Lights of the Heart

by Nat Burns

  Julio jumped into my lap, his tongue smoothing his fuzzy black lips.

  “Ugh! Cat-food breath,” I said as I settled him into my lap. Then, comforted by his warmth and by my heated romantic imaginings, I read.

  Chapter Three

  Maddie

  “I think I’ve got bugs,” Mary Elwis said, calmly regarding me.

  “Bugs? Hmm.” I pulled my wheeled stool close so I could study her. “What kind of bugs?”

  “Little boogers. Can’t hardly see ’em,” she whispered urgently.

  “Mm-hm. Do they bite?” I asked.

  “Oh, no,” she insisted. “They just crawl all around on my skin.”

  “Does it itch?” I took her arm and raised her sleeve. I didn’t see a thing, not even any evidence of inflammation.

  “Sometimes,” she replied as she studied the arm, along with me.

  I peered more closely. “You’ve got a lot of freckles—”

  I let out a yelp and jumped to my feet. One of the freckles had moved.

  “Doc? You okay?” Mary asked, recoiling back from me.

  I took a deep breath and fetched a loupe from my supply shelf. I lifted the sleeve carefully and hovered the powerful magnifier above her arm. There it was again—movement.

  Ah, hell, I thought.

  “Yep, Mary, looks like you’ve got bugs. Ticks. Those itty-bitty ones. Have you been in the woods lately?” I lifted my eyes to hers.

  Her eyes widened. “Why, no, I’m too old to be traipsin’ through them woods. I had to get my grandson, Ernest, to go out after Sheba the other day.”

  “Sheba?” I sat back and regarded her.

  “You remember. Sheba, my border collie.”

  A lightbulb lit above my head. “You have several dogs, if I remember correctly, don’t you?”

  She smiled proudly. “I do. Four rescues boarding with me right now. I’m thinking about keeping the little terrier I call Jezebel, though. There’s not much out there cuter than her.”

  I nodded. “Well, that’s all well and good, Mary, but we need to do something about the dogs bringing ticks—bugs—into your house. When they lay there next to you, the ticks crawl from them onto you.”

  She stared at me in amazement. “But I thought them things only went after dogs and cats and such.”

  I stood and peeled off my gloves. “You’re not their favorite food, but they’ll hang out on any warm body. The problem is when they attach and start…well…eating your blood, they can let disease into your skin because tiny bacteria live in their mouthparts.”

  “Well, I’ll be.” She sighed.

  I stepped to the exam room door and opened it. I peered around the jamb and saw that the hallway was deserted. “I’ll be right back,” I told Mary.

  Sandy was at the receiving desk, filing charts. Ella wasn’t there.

  “Hey, Sandy, we got bugs in exam two. Can you get some tick pamphlets and then come help me do the exam?” I asked. “Where’s Ella?”

  “Post office, but she’ll be back directly. Be right there,” she said, neatening the unfiled stack of charts.

  I turned and moved back to exam two. The patient was sitting exactly where I’d left her.

  “Okay, Mary. Here’s what we’re going to do. My medical assistant, Sandy, is coming in to help you get into a gown. The reason for that is I have to see if any of the ticks have attached to you. We’re also going to rub some cream on you. It’s called permethrin cream, and it will help kill the bugs that are on your skin. I’m also going to give you two prescriptions. One is for the cream, which I want you to rub all over your skin every night before bed. The other is for an antibiotic, just in case one has bitten you.”

  I pulled the stool over and moved close to her. “Here’s the bad part. You are gonna have to either give up the dogs or fence them in your yard.”

  She frowned at me, eyes wary. “Why? Having dogs ain’t never hurt nothin’.”

  Sandy entered the room and leaned to fetch a gown from the lower cabinet.

  “Normally, I’d agree, but there’s some pretty nasty things out there right now. You’ve heard of Lyme disease, right?”

  She nodded unenthusiastically, and I continued.

  “Well, there is a handful more bacteria-caused diseases that can make you pretty sick. Letting the dogs run the fields and woods is just bringing it all home to you. You need to fence in the dogs so they stay in the yard, where the grass is shorter, plus you need to give them a tick bath, with a special medicated shampoo, about once a week in summer.”

