AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Antonio!”
Five. Six. Seven…
Suddenly, I hear a gasp. The little girl takes a gulp of air and then coughs. I turn her on her side so she can spit out the water, then place her down on her back. I brush some strands of hair off her face as I give her a smile.
“Hey, kiddo. Welcome back.”
Her eyebrows furrow. “Back from where?”
“Maggie!”
Mitch arrives at her side. His gaze goes over me as he checks her pulse. Then he turns his head to look at her.
“How are you, sweetheart?” he asks her.
“Cold.” She wraps her arms around herself.
“Then let’s get you dry and warm.”
Mitch picks her up in his arms and starts to walk off. I wrap my arms around myself as I, too, feel a chill from the breeze. I just stand there, though. I’m not exactly sure where I should go or what I should do now.
Mitch stops and glances over his shoulder. “You, too. Come on.”
~
I’ve already changed into dry clothes when I see Mitch again. He enters the guest room where I’ve been led and closes the door behind me.
“How are the kids?” I ask him.
“The worst of them dislocated his shoulder. He’s on his way to the hospital now. The others got away with just some scrapes and bruises.”
“And Maggie?”
“Dry and warm like you,” he answers. “She’ll be just fine.”
I nod. “That’s good.”
“It’s all thanks to you,” Mitch adds. “You saved her life, didn’t you?”
I touch the back of my head. “I didn’t mean to cause any trouble. I saw the ribbon caught in the bush and then I saw her in the river and I just… My body just moved on its own. I’m sorry.”
Mitch gives me a puzzled look. “Why are you apologizing?”
I put my hand down. “Because I should have called you instead.”
“I’m afraid I’m not a very good swimmer.”
“I should have called someone, someone from here, someone who knew her. I’m a stranger, after all. I shouldn’t be here.”
“Do you think doctors only save people they know?”
“No, but…”
But I saw the looks on some of the faces as I got back up from the river. Dismay. Resentment. Disgust, even. And I heard some murmurs as I was brought into the house. Something along the lines of ‘Who does he think he is?’ and ‘How dare he lay his hands on a poor girl?’
I may have saved a girl’s life. I may have done the right thing, but to them, I’m the wrong person and so I’m not a hero but a criminal.
“I didn’t mean to do anything wrong,” I say. “I wasn’t trying to be a hero, either. I just…”
“I know,” Mitch tells me. “You were just trying to save a life, and you did. And that’s what I’ve told everyone.”
This time, I’m the one puzzled. “You did?”
He nods. “They misunderstood you. Some of the people in this town are not very bright, I’m afraid. But after I explained what happened – that Maggie fell into the river and would have drowned if not for you – they understood. They’re not bad people, Antonio. Just… wary of people they don’t know, like everyone else.”
He draws a deep breath.
“Anyway, everything’s alright now. No one’s saying you did anything wrong. In fact, there are some people waiting to thank you and welcome you into the community.”
My eyebrows arch. “Welcome me?”
“Because I also told them that I’m planning on taking you under my wing and training you to follow in my footsteps as the town doctor,” Mitch explains.
What?
“I’m not getting any younger or stronger, after all, and this town will always need a doctor, which is something no one else here feels like they can be. Frankly, I agree. But you, you can be a doctor. I’ve known you were intelligent from the start. Composed, too. Compassionate. And just now, you proved that you have courage, too, that you’re willing to take risks, even risk your own life, to save someone else’s. Plus you seemed to know exactly what you were doing.”
I look at my hands. “I don’t know how I knew. I just…”
“That’s fine. That’s actually good. Doctors don’t just store facts in their heads. They store them in their bodies, too. After performing a surgery a hundred times, a surgeon’s hands practically move on their own.”
I meet Mitch’s gaze. I know he’s serious. He always is. But he’s especially serious now. He thinks I can be the next town doctor. He wants me to be. He intends to make me. But can I do it?
“I’m an outsider,” I remind Mitch. “Do you really think the people of Summerset will entrust their lives to me?”
“Didn’t I say I’d take you under my wing?” Mitch says. “That means you won’t be an outsider any longer.”
I shake my head. “It can’t be that easy.”
“No. It will take time, but we have that. Stay here and by the time you become a doctor, the town will forget you weren’t born here. You’ll be one of us.”
