Medic on Approval

by Laura MacDonald

  ‘Geese are such fascinating creatures,’ said Lindsay as she climbed from the Land Rover, watching the little group until it disappeared from their sight.

  ‘Maybe.’ Aidan pulled a face. ‘But they’re also incredibly noisy.’ At that moment a teenage youth came from one of the outbuildings and ambled across the yard towards them. ‘Hello, Rufus.’ Aidan nodded. ‘Where’s your mum?’

  ‘She’s indoors.’ The boy jerked his head in the direction of the house.

  ‘Thanks.’ Aidan led the way to the house and rapped on the front door. After a long wait the door was opened by a small girl with dark, tangled hair wearing a grubby gingham dress that looked several sizes too big for her. Her face and arms were blotched with the red scaly patches of eczema. She stared at them then turned and shouted. ‘Mum, it’s the doctor.’

  ‘Well, ask him in, then, silly child.’ A woman appeared behind the little girl who continued to gape at Aidan and Lindsay. The woman was heavily pregnant and looked pale, drawn and very tired. ‘Hello, Doctor,’ she said. ‘Come in—you mustn’t mind Evie. And you won’t have to mind the mess either,’ she added as she led the way into a narrow hallway then into an incredibly cluttered living room.

  ‘We haven’t come to see your mess, Clarrie,’ said Aidan. ‘We’ve come to see you—and Dai. This is Dr Henderson, by the way.’ He glanced over his shoulder at Lindsay. ‘She’s come to join us at the practice for a while.’

  Clarrie Williams nodded at Lindsay. ‘Nice to meet you,’ she said wearily. Then turning, she said, ‘Here’s Dai now.’ Supported by elbow crutches, a man came hobbling into the room. He was probably only around forty years of age but he looked ten years older. He nodded briefly at Aidan and threw Lindsay a curious look.

  ‘How’s it going, Dai?’ Aidan cleared a space on the table and set down his case.

  ‘Slow,’ grunted Dai Williams. ‘Too bloody slow. My farm’s going to rack and ruin. I need to get back to work. Ted can’t manage on his own and Rufus is bloody useless.’

  ‘He’s only a boy,’ protested Clarrie. ‘Anyway, I’ll be back out there soon.’

  ‘How’s the leg?’ asked Aidan.

  ‘Painful,’ Dai replied. ‘I swear that pin is doing more harm than good.’

  ‘Let’s take a look at it,’ said Aidan. Turning to Lindsay, who was hovering uncertainly near the doorway, he said, ‘While I’m looking at Dai’s leg, Lindsay, how about you check up on Clarrie? Here are her notes.’

  ‘All right.’ Lindsay was pleased to be given something to do. She was beginning to feel quite claustrophobic in this household. ‘Could we go up to the bedroom, do you think?’ she asked Clarrie hopefully as she took the record envelope that Aidan handed to her.

  ‘If you like.’ Clarrie shrugged. ‘It’s in a mess up there as well.’ Slowly she led the way back into the hall and up the steep staircase. ‘You here for good?’ she asked over her shoulder as they neared the top.

  ‘Oh, no,’ Lindsay replied. ‘Only for a year then I’ll be going home.’

  ‘Where’s that?’ Clarrie pushed open a door and stood back for Lindsay to enter the bedroom.

  ‘London.’

  ‘London, eh?’ Clarrie gave a tired smile. ‘You must find it a bit different round here, then.’

  ‘Just a bit,’ Lindsay replied with a grin. ‘Do you know London at all?’

  ‘I had a holiday there when I was a girl—in another lifetime.’ The ghost of a smile flickered over Clarrie’s features. ‘There was this lad I met, you see—down at the camp site in Tregadfan. I worked there a couple of seasons when I was still at school. He lived in London, well, Peckham. I stayed with him and his family.’

  ‘I take it this was in pre-Dai days?’ asked Lindsay as she opened her case while Clarrie sat on the bed and awkwardly lay back against the pillows.

  ‘Sort of. Although I’ve always known Dai. We grew up together.’ Clarrie shrugged but she didn’t elaborate any further about what had happened to the boy from Peckham.

  ‘Now, let’s see, how many weeks are you?’ Lindsay glanced at Clarrie’s notes.

  ‘Thirty-seven,’ Clarrie replied. ‘And I’ll be glad when it’s all over, I can tell you. I’ve been more tired with this one than with the other three put together.’

