It Happened One Night

by robspace54

The characters, places and situations of Doc Martin, are owned by Buffalo Pictures. This story places no claim of remuneration or ownership, nor do I make any attempt to infringe upon any rights of the owners or producers.

After the ambulance transported Holly, Louisa's cello-playing friend with the damaged spine, what happened next after Series 3 – Episode 5 "The Holly Bears a Prickle"?

000

Louisa sighed into my ear.

"Problem?"

"No," she answered, squeezing my shoulders tighter. "None." Then we kissed tenderly.

I let her go, carefully lowering her back on the floor, already missing her warm embrace.

She smiled up at me. "Unexpected."

"Mm. Yes."

"Where did that come from? A proposal?"

Considering I'd just asked her to marry me and she'd said yes, there was nearly nothing to add. I shrugged. "High time."

She rested her head on my chest. "That night at surgery – the wine…"

"Oh that."

She looked up and raised her eye brows. "Yes that. I meant what I said."

"I… I know."

Danny Steel had gone so Louisa wanted to drink with me and somewhere after the second bottle of wine was consumed… I'd said things… to her… and she said them back. We'd not spoken of it since.

I bent down to kiss her and she presented her lips, with a huge smile on her face. After we broke for air, she sighed. "Want to stay… for… dinner?"

"That would be… good."

"I've got some chicken and a salad."

I nodded. "Better finish cleaning the floor." I waved at the damp area where Holly had nearly died, a faint blood stain on the slate evident. "Have you some chlorinated solution?"

She smiled slightly. "In the loo… I'll get it… uhm, shall I?"

"That would be wise."

She went upstairs and when she returned I noticed she'd washed her face, touched up her makeup, and brushed her hair, so the ravages of a life-and-death struggle were gone. "You changed your sweater," I observed. The one before had been blue with stripes but this one was flowered and a pale pink and green.

"Yeah, the other one..." she froze, "had blood on it."

I sighed. "Right."

"You're okay now?"

"Yep."

We disinfected the floor and carefully swept the floor for any stray shards of glass. "What a mess," she said at the end. She hefted the bag containing the remains of the medical emergency.

I could still smell a faint odor though we'd encapsulated the medical waste of a broken bottle, hypo needles, and used towels. I'd insisted on using double plastic bags to make sure no one was either injured or infected by any possible pathogens.

"I'll just put this in the refuse," Louisa told me.

"No! Keep it separate and I will pick it up tomorrow for proper disposal." She beamed at me as I tied the plastic bag securely. "What?"

Louisa shook her head. "Thorough as ever. We'd better wash hands."

At the kitchen sink I made sure that she used plenty of soap and hot water, washing twice in fact, to remove any possible trace of blood of body fluids from our skin. "Make sure you scrub under your fingernails well," I intoned. "Plenty of debris can harbor under there."

"Okay…"

I was leaning around her inspecting her hand scrubbing when it happened. She leaned back against me, and taking my hands pushed them to her chest. I tried to withdraw them, but she resisted, her bum pushed fully against my groin.

"No, it's fine, Martin." Quick as a flash she turned around and was pressing herself against me kissing me hungrily.

I could tell right away she'd used mouthwash and brushed her teeth and sprayed on her usual perfume Kenzo Flower, which I'd got a hint of when she came back downstairs.

How long we were like that I don't know except to say that my pulse was thudding in my ears and I was aware, very, of every inch of her female form as we hugged and kissed.

Finally she broke the kiss. "Eat? Dinner?"

"Ahm, yes… that would be fine."

Dinner was good; chicken, a small green salad, rice and beans. As we ate she kept grinning at me across her kitchen table and occasionally brushed a foot against my shin.

"Coffee?" She said at the end, for we'd not said much. Mostly Louisa had wondered aloud how Holly was doing while I thought inside my head what I should say to her; the woman I'd just got engaged to. Given I'd totally bollixed things up at the concert last week I kept my mouth shut, mostly; for I feared what I might say or do that would ruin the moment. The ice was still very thin under me but… yet… here she was – smiling at me, we'd kissed and touched tongues, and I'd felt her come alive under my hands. Louisa Glasson – oh Louisa – I do love you.

"She'll be fine. Likely will need surgery to decompress the vertebral disc which she likely damaged severely when she collapsed on your kitchen floor. And yes, coffee would be good."

"Right then; surgery."

I shrugged. "Any competent neurologist could do it."

"Ah." She rose and cleared the plates. "I'll put the coffee on."

"Let me help."

She shook her head. "Not much."

I pushed back my chair and helped with the washing up while the coffee brewed.

She smiled as I dried the dishes and pots. "Problem?" I asked her.

"No," she heaved a sigh. "All a bit of a shock." She shook herself. "Like a dream."

Should I tell her I hadn't planned this? None of it? That it just happened? That the combination of our falling out and by saving Holly's life, after nearly killing the horrid woman with a morphine injection, had brought this to fruition? For life was short and sometimes things would pass us by unless we took them in hand.

I knew it was an impulse when I asked her to marry me. 'I can't live without you.' I'd actually said that – actually said it. I glanced at her nervously, for she was so beautiful, so... desirable... and I feared what she really thought of me and my ways.

"What's inside that head of yours?" she asked.

I glanced down at my watch. "Getting late, I should go."

I turned towards the door and she ran around me blocking the door.

"No! No! You are not leaving!" she said angrily her arms crossed.

"Louisa… I have surgery in the morning… and you have school."

She bit her lip, looked away then back at me. "But you know, Martin, I'd really like you to…"

"To what?"

She blushed. "Stay. Spend the night; with me."

I guessed my eyes went wide at that. Stay Over? Oh… Stay over and what? The tension in the air was palpable. "You mean that?" I managed to grunt.

She nodded slowly still biting at her lip. "Yes, I do."

I gulped. "I… uhm…" my heart was almost jumping out of my chest, my hands were shaking, and my body throbbed. "Yes, I'd like that."

She smiled. "Good." Louisa stretched out a shaking hand and laced her fingers with mine. "Come with me," she said and towed me upstairs.

At the door of her red and white bedroom, I stopped. "Uhm, problem. I don't have any pyjamas, not even a toothbrush."

To her credit she didn't laugh. "I've a new toothbrush you can have… and as for the other… well, we'll just have to sort it." A slim hand came to my jacket and started to unbutton the buttons. "Now, Martin, just…" she reddened.

I've had very few lovers, well, two, and actually Louisa was only the second.

"Go with the flow," I murmured and started to follow her lead.

She looked up at me, her eyes shining. "Okay."

THE END

If you wish to read the sequel, you can read my first Doc Martin story "Doc Martin At Night" which was written in early 2011.

Thanks for reading!

Rob