Doctor's Visit
-
Upload
barry-boxer -
Category
Documents
-
view
215 -
download
0
description
Transcript of Doctor's Visit
PICTURES THAT PAINT A THOUSAND WORDS ( OR SO…)
WELCOME.
Please spend time and
contemplate a picture,
cogitate on the story with it,
compose a comment and continue on your way,
cheered not chaffed.
DOCTOR'S VISIT
This series of short stories was inspired
by a visit I made to
the National Gallery of Scotland.
I was playing hookey from
an international medical conference
that had bored me to coma.
Instead, I discovered the joys of
meditating on pictures, and the reason
why they might have been created.
Wandering the virtual corridors of the internet accessible
Tate Gallery exhibits, Mike was drawn to a deathbed scene
said to have been painted in 1725. He had witnessed
numerous late twentieth century variants of the same,
mostly professionally, but a couple personally. The
principle features had not changed over a quarter of a
millennium, disinterested professionals watched with
varying amounts of hope and fear by the soon-to-be-
bereaved.
Dr Ridge soon noticed the identical features of the three
professionals in this particular demise. Long noses, wide
foreheads and matching blonde wigs, the three could only
be differentiated by their garb and demeanour.
At the foot of the bed, the priest, with the big book, pious,
bland expression and eyes fixed heavenwards, hoping for
the best for his parishioner. Then the doctor, smartly
dressed for a home visit, intently inspecting the specimen of
urine. Its red colour was from fresh blood, a clear sign of
serious pathology in the patient.
Finally, almost obscured in the corner, the lawyer, counting
the money from the old man’s satchel, no doubt calculating
his fee for administering the will.
Perversely, these three stereotypes drew attention to the
more detailed and individualised mourners-in-waiting,
marginalised but seemingly genuine in their concern. The
four adults and two children depicted clearly had a direct
relationship to the man on the bed, but what? A few
moments cogitating and Mike had forged a possible link
between all the elements portrayed. As a trained
psychiatrist, he enjoyed creating stories from pictures, using
the thousand of individual cases of human experience he
had witnessed over his quarter century carer.
Behind the vicar was an older man, with vivid red, monks
halo hair and beard. His complexion had been weather-
beaten, and his hands were encased in fingerless mittens,
that emphasised the blue fingers. Mike concluded that this
was the gardener cum handyman, with Reynaud’s disease,
due to poor blood circulation to the extremities.
Next to him was the dying man’s daughter, genuine distress
and fear on her face, standing beside her own nanny who
held the daughter’s youngest child.
Leaning over the moribund man was an equally old,
unfortunate featured woman with a parsnip shaped nose,
and a metal blade in her left hand. Why would the painter,
an Egbert Van Heemskerk III, have depicted a knife being
held at such an angle? The blade was too large for a
fledget, the cutting tool that the doctor would use if he
wanted to bleed the patient.
Bleeding, to restore the believed balance of the body
humours, was one of the very few treatment options in the
mid eighteenth century. But vigorously used, even when
the victim was obviously exsanguinating anyway.
As a murder weapon, the stiletto shape was ideal, but the
circumstances were strongly against such an event
happening. Too many professional witnesses for a start.
Mike Ridge concluded that the old woman had rushed up
from the kitchen where she was preparing food, and had
quite forgotten the utensil in her hand.
Which just left the child on its knees at the foot of the
couch, doing what, precisely? Praying for the soon-to-be-
departed, staring at the gardner’s grotesque fingers or
afeared of the blade?
Young Henrik is the eldest son of the only surviving child of
the dying man, Ulshan, a grand-child. Henrik’s father and
Ulshan’s wife both died of the bloody flux about 18 months
ago, just before Ellouise, Henrik’s sister was born. The
family retainers, cook, gardner and nanny have served the
family for many years, and covet a share of the family
estate.
Henrik’s mother, originally from humble working stock, is
also desperate to gain her rightful inheritance. Without
losing too much to the staff or professionals, for services
rendered.
Henrik is about to search under the bed covers for his
grandfather’s hidden wealth. His mother is going to have
the screaming abdabs to distract everyone else. Whilst
Ulshan quietly slips away to his final destination..
As Mike knew, ‘where there is a will, there will be plenty of
relatives and friends waiting to squabble over the remains’.
Always has been so, and probably always will be.
Original story by dave hambidge
published on this blog Spring 2007
revisited in issuu format 26/03/09
free to copy and use with acknowledgement of source