'Doc Juan'

Chapter 37

Dame Helen Mirren as Dr. Miller's mum.
A year's worth of drinking didn't help him forget about her either. And once his year's supply of scotch had run out and he'd realized that, he decided he needed help. Since, his practice wasn't doing so well either, there wasn't much keeping him in London anyway. So, he shut shop and took the next flight to Scotland.
"I ran outta scotch." he mumbled, as his mum answered the door and looked him up and down- the frail, stubbled man whom she called her son. "So, ya decided to come to the scotch capital...?" she enquired, raising an eyebrow at his explanation for dropping in after a long time. She received an emotional reply in the form of him collapsing into her arms and sobbing uncontrollably. "I miss er! I want er back. I can't live with..."  he wailed, burying his face into his mum's lace blouse while the silver-haired woman ran her fingers through his hair to console him like she did when he was a wee lad. "Hush....hush...c'mon, come on in. I'll make ya some o' those cookies ya love so much." she whispered, interrupting him before he could continue further, wrapping her arms around him in a motherly manner before leading him into the cottage.
"So, the one time my son decides on visitin me, it's to ask for help in forgetting his girlfriend." she muttered, feeling sorry for herself for raising an absentee son while pouring him a cup of  chamomile as he sat at the breakfast table and munched on the freshly baked cookies which were doing their job of lifting his spirits a bit. The usual accompaniment of scotch had been replaced by hot tea, since he'd drunk enough- drunk like a fish at that! "In winnin er back!" he corrected, looking up at her with his puffy eyes. "My mistake. From what I've heard, yer quite the master at beddin women an' forgettin bout em!" the strict lady stood by her comment, showing her disappointment with her womanizing son's actions as she suddenly spilled piping hot tea on his hand and made it seem like an accident. "OW! I'm mournin, woman! Doesn't make much sense o' burnin me, does it?!" he growled, quickly sucking on his hand as a means of providing cooling relief, taken aback by his mum's action. This technique suddenly brought back memories of the night of the power cut when he and Elle had realised their feelings for each other. He stopped sucking on his hand at this saddening thought, grimacing as he let the burning sensation linger on. "Sorry. That was just for every woman's heart ya broke!" the wiseacre woman remarked, snapping him back into reality as she returned with an ice pack for him.
"Don't worry. I'll think twice before I break any more hearts. I know how it feels now. How d'you even know about that?" he asked in surprise at her knowingness, while wincing as she pressed the ice pack against his red skin. "Elle wrote to me daily. We didn't just exchange those Valentines that ya asked er to write, ya know? We were pen pals an' I asked er to spare no details. She wrote all bout how you'd changed, how she was so in love with ya, etc, etc. An' the day ya broke up? That was the day the letters stopped. Broke my heart too when I heard bout it, ya know?" his mum replied, placing the used ice pack beside the plate of cookies before planting a loving kiss on her son's hand and brushing a strand of hair off his tired and solemn face. "But, ya know, if she doesn't wanna keep any further contact with either o' us...I dunno how I can help ya win er back, lad." she apologized for her inability to help him out. "Then what good are ya, eh?!" he snapped all of a sudden, letting go of her hand angrily before storming out of the kitchen, leaving behind the half-eaten cookies.