In a Doctor's Arms

by Lisa Mondello

  “I thought that’s what we were doing.”

  “You’re closing yourself off, and you started getting so stiff with me as soon as you realized why I’m here. Every time I’ve seen you over the past month, it’s always been so easy to talk to you. Except for today. You look like you’re ready to bolt. Why do you keep trying to walk away?”

  Teresa hesitated a moment and straightened herself. He knew from past experience that meant the conversation had gotten a little too heavy and she was drawing a firm line between them.

  “What you’re asking for is beyond what I can give you, Dennis.”

  “Tell me why.”

  “No.”

  Feeling defeated, he rested his chin lazily on his steepled fingers, his elbows propped securely on his thighs.

  The waitress was quick with the coffee, much to Dennis’s liking. He needed some caffeine in order to make his argument stick.

  The warm mug felt good in his hands, and he immediately brought it to his lips for a sip. He drank too quickly, burnt his lip on the liquid and grimaced because of the pain.

  “Okay?”

  “Fine,” he said, placing the cup on the end table without another sip.

  “I’m curious how you have the time to come here when you must have a clinic full of patients,” she said. “Aren’t you the only doctor at the clinic?”

  “Yes, but the clinic staff is well trained in dealing with injuries. We have a top-notch trauma unit to deal with all the skiing and snowboarding accidents. No one wants a disaster like this crash to happen, but it’s a relief to know that at least we’re prepared for it.”

  If this accident had happened before Dennis had come back from Iraq, before he’d started the clinic…but no, through God’s grace that disaster had been averted. The injured had received proper medical care in short order, and lives that might have otherwise been lost had been saved. In spite of the tragedy, there was still that to be thankful for.

  “The nearest hospital is over forty-five minutes away,” he continued. “Most people with serious injuries get airlifted to St. Johnsbury, like some of the injured from last night’s accident, but we’re well equipped to handle the rest. I trust my staff. I don’t have many full-time people, but the whole staff is on call 24/7, and a situation like this has everyone coming in. Now that the immediate crisis is over, they can keep an eye on things for an hour or so without me. My head nurse Cammie Reynolds has things under control right now. She’s a good trauma nurse and nurse practitioner—the best, in fact. I couldn’t have sorted out last night without her.”

  She quirked an eyebrow and seemed to be suppressing a smile. “Then if it is all under control, what’s left for me to clean up?”

  “Cammie is…” He sighed, choosing his words carefully. “This is a small town, Teresa. Most everyone knew the woman who was killed in last night’s accident, including those of us at the clinic. Cammie was her best friend since childhood. The EMT who brought her in had been engaged to her for a few months before they broke up and she married John Peterson.” He shrugged. “I even dated her once in high school. This community is like a large family.”

  Instinctively, Teresa placed her hand on her chest. “It must have been so difficult for all of you then.”

  “The frenzy of last night made our little emergency room feel much like it did during my residency in Boston and a bit like my time as a military doctor in Iraq after a raid. Except this time we knew everyone involved in the accident. That’s not something we’re used to experiencing here in Stockington Falls. But once the initial shock wore thin, we all managed to keep our composure and do what we needed to do.”

  Dennis took a quick sip of coffee. “To make matters even worse, Molly has left a young son.”

  “Molly?”

  “The woman who was killed.”

  “Oh, I didn’t know her name. I feel so sad for that poor boy,” she said. “How old is he?”

  “Drew is seven. He was in the car at the time of the accident, but somehow, thank God, he managed to escape the truck and make it to shore before the Bronco burst into flames.”

  “Yes, I heard the staff here talking about that earlier. God was definitely with that little boy.”

  Teresa’s eyes were drawn as if deep in thought, waging war against what she’d just heard. What the child had seen last night must have been horrific, and the look on Drew’s face at the clinic still haunted Dennis hours later.

  “How is Drew today?” Teresa asked.

  “He’ll be fine physically, with time. He’s a strong kid. He’s got a nasty gash on his head and a broken arm, but he’s alive. That’s the important thing. No hypothermia, which is a blessing in itself given the temperature of the water and how cold it was last night. And at least he’s not alone. His father still lives here in town. John Peterson owns a construction company.”

  “It’ll be hard for both of them.”

  “Yes, it will. So you see, Teresa, my reasons for asking aren’t for me but for the boys. But I should be up front with you about one thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “One of the boys I want you to talk to, Benny, is my nephew—my sister Karen’s son.”

  The urgency of why Dennis was pushing so hard began to take shape in understanding on Teresa’s face. This wasn’t just a professional call. It was personal.

  She nodded. “I understand.”

  “No, I don’t think you really do. You see, Benny was the teenager who was driving one of the cars involved in the accident. Luckily, his car didn’t follow Molly’s into the water or last night’s injuries could have been far worse than they were. We could have lost him and his friend as well. But the car did hit a tree, and now Benny’s having a difficult time coping with the fact that his best friend might die from his injuries. They were pretty severe. That’s the boy who was airlifted and is in a coma. It seems that he was thrown from the car. Benny won’t discuss it. All he says now is that it’s his fault. He’s not thinking rationally. I thought it might help if you talk to him and the family.”

