Mack's Care (Grooms With Honor Book 4)

by Linda K. Hubalek

  "Out of the way so I can see the break."

  Instead of the leg, she saw the handle of her saw thrust in her face. "War surgeons could cut off a leg in forty seconds, Doctor Walline," Tolbert sneered. "Let's see what you can do."

  "What I will do is examine the child’s leg first," Pansy snapped and used her hand to shove the man back.

  She peered down at the injured section. There was indeed a puncture of the skin, but the bone wasn't poking out as she had imagined by the way people were talking. Should she try setting it in place here, or in her office? Burdette was only six or seven years old and Pansy doubted she weighed fifty pounds.

  "Burdette, lay as straight as you can and stay stiff. I'm going to pick you up and carry you into my office as if you're a piece of lumber."

  Burdette immediately stiffened, groaning at the same time, but Pansy could tell the girl wanted away from Tolbert as much as she did.

  "Okay, I'm going to pick you up under your shoulders. Grab onto my neck for support."

  "Here, let me—" Mack starting to say before Pansy cut him off.

  "No. Move everyone out of my way and get my office door open," Pansy ordered as she heard the girl whimper then felt her go limp against her chest as the child passed out. Pansy was relieved instead of alarmed as she walked into her office. It would be easier to pull the bone back into place if Burdette wasn't awake.

  "Let me help you lay her out on the table, Doc," Mack said as his big hands slid under hers to grab Burdette. Pansy let go so Mack could hold Burdette in front of him as he walked to the exam table. "Hold her middle and legs out straight while I lie her down."

  They worked together to lay the passed-out girl on the table as easily as they could.

  Mack looked over at Pansy. "What do you want me to do?"

  "Please hold on to her shoulders so she doesn't wake up and roll off the table."

  "Can do."

  Pansy turned around and saw several people crowding into the room to view the child.

  "Everyone out of this room except Burdett's mother," Pansy said, calmly but firmly, as she opened her arms wide as if she would use them to push everyone out the door.

  "What are you going to do?" Mary asked. The dressmaker was a widow, but her brother, Gabe Shepard, was there with her.

  "I'm going to examine the leg, then pull the leg bone back into place and put a splint on it."

  "You're not going to cut it off?" Mary cried.

  "No. She's young so I think the bone will heal, if it doesn't get infection in it," Pansy added as a word of precaution. "Do you want to watch me work, or go into the waiting room? Burdette's unconscious, so she won't know you're missing from the room."

  Mary turned to her brother, as Gabe put an arm around his sister and gave her a one-armed hug. "I'll stay in here to help, so why don't you go be with little Nolan. I'm sure he's worried sick about his big sister."

  “And she’ll want clean clothes too,” Pansy added, giving the mother something else to think about. “Seeing blood on her dress when she wakes up may frighten your daughter.”

  “Yes, I’ll go get a clean dress and undergarments for her.” Mary tenderly touched her daughter’s face before turning to Pansy.

  “Thank you for being here, Doctor Walline. If Frank Tolbert had…”

  “I plan to save the leg, but time will tell the outcome.”

  The woman nodded to Pansy, then left the room.

  “Comfort her while I get my supplies,” Pansy directed Gabe.

  “Can she hear me?” Gabe said as he stroked her hair and forehead.

  “It’s possible. And if Burdette wakes up, she’ll want to see a familiar face.”

  “Okay.” Gabe leaned close to his niece. “Hey, Sweetie, your Uncle Gabe is here. What were you doing on top of the outhouse, pray tell, huh?”

  “Had to get the ball. Stuck in the gutter,” Burdette whispered. She’d woken so Pansy moved back to the child’s side to talk to her.

  “Burdette, I’ve done the very same thing, so it can happen to the best of us girls.”

  Burdette’s eyes widened when seeing Pansy.

  “What are you going to do to me?” the girl cried.

  “I’m going to put a splint on your leg, so it can heal. You’ll be crawling back on rooftops before you know it.”

  “Doctor Walline, I prefer you didn’t encourage her to climb again,” Gabe said out of the side of his mouth.

