By the time Doc went back to work, I needed to start the Christmas decorating. I usually started right after Halloween, but with Doc sick, I was behind this year. The first thing I did was hang the outside lights on the house before it got too cold. Doc was not happy about me going up on a ladder to do it, but I did it when he was at work so he wouldn’t be standing around telling me to come down from there.

The second day, I put out the outside decorations and lights on small trees and bushes. Good, that was done before it snowed again. We‘d had some, but it had melted. I didn’t want to do anything more that day as it was mid afternoon already. What I wanted to do was go for a ride, but I had kept my promise to Doc to not ride off the property when he wasn’t home. I needed to talk to him and get him to change his mind on that.

I decided to make a roast beef dinner, so I took a roast out of the freezer and put it in the microwave on ‘defrost’. While I waited for that, I cut up some potatoes, carrots and onions to go in the roasting pan. When it was all in the oven, I took a cup of coffee to the tv room and played my guitar for a while.

Looking at the clock, I realized Doc would be home soon. I got up and headed for the kitchen to check on the roast, empty coffee cup in hand. As I entered the kitchen, I tripped over the floor divider, something I do frequently, though I don’t usually go down. This time I did. I was holding my mug by the body, not by the handle, and it broke as I hit the floor, cutting my hand. Oh, for pete’s sake, I thought. Just what I need.

I picked myself up off the floor and went over to the counter where I grabbed some paper towels and put pressure on the bleeding wound. After a moment or two, I took a look. Damn, it was deep and long. It was still bleeding and I didn’t want to use up my paper towels, so I went to the laundry room and got an old barn towel that was in the washed pile and wrapped it around my hand.

I finally got the bleeding stopped, washed the cut out and got the first aid kit. I had had a few first aid supplies, but Doc insisted on getting a big, well stocked kit. I was now glad of that. I got some gauze and wrapped it around my hand, then cleaned up the mess on the floor. I had had to get Jessie to sit and stay to keep her out of it. Once I did that, I checked on the roast and veggies - it was almost done. Then I cleaned out and disinfected the sink.

I decided to go back out to the tv room and just as I was sitting down on the sofa, Doc pulled into the laneway. I knew my cut needed stitches and I knew he kept a bag of advanced supplies in his trunk, including what he needed to stitch up a cut. He never used to, but he was a bit nervous of being this far from the city without them. “Hon, what if one of us, or even Karen, got hurt during a snowstorm when we were snowed in?” I had to admit he had a point, and right now I was glad of his over cautiousness. I did not feel like going in to the city to get stitches tonight.

I met Doc at the door with a hug and kiss. He noticed my hand right away. “What happened, hon?” I told him. “I want to see it. Let me get my coat off.” He took off his coat and hung it up in the closet.

We went down to the laundry room so I didn’t bleed in the kitchen sink again. Doc unwrapped it, took one look and said “I’m taking you to the hospital for stitches.”

“I don’t feel like going to the city tonight, I’m pretty tired. Besides, supper is in the oven and almost done.”

“Put it on warm and we’ll have it later.”

“No, Doc. Let’s have it now. Besides, don‘t you have what you need to stitch something in your car?”

“I do, but this needs to be checked to see if there’s any pieces of glass in it.”

“There aren’t, Doc. It was a mug, not a glass. And I put the pieces together, they fit so there’s nothing missing.”

“There could still be tiny pieces in the cut that you don’t notice on the mug. You’re going to the ER.” He began rewrapping my hand.

“After supper.”

“Now.”

I put my foot down. “No”, and walked down the hall to the kitchen once he had finished with my hand. Doc was right behind me. I opened the oven door and went to take the roaster out. He stepped in and said “You are not lifting that, let me do it.”

“I can do it, Doc. I’m quite capable.”

“Not with a hand that is cut that bad. I’m doing it. I let you have your way with not going to the hospital until later, now you let me lift this out for you.” I sighed and let him take the roaster out. “Go sit down and I will bring your supper to you.”

“I’ll get drinks. What do you want?”

