Page 20 of Welcome Home to Ivy Falls

She patted his hand, but the tense set of her mouth said this wasn’t the first time he’d pulled a stunt like this.

It took ten more seconds before I pulled out the remaining red chunks from his ear. I checked the canal once more with the otoscope. ‘Looks clear. You may be sore for a little bit, but no lasting damage.’

Mrs Swanson stood and reached for my hands. ‘Thank you, Dr…’

‘Foster.’

Piper did a double take as Mrs Swanson kept speaking. ‘Talk around town says you went to Vandy?’

‘Yes. Undergrad and medical school.’

‘It’s good to have a local boy here to help us.’

‘I’ll only be here three months until Dr Sheridan gets back.’

Piper’s attention moved to the small window in the corner of the room. Her cheeks were too pale for my liking and she rubbed at something on her wrist.

Once I was done chatting with Mrs Swanson, she and Dex left the room and Piper started to follow.

‘Hey, can you hold on a second?’ I asked.

Her lips thinned into an unhappy line. ‘Why?’

‘Because I want to talk.’

‘About what?’ There was a sudden chill to her voice as she kept rubbing at her wrist. No, not rubbing, but tracing the edges of a colorful hummingbird tattoo.

‘Don’t be upset by this incident. I’ve seen preteen boys do a lot worse.’

‘I’m not upset,’ she said, shoving away a loose dark hair near her mouth.

‘Are you sure?’

‘Please tell me you are not questioning whether or not I know my own feelings.’ I didn’t like how she went quiet again. ‘Can we please not do this?’

‘Do what?’

‘Pretend like you don’t know who I am.’

I held her panicked gaze. ‘What do you mean?’

The rest of what color was left in her cheeks drained away. ‘You worked at Memorial Springs Hospital, right? I was there right before I went to rehab. My brother said he spoke to a Dr Foster. I was unconscious and you told him to talk to me. That I’d be all right,’ she said on a wobbly breath.

Like a blurry image coming into focus, I saw the whole picture. The stillness of her body in the bed. The hunch to her brother’s shoulders as he held her too pale hand.

‘Let’s make a deal.’ Her voice turned to iron. ‘I’ll avoid you while you’re here and you avoid me.’

‘Why?’

‘Because I’ve worked hard to straighten out my life, even if some people still don’t trust me.’ Her gaze moved to the door. The way Dex’s mom had spoken to her now made sense. ‘What I don’t need is you skulking around as a constant reminder of that past.’ My mouth must have drooped, because she followed up with, ‘The broken person you saw in that moment doesn’t exist anymore, and that look of pity currently settled into the curves of your face is something I don’t want to see every time we pass in the street, and we will, because Ivy Falls is damn small.’

‘Pity?’ I circled a hand around my face. ‘This is not pity.’

‘What is it then?’ she said with an annoyed huff.

Desire.

Lust.

Want.

Yeah, none of those words were coming out of my mouth while she glared at me like I was an insect she wanted to stomp.

‘Look.’ I pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose, taking my time so I didn’t screw this up. ‘I’m not going to deny that I remember you now from the hospital, but I was only on shift for that one day. I never examined you or had any other interaction with your case. Seeing me is a shock, I get that. But, I swear, I’d never do anything to make you uncomfortable. And from watching you in the bookstore, and just now with Dex, it’s clear you’re doing well.’

She pulled in a thready breath. ‘You don’t know a thing about me.’

I couldn’t explain it but a raw ache built in my chest. It was like every element in my body was screaming that I should touch her. Offer some kind of reassurance that she was safe with me. She was right though, I didn’t know her. But I wanted to. There was still that insistent pull inside me wanting to ask a dozen questions. To know every single little detail about her life. How she got involved in theater. Where all those rings on her fingers came from. Why she frantically rubbed at that tattoo when she was nervous.

‘Like you said, you’re only here for a few months.’ Her firm voice pulled me back from my spiraling thoughts. ‘Let’s just agree to stay out of each other’s way.’

‘Wait—’ I started to protest.

‘Goodbye, Dr Foster.’

She was gone in a flash and I stood alone in the exam room, my thoughts a jumbled mess.

What she’d asked was fair, and I’d respect her wishes. But I was also painfully aware of how hard that task was going to be.