  “Bathe all them dogs?” Her mouth was open, aghast.

  I stood and grabbed her chart as I moved toward the door. “You’ll have to get someone to help you. Your grandson, maybe?”

  “He’ll help you,” Sandy said soothingly as she shooed me out the door. “And you’ll get those dogs tick collars too.”

  I stood at the nurse’s desk at the end of the hallway and entered all the pertinent information into Mary’s chart, including my detailed instructions, in case she called in with questions.

  “Hey, Doc Maddie.” Ella greeted me as she passed by with my next patient, eight-year-old Austin Miller, his arm in a bright blue cast.

  “Room one’s best for him,” I told her, trying not to look at her too directly. “I need a film, though. Can you operate the X-ray?”

  “I sure can. Come on, Austin. Let’s go take your picture.”

  They moved along the hallway, and I took a deep breath.

  Moments later, Sandy stepped into the hall with Mary’s clothing, held at arm’s length, and went into the small laundry area. She started the dryer and then beckoned to me. We spent the next fifteen minutes going over every inch of Mary’s body. I found two ticks attached, one at the base of her spine and another in the groin area. Both were removed by liquid nitrogen, and the crawling ones we lifted off with packing tape.

  “Now, Mary. Seriously, this is important,” I began as Sandy applied the cream. “You’ll need to wash and dry all the clothes you wear when around the dogs as well as all the dog bedding. I want you to run them through the dryer first while everything is dry, to kill all the live ticks. Then wash and dry them again. All on the hot cycle. Also, do they sleep with you?” At her nod, I continued. “Well, you need to strip your bed and do the same thing. The dryer first, then lots of hot water. There’s a spray I want you to get too. Get it in the plant section. I’ll write it down for you. It’s a harmless kind of soap that will kill them, so I want you to spray it around your bed and your house. And again, use the cream at night, take the pills once a day and do lots of washing of clothes and bathing the dogs. You got it?”

  She nodded reluctantly.

  “It’s important, Mary. You need to check yourself every day when you shower too. See if there are any on you. The first couple days, you may want to shower twice a day until they get under control.”

  “Twice a day?” she said. I could tell she was overwhelmed and knew this would be an issue revisited several times before it was resolved.

  “I know it seems like a lot, hon, but Doc Maddie is just trying to keep you healthy,” Sandy said as she moved to the sink and stripped off her gloves. “You don’t want to get a fever or arthritis, do you?”

  I patted Mary’s hand. “Get dressed, and we’ll have the prescriptions for you up at the front desk.”

  I carried her folder to the receiving desk and made a few more notations. I grabbed my script pad and jotted out Mary’s prescriptions. “This one is soap spray, OTC in the garden area. It’s for spraying plants, but she can use it on her house,” I told Ella as I handed them to her. “Maybe you could explain that to her?”

  “Why? What’s wrong?” Ella whispered, leaning close.

  She smelled like patchouli today. Man, I loved patchouli.

  “She has ticks from all the dogs she keeps,” I managed to reply.

  “Ah,” she said, nodding her understanding.

  I straightened my spine. “Austin ready for me?” />
  She smiled, and I swear the room brightened. “Yes, Doctor. The films are in the wall bin.”

  “Thank you,” I murmured as I hurried away.

  Chapter Four

  Ella

  “Damn! I can’t believe I forgot that,” Sandy muttered, staring at the calendar she held. She was sitting in her usual chair next to me at the receiving desk.

  I looked over. “What’s wrong?”

  A fretful baby cried out in the waiting room, and Sandy glanced up at the child before speaking. “Doc has a speaking engagement next week.”

  “So I guess we clear her calendar,” I muttered, pulling the oversized appointment book close. “Looks like you’ve already done it,” I said, indicating the two blank pages in the book.

  “Oh, I know,” she replied, waving one hand. “And Jason, over in Theodore, will take her on call. It’s just I always go with her, you know, to run interference, take notes in her sessions, that kind of thing.”

