It was late afternoon
on Christmas Eve at the Dancingdean Health Centre and Locum Doctor Kelly
Spearman had one last patient to see.
Mrs Bramwell entered
the room with her young daughter Kylie skulking in her wake.
“Come on Kylie the
Doctor hasn’t got all day”
“Hello Mrs Bramwell,
how can I help?”
“Kylie’s not right
Doctor, very odd”
“In what way?”
“Well look at her Doctor
you can see you doesn’t look right.
She starts the day
feeling sick and ends it eating Pizza with sugar on. It’s no small wonder she’s
put on so much weight”
“Well I’ll have to do
a full examination” Kelly said
Kylie lay on the
examination table and Dr Spearman gave her a thorough exam, asking questions as
she did so.
When she had finished
she told Kylie to redress and sat down at her desk and tapped at the keyboard
until the girl was seated.
“So what’s wrong with
her Doctor?” Mrs Bramley
“Well there is no
doubt in my mind that Kylie is pregnant” she replied
“About five months to
be precise”
“That’s absolute
rubbish Doctor, Kylie can’t possibly be pregnant, ridiculous that is, she’s
only 14 and I can assure you my daughter has never been with a man”
“There is no doubt”
Kelly said as she took off her glasses
“Tell the Doctor,
Kylie, tell her you’ve never been with a man”
“I haven’t Doctor I
really haven’t, not even kissing” Kylie confirmed
Kelly looked at the
girl doubtfully then stood up and walked to the window and stared out into the
darkness shaking her head.
“So what’s wrong
Doctor?” Mrs Bramley asked “it’s serious isn’t it?”
“Not at all, I just
wanted to check the sky for something, because the last time a girl got
pregnant without going with a man a bright star appeared in the East”
“Are you trying to be
funny?” Mrs Bramwell asked
“No I’m not, I’m
trying to make a point” she replied
“Whether Kylie says
she has been with a man or not, she is definitely five months pregnant, so I
suggest you think back five months and figure out where she didn’t have sex
with a man”
“I don’t like your
attitude Doctor if my daughter says she’s a virg…” she stopped in mid flow and
turned to Kylie and said
“You dirty little cow,
it was that boy you met on the beach at Sharpington wasn’t it”
At that the girl began
to cry and Mrs Bramley bustled her out of the room admonishing her without
acknowledging Kelly again.
Kelly was one of the
cleverest medical students of her year and she was also one of the sexiest, a
fact she had perpetually tried to play down.
She wanted to progress
in her profession based purely on her abilities and not because she was
“fit”.
She certainly didn’t
want the distraction of having to fend off unwanted advances while she tried to
qualify.
Her style of dress was
muted, still feminine but understated, she wore her hair combed back severely
off her and wore heavy framed spectacles.
A look she maintained
long after qualification and all through her time at the Winston Churchill
Hospital.
The result of which,
being that after ten years she remained single and with a reputation for being
cold and aloof.
As neither description
was true she gave up a senior position at the Churchill to take up general
practice, but she needed to learn the ropes as a GP locum, which was why she
was working at the Dancingdean Health Centre.
Kelly had completed
her notes and packed her things away.
She was looking
forward to getting home, she loosened her hair and shook it out before putting
on her woollen hat and slipping on her coat and finally picked up her bag.
No sooner had her
fingers curled around the door handle than the phone on her desk rang.
“Oh, so close” she
said to herself and released her grip on the door handle.
There was nothing
waiting for her at home except what she craved at that moment, peace and
solitude.
But she had noticed
the steady snowfall through her surgery window and she was not a lover of
driving in the snow.
“Hello” she said
“Could you see one
more patient Doctor?” the receptionist Lynn Cooper asked “It should be a quick
one but it’s quite urgent”
“Of course send them
through” she replied and slipped off her coat and sat down.
A few moments later
there was a light knock on her door.
“Come in”
When the door opened a
tall slightly built man of a similar age to herself walked in.
“Thank you for seeing
me Doctor” he said “I’m sorry to delay you”
“That’s fine” Kelly
replied
“I see you’re dressed
for the conditions” he added
“I’m sorry?”