“No, *I* will get them. I suppose you want your high fat milk?” I still hadn’t been able to get him to drink raw milk on any kind of a regular basis, but I caught him sneaking a glass every now and then.

After supper, I got up to clear the table. “Honey, I can’t wash tonight, can you do it please?”

“Of course I will. I’ll dry, too.”

“I can dry.”

“No, you go upstairs and get changed or whatever you want to do before we head to the city.”

“I need a shower.”

“Wrap your hand in a plastic bag.”

“I will.”

After my shower, I collapsed on the bed. I was so tired, I fell asleep right away. Next thing I knew, Doc was shaking me awake. “Come on, hon. Time to go.”

“Too tired.”

“You have to go, it can’t wait until tomorrow.”

“You do it, Doc. I’m too tired to go.” I turned over onto my side and tried to go back to sleep.

Doc sat down on the bed and gently shook me. “What’s wrong, hon? Are you feeling ok, aside from your hand?”

“Just tired, Doc.”

“You need to get up, sweetie. You can sleep in the car.”

I sat up. Doc asked what I wanted to wear and he got my clothes for me. Then he helped me put them on and we left for the city. The cold air outside helped snap me out of my lethargy. “This is really pissing me off”, I said. “I am behind in my Christmas decorating.”

“You are going to get further behind, hon. You will need to take it easy on your hand, that’s a really nasty cut - deep and long. Because it is across your palm, it’s going to be hard to do anything with that hand until it heals.”

“I’ll manage, Doc. It’s not my dominant hand. I might even put you to work helping me.” Doc hadn’t really had much of a Christmas since his parents died. He had volunteered to work over the holidays when he was a resident, and had often took call duties after that so that the other doctors he shared call with could spend time with their families.

“If it means you would take it easy with that hand, I’ll do it.”

The ER wasn’t busy, so we didn’t have to wait long. Doc knew the physician who was assigned to us, Ben Lawson. Is there anyone here he doesn’t know? I thought. Ben put Lidocaine in the wound, then took a good look at it. “No pieces of glass that I can see”, he said. I gave Doc an “I told you so” look. “I’d like a neurologist to look at you, though, to make sure there’s no damage to the tendons. Now Doc gave me a “See?” look.

“Is that necessary?” I asked. “I’d like to get home as soon as possible. I wanted Julian to stitch it up, but he said ‘no, there may be pieces of glass in the wound.’ He was wrong, now let’s get on with the stitching job.”

“Yes, it’s necessary”, Dr Lawson replied. “You have a very bad cut here and you do not want neurological damage.” I sighed.

“I can move it quite well. Just stitch it up, please.”

“Are you refusing to see a neurologist?”

“Yes.”

“I can’t stitch it without him clearing it.”

“Fine, I’m going home.” I got off the stretcher. Dr Lawson looked at Doc. “Can you talk some sense into her?”

“Probably not. You’d best just stitch it up for her.”

“My hands are tied, I can’t do it without a neurologist seeing her first.”

“Meredith, please, just let the specialist look at you”, Doc said to me. “Ben, could you give us a couple minutes alone?”

“Sure thing, Julian.”

“Please get back on the stretcher, Meredith”, Doc said to me after Dr Lawson had left the room. He helped me up since I could only use one hand.

“Doc, I just want to go home and go to bed. I’m tired.”

“I know, hon, but this is important. You will have lots of time to sleep tomorrow as you won‘t be doing anything with that hand. You don‘t want permanent damage, how will you ride?”

Well, that did it. I sure wasn’t going to risk not being able to ride anymore. “Ok, Doc.”

It took a while for the neurologist on call to get there. In the meantime, Dr Lawson sent me for an x-ray to make sure there were no broken bones. As it turned out, there weren’t.

When we got back to the ER, I asked Doc to go get me a coffee from a coffee shop, since the coffee in the vending machine should be considered a bio hazard. He refused. “You can’t have anything to eat or drink, hon.”

“Why not?”

“It’s just a precaution in case you need surgery.”

“I don’t need surgery for a cut. And I had supper.”

