by H. P. Munro
Maddie accepted the plate of food and put it on the counter in front of her, waiting for Alex to pass cutlery. “I can’t imagine how you coped,” she said with a soft smile.
“So, you know a lot about me and my family, such as it is, Doctor Marinelli. While you remain a mystery, enigmatic and intriguing.”
Laughing as she poked a fork through her food Maddie raised her eyebrows and replied in a teasing tone, “Enigmatic and intriguing huh, I’m going to add that to the gorgeous of last night. I’m getting quite a collection of adjectives from you Ms Milne.” Alex choked on a piece of pepper as Maddie added, “Especially if I add…I believe it was, hot, onto the list.”
“Who told you that?” she exclaimed while gulping down some wine to clear her throat.
“Sully,” they both said at once.
“I will kill him,” Alex muttered.
Maddie started to eat. “Mmm this is delicious,” she said eagerly taking another mouthful. “I have a question for you. How come you call Sully, Matt, won’t let anyone shorten Jessica’s name and call me Madeline, yet you call Teddy, Teddy, and your brother Bear, when all the while you yourself have a shortened name?”
Alex chuckled, “What can I say I’m contrary, and you’re trying to avoid talking about yourself.”
“So what would you like to know?”
Alex played with the stem of her wine glass. “Where you from? Family? What you running from?”
Maddie’s head shot up at the last question, “What makes you think I’m running?”
“I’ve seen the look before,” she replied sadly, focusing on her food.
Maddie’s eyes narrowed. “Bear?” she asked quietly.
Alex looked up in surprise and let out a soft breath. “Yeahup, Bear,” she confirmed.
“Brooklyn, I’m from Brooklyn,” Maddie said taking a bite of her food wanting to give Alex a change of subject. “I have parents and a brother and sister all still in Brooklyn and a failed marriage behind me.” She cast a glance down at her ring finger, which despite the passage of time still bore a slight indent from the ring that had once resided there.
“Is that why you’re moving across the country? The failed marriage?” Alex asked, disguising her disappointment that in light of this new information, any hope she had of Maddie being attracted to women was diminishing, despite the flirtatious vibe she was getting from her.
“I guess. It ended quite brutally and I grew tired of the pity that I saw in my friends’ eyes and living in our home with so many reminders of Jo…” she quickly shortened Joanna’s name as she became suddenly anxious about acceptance in such a small town and was unsure what would happen were she to out herself; even to someone that she instinctively trusted. “We were together for a long time and I suppose I wanted a clean break and fresh start and yeah, maybe I’m running. A friend from med school contacted me about a job in San Francisco and it was a great opportunity for my career.”
Alex ate her meal quietly for a few moments, before looking at Maddie, her eyes narrowing. “You know I never knew whether Bear was running away from or running towards something. He joined up so young and once he was in the military he couldn’t see his life out of it anymore. One of his last letters said that he realized that it was important to know what you’re looking for before you set off after it,” she gave Maddie a sad smile then stood up to clear their now empty plates leaving Maddie to mull over her words.
Maddie took her empty wine glass across to the sink where Alex stood looking out of the window as she washed the plates clean. Maddie was unsure whether she was looking into the darkness of the night or her reflection mirrored in the kitchen window.
“He was right, it is important,” Maddie said resting her backside against the counter, “and you’re the only person that’s called me on it. I don’t know if I’m running away or towards, only that I needed to run,” she shrugged. “Only it appears that I, well my car at least, ran out of steam.”
“And I’m grateful for that, ’cause you and your steam saved my little girl,” Alex smiled and nodded emphatically as she placed the washed glasses onto the drainer. “You like what I did there?” she grinned.
“Yeah neat segue,” Maddie laughed reaching for the towel to dry the dishes draining beside the sink; she looked up in surprise as Alex snatched the towel from her grasp. “Hey!”
“You’re a guest, no helping,” Alex chastised.
