ She corrected herself. ‘I think the illness is caused by Norovirus. Acute gastroenteritis. But it seems to be much more serious than normal.’

  ‘Is that possible in this country?’ Ed asked. ‘I thought that for Europeans, who are reasonably well fed, it was nasty but not too dangerous.’

  There was a pause. Then Nick said, ‘I’m afraid there are variations. Some quite recent mutations. And some of them can be very unpleasant indeed.’

  ‘You’ve dealt with them before?’

  ‘Only in the lab,’ Nick said.

  Maddy was pleased to have Nick and Ed there. She felt confident that she could have coped with the outbreak alone somehow. But with the Tremaynes helping her work, coping would be easier.

  She could tell the two were father and son. It was not just the physical resemblance—though that was there. The were both big, tall, handsome men. More important was the feelings they inspired, their attitude. They seemed calm, competent, tough.

  Or was that just the way she remembered Nick? He didn’t seem to have changed much since she’d last seen him. His dark hair was perhaps a little more grey, there was the odd extra line on his face. But he was as lean, as erect as ever.

  Ed was different. His hair was blond, cut very short. His eyes were blue, unlike his father’s brown ones. And he moved differently, lightly, almost on his toes. Maddy recognised it as the action of a well-trained athlete.

  They were both very different from the men she had been mixing with recently. Apart from the crew, most of the men were old. Dr Coombs was short, a bit tubby and was never going to die of overwork. She was feeling more confident by the minute.

  ‘So what have you got for us, Maddy?’ Nick asked.

  She gave a quick summary of what had happened so far. ‘The captain is doing what he can, confining the sick ones to their cabins, taking all possible precautions. The passengers here have been well fed, well looked after. But a lot of them are old, or have come on this cruise to convalesce. I’ve dealt with gastroenteritis before, I know it’s not supposed to be too serious. But the vital signs in some of them are very worrying.’

  ‘Might I glance through the case notes?’ Nick asked. She had them ready and handed them to him.

  He passed half of the pile of notes to Ed and both started to skim through them. After a while Nick muttered, ‘This does seem to be more serious than…’

  ‘May I see the rest of the notes?’ Ed asked him, and the two exchanged piles. Then there was silence for a moment and Maddy felt her confidence ebbing. It was good to be proved right…but she didn’t want to be right.

  Ed spoke first. ‘I agree with you, Maddy. This is bad. I’ve come across an attac
k like this before. People think that gastroenteritis has just one cause but there can be many. In this case, onset seems far too rapid to be normal, dehydration far too advanced. It looks like a particularly effective bacterium or virus.’

  ‘Most likely a virus,’ Nick put in.

  Ed shrugged. ‘We’ll have to find out. To be more exact, you’ll have to find out. But my experience says that it is a bacterium. Note the consistent high temperatures. More in line with bacterium than virus.’

  ‘A viral infection is more common.’

  ‘True. But I intend to use antibiotics until you tell me definitely that this is a virus.’

  Maddy realised that this was a small trial of strength between the two men. Between father and son—both doctors. There was a difference of opinion and she knew that Nick didn’t like being contradicted.

  There was a silence and then Nick said slowly, ‘We agreed that you are in charge. You must do what you think best.’

  Ed nodded. ‘I’d like you to do the necessary tests and let me know the results as quickly as possible. Analysis is one of your strengths.’ He looked at Maddy. ‘How busy were you before this outbreak? You’ve obviously got more cases than these.’

  ‘I’ve been kept busy,’ she said. ‘There’s the usual small stuff—minor injuries, conditions that need an eye kept on them. This morning I had a man who’d had a TIA—I think.’

  ‘Would you like me to have a look at him?’ Ed asked.

  She appreciated being asked. ‘I’m reasonably happy but, yes,’ she said. ‘If you don’t mind.’

  ‘I don’t mind, I’m a doctor. I’ll be happy to.’ He smiled at her then—she realised for the first time. And it made his face, the sometimes stern Tremayne face, look so much more attractive.

  ‘One good thing,’ he went on, ‘is that this condition tends to burn out very quickly. Only a forty-eight hour isolation period is needed. Now, shall we go and check on the patients so far?’

  They agreed that Nick should visit the male patients with a steward, and she would visit the female patients with Ed. They set off at once.