  I waited expectantly. Nothing else was forthcoming, so I sighed. “I think I can handle everything here. I’ve been here almost six months. Unless you want me to take that time off?”

  She shook her head. “Oh, no, sorry, kiddo, not explaining rightly. Can you go instead? Lisbet’s sweet sixteen is that weekend, and I really don’t want to miss it. I just need you to go for me.”

  I frowned. “When is it?” I leaned to look at the calendar.

  “Next week. Y’all would have to leave Sunday, and she would speak Monday morning. You’d be back here by late Tuesday. Think you can do it?”

  Warmth washed across me. Three days alone with Doc Maddie. Hell yeah, I could do it. “Of course,” I said. “And I just need to be her secretary-like, right?”

  She nodded. “Right. Just follow her around and do whatever she needs. It’s easy. You know how easy she is to get on with. I usually just make sure she has coffee and check that she has her notes before she presents. Most of the docs she’ll be talking to all know her so she doesn’t usually get too nervous, or anything.”

  She watched me expectantly, as if waiting for further commitment. I conceded. “It’ll be fine, Sandy. Don’t worry.” I thought a minute. “Hey, do you know where Tropical Towers is?”

  “Sure, I do. Why?” She raised one eyebrow.

  “Would you go by and feed my cat for me? The days that I’m gone?”

  “You have a cat? You’ve never mentioned having a cat.” She watched me doubtfully. Did she think I was fibbing about having one?

  “Yep, yes, I do. His name is Julio, and he gets fed every day after work. Would it be too far out of your way?”

  “Aw, heck no. I go right by there. I live out Fairlane way. Just past.” She smiled indulgently.

  I breathed a sigh of relief. I didn’t know many people as I was something of a newcomer to Maypearl, and I didn’t want to pay for expensive pet sitting from a stranger if I didn’t have to. “Oh, that would be great. I’ll put out an extra litter pan so you won’t have to worry about that, but if you could give him his wet food every afternoon Monday and Tuesday, that would sure put my mind at ease.”

  “What would?” Doctor Maddie said as she approached and handed me a folder.

  Tiffany Bledsoe waved from behind the doctor as they stepped to the receiving desk. Doctor Maddie’s nod to Sandy indicated that Tiffany only had a wicked cold, so Sandy just motioned her to the door. “I’ll send you a bill,” she told Tiffany. “You just go home and put that cold to bed. Fluids and rest, that’s all that works.”

  Tiffany smiled gratefully as she elbowed the door to the waiting room.

  I realized suddenly that Doctor Maddie was still waiting. “Oh, Sandy’s going to feed my cat,” I explained quickly.

  “Ahh, you have a cat?”

  I watched as Doctor Maddie’s face brightened considerably. Was she an animal lover, too?

  “Yes, he’s a Maine Coon. Are you familiar with that breed?” I watched her, entranced by this transformation.

  “I am. My friend, Carla, who lived on Sixty-Fourth and First, she had one. A big, gray striped one.” Funny how her brown eyes could sparkle so intently.

  “Well, mine is more black with a little gray striping. I named him Julio, you know, because I got him in July. He was the cutest kitten—”

  “She’s going with you to Dothan next week,” Sandy interrupted. “I hope you don’t mind, but Lisbet, my Cynthia’s girl, is havin’ her sweet sixteen Sunday, and I promised her I’d be there. We’re having a big to-do at the church and everything.”

  I watched as Doctor Maddie’s face fell, and her eyes dimmed again into a business-like cast. I hoped it wasn’t because I would be the one accompanying her to the conference. What if she thought I was a stalker and didn’t want to be alone with me?

  “No, that’s fine, Sandy. I’m sure Ella will be good company.”

  She gave me a brief smile before disappearing down the hall.

  “See? I told you she’d be just fine about it,” Sandy said. She turned as the outside door opened and a patient walked in.

  I wondered who she was trying to convince, me or herself. I felt a laugh burble up inside me as I double-checked Tiffany’s folder to make sure everything had been entered correctly. I ran a fingertip across Doctor Maddie’s hastily scrawled notes. Her strokes were so forceful. I shivered just a little as I recognized the strength of her hands.