“Alex, you cooked. You’ve been working in the coffee shop all day, let me at least dry the dishes,” Maddie said confidently attempting to take the towel out of Alex’s hand.
“Nope!” Alex put her hand behind her back and held a finger up to rebuke Maddie.
Maddie lunged for the towel trapping Alex between her body and the counter, “Seriously give me the towel.”
She tried to snatch the towel from Alex’s now raised arm, which was waving back and forth out of Maddie’s reach. Their laughter mingled until Maddie managed to grab the towel. Suddenly, both women became aware of the closeness of their faces and their bodies pressed against each other.
Maddie swallowed hard as she looked into Alex’s eyes, her lips opened, moving as if about to speak, her eyes switched to look at Alex’s mouth, which was open and inviting. She had almost made up her mind to give in and kiss those lips when the sound of a tinny version of American Pie disturbed the moment.
“What’s that?” Maddie breathed.
“I, I don’t know,” Alex said quietly. “I think it’s coming from your bag.”
“Shit, the bat phone,” Maddie gasped throwing the towel down onto the counter and turning away from Alex, who let out a long breath, her entire body dropping a couple of inches without the warmth of Maddie against her.
Maddie rummaged through the bag until she located the brick of a cell phone that Mack had foisted on her.
“Hello?” she said answering the call. She listened for a moment, “Okay I’ll be right there.” She shot Alex an apologetic look. “I’m sorry. I have to,” she indicated over her shoulder with her thumb.
“No, no it’s okay, go!” Alex replied having regained some modicum of composure during Maddie’s quick call. She hustled Maddie through the house and opened the front door, holding onto the thick wooden door for support as she watched Maddie’s exit.
“Thanks for dinner,” Maddie yelled as she sprinted from the house.
“You’re welcome,” Alex replied, watching as Maddie ran towards the clinic.
She arrived sweating and out of breath at the door of the clinic, greeted by a casually dressed Mack.
“You ran here?” Mack asked looking up and down the street for a car. “Where’s your car?”
“If I had a car I wouldn’t be in Grace Falls, I’d be well on my way to San Francisco by now,” Maddie replied trying to catch her breath. “What do we have?” she asked, walking into the clinic.
“Parents are bringing in a ten-month-old, severe fever and vomiting,” Mack responded holding out a white coat for Maddie to slip on.
She spent the next two hours in the company of two frantic first-time parents and a screaming child with an ear infection and a seemingly amazing ability to resist all the pain relief that Maddie could safely give him. The screeching finally subsided when his eardrum perforated and he lay in his mother’s arms whimpering. Happy that his temperature was subsiding Maddie wrote them a prescription for more painkillers and antibiotics and gave them instructions to come back into see her in a few days. She was showing them out when Timothy’s words about treating the people not the illness came back to her.
“Why don’t you leave him with me here for an hour or so while he’s quiet and sleeping and you two go take a walk round the block or something, just get some peace and quiet.”
The young couple looked at her with tired eyes.
She gave them a warm smile, “It can be tough when you’ve listened to your child in pain, give yourselves a break even for ten minutes.”
They gave her a grateful nod
and walked out to get a moment’s respite in the cooling evening.
“Whaat?” Maddie asked, turning round with the sleeping baby in her arms, seeing Mack standing watching her.
“Didn’t say a thing,” the nurse replied walking into the office.
Chapter Three
The next morning Maddie woke up feeling invigorated; the two parents had come back twenty minutes later after she had sent them off, both looking much brighter after taking a moment for themselves. The young mum kept hugging Maddie and thanking her profusely before they drove off.
She had managed to skillfully avoid thinking about the moment with Alex the previous evening, deciding that avoidance was the best policy to stop her groaning with embarrassment at her practically pinning the poor woman against her cupboards and almost kissing her. She showered, dressed, and stepped out into the warm morning, frowning at the vehicle parked on the street outside her front gate.
“What the?” she said aloud.
“Mack said we needed to give you a courtesy vehicle while we’re fixing your car.”