  “I doubt I’d be able to do him any good. If someone wants to blame themselves for something bad that has happened, no one can stop them.”

  Dennis took in the serious shadow that crossed

  Teresa’s eyes. From what Spencer had told her, Teresa had firsthand experience with blaming herself for something that was out of her control.

  He blew out an exasperated breath at the absurd way people torture themselves and how much damage it caused, which jarred her.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’ve been burning the candle at both ends for the past twelve hours, and I truly feel as if I’m about to burn out completely.”

  “Then you need to go home and get some rest.”

  “Not until we finish this.”

  “Are you always this stubborn?”

  “Look, I’m not asking you to save the world, Teresa. I’m just asking for a little help. We don’t exactly have a full staff of counselors available right now. Just talk to Benny. Maybe some of the others, too. Pastor Balinski has been with Benny, but I don’t think Benny is listening.”

  “What makes you think he’ll listen to me?”

  “I don’t, but I’m out of options.”

  A gust of wind lifted Teresa’s hair as a fresh group of people piled into the lodge, distracting him momentarily. She really was beautiful with her hair loose like that.

  He shook his head and glanced out the floor-to—

  ceiling window that showed the spectacular view of the ski slopes and chairlifts leading up the mountain. It was raining lightly now. Pretty soon only the diehard skiers would stay out in the weather. Looking higher up the mountain, he saw that the clouds were dropping lower and soon it would be foggy. He needed to get back to the clinic.

  Dennis pinched the bridge of his nose. The coffee cup in his hand had been drained empty, and he longed for another cup. Teresa stood and took a step toward him. For the first time since he’d arrived at
the resort, she looked at him with genuine concern. No doubt his eyes looked heavy with the fatigue that was pulling at him now.

  “You haven’t even been to bed yet, have you?” she asked quietly.

  He offered up a weak smile as his answer. How on earth could he have slept?

  “Of course you haven’t. People you know and love have been involved in a horrible accident. I didn’t know any of them, and I had very little sleep last night myself. You look like you’re about to collapse.”

  The waitress came over and handed Dennis a bag with his lunch. He gave her a twenty-dollar bill, and she made change for him out of her tip pouch. Teresa was right. Just the act of holding out his arm to wait for change seemed like a chore.

  When the waitress was gone, Teresa said, “I don’t need to tell you that you can’t go on much longer without any sleep. You won’t be any good to anyone in the condition you’re in.”

  Again, it was another truth he couldn’t ignore. He wasn’t as young as he’d been during his residency, and the emotional toll of last night took a bigger chunk out of him than anything he’d experienced back then. “I can catch an hour or two at the clinic.”

  “You said you have a full house. Where will you sleep?”

  “I have a cot in my office.”

  She grinned wryly. “That can’t be too comfortable—not for a man your size.”

  “No,” he agreed. “But I live too far out of town to take the time to drive home for a short nap and then drive back. I’ll get to sleep longer if I nap at the office. In fact, I have to get back there now.” He checked his watch and started to stand before she gently pushed him back in his seat.

  “No, you don’t.” She quirked an eyebrow in challenge. “You’re not going anywhere. You’re exhausted.”

  “True enough.”

  “You need sleep. You and I both know you’re not going to get it back at the clinic if someone is constantly coming in and interrupting you for something—which is what everyone would do, right?”

  Dennis shrugged. He couldn’t deny it. But why was she being so solicitous? Five minutes ago, it had seemed like she couldn’t get away from him fast enough. Then it was almost as if the fight-or-flight instinct he’d triggered in her by bringing up her past had disappeared to be replaced by caring and concern.

  He glanced at Teresa’s determined look. Dennis had truly expected her to do an about-face and waltz up to her room as soon as he asked for help. Especially after the conversation he’d had with Spencer.

  He’d debated making that call. He knew Teresa’s profession, and though he hadn’t known her long, he felt he knew her well enough to be certain that turning to her for help was the right decision, even without checking her credentials. But something nagged at him about Teresa’s real reason for staying so long in Stockington Falls on “vacation.” She’d left Hartford a full month before Christmas—in the middle of the semester no less—and had no clear plans to return. His instincts had been confirmed by Spencer, although not with any detail. Spencer had said that she was the perfect person to help Benny but had warned that she would put up a fight. Yet here he was, a full twenty minutes after arriving, and Teresa was still sitting with him. She was even requesting that he stay. He only wished he didn’t have to decline. He was needed back at the clinic.

  Maybe that was one of the reasons he enjoyed being with Teresa. Like him, Teresa was driven. That much had been clear from their brief conversations. But she also had a way of making him remember with just a few words that there was more to his life than just the clinic, something that had given him tunnel vision for the months since he’d come back home to Stockington Falls.

  He glanced at Teresa, at her stiff posture, her hands propped on