  ‘Well, you’ve got all the others to cope with this time and it doesn’t sound to me as if things are particularly easy at the moment.’

  ‘You can say that again.’ Clarrie pulled a face. ‘And I sometimes think Dai is worse than the kids. He’s been like a caged animal since his accident—anyone would think it was my fault the way he goes on about it. Trouble is, the bills are piling up. Things were bad even before Dai’s accident. Now, well…’ she gave a hopeless little gesture with her hands ‘…I can just see the whole lot going down the pan, the farm and everything.’

  ‘Let’s hope it won’t come to that,’ said Lindsay. ‘But for the moment the most important thing has to be you and your baby. Tell me, are you going for a hospital delivery?’

  ‘No.’ Clarrie shook her head. ‘I had the others at home. It’ll be the same for this one.’

  ‘I was just thinking that a spell in hospital, however brief, might just give you the break you need.’

  Clarrie shook her head. ‘No,’ she said. ‘It’s all arranged. The district midwife will come in for the birth then my sister will help out for a couple of days or so—if she doesn’t fall out with Dai.’

  ‘Let’s just check your blood pressure and listen to baby’s heartbeat.’ Lindsay perched on the side of the bed and applied the cuff to Clarrie’s arm.

  ‘It’s a bit on the high side,’ she said when she’d finished. ‘You must get as much rest as you can. I know that’s probably easier said than done,’ she added when a sound like a snort came from Clarrie. ‘But you must try. Would you like me to have a word with Dai?’

  Clarrie shrugged. ‘Can if you like. I doubt it would make much difference.’ Raising herself onto her elbows, she watched Lindsay who was listening to the foetal heartbeat. ‘Is everything all right?’ There was a touch of anxiety in her voice now.

  ‘Yes.’ Lindsay straightened up. ‘A nice strong heartbeat. What do you want this time, a boy or a girl?’

  ‘Don’t mind really.’ Clarrie rearranged her clothing and sat up. ‘Although I suppose another girl would even things up.’

  ‘So you have Rufus and Evie and…?’

  ‘Jared—he’s twelve. Rufus is sixteen and Evie is six. I thought I’d finished,’ she said ruefully. ‘Just shows how wrong you can be, doesn’t it?’

  ‘I understand Evie suffers from asthma and eczema?’ Lindsay began putting her stethoscope and the sphygmomanometer back into her case.

  ‘Yes, it’s been bad again just recently.’ Clarrie rose to her feet and immediately sank back down onto the bed again. ‘Oh,’ she gasped. ‘I feel giddy. I must have got up too quickly.’

  ‘Rest for a moment,’ said Lindsay.

  Clarrie was silent for a while then she looked up. ‘Where were we?’ she said. ‘Oh, yes, Evie. She’s been coughing a lot just lately. Trouble is, she will handle the animals and her eczema has flared up again.’

  ‘I’m sure Dr Lennox will be taking a look at her,’ said Lindsay. ‘But if he’s still busy with your husband then I will.’

  ‘He’s nice, Dr Lennox,’ said Clarrie as she once again attempted to get to her feet, more slowly this time. ‘We used to have old Dr Meredith. He was OK but he could be quite blunt. I can remember him and Dai having words on more than one occasion. Dr Lennox is different.’

  ‘I think he could stand his ground if the need arose,’ said Lindsay.

  ‘Oh, I don’t doubt it.’ Clarrie nodded, then with a little frown she said, ‘Why are you going around with him?’

  ‘He’s my trainer. Oh, don’t worry,’ she added when she saw Clarrie’s look of surprise, ‘I am a doctor, but I have to find out what it takes to be a GP.’

  ‘So you and he are spending quite a bit of
time together.’

  ‘You could say that.’ Lindsay laughed. ‘In fact, you could say I’m his shadow at the moment.’

  ‘And how does Bronwen like that?’

  It was Lindsay’s turn to look surprised. ‘You know Bronwen?’ she said.

  ‘Oh, yes.’ Clarrie nodded. ‘She lives next door to my sister.’

  ‘I’d forgotten how close this community is. I suppose I assumed that because you live up here that you have little communication with those down in Tregadfan.’

  ‘You’d be surprised.’ Clarrie gave a short laugh. ‘My sister has told me all about Bronwen and Dr Lennox.’