Maddie jumped and clutched her chest turning to look at Sam who was sitting on the porch swing.
“Something about it not being right having a doctor running through town in her high tops to treat people,” he shrugged.
“So you got me a golf cart?” Maddie asked, her eyes wide with incredulity.
“Best we could do at short notice, and Mack said we had to have it here first thing.” Sam stood up and handed Maddie a key, “An’ no one messes with Mack.” He jumped off the step and started walking down the pathway.
“Can I give you a ride?” Maddie called after him.
He turned and grinned at her, “Nope, bad enough I had to ride it here!”
Maddie glowered at him. “Fix my damn car!” she yelled.
The mechanic waved his hand above his head without turning round, earning a low growl from the frustrated doctor. “Two weeks,” he shouted back.
“And a half, tops, I know,” Maddie finished, muttering as she approached the golf cart.
***
She pulled up to the clinic and parked the golf cart outside, scowling as Mack came out of the door to greet her.
“What the hell is that?” the small nurse asked, handing Maddie a cup of coffee.
“My courtesy vehicle,” Maddie grumbled taking the coffee and walking past her into the clinic.
“I will kick Campbell’s ass up and down this town,” Mack muttered. “I told him a car!” she shouted after Maddie as she followed her into the building.
Maddie pulled on her white coat. “That’s apparently the closest thing they had. So what have we got on the pad for today?” she asked giving an over-exaggerated shudder to release the tension from her transport woes.
“We have Emmett Day coming in first thing.”
“Book guy?” Maddie asked, remembering Alex’s comments as they walked home.
“That’s him! How’d you know? Oh wait you had dinner with Alex last night,” Mack grinned. Ignoring Maddie’s muttered ‘Jesus have they tagged me or something?’, she scurried after the tall doctor as she entered the examination room, “An’ tonight you have the radio clinic.”
Maddie stopped abruptly causing the nurse to run into the back of her. “I have the what now?” she asked.
“Radio clinic, we have a lot of folks who struggle to get into town so we started a clinic on the airwaves,” Mack swept her hand through the air enthusiastically, proud of the service that she had started. “They call in and you offer advice over the CB.”
“No! Not happening,” Maddie said sitting down behind the desk and putting her coffee cup down. “Anyone could be listening in to what should be a private discussion with a doctor.”
Mack narrowed her eyes and leaned on the desk, “Everyone knows the deal. If it’s important or they don’t want anything to be public knowledge they come into town or get a home visit, this way when it’s little things they get medical advice. It’s a valuable service.”
Maddie looked up shrinking back slightly at the glare she was receiving from the small nurse. “I…I,” she spluttered. “I’ll think about it,” she said, reaching for her coffee which Mack slipped out of her reach.
“Hmmmm?” Mack said unimpressed.
“Really?” Maddie looked between Mack and her now distant coffee cup. “Fine, I’ll do it,” she groaned at a smiling Mack who pushed the cup back towards her.
***
“For the fifth time Mr Day, you don’t have endometriosis,” Maddie sighed. Her fingers flexed in frustration, she pushed them together and pressed them against her lips, to stop them reaching out to strangle the man sitting opposite her.
“And I’m saying you can’t be sure of that,” the man said crossing his arms and leaning back in the seat.
“I can,” Maddie almost yelled. What little patience she had with Emmett Day and his book of ailments had worn thin to the point of a sliver. She took a deep breath to compose herself. “I can be sure, because you. Are. Not. A. Woman,” she said slowly, emphasizing each word.
“You’re sure about that?” Emmett asked.
Maddie’s eyes widened and she held her hands up in defeat; she pushed her chair back from the desk. “Okay Mr Day, we both know you don’t have endometriosis. We both also know that you are slowly working your way through whatever medical book you have,” she pulled on a pair of rubber gloves snapping them into place. “So, we can do this one of two ways. One, I skip a couple of entries and introduce you to enema,” she smiled as she over-enunciated the final word.
