Midway through June, Harry received a letter through the post from the council. Not only were they going to present him with a portable AED (defibrillator) (which Harry had been shocked the community didn’t already have) but they were also going to give him a grant to get an official green ‘doctor’ light bar fitted to his Range Rover. Supposedly it was now compulsory so that other drivers knew when he was attending an emergency and could extend courtesy to him on the roads. Harry wondered if the council had ever stepped foot into the Oak St James community because they’d quickly realise that traffic wasn’t exactly a problem. But he wasn’t going to argue. Lights were cool. Plus, he knew just where to go to get them fitted and Niall nearly wet himself in excitement, agreeing.
~*~
As they flew through June, the rain stopped and the clouds departed leaving bright blue skies and glorious hot sunshine. The spring tulips and daffodils melted into the ground to be replaced by a rainbow of summer flowers and blossoms. Oak St James literally bloomed over night – the flower boxes and gardens overflowing with reds, pinks, purples, yellows and whites. It was glorious and idyllic and Harry’s heart felt miles high in the sky. The surgery mornings grew quiet as the good weather staved off the majority of niggly bugs and he was lucky to get one or two patients in the afternoons. Harry found himself with more free time than he knew what to do with.
Out on village outskirts, the farmers lined the roads with mud as they started to get stuck in with reaping the early vegetables. Harry found he had more minor injuries to deal with than usual – with some of the farm lads sustaining cuts from machine blades that needed stitching up. While the bugs and viruses crept back into their hidey holes, the accident season got into full swing.
Whether it was the glorious weather or Harry’s dogged determination to talk to Louis’ as though the doctor’s appointment hadn’t happened, Louis seemed to suddenly blossom in front of everyone’s eyes. He was getting more sleep, the tablets working nicely, which helped him look and feel fresher and more energetic. Harry overheard Liam and Zayn talking about the obvious change – both saying it was quite remarkable but fretting that the reason for it might not be strong enough to last and Louis might be setting himself up for a let down. Whatever that meant? Harry was just pleased to see Louis making a proper dent into his meals at night. He hadn’t been lying, he was watching very closely.
June gave way to a blistering July. One of the hottest on records. The roads shimmered with heat-haze, the grass cooked from green to straw brown and the tourists started to flock to the coast - busying up the roads. Out in the fields, the harvesters churned away as the farmers sweated under the summer sun. It brought about an increase in heat-related illnesses – Harry being called out to aid farm labourers suffering from heat-stroke and dehydration. He, himself, sweltered under the sun too; all the surgery windows were flung open and only the thinnest linen short-sleeve covered his chest. Those were the days he hated being inside the surgery.
In recompense for putting up with the mornings stuck inside, Harry spent many evenings sitting out in the Wheatsheaf beer garden sipping ice-cold lemonade and chatting with the lads. He was getting to know them very well indeed. Liam, it turned out, had been in the same class as Louis at school. Although they were always friendly, they didn’t get really close until secondary school. He and Louis, plus two other lads, Stan and Stephen, had been as thick as thieves. They had spent a lot of time playing football together and had even played for the community team – which Liam still did on occasion. The way Liam talked about it (or more around it), Louis had played too, right up until his last epileptic fit. Then everything in Louis’ life just seemed to fall apart.