  ‘What about them?’ Lindsay grew very still. Was there something between Bronwen and Aidan after all? Had her earlier hunch been correct, unlikely as it had seemed? ‘Is there something between them?’ she asked at last.

  ‘Oh, I don’t know about that,’ Clarrie replied. ‘I would put it down to no more than wishful thinking on Bronwen’s part.’

  So was that all it was? thought Lindsay as she followed Clarrie downstairs, Bronwen wishing there could be something between Aidan and herself, or could it be that there actually was? Aidan had hinted earlier that he’d known what it was to be betrayed by someone—but that could hardly be Bronwen, not if she was the one wanting a relationship. Maybe she knew about the one who had let him down and was simply offering him a shoulder to cry on in the hope it could progress into something more.

  On the other hand, the whole thing could simply be no more than village gossip, in which case it was best left well alone. Not that it was any of her concern anyway. It really didn’t matter to her what Aidan Lennox did or didn’t do in his private life, she told herself as she and Clarrie joined Aidan in the living room. Here, he’d finished examining Dai and had turned his attention to Evie.

  ‘I’m going to change the dose of Evie’s beclomethosone inhalers.’ Aidan looked up at Clarrie. ‘Also the cream for her eczema—we’ll try increasing the strength for a while. If that doesn’t work we’ll have to see about another course of steroids. You are still using the aqueous cream for washing, aren’t you?’

  Clarrie nodded. ‘Yes. I can’t think of anything we’ve done differently lately or anything that could have caused a reaction—apart from her handling the animals.’

  ‘You must try not to, Evie,’ said Aidan gently to the little girl, who hung her head then buried her face in her mother’s lap. ‘I know it’s easier said than done on a farm,’ he went on, ‘just as I know how much you love animals’. He glanced up at Lindsay. ‘Everything all right?’ he asked.

  She knew he meant with Clarrie’s pregnancy, and when she nodded in reply he stood up and said, ‘In that case, we’ll be going. I’ll arrange the physiotherapy for you, Dai—you’ll get an appointment.’

  Dai merely grunted and it was Clarrie who saw them to the door. ‘Thank you both,’ she said.

  ‘Will you be able to get the prescriptions?’ asked Lindsay anxiously.

  Clarrie nodded. ‘Yes, Ted, who works for us on the farm, will collect them for us when he goes down to Betws-y-coed for supplies.’

  ‘Look after yourself, Clarrie,’ said Aidan.

  ‘Yes,’ said Lindsay, ‘and try to get some rest.’

  Moments later they were in the Land Rover and he was driving out of the farmyard. Lindsay glanced back as they turned into the lane and saw that Clarrie was still standing in the open doorway, watching them, with Evie by her side. Just before they moved out of sight of the farmhouse the geese returned, indignantly flapping and waddling around the side of the house to investigate the disturbance from the noise of the Land Rover’s engine.

  ‘It’s another world,’ said Lindsay as, with a little sigh, she settled back into her seat. ‘It’s amazing to me that people live out their entire lives in these remote hillside farms, just tending their sheep.’

  ‘Usually most of them are quite happy to do so,’ Aidan replied. ‘Sometimes the youngsters will attend college, often agricultural college, then they’ll go away for a while. But more often than not, a boy will return and take over running the family farm.’

  ‘And the girls?’

  ‘Nine times out of ten they’ll end up marrying a farmer—usually someone they’ve known all their lives.’

  ‘Like Clarrie,’ said Lindsay. ‘That’s what happened to her. She told me she and Dai were at school together.’

  Aidan nodded. ‘That’s right, they were.’

  ‘They don’t seem very happy.’

  ‘What’s happened to them is unfortunate. Farming has been hit very badly just lately and that alone is a big enough worry, but for Dai to have an accident as well which has put him out of action…’ Aidan trailed off but his words implied his doubts that the family would ever recover.

  They travelled in silence for a while then Aidan spoke again. ‘Was Clarrie all right?’

  ‘Her blood pressure was a bit on the high side, her ankles were swollen and she’s very tired, but the foetal heartbeat was strong. I urged her to rest as much as she could.’

  ‘That’ll be easier said than done in the present circumstances.’

  ‘I know.’ Lindsay sighed. ‘Are you happy with her having a home confinement?’ she added curiously.

  ‘It would be extremely difficult talking someone like Clarrie into a hospital confinement, but, I agree, the situation being what it is, she would certainly benefit from one.’