  “Why not?” Pansy asked as she set an enamel pan with her supplies on the table. “Girls can do anything boys can do, right Burdette?” Pansy winked and smiled at the girl to ease her worry.

  “Momma’s going to make me sit and sew all summer now,” Burdette groaned.

  “Well, that’s probably best to let your leg heal. Maybe you can make me a new dress?” Pansy asked as she poured alcohol on a gauze pad. “Burdette, this may sting as I clean your leg. Your uncle Gabe and Big Mack will keep you still. Ready?”

  The girl nodded, and Pansy worked as quickly as she could to clean the puncture and the leg with the alcohol.

  Tears ran down the girl’s cheeks as she cried in pain. Pansy felt bad for Burdette, but it needed to be done to save her leg.

  Now the worst part for the girl. Pansy wrapped her hands above and below the break in the leg bone.

  She looked at Mack, then Gabe. “On the count of three. One, two, three.”

  Pansy pulled the leg until she felt the bones go back in place. Burdette shrieked and passed out again, but Pansy had expected that.

  “I’ll clean the wound again then wrap the splints around the leg. Please keep her still. We’re almost done.”

  She glanced at Mack, noticing his pale face and clamped mouth.

  “Shall I get the smelling salts out for you, Mack?” Pansy teased.

  Mack let out the breath he’d been holding. “Gosh, that had to hurt. I’m going to be more careful when I’m working because I don’t want to break my leg, and have you do that to me.”

  “Better than sawing it off like Tolbert was going to do to Burdette,” Gabe shook his head.

  “That man is a menace. I’m going to be sure no one is treated by him again,” Pansy declared as she wrapped cloth strips around the splints.

  “That’s why you were hired, Doc Pansy,” Mack winked at her.

  So much for using her professional title in public, but at that moment Pansy didn’t mind Mack’s encouraging words.

  “Thank you, Mack and Gabe, for helping me. I could have done it myself, but I appreciated your help, as I’m sure Burdette and Mary did too.”

  Pansy set her pan and supplies on the side table. “I’m done. You can ease off your grips on Burdette.”

  Both men let out sighs of relief.

  “Now what?” Gabe asked.

  “Why don’t you carry Burdette up to Mary’s apartment? Burdette would be more comfortable in her own bed for the rest of the day. I’ll clean up here and go up to Mary’s in a few minutes. I need to give her instructions on how to care for Burdette, and some pain medicine to get her through her first days of recovery.”

  Gabe carefully picked up his niece, hugging her close. “Put your arms around my neck, Sweetie.”

  Burdette was coming to and did as he asked. Mack opened the examination door for them to leave. Pansy could see the waiting room was full of concerned, and curious people so she followed Gabe out. She didn’t want anyone saying anything to upset Burdette.

  “I pulled Burdette’s leg bone back into place and it should heal within six weeks,” she announced. “Thank you for your concern. I’m sure Burdette will be up to your visits in a few days.” Pansy nodded and went back to the exam room. She shut the door and leaned against it, feeling the adrenaline rush leave her body. Thank goodness, she didn’t have to cut the girl’s leg off.

  “Well done, Doc.” Pansy opened her eyes when Mack spoke in front of her. She didn’t realize he hadn’t left with Gabe.

  Pansy took a deep breath, then collapsed into his open ar
ms. She refused to turn into a bawling baby, but she couldn’t stop the tears filling her eyes. Pansy wrapped her arms around Mack’s big chest and laid her head on his shoulder.

  “First time you’ve set a bone?” he asked.

  “Yes, and feeling the bones move is horrible.”

  Mack’s chest rumbled as he chuckled. Pansy squeezed his middle then let go of Mack and stood back.

  “But you did it and proved to yourself, and the whole town, that you could.”

  “With your help, though.”

  “I told you we’d make a good team. Is now a good time to ask to court you?” he asked.

  Mack’s question was so inviting, but it didn’t change her duties. Or her homeliness.

  “I’m sorry, Mack, but—”

  Mack pulled Pansy back into his embrace and kissed her before she could continue. Oh, my. Mack’s kiss turned her bones to jelly!

