by H. P. Munro
Slipping into the seat opposite, Maddie sipped her coffee carefully. “I don’t see what difference it would make; I mean I’m an Emergency Room doctor. I haven’t practiced family medicine, plus I’m not going to be here for long, and then you’ll be in the same position once I’m gone,” Maddie shrugged, while she was sympathetic to the situation she was also hesitant about giving up her hard-earned vacation time for a situation that would not improve despite her sacrifice.
Timothy placed his barely touched coffee down onto the table, “I thought that would be your answer, but I promised I’d ask.” He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and slid it across the table towards Maddie, “My contact details, in case you change your mind.”
Maddie left the piece of paper untouched, worried that handling it would provide the man with false hope that she would reconsider, “I wish I could help, but I can’t see how I could make a difference.”
Nodding, the older man picked up his coffee cup and started to question Maddie on her work and advancements that had been made in treatments, taking enjoyment from the opportunity to flex no longer used knowledge.
***
“Maddie!” Ruth shouted poking her head around the front door of her mother’s home. “You in?”
“Through here,” Maddie yelled in response from the living room where she’d finally settled down to read a medical journal, following her unexpected by ultimately entertaining visit from the town’s former doctor.
“Oh hey,” Ruth smiled in greeting. “I was wondering if you’d like to come to join us for supper tonight?”
Dropping her journal onto her lap Maddie sat up straight on the sofa, “That would be lovely. Can I bring something, dessert maybe?”
Ruth shook her head, “Just yourself, ’bout seven? We’re six houses down on the right. The one with the blue fence.”
Maddie nodded her agreement, “I’ll see you then.” She rose to see Ruth out as the heavily pregnant woman walked back towards the door.
Maddie stood on the porch watching Ruth waddle down the path, stopping as she reached the bottom to greet a passing Alex and Jessica. Maddie waved a greeting and hesitated going back into the house, choosing instead to watch as Alex tossed her head back laughing at something Ruth said to Jessica, dimples appearing deep in her cheeks.
“Birds from the trees,” Maddie murmured thoughtfully. “With those dimples, I don’t doubt it,” she smiled and turned back into the house.
Alex half-listened to Ruth, as she kept the dark-haired woman on the porch in her peripheral vision. She refocused her attention on the conversation as she became aware that the brown eyes that she had been thinking about earlier in the day were no longer trained on her, as their owner disappeared back inside.
***
“Don’t you have a load of old T-Bird parts in the garage from when you were fixing your one up a while back?” Ruth asked Peter, as she passed the potatoes towards Maddie.
“I do, just not the parts that Maddie needs,” Peter said awkwardly, looking intently at his plate in order to avoid his wife’s gaze.
Lou picked up the vegetables and started to spoon some onto her plate. “So you met Sully today?” she asked Maddie casually.
“Jessica’s dad? Yeah,” Maddie smiled warmly as her mind flitted to the small child.
Seeing the smile Lou took it as reference to Sully. “He’s got a terrible reputation you know,” she spluttered, hoping she could put Maddie off.
“Lou!” Ruth glared at her sister.
Maddie snickered at the comment, “It’s okay she didn’t say anything that I haven’t heard already and from speaking to him it’s no doubt deserved.”
“Even though,” Ruth glowered at her sister. “Sully is our friend.”
Peter laughed at the newcomer’s assessment of his oldest friend and the chastisement of his sister-in-law, ignoring the look of annoyance that Lou shot him.
Passing the potatoes on, Maddie picked up her cutlery and started to cut up the chicken breast on her plate, “I know I don’t know either of them at all, but I just can’t see them together.”
“Oh they’re not,” Lou interjected leaning forward, her fork poised in midair as she was about to go into Sully and Alex’s history, before spotting another warning glance from her sister and sitting back to eat silently.
Ruth gave her a small nod, she was well aware that Maddie would no doubt be given all of the gory details about their friends while she was in Grace Falls, but was determined that it wouldn’t be over her dinner table. She turned her attention to Maddie. “They actually have a lot in common,” she said, her tone neutral as she kicked her husband under the table as he added a muttered, ‘some fairly specific things,’ under his breath.