“If you’ve cut a tendon, you will need surgery. I shouldn‘t have let you eat, but I was so worried about glass in the cut and you could move your fingers fine, so I didn‘t think they‘d call for a neurology consult.”

“I haven’t cut a tendon. I can move my hand just fine taking into account the swelling.”

“I didn’t know you have a medical degree, Meredith.” I sighed. “You sure sigh a lot, hon. Perhaps I should give you a complete checkup when we get home, there might be something wrong.”

“I just might like that, Doc.”

Doc blushed just as Dr Lawson came back in. He saw that I was back up on the stretcher. “Are we staying?” he asked me. Why do doctors always use “we” when meaning “you”?

“Yes.”

“Good. I’ll call for the consult then.”

“Dr Lawson, Doc here says I can’t have a coffee, is that true?”

“Yes, it’s best to not drink anything in case they need to do surgery.” It was Doc’s turn to give me the “I told you so” look.

“I need to pee, am I allowed to do that?”

“Of course. Do you know where the washroom is?”

“Yes, I’ve been here before.”

“Let me wrap that hand before you go.”

Doc walked with me to the washroom. I took the opportunity to have a drink from the tap. When I came out, he said “I hope you didn’t sneak a drink.”

“Would I do that, Doc?”

“Yes, you would.”

A half hour later, Dr Justin Collins, the neurologist, arrived. He looked at my wound and made me do a bunch of hand movements, then declared there was no neurological damage and it could be stitched up.

“See, I told you!” I said to Doc.

“They needed to be sure, hon.”

A while later, we were on our way home, my hand stitched and bandaged, with orders to rest it until it healed. Rest it? With needing to do Christmas decorating? Ha!

The next day, Doc came home from work to find me in the middle of decorating the living room tree. I had already put up garland around the room and set out figurines and such. To protect my bandaging, I’d wrapped a clean horse leg wrap around it.

“What are you doing?” he asked when he came in the door.

“Decorating a tree.”

“I can see that.”

“Then why did you ask?”

“It was a rhetorical question. You aren’t supposed to be using that hand.”

“I’m fine. This needs to get done. Supper is in the oven, it should be almost ready.”

Doc came over to me and took my wrists in his hands. “You are done for the day. Don’t even think of arguing. I’d spank you, but you’d like it so it wouldn’t be punishment. Now, I will get supper out of the oven and you will sit down and behave. After supper, I will clean up and you will go watch tv or something but you will do nothing with that hand. Understand?”

I knew when not to push it with Doc so I nodded yes.

After he had done the clean up, he came into the tv room and sat on the sofa next to me. He put his arm around me and I leaned my head and injured hand against his chest. The show I was watching was not very interesting.

“How is your hand feeling, hon?”

“It’s sore.”

“Using it so much isn’t helping.”

“I know, that’s why I didn’t complain.”

“You can still complain, hon. I’d understand.”

“It wouldn’t be right, Doc. Self inflicted and all.”

“It’s not all self inflicted, it would still be hurting without all the activity. When did you last take a pain pill?”

“This morning.”

“Where are they? You need to take a couple now.”

“In my nightstand.”

“I’ll go get them.”

After I had taken a couple, Doc put his arm around me again and said “Now, for something I think you will like. Would you like to go to the hospital’s Christmas party? As a physician with hospital privileges, I can go with a date, though I’ve not attended in previous years. I’d like to go this year.”

“I’d love to go, Doc. When is it?”

“December 1. They like to do it early because many people have other parties to go to during the month.”

“While we are talking about Christmas, how about us hosting a party?”

“That sounds like fun. When should we do it?”

“How about Dec. 15?”

“Sounds good. It will give me another chance to cook for a group of people. Thanksgiving was one of the rare occasions I‘ve done it, aside from taking food in to the office for Ms Jamieson and whatever doctor is currently working for me.”

“Doc, you cook so well, you should do it for others more often.”

On Saturday after lunch, Doc disappeared upstairs. I assumed he was reading in the library. After a while, he texted me to come up and he met me at the top of the stairs. He escorted me to one of the spare bedrooms - being a large farmhouse, there are a few. When he opened the door, the first thing I saw was an examination table.