AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Mind if I have a look?”
“I do,” he huffs.
“Well, in that case I may have to call the misses.”
“Oh you and doc think you got it all figured out, don’t ya?” He grabs his shoe and pulls it off. Followed by his sock. “Like I said, they are fine.” He dares me to argue. “I learned my lesson the last time your grandfather threatened to call me wife. I ate the same bland stew for a week straight and had to show her my levels every hour on the hour. I am not a toddler.”
“I’m glad you’re taking this more seriously.”
“Bullies, you and doc,” he mumbles putting his sock back on. “If you weren’t the only doctor in town, I’d find me a new one.” Grumpy ole man, but harmless.
“Well, Mr. Miller I’d miss you if you left.”
“A smartass too,” he adds hopping down off the table once his shoe is back on his foot. “You and doc were cut from the same cloth.” I take his words as a compliment. “Are we done here?”
“Check in with Marcy at the front desk and make your next appointment.”
He doesn’t say goodbye as he exits the room and Georgia peeks around the corner. “Always so bright and shiny,” she whispers, with a roll of her eyes. “Next up you’ve got a cute little blond-haired blue-eyed girl that has fallen off the monkey bars and may need some stitches.”
My adrenaline speeds up and I move into the next room in a hurry. Not sure why I thought it would be the same blonde beauty I saw at River’s End, but thankful it’s not. This one is a few years older and though it’s not one of Zoey’s girls it is a child I know.
“Emerson,” I move around the examining table and sit on the stool in front of Eric’s daughter. “Let’s see what you’ve got going on under this,” I point to the bandage she is holding against her arm. “Can I take this off?”
She sniffles but nods her head as she turns away and looks at her mom.
“There wasn’t anything sharp on the bars, but I think maybe there was something in the grass that cut her arm when she landed.” Kerry, Eric’s wife squints when I remove the bandage. Almost like she feels her daughter’s pain.
The gash is pretty deep, “She is definitely gonna need a few stitches.”
Immediately the tears begin to fall from Emerson’s eyes as she starts to wiggle around nervously. “Hey,” I lean to the side getting in her line of sight. “Your Aunt Georgia is going to spray some stuff on the area around the cut, you’ll feel a little sting and then after that, you’ll be completely numb.” She shakes her head. “You know your dad told me that you’re pretty tough, he talks all the time about how when you play soccer, you are unstoppable.”
She sniffles again but looks at me as she rests her head on her mother’s shoulder.
“Do you think that you can find that strength so we can get you all patched up and then you can pick whatever you want out of the treasure box.”
She nods her head, but I can see she is still hesitant. Kerry offers me a smile as I step out of the room and find Georgia exiting the room next door. “Can you get the numbing spray for Emerson and set up a suture tray, she’s gonna need a few.”
“I’ll get everything all ready for you, and I’ll try to calm her down while you finish up in room three.” The way she is looking at me I can tell she wants to say more but doesn’t. “Take your time.”
She walks away and I look over at Marcy who offers me a half smile. “No more scheduled appointments today, this one was a walk-in.”
“Is there something I should know before I go in the room?”
“It’s all in the chart.” Marcy turns back to her computer and I stand there for a minute wondering what I’m missing.
After a few seconds I walk toward the door and turn the knob. Stepping inside the room I find Zoey sitting on the examining table with her head down. As I step inside and close the door behind me, she lifts her head.
“This is the last place I want to be.” It’s the first thing she says to me. “I’ve spent the last three days going back and forth with myself on this. But my schedule doesn’t really leave much time for me to drive an hour outside of town to see some other doctor. So here I am.”
“This doesn’t have to be weird,” I tell her, grabbing the chair and sliding it forward as I take a seat. I keep a safe distance as I try to work through whatever this is.
“But it is.” Her shoulders rise as she takes a deep breath. “I wasn’t joking when I said my life is a mess and here I am aboutto ask you to prescribe me something to tame my nerves which should prove to you just how crazy it is.”
“Hey.” I place my hand on her knee. It’s not something I wouldn’t do if she was any other patience. “Talk to me, Zoey. I know I bombarded you the other night at your shop and I’m sorry. I’m not sorry I said the things I said, but I know now the timing couldn’t have been more wrong. So for now, let’s table everything I said and focus on what you need. I’m your doctor right now, nothing more. Talk to me like you would if it was doc sitting here in this chair.”
“I sign the papers for my divorce on Monday.” Her eyes fill with tears, and she looks down at her hands as she twists them in her lap. “I’m not sad about it, I’m actually relieved it’s finally going to be over. But the fact that the only way he’d finalize is if I’d agree to him signing over full rights to the girls and he walks away as if the three of us never existed is eating away at me.”
Anger and irritation courses through me.