“Your rather fetching
headgear” he explained
“Oh” she said with a
laugh “I forgot I had it on”
“So what can I do for
you? Mr Springthorpe”
“I need a repeat
prescription for my Theophylline I have nearly run out”
he said and she tapped at her keyboard
“Your last
prescription was in October you shouldn’t have run out yet” she said
“I know but the water
tank in my loft sprang a leak and brought the ceiling down which ruined
everything in its path” he explained
“Your medication
included” The Doctor said
“Yes” he confirmed
“Very well I’ll write
you another one” she said
“Thank you Doctor”
“The pharmacy in
Oakwood Road is open until 10 o’clock tonight” she said and handed him the
prescription
“Thank you Doctor and
Merry Christmas”
“Not to Merry I hope” she scolded “Happy Christmas”
The moment the door
closed she quickly redressed in her out door clothes and left before the phone
went again.
She ran the festive
gauntlet of staff members, exchanging greetings in the time honoured fashion
and emerged into the snowy car park and she was surprised to find exactly how
much had fallen.
She got into her car
and set off towards Mornington By Mere.
Kelly had only lived
in Mornington for a few months, she wanted somewhere that was in striking
distance of Shallowfield, Purplemere and Childean which were the towns she
would be able to work as a locum.
Even Finchbottom and
the Pepperstock’s were doable from Mornington at a pinch.
She had a rented a
house in Military Row which was one of a number of good sized family dwellings
originally built as Officers Quarters for the Officer personnel from the since
defunct Mornington Airfield.
The original plan was
to get a short time let and work as a Locum and then when she managed to secure
a permanent position in a practice she would then move somewhere close to where
she would be working but she had rather fallen in love with the village.
Despite the conditions
she had made steady progress and had travelled about two and a half miles
before she spotted the red tail lights and she came to a halt at the end of the
queue.
There were three or
four people milling around in the road so she got out of her car to join them
in the hope of finding out what the problem was.
Just ahead of the
queue of six cars there was a seventh car being reversed out of a snowdrift.
She made her way to
the front and asked
“Is anyone hurt, I’m a
Doctor?”
“No Doc, nothing hurt
but his pride” An old country man replied
“A bit of a brown
trouser moment though I shouldn’t wonder”
This induced a good
deal of laughter as much from Kelly as anybody else.
“I take it the road is
closed” she said when the laughter had subsided.
“Very much so Doc”
Another bumpkin replied
“Then I shall wish you
all a Merry Christmas and go in search of an Inn”
She did a three point
turn in the road and headed back the way she had come and hoped she wouldn’t
have to spend the entire evening driving around looking for a room.
Kelly was not yet
fully au fait with Shallowfield and its environs but she
had stored several key landmarks in her memory bank but the only Hotel she
could bring to mind was the Shallowfield Lodge Hotel by Teardrop Lake.
Which she thought was
as good a place as any to start, if that failed she knew that a lot of her
colleagues at the Health Centre lived in the area so she would try her luck
with one of them.
Jonathon
Springthorpe was due to have dinner on Christmas Eve with his oldest friend and
business partner Richard O’Sullivan but he had to cancel it at the last minute
when he realized he was almost out of his medication.
Although
it was a genuine emergency and not an excuse he still felt guilty cancelling
their dinner date because Richard was such a lonely cove.
He pledged to himself
he would call round to Richards’s house once he had rectified his medical
emergency.
He was very pleased to
have caught the Doctor before she left for the Holiday, and even more pleasing
was the fact she was so attractive.
After leaving the
Health Centre he drove to the Oakwood Road pharmacy and was grateful he didn’t
need to drive any further as the snow was several inches deep already and was
falling exceedingly fast.
Under the
circumstances he abandoned his plan to go and see Richard, so all being well he
would be safely indoors for the night within half an hour and then the weather
could do as it pleased.
Kelly parked her car
and opened the boot, fortunately being a practical person she always had a
change of clothes in the car for emergencies.
Unfortunately this did
not include underwear so she would need to rinse through what she was wearing,
provided of course she could get a room.
She went inside and
straight up to the reception desk where a trim well-dressed woman was stood
smiling in her direction.
“Can I help?” Mrs
Brown said
“I do hope so” she
replied dropping her bag to the floor
“I’m stranded in
Shallowfield because of the snow and I’m hoping you have a room”
“You’re not the only
one dear” Sheryl Brown said “But you’re in luck I have one room left”
“Thank you so much”
Kelly said and she felt her shoulders relax
Sheryl Brown gave her
a registration card to fill out and asked
“Is it just the one
night dear?”