The conversation moved on, from Sully and Alex, to the rest of the town as they regaled Maddie with stories about the colorful personalities, past and present, in Grace Falls.
“Thank you for a lovely meal and a wonderful evening,” Maddie said as she hugged Ruth.
Ruth gave the tall doctor a tight squeeze in return, “It was our pleasure. You sure Peter can’t drive you home?” she asked half-turning into the house ready to shout her husband.
Maddie smiled gratefully, “It’s a lovely night and only six houses. I’m going to walk and enjoy it, thanks again.”
She stepped down from the house and started to walk back towards the Anderson house. Her mind started to replay snippets of the evening’s conversation as she walked. She had enjoyed listening to the various stories that the three Grace Fall inhabitants had told her. She had found herself paying particularly close attention to the stories that involved Alex; from what she could piece together Peter, Sully, Ruth and Alex had all known each other since childhood and had been in the same year at high school.
Despite what Ruth had said about Alex and Sully having a lot in common, Maddie still couldn’t picture the two as a couple. She shook her head trying to dislodge the vision of the blonde woman from her mind. “Seriously Maddie you do not need to get infatuated with another blonde and blue-eyed woman,” she rebuked herself shuddering slightly as she thought about the Joanna debacle, one of her reasons for looking for a fresh start away from Atlanta.
***
Dressed in her pjs, Maddie hugged a mug of hot milk and examined the contents of the bookcase looking for something that she recalled seeing earlier that day. She grinned as her eyes located the red bound book, its gold lettering announcing the class year. She pulled the high school yearbook out of its place and took it across to the sofa. Curling her legs underneath her she sat on the comfortable cushion.
Unsurprisingly Sully was the star quarterback of the football team. She was surprised, however, at Peter who was a lot heavier in his teenage years and had been in the orchestra. “He’s grown into his looks,” she mumbled turning the page of the book while sipping her hot drink. She laughed as she spotted Ruth and Alex in a group shot of the cheerleading squad. “Really! They were cheerleaders?! They’re full of surprises,” she remarked.
As she turned the pages to the rogues’ gallery mugshots that are inevitable in year books, she flicked past the pages until she reached where Alex’s photo would be and frowned at the photograph beside Alex’s; familiar blue eyes and dimples looked out at her, however this set belonged to a more masculine face. Underneath the photo was the name Alan Milne along with a hand written message to Ruth.
Ruthie,
When you get tired of band boy you know where I am…only kidding Peter, there’s as much chance of this as there is of my sis and Sully getting it on.
Bear
Maddie couldn’t remember any mention in the conversation of Alex having a brother, by either his real or apparent nickname. She laughed at an addition to the note, in the same meandering handwriting as the message next to Alex’s photo.
The world would freeze over Pooh before that would happen…not if it were only me and him left in the world…although I do love you Matt.
Alex
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The third entry on the note made Maddie laugh louder, it would appear that Sully was the last to sign the book; his photo situated only a couple down from the Milne siblings.
I’m hurt…you knew I was going to read this right! You could have at least kept up the pretense of friendship until after graduation. Ruthie, if you grow tired of Grease Monkey then choose me over Bear (we all know he’s going to marry Teddy anyway…jeez with their names they’re made for each other)
And Alex…you know that I’m the ONLY man for you x
Sully
Maddie closed the book wondering what had happened to Alan Milne and what had changed Alex’s mind about Sully from being the last man on Earth to having a child with him. She placed the book on the coffee table and went to the kitchen to wash her mug. As she stood at the sink, she looked out of the kitchen window towards Alex’s home. A single light was on upstairs in the house, Maddie watched as it disappeared plunging her neighbor’s house into darkness.
***
Loud banging roused Maddie from her sleep, it took a moment before her brain processed that the banging was at her front door. She checked the clock; its blinking LED told her that it was two a.m. Immediately she was wide-awake. She grabbed her hoodie zipping it as she ran downstairs to where the noise was coming from. She had barely opened the door when Alex barged past her, a wheezing Jessica clutched to her chest.