  He eased away from her lips, but then returned for a repeat performance. Pansy’s arms inched around his neck on their own accord. She could get used to this affection so easily, but then reality set in. Pansy was here to work; not marry and abandon the profession she went to school for. It would be a waste of the Elison’s money and her effort if she did so now.

  Pansy pulled away from Mack and straightened her spine.

  “Mack, I was hired to be the town’s physician. I don’t have time for a husband and family.”

  “Can’t you be both a doctor and a wife? There are several women in town who work in their family business besides raising a family.”

  Pansy shook her head. “Mack, you can only be a friend. Please respect my choice and don’t kiss me again.”

  Mack looked at the floor and finally nodded. “I better get back to work.”

  “Thank you again for your help. I’ll pick up a set of crutches for Burdette at Daisy’s pharmacy and then check in on my patient.”

  Mack didn’t look at her as he grabbed his hat from the hook on the wall and left the room. Pansy hugged herself, wishing Mack’s arms were still wrapped around her.

  Chapter 9

  No matter what Pansy thought, she was going to be his wife. Maybe not this month or this year, or until her contract was up as the town’s doctor, but Mack knew deep in his heart he was destined to be with the woman forever.

  But Mack understood Pansy’s situation. She was hired at the town’s doctor and was obligated to fulfill her contract. And the thought of her with child, riding hellbent on Oats late at night to a medical emergency…made him sweat. He’d want to wrap Pansy in a soft quilt every time she was in a family way until their babes were born.

  “Ah! Man, that hurt,” Mack rubbed his shoulder after he walked into the porch post of Daisy’s Pharmacy. Gee, he was dense and didn’t pay attention when his mind was on Pansy.

  “You all right, Mack?” Daisy Reagan, Mack’s sister-in-law, stepped out of her store.

  “Yeah, just brooding instead of watching where I was going.”

  “Come inside for a minute,” Daisy asked as she waved him into the store.

  Mack’s eyes zeroed in on Daisy and Angus’ toddler, currently asleep in his small crib behind the store’s side counter. Mack ached to have a child of his own with Pansy.

  “Don’t even think of waking Benji, Mack. I just got the little terror to sleep,” Daisy warned as Mack started toward the crib. Daisy was heavy with child again and had been testy the past few months.

  “Ah, but I want to hold him,” Mack whined, like the child did when Benji wanted something.

  “Not now. You can play with him all the time after I have my next baby in a few weeks.”

  Mack grinned despite his pain. He couldn’t wait for another niece or nephew to spoil.

  “I want to know what you’re thinking about since you’re walking into porch posts.”

  Mack sighed, knowing Daisy wouldn’t quit pestering him until he told her. They’d grown up together and he knew her tricks of persuasion.

  “It’s Doctor Pansy. I want to marry her, but I realize she has an obligation as a doctor to put her profession before marriage.” Mack fiddled with the bars of perfumed soap on display on the counter instead of looking at his sister-in-law.

  “So, you’re ready to ask her to marry you?”

  “I was ready the second I saw her. I knew immediately that she was the one for me.”

  “But she has a job that makes it hard for her to marry.”

  “Why are men doctors expected to have wives, who help them with their work, but women doctors can’t?”

  “It’s always been the woman’s role in life is to take care of her family and house.”

  “But you have a business,” Mack pointed out.

  “But it’s a store where I can mind the children the same time I mind the store. Plus, some days I have help so I can leave, but Doctor Walline doesn’t have a substitute for her job,” Daisy pointed a finger at Mack to make her point.

  “But…” How many times had he protested starting with this word? Mack wiped his face in frustration.

  Daisy leaned over the counter and whispered, “You know, there are ways you can be married and prevent pregnancies.”

  Mack covered his ears and scrunched his eyes tightly shut. No way was he talking to his sister-in-law about that.

  “Daisy, don’t say another word!” Mack was sure his face was beet red.

  Daisy tugged on his arm, so Mack would uncover his ears. He resisted, but then finally lowered his arms.

  “I have the necessary supplies for that, and your doctor can show you how to use them.”