“Oh I don’t know”
Kelly said “I hadn’t thought”
“Well look I’ll book
you in for two nights, just in case” she suggested
“Ok yes, that’s a good
idea” Kelly agreed
After all the
formalities were completed and Mrs Brown had given her the key Kelly leant in
close and whispered conspiratorially
“There was one other
thing, I need to wash my underthings…”
Sheryl put up her hand
and stopped her mid-sentence
“Don’t worry dear I
have just the thing” she said and disappeared through a door marked private
only to emerge 30 seconds later holding a small Tupperware box with a quantity
of powder in.
“This is what you
need”
“You are a Godsend”
Kelly said “Thank you so much ...”
“Call me Sheryl”
“Thank you Sheryl”
“My pleasure” she
replied “Now the restaurant is still open though under the circumstances it’s a
rather improvised menu, but it will be hot”
“Hot will suffice”
Kelly said gratefully
Kelly went up to her
room and quickly freshened up and then made her way back downstairs.
She smiled at Sheryl
Brown, as she passed the reception desk, who was busy helping someone else.
She walked into the
busy restaurant and found an empty table and had only sat down long enough to
order a drink when she was asked.
“Do you mind if I join
you doctor?”
It was Jonathon
Springthorpe
“Not at all but please
don’t call me Doctor” she replied in a hushed tone
“Why? Have you been
struck off?” he said
“No” She replied and
laughed “But if people know you’re a doctor they can’t help sharing the details
of their ailments with you”
“Oh I see, so what
should I call you?”
“Kelly will be fine”
she replied “would you like a drink?”
“Just a coke please”
“Nothing stronger?”
she asked
“No it reacts with my
medication” he said and tapped his coat pocket
“Just testing” she
lied
“So Kelly what brings
you to the Shallowfield Lodge on a snowy Christmas Eve?” Jon asked
“You first” she said
“Well as I said
earlier I have some water damage in my house so I’ve moved out while it’s being
sorted”
He explained
“So what about you?”
“I was trying to get
home but the road was closed by a snowdrift”
She replied
“And where’s home?” he
asked
“I live in Mornington”
she replied
“So do I” Jon said “I
live in the Old Forge”
“Really I’m renting
one of the houses in Military row” she said
“It’s a small world
isn’t it?”
“So why here?” he
asked after the waitress had taken their dinner order
“It was the first
place I tried” she replied “but I wanted somewhere local because I’m on call
from lunchtime tomorrow for two days”
“Oh bad luck” he said
“No not really I
volunteered” Kelly said
“Why on earth did you
do that?”
“Well everyone else has a significant other or a family” she said
“And you
don’t?”
“No, I
have no significant other and no family within easy reach, all my nears and dears are many miles away”
“So not married?” he asked
“No”
“Divorced?”
“No just never
married”
“By accident or
design?”
“A little of both I
suppose” she replied enigmatically just as the food arrived
“So what about you?”
Kelly asked
“Divorced” he replied
“How long?
“What married or
divorced?”
“Both”
“Married 10, divorced
2” he said
After desert Kelly
asked
“So why are you
staying here?”
“I told you, my house
is unliveable”
“Yes I know, but why
here?” she persisted
“Oh I see, well I work
in Shallowfield”
“And what do you do
for a living?”
“Auctioneer” he
replied proudly
“At O’Sullivan and
Springthorpe”
“Oooh one of the
bosses” she said feigning impression
“One of the partners”
he corrected her “Of which there are a number”
“Still, name over the
door” she said playing with him
While they were
drinking their coffee Jon suddenly asked
“What are you doing
for Christmas Lunch tomorrow?”
“I don’t know,
whatever they’re serving here I suppose”
“I’m going to my
parents for lunch tomorrow” he said
“Why don’t you join
us?”
“Oh no I couldn’t
impose” she replied
“Nonsense it’s no
imposition”
“No I can’t and I’m on
call anyway” she insisted
“It’s only in
Shallowfield” he said “so it won’t affect you being on call”
“Wait a minute” she
said “Your parents live in Shallowfield?”
“Yes”
“So why are you
staying here why didn’t you stay at your parents?” she asked aghast
“Are you kidding, 36
years old and moving back in with the folks” he said
“I’d only be there for
a day and Mum would start ironing my socks”
When they had stopped
laughing Jon said
“So will you come?”
“Oh alright then” she
conceded “But explain to your mother that if I have to disappear in a hurry
it’s not because I’m not being rude”
They were to meet in
reception at 10.30 on Christmas morning,
In the cold light of
day Kelly questioned the wisdom of her decision to accept Jon’s invitation.
For a start she was
not dressed as smartly as she would have liked but under the circumstances it
was the best she could manage.
Fortunately when she
arrived downstairs she found Jon had dressed down for the occasion, which made
her feel much more comfortable.
“Happy Christmas” he
said and kissed her cheek
“Happy Christmas Jon,
are you sure I won’t be imposing?”
“Absolutely not” he
insisted
The snow was still
falling though much lighter than the night before, so there was an eerie hush
apart from the satisfying crunch underfoot.
If she hadn’t been on
call they would have walked all the way but she needed her 4 x 4.
When they arrived at
the Springthorpe’s home she realised his apparel was not as she had thought,
coincidental, but was by design, as all of the family were in their best bib
and tucker.
Jon had realised that
morning that Kelly would have limited options for the day so deliberately
dressed down so she wouldn’t feel awkward.
“Thank you” she
whispered when she realised what he had done.
He introduced her to
his parents, aunts and uncles, nephews and nieces, kissing cousins, two godsons
and a brother all of them dressed to impress.
Including Kelly and
Jon there were 19 for dinner, and seating and feeding that many people was no
mean feat.
But Margaret
Springthorpe did it in style, and everyone’s food was piping hot.
After dinner the
gathering fragmented and Kelly volunteered to help with the clearing away,
fending off the initial protests that she was a guest.
Just as
the last plate was wiped up and put away Jon appeared
“Oh look
perfect timing” Margaret said
“Dad won’t
stop talking about the Golf game tomorrow so I just had to get out of there” he
announced.
“It’s a
shame you didn’t get fed up with it a bit sooner then you could have helped”
Kelly said
“Well
said” Aunty Victoria said
The reason
for his father’s discontent in regard to the Golf was that the Annual,
Springthorpe Family Cup competed for every year on Boxing Day had been
cancelled for the first time since 1936.
Not even
Adolph Hitler had been able to put a stop to it.
There had
been snow at Christmas before and it had been possible to play the day after
but this year due to the depth of snow on the ground the course was unplayable.
“Does it
bother you that you won't be playing?” Kelly asked Jon.
“Yes. I love the Boxing Day game” he replied “But it’s impossible, Dad just
won’t accept it”
“So why not play it on New Year’s Day
instead?” she suggested
Jonathon opened his
mouth to speak but seemed unable to find the words and closed it again.
He repeated this mime
twice more then turned and left.
“Did you see that
Margaret? She left him speechless” Victoria said
“Absolutely
marvellous!” Margaret said
Kelly was roundly
congratulated by the family for her solution to the Springthorpe Family Cup
debacle and they were genuinely disappointed when at just after four o’clock
she was called out.
She promised she would
return as soon as she had finished but as it turned out she didn’t return until
7 hours later so she went straight to the Hotel where she found Jon waiting for
her in the Hotel bar drinking hot chocolate.
“Come and
have some” he said “it’ll warm you up”
“What I
need is sleep” Kelly said
“Have a
drink first, please” he begged
“Oh ok”
“You were
a big hit with the family” Jon said
“Oh I
don’t know about that”
“Seriously”
he said “so much so that you have been invited to take part in the Springthorpe
Family Cup”
“But I’m
not family”
“You have
been made an honorary member” he said
“How do
you know I even play?” Kelly asked
“Well you
do, don’t you?”
“A little”
She said “maybe you can coach me”
They
talked for about an hour before Kelly excused herself and went off to her bed.
The moment
her head touched the pillow she was asleep and she slept very soundly, which
was just as well because on Boxing Day she was bounced all over the district,
dealing mainly with patients who have severely overindulged the day before.
Kelly
checked out of the Lodge on the morning after Boxing Day and that evening after
surgery she was finally able to drive home to Mornington.
The first
thing she did when she got home was to change her underwear, although she had
washed them out every night before she went to bed, after wearing the same
knickers for four days she still felt dirty.
She then
had two wonderful days off in lieu of Christmas which gave her time to tidy her
house and do some laundry.
But she
was on call again on New Year’s Eve.
Kelly
checked back into the Shallowfield Lodge after work on the 30th and
that night she had dinner with Jonathon at the Phoenix Restaurant in
Shallowfield but it had to be an early finish as she was on call from midnight.
Kelly was
on call from midnight on the 30th until one minute past midnight on
New Year’s Day.
It was a
very quiet day she only had three call outs all day and it gave her plenty of
time to think things through.
Kelly
liked Jon, he made her laugh and feel sexy all at the same time, and he was
kind and thoughtful.