  ‘Could we not have a word with the district midwife?’

  ‘We could try. But I warn you, she’ll be firmly on Clarrie’s side. It’s a sort of culture amongst these people to have their children in their own homes and the midwives themselves are proud of their births.’

  ‘How will Dai get down for his physiotherapy?’

  ‘Heaven knows.’ Aidan shrugged. ‘I hope Ted will be able to take him in the truck, but I doubt he’ll have the time. Poor chap is hard-pressed enough as it is. In the end, I don’t suppose Dai will go.’

  ‘The boy, Rufus—shouldn’t he be at school?’ asked Lindsay.

  ‘Probably—but he left at Easter when he was sixteen so that he could help Ted on the farm.’

  ‘It really is a desperate situation, isn’t it?’

  ‘I told you it was, didn’t I? Trouble is, I can’t see it getting a lot better.’

  ‘But surely after Carrie has had the baby and Dai is better…’ She trailed off, threw Aidan a quick glance and when he didn’t reply she said, ‘Dai will get better, won’t he?’

  ‘Well, I certainly hope he’ll get better than he is at the moment, but that leg is taking a long time to heal and there’s tendon damage in his right arm. I have to confess there are times when I simply can’t see him running a farm again.’

  ‘What would they do?’

  ‘Their only option would be to sell up. Trouble is, in the present climate they wouldn’t get a lot for the farm. When I suggested it to Dai shortly after his accident he almost bit my head off. He’s a very proud man. The farm was passed down to him by his father and he sees it as his duty to pass it on to Rufus.’

  By the time they reached Tregadfan the sun was setting and dusk was beginning to steal its way across the mountains and into the valleys, and Lindsay had quite forgotten that she’d given up her time off to accompany Aidan. She felt it had been time well spent, for not only had she gained further insight into the people of the community she had come to work amongst, but also—probably because she’d chosen to confide in him—she and Aidan for the first time had reached a deeper level of understanding.

  CHAPTER NINE

  ‘I’LL give some Lomotil for the diarrhoea and Maxolon for the sickness.’ It was very cramped inside the tent and Lindsay was forced to kneel on the ground to write out the prescription. ‘And I should stick to bottled water and maybe just a plain biscuit for a while,’ she added to the white-faced young man lying in his sleeping bag.

  ‘When will he be all right to go climbing?’ asked his companion anxiously. ‘We’ve go
t lots of expeditions planned.’

  As the man on the ground groaned Lindsay looked up. ‘Well, I shouldn’t think he’ll feel much like climbing for a couple of days or so. How long are you here for?’

  ‘A week.’

  ‘In that case, I would think he’ll be feeling well enough to join you a bit later in the week.’ She looked down at the patient. ‘But for the time being you need to stay here and rest. You’ll be quite weak for a time. I’ll leave a few of these sachets.’

  ‘What are they?’ The second youth took the sachets Lindsay handed to him.

  ‘Dioralyte,’ Lindsay replied. ‘It’s a glucose-based product, which will help to replace the fluids he’s lost and build up his strength again—that’s essential after any kind of stomach bug.’

  ‘OK, and thanks, Doc. Thanks for coming out. He was too weak to move.’

  ‘That’s all right,’ Lindsay nodded. ‘Keep an eye on him.’ Lifting the tent flap, she scrambled out into the field at the back of the caravan park which was reserved for tents.

  It was a week after her and Aidan’s visit to the farm outside Capel Curig, and Lindsay’s first Sunday on call on her own.

  ‘Do you think you’re ready for it?’ Henry had sounded anxious when she’d told him about it.

  ‘I think so.’ She’d nodded.

  ‘She knows where we are if she hits any tricky patches,’ Aidan had said. ‘I shan’t be going far from home and I doubt you will either, Henry.’

  ‘Henry had shaken his head. ‘You’re right. Although…’ he’d paused and the other two had looked at him ‘…I have to say Megan has seemed a little better in the last few days. I’m almost afraid to say it in case I go home and find her exhausted again, but I’d thought that if it lasts over the weekend I might try and take her out for a little run on Sunday.’

  ‘That sounds marvellous,’ Lindsay had said.

  ‘A change of scenery could work wonders,’ Aidan had replied. ‘Just as long as you’re prepared that the improvement will probably not last, given the nature of ME.’

  Henry had nodded. ‘I know—we have to seize the moment, as they say.’