The patient’s brows furrowed as she walked slowly towards him.
“Or two, I can do a full work up on you and see whether we can find something actually wrong with you, and I won’t rest until I find even the tiniest mole that looks suspicious. So which option Mr Day?” she asked ominously keeping a smile plastered onto her face.
“Option two please Doc,” he replied facing forward, giving her a sidelong look.
“Excellent, but seriously Mr Day, I will do this work up and I will do a full exam every day on you while I’m here if that’s what it takes, but you have got to lose the book,” Maddie said perching onto the desk and giving his arm a reassuring rub.
Emmet smiled shyly; finally raising his eyes to meet Maddie’s he nodded slowly.
“Okay…I’ll try,” he said quietly.
“Alrighty then, let’s get some blood work done,” Maddie said brightly, moving across the room to get supplies.
***
“Did I miss it?” Alex asked lifting Jessica onto the bar before shrugging her jacket off and sitting on the stool beside Teddy.
“Not yet,” Teddy replied blowing a loud raspberry on a giggling Jessica’s cheek, before resuming her position at the bar leaning forward so she could hear the radio better.
Alex waved across to Sully who was approaching with a wide smile on his face that was reserved for his daughter. “How’s my favorite girl?” he said scooping Jessica off the bar and into the air, holding her aloft above his head. “No more asthma attacks?”
“Daddy, put me down,” Jessica giggled.
“Awwww nope, I’m going to keep you up there and serve all my customers with you just hovering up there,” Sully laughed rolling his daughter back and forth.
Screwing her face up Alex looked at her friend and their daughter, “She’s just eaten Matt, she’ll barf on your head again.”
Sully looked over towards Alex then back up at his daughter, recalling the many times that his daughter’s stomach had not coped with rambunctious play. He nodded and brought Jessica down into a hug.
“Don’t want that, do we Sport,” he laughed, plunking her back down onto the spot on the bar where she had sat from the first time she was allowed out of hospital, when Sully had proudly sat her car seat on the bar for all and sundry to come see her while warning them not to breathe beer fumes over his pride and joy. He opened a bottle of beer and passed it to Alex.
&nb
sp; “How’s she doing?” Alex asked pointing her beer bottle towards the radio. “I can’t believe she agreed to do it.”
Ruth slid the nuts along the bar towards Alex. “Are you kidding? She was dealing with Mack. She never stood a chance.”
There were murmurs of agreement as they each considered when they had been faced with Mack.
“Anything good so far? God I can’t believe how much I’d missed this,” Alex smiled popping a handful of nuts into her mouth.
“So far, one swollen knee, Sammy Dale has a bad case of thrush, made worse by her putting athlete’s foot cream on it and Lucy Simpson has tonsillitis,” Sully replied piercing the straw into a carton of orange juice and handing it to Jessica. “She had to write notes for Steve to read out to the doc,” he smiled. “And the doc is doing good, she has a voice for radio, and a body for-”
“Matt!” Alex interrupted him with a warning glare, indicating her head towards Jessica.
He grinned as he placed his hands over his daughter’s ears. Jessica glanced up toward her father continuing to suck juice through her straw.
“Don’t pretend you haven’t thought about it,” he joked.
Teddy looked at Alex with raised eyebrows, waiting for her to answer. Before Alex could respond there was a roar from the bar.
“Everybody quiet, here it is,” Peter shouted standing up on the footrest of the stool waving his arms to shush everyone.
“Hi Mr White, thanks for calling in,” Maddie’s voice filled the bar.
Alex couldn’t help but smile at how right Sully was about her voice, and her body.
“What can I do for you?”
“Here it comes,” Teddy murmured under her breath, earning a glare from Peter to be quiet as he sat listening while staring intently at his watch.
“Well Doctor, I have some…protrusions.”
There was a series of snorts of laughter across the bar, followed by various shushing sounds.
“Okay,” Maddie’s tone sounded wary but concerned. “What kind of protrusions?”