But he or
anyone like him was never in her plans for the future.
She had
not moved from a senior position at the Winston Churchill into general practice
looking for a man, however kind and thoughtful he might be.
But she
didn’t think of him as just a man and she hadn’t felt that way about a man
since she was studying medicine in Edinburgh.
However
that had all ended very badly indeed and left her totally devastated and she
did not want to repeat that mistake and feel worthless again.
Perhaps
she should just nip it in the bud and not take a chance with him.
But why
should she? Why wouldn’t it succeed?
She had
always succeeded in her life when she put her mind to things, her recreation,
her education, her profession, so why could she not succeed in a bright future for
her and Jon.
The only fly in the
ointment as far as she was concerned was that she wasn’t really sure how he
felt about her.
He hadn’t even tried
to kiss her, apart from a peck on the cheek on Christmas Day.
And she had wanted him
too, after she found him waiting for her in the bar with hot chocolate.
She concluded that
perhaps it was time for her to take the initiative.
On New Year’s Day
Jonathon picked her up from the Hotel Car park.
It was a beautiful
crisp winter’s day, no wind and not a cloud in the sky, she was standing by her
car when Jon pulled up.
“Happy New Year” he
said and kissed her cheek.
“Well that’s
encouraging” she thought “but just on the cheek again”
but out loud she just
repeated his greeting.
While he helped her
transfer her clubs from her boot into his she was thinking that if was only
going to kiss her on public holidays she would have to wait until Easter for
the next one.
The Forest Ridge Golf
Club was on the road between Shallowfield and Childean and the journey took
about 15 minutes and all the way Jonathon was giving her Golf tips, her grip,
her stance, her swing.
His coaching continued
in the car park and on the walk to the clubhouse.
“Shut up Jon and kiss
me” she screamed in her head
“The most important
thing is to relax, don’t tense up” he said
“No the most important
thing is that you take me in your arms and kiss me” she replied silently
Even if she’d said it
out loud there wouldn’t have been time to act on it as they were soon
surrounded by other members of the clan.
Jon and Kelly were the
last to tee off in a four ball with his younger brother Chris and his Uncle
George.
“Don’t worry if you’re
only a novice” he said as they approached the 1st tee “I can teach
you as we go around”
“Ok” she said
Kelly was the first to
tee off, it was a short dog leg par four, just under 200 yards to the turn so
she selected her 3 wood and took up her position.
“That might be a
little ambitious” Chris said
“Remember to relax
those shoulders” Jon said encouragingly, agreeing with his brother about her
club selection
Kelly took a couple of
practice swings and then addressed the ball before hitting a crisp clean drive
which sailed straight down the middle of the fairway.
“Whoa” Chris said “I
thought you were a novice”
“I never said that”
Kelly retorted
“You did say you
played “a little”“ Jon said
“I have only played “a
little” since I moved to Mornington” she said
“You’re a bandit” Jon
said and laughed
By the end of the 17th
Uncle George and Jon were 5 shots off the pace and Kelly and Chris were all
square.
After 3 shots Chris
was on the green with a 20ft putt and Kelly was on the apron more than a
hundred feet from the pin.
Chris was supremely
confident as he watched Kelly chip to within 12 feet of the hole.
Chris however 3 putted
and Kelly holed hers to win.
Jon was delighted
partly because it gave him ammunition to rib Chris but mainly because he liked
Kelly.
When all the scores
were in Jon’s Cousin Mike won the day but Kelly was the highest placed woman
and she won the nearest the pin on the par 3 7th.
There was a great
huddle of bodies at the bar but she was stood in a quiet corner of the lounge
admiring her little trophy when Jon joined her.
“So I wasn’t able to
teach you anything today after all” he said
“I was trying to
impress you and you ended up impressing me”
“That was my
intention” she said
“To impress me?” he
asked
“To get you to notice
me” she replied and he looked puzzled
“you wanted me to
notice you?”
“You have
a lot to learn about women” she said taking a step towards him.
“Maybe you can teach me then” he told her looking into her eyes.
“There’s no maybe about it” She said and leaned her face towards him and
touched her full lips gently to his.
He
responded in kind and they were both lost in the magic of the moment.
As their
lips parted they both opened their eyes.
“Would you like me to teach you some more?” she asked smiling.
“That’s a silly question” he replied and wrapped his arms around her waist
pulling her close and their lips met again, but this time there was no
restraint.