  “Daisy, please don’t say anymore!”

  “You and your spouse should be able to talk about everything, so don’t think you’ll shy away from that topic.”

  “What topic?” Mack’s mother asked as she walked through the door. Without hesitation she walked directly over to the crib and picked up the sleeping child, slowly rocking him to keep him from waking.

  “We were just talking about Mack’s desire to ask Doctor Walline…about his shoulder.” Daisy’s sweet smirk made Mack grind his teeth.

  “Oh, what did you do to your shoulder now?” His mother was at his side instantly feeling both shoulders for lumps or injuries.

  “I just walked into a post, Ma. I probably didn’t even get a bruise.”

  “Oh, we’ll see about that. Which shoulder?”

  Mack swatted his mother’s hand away from his sore left shoulder.

  “I’m fine. Let it be.”

  Mack stalked to the door, but turned to give his sister-in-law a warning glare, and mouthed “not a word” to Daisy before opening the door and stomping out to the boardwalk. And darned if he didn’t run into the same porch post again since his mind was elsewhere.

  “What’s got you in a snit?” Jasper asked as Mack pounded on a nail harder and more times than he needed to.

  They were both straddling on the top board of the two-story walls as they nailed the ceiling joists into place.

  “Women,” Mack muttered around his mouth full of nails.

  “More than one? Who?” Jasper sat upright to ask.

  “Daisy, Ma…Doc Pansy…” Mack hit another nail extra hard when he said Pansy’s name.

  “Just be glad you have women folk to worry about,” Jasper said as he hit his nail harder than it needed to be himself.

  “Aw, sorry, Jasper. I never knew your wife so I don’t think about that. But you have your sister Iris to make you exasperated now and then.”

  “Yeah, that’s true, but it’s so good to be back together I don’t mind her fussing about me.”

  “What is she fussing about?” Mack asked, happy to change the subject.

  “She’s thinking it’s time I marry again.”

  “Do you think she’s right? What are your thoughts about it?”

  Jasper stopped to look across the street below and then over to the west horizon. “Yeah, I’m lonely and thinking about it. But who would marry me? I’m a mulatto from the So
uth.”

  “I can think of a few women in town who’d like a man who can build them a home and keep the larder stocked.”

  “I had a good marriage and would want it again, and not just someone who would marry me for what I could furnish them.”

  Jasper was looking to the West again. What, or whom, was Jasper thinking about?

  “Got somebody in mind from Ellsworth, since you’re looking that way?”

  “No, just thinking of what Holly Clancy told me back a while. She said there was a woman in the Montana Territory town she lived in, whose name was Julip. I can’t help wonder if it’s my childhood friend.”

  Nolan Clancy had met his wife Holly while he was snowed in that town a few years ago. When Holly heard Jasper talk about his past, she commented on the name, Julip, when he’d used it.

  Mack made a snap decision. “After we get the roof on this building, take the train to where Holly lived. You got the money. Check out the woman. Maybe she’s your next wife.”

  Jasper’s surprised look turned thoughtful. “I’ll think about that.”

  “Hey, Mack!” Mack leaned over the wall at the sound of Cullen’s voice.

  “What you want?” Mack yelled back.

  “Seen the doctor?”

  Mack scrambled on his hands and knees to get to the ladder, so he could descend to the ground and talk to Cullen without the whole town hearing their yelling conversation.

  “She not in her office or over at the pharmacy?” He knew sometimes Pansy and Daisy spent time talking about medicines and cures.

  “Nope, but I thought I should find her. Richard Kandt was just in for his mail and said his ranch neighbor’s kids are all sick. Thought I should pass that on to your Doc Moose if she wants to check on the family.”

  Mack’s fist was instantly in Cullen’s face. “Don’t call Pansy that or you’ll need her help straightening your nose.”

  “Why don’t you marry her, so I can call her ‘Pansy, my sister-in-law’?”

  Mack dropped his arm as his temper deflated. “There’s nothing I’d like better, but she doesn’t want to marry me.”

  “Keep trying,” Cullen slapped his back. “You’re a good man, and she’ll soon realize it.”