Betty Neels - A Kind of Magic

He gave Rosie a nod and a quick questioning glance; she could have been yesterday’s newspaper, she reflected with a touch of peevishness.

‘My grandmother fell. Her ankle is swollen and very painful…’

He took Mrs Macdonald’s hand. ‘A nasty shock for you, Mrs…?’

‘Macdonald,’ said Rosie. ‘My grandmother is eighty years old.’

He gave her a look which put her in her place. ‘Let’s look at it.’

He was very gentle, keeping up a steady flow of quiet questions as he examined the swollen joint. ‘A sprain—a nasty one, but I think nothing is broken. It will be best if you stay here in bed for a few days with your ankle bandaged, and when you are more yourself you must go to Oban and have an X-ray. You live in Scotland?’

‘Edinburgh. My granddaughter and I were taking the train tour of the Highlands.’ Mrs Macdonald opened her eyes and studied his face. ‘And where are you from, may I ask?’

He didn’t answer directly. ‘I’m staying with Doctor Finlay for some fishing.’ He smiled at her suddenly and with great charm. ‘Now I want you to rest quietly while that ankle settles down. I shall write you up for something to relieve the pain, and within a couple of days or so you should be well enough to go for an X-ray. If it is, as I think, a sprain, then there is no reason why you shouldn’t go home and rest there. Now I am going to strap it firmly, and later, when you may get up, a viscopaste stocking must be applied.’

Mrs Macdonald might be a crotchety, selfish old lady but she had courage; she uttered no sound as he attended to the ankle, and when Rosie said urgently, ‘Oh, Granny’s fainted!’ the doctor said calmly, ‘Good, pass me that crêpe bandage and let us get finished before she comes round.’ He gave her a quick look. ‘You have arranged to stay here?’

‘Not yet.’ She spoke sharply, ‘I’ve had no time.’

‘Well, see about it now, will you? Get a room, and I’ll carry Mrs Macdonald up, then you get her undressed and in bed, and I’ll take another look at her before I go.’

There were two rooms on the first floor, she was told, with a communicating door and, providing she was prepared to pay for it, fortunately room service was available.

‘Good, we’ll have them. Could someone get the bed ready for my grandmother? The doctor will carry her up…’

There were plenty of willing helpers; Mrs Macdonald was carried up to her room and laid on the bed, and a chambermaid stayed to help get her into bed, offering a nightie and extra pillows, and helping Rosie to arrange a chair at the foot of the bed so that the bedclothes might be draped over it.

The doctor nodded approvingly when he came to see his patient again.

‘Your grandmother will do very well,’ he observed. ‘I can see that you’re a sensible lass. From these parts?’

‘Yes.’ She paused. ‘Well, I was born near here but we live in England now.’

He stood studying her, looking down his long nose in a manner which she found annoying. ‘Married?’

‘No.’

He smiled. ‘A woman of refreshingly few words.’ Then he added to surprise her, ‘Are you all right for money?’

‘Why, yes, thank you. It is kind of you to ask.’

‘Nothing kind about it—common sense in the circumstances. It would have gone on the bill.’

She ignored this. ‘Will you come to see my grandmother again? She is old, it must have been a shock…’

‘I’ll be over tomorrow, in the morning.’ He stared at her, and added, ‘Unless you would rather Dr Finlay took over the case?’

‘Why do you say that? Granny is perfectly satisfied…’

‘Good.’ He spoke carelessly. ‘Perhaps by tomorrow you and I will like each other a little better. Good day to you, Miss Macdonald.’

He had gone leaving her bewildered and decidedly ill-tempered.

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