“I need your help,” Alex gasped.
Maddie closed the door, her demeanor immediately switching into professional mode, “Tell me what happened?”
“She has asthma, she woke up struggling to breathe, I’ve given her the inhalers but they’re not working, nothing is helping. Please,” Alex said rapidly, practically yelling to be heard over the sound of Jessica desperately trying to breathe. Her eyes begged Maddie as she tried to disguise her growing panic so as not to alarm the already terrified child. “This happened a year ago and she was okay when they put her on the nebulizer,” Alex swept a hand over her daughter’s clammy forehead, wiping the soft blonde curls to the side. The small child struggled to catch even the smallest breath, her eyes looking at her mother and Maddie in fear.
Maddie grabbed her medical bag from the living room where Sam had dumped it when she arrived; she pulled out her stethoscope and quickly listened to Jessica’s chest. “Okay let’s get her to that nebulizer right now,” she said calmly giving the young girl an encouraging smile.
“It’s not here,” Alex sobbed, her own breath starting to heave as the tears she had been holding at bay started to fall. “It’s in St Anton with the rest of the equipment from the clinic. It’s sixty miles away, please help her,” she said desperately.
Maddie covered her mouth with one hand as the other one pulled her hair back off her face. This was not good. She begged her mind to think, the St Anton clinic was too far away to get Jessica to in her current condition. This was why she had said no to Timothy, she wasn’t a family doctor, she was used to hospitals with equipment and supplies and support. She pressed her fingertips to her lips forcing her brain to stay on track and not to panic. Her hands shot out to either side of her head as she thought of a solution, “Follow me.”
She ran up the stairs two at a time and grabbed towels from the cupboard as she went. She entered the bathroom. “Take her top off,” she instructed Alex, as she turned the hot water faucet in the shower on full, careful to avoid contact with the almost instantaneous scalding water. “Sit down,” she pointed to the toilet, then closed the door to the bathroom using the towels to block the gap beneath the door. “Jessica, can you play ‘Simon says’ with me?” she asked still trying to keep her tone calm. “I need you to put your hands on your head like this,” she clasped her hands on the top of her head as the steam from the shower started to fill the room. “Maybe Mommy can help,” she smiled at Alex, as the girl struggled to hold her hands in position, her chest heaving with the effort of trying to breathe. Alex took her daughter’s hands as instructed. “It creates less pressure on the lungs,” Maddie said encouragingly to Alex as she took her stethoscope out to listen to Jessica’s chest again. “Now we give the steam a few minutes to work its magic,” she gave them both a smile while praying that it would work.
***
Maddie puffed air up towards her fringe lifting the hair for just a moment and giving her some respite from the damp warmth of the steam-filled bathroom. She was grateful that the house seemed to have an endless supply of hot water as it continued to splash against the closed shower cubicle. She wiped a hand across her damp forehead, the heat was starting to get to her; she unzipped her hoodie and slipped it from her shoulders.
It had taken twenty minutes but Jessica’s breathing had eased and she lay back in her mother’s arm, exhausted by the trauma her small body had endured.
Alex watched Maddie remove her hooded top to reveal a white tank top, beads of sweat glistened against her olive skin. She looked down at Jessica who had drifted off to sleep and placed a delicate kiss on her daughter’s damp blonde curls. Leaving her lips pressed against her daughter’s head, she squeezed her eyes tightly closed feeling the anxiety of seeing her child struggling to breathe finally start to leave her body. A noise from the doctor made Alex’s eyes spring back open; Maddie was gathering some of the towels she had brought into the bathroom and was placing them on the floor.
“Do you want to lay her down for a bit?” she said softly.
Alex responded with a tired nod then shifted carefully so as not to wake Jessica. She gently placed her onto the makeshift bed Maddie had created, then slumped onto the floor, letting her head thump back against the wall.
Maddie closed her eyes, taking a deep breath while thanking God that the child had recovered from her attack.
“Thank you.”
Maddie opened her eyes and gave Alex a kind smile.