  Three days with Doctor Maddie. I pulled the folder close, hugging it briefly before I turned to the filing cabinet.

  Chapter Five

  Maddie

  The city of Maypearl had owned Dr Richard Pembroke’s house since his grandfather, Tyler Pembroke, had been the first official family physician to set up a practice in Maypearl. The house purchase, by the town, had been a gift to that first Pembroke to welcome him to Maypearl. I always felt as though there was a little bribery involved, as well. Maypearl, Alabama was a backward, rural township of less than one thousand people. On a good census year. Not a big selling point for an up-and-coming physician. I didn’t mean to imply that the people weren’t great, they were. Salt of the earth, as they said here in the South, and that might have been why that first Pembroke had decided to stay.

  The house had passed down through Tyler’s physician sons and grandsons for almost two centuries, but then Clayton Pembroke—Richard’s brother and only surviving relative, a building contractor in Dallas—had decided that he wanted no part of doctoring, or of Maypearl. He’d moved away, and that left only Richard to carry on.

  Luckily, I’d met Richard at a conference in Dallas when I was a family practice resident at UT Southwestern. The conference was about unusual cases found only in family practice careers—a recruiting venture, to be sure. I fell for it, hook, line and sinker, as I had already committed to a family practice specialty. I just hadn’t known where yet. Richard and I met at a group table of residents and doctors, and after copious wine, fettucine marinara and garlic bread, we’d decided I was to be his apprentice upon finishing my residency. He had never taken the time to marry or have children, preferring his studies and patients rather than a family of his own, so his practice would die with him unless he could hand it off to someone deserving.

  I had spent six years sharing the practice with Richard, living in a small apartment off Cottonwood, but when he’d died plugging in a blender with wet feet during a pool party, the city had kindly offered me use of the home as long as I stayed on as Maypearl’s doctor.

  It wasn’t a bad gig. I’d discovered that my college sweetheart, Amanda Sarious, had only wanted a busy MD so she could balance numerous affairs on the side, so leaving Texas had been a good thing at that time. The house they had provided was spacious, almost too much for one person living alone. A lot of nights, I fell asleep in the cozy den, on a daybed set into an alcove near the gas fireplace, even though I had a lovely bedroom upstairs.

  Now, as I drove my Honda SUV into the driveway, I admired anew the impeccably landscaped front yard. Thankfully, George N
iles, a retired gardener, had offered his services to the town for a small stipend. He even grew a vegetable garden out back, and I was eternally grateful for that. I was able to have fresh vegetables and berries all year round without having to lift a finger.

  I was also grateful for Lilly Marsh, who cooked and cleaned for me. She’d left lights on downstairs, and the house looked welcoming in the steamy twilight. I grabbed my bag and stepped into a cacophony of frog calls from the wooded stream just west of the main structure. I smiled. What a great way to end a busy workday.

  One of my favorites, lentil soup with lots of carrots and celery, rested on the back of the stove, and rolls still warmed in the oven. I shook my head as I fetched the salad and dressing from the fridge, along with a small pitcher of fresh tea. God, how I loved that woman! She’d even set a place at the table, so I seated myself quickly and dug in.

  As my stomach filled and warmed with the delicious food, my thoughts strayed, as usual, to Ella. I had avoided thinking about the upcoming trip, but now, alone and safely ensconced in my home, I could let my fear run rampant.

  I could easily predict how gut-wrenching being alone with Ella in a car for two days would be. How distracted would I be as I tried to present sixty minutes about lessening the fear of vaccines for babies, youths and the elderly?

  I wondered if she would mind being with me. I wasn’t the most engaging conversationalist, a fact pointed out many times by my ex.

  I stood and carried my empty bowl and glass to the sink. I leaned against the counter and stared at the plain white café curtain that covered the window behind the sink. White. I turned and looked around the kitchen. There was nothing personal there. At least, not personal to me. Lilly had added a lot of nice touches, but they meant nothing to me. Turning back to the sink, I frowned as I rapidly washed the dishes and put the remaining food away.