“I…I,” Alex started to speak but the emotion and relief engulfed whatever she was attempting to say. Her face crumpled and her mouth moved wordlessly as tears started to spill down her face, her body wracking with silent sobs as she tried not to waken her sleeping daughter.
“Hey,” Maddie soothed, scooting over the bathroom floor and taking Alex into her arms. “It’s okay, she’s okay,” her lips brushed against Alex’s curls as she held the woman tight and feeling her slight frame collapse against her.
Letting all of the tension leave her body, Alex closed her eyes and allowed herself a moment in Maddie’s arms to be supported, to be held, to be allowed to be weak. Finally, when she felt exhausted from the release of her tension and emotion, she sniffed and opened her eyes. “She’s all I have,” she murmured against the skin of Maddie’s shoulder. “She’s all I have left. Thank you,” Alex pulled back from Maddie’s embrace to look into her eyes, “I can’t thank you enough.”
Maddie cleared her throat feeling light-headed from a mix of the heat in the small room and how good it felt despite the situation to have Alex in her arms and, right now, the intensity of Alex’s stare. Maddie felt as though those blue eyes, still misted with tears, were boring holes through her skull, reading every thought.
“I’m just glad I could help, we’ll give her another ten minutes in the steam just to be sure,” she said, trying to maintain her professionalism. Alex nodded and reached up to pull a strip of toilet paper from the roll to blow her nose. They both settled with their backs against the cool wall watching almost hypnotically the steady rise and fall of Jessica’s chest. “Soooo. You were a cheerleader?” Maddie said a small smirk on her face. The woman sitting next to her looked over in surprise.
“How’d you know that?” Alex laughed, pulling off the cardigan she had thrown on when she had heard Jessica crying for her from her bed. “Jeez, no such thing as privacy in this town.”
Turning to face the blonde woman, Maddie gulped at the sight that greeted her. Alex was now sitting wearing a thin purple camisole.
“Emm,” she closed her eyes to concentrate on the ability to speak. “I was at Ruth’s
earlier,” she replied quickly, turning her head away to stop her gawping at the woman. “Aaaand I found your year book in the living room.”
“Oh God,” Alex groaned laughing. “Yes I was a cheerleader, don’t hate me.”
Maddie tilted her head towards Alex. “You looked cute in your uniform,” she smiled, receiving a raised eyebrow in return from Alex.
“I think the word you were looking for was hot,” Alex laughed nudging Maddie’s shoulder with her own, relieved to be laughing after the stress of the night.
“Okay hot then,” Maddie chuckled. “Have you never thought about leaving here?” she asked, thinking about her own desire to get far away from everything that was familiar and wondering what kept people in places like Grace Falls.
Alex sighed, her eyes still trained on her sleeping daughter, “We travelled around so much with my dad’s job when I was a kid that I never really felt like I had roots, until we came here.” She rested her head back against the wall, looked towards the ceiling and gave a mirthless laugh. “Even when I thought I was desperate to move away and go to college I only got as far as Tuscaloosa. Then,” she sighed at the series of losses that she had endured, “while I was at college my grandma died and then after I graduated my grandpa had a stroke and needed to be cared for, so I looked after him until he died, then my brother was killed serving in Afghanistan.”
“Pooh?” Maddie added, not realizing she had said it aloud.
Giggling, Alex looked at Maddie, her face now mock serious. “Oh he definitely preferred Bear from a gorgeous woman. I was the only one to call him Pooh apart from our mama, she was the one to give him the nickname Pooh Bear and me Piglet when we were small. We’re twins and our names are Alan and Alexandra Milne. When someone pointed out that we were A and A Milne to mama, the Winnie the Pooh stuff started,” she gave a small sad laugh at the memory or her mother. “She died when we were ten, which is how we ended up in Grace Falls. She was from here and ’cause my dad was in the army and always moving around we moved here to live with our grandparents. So, yeah, calling him Pooh was definitely sister’s privilege,” she coughed, realizing that she had just told Maddie inadvertently that she was gorgeous and shifted awkwardly trying to hide her embarrassment. “I should point out that no one has called me Piglet since I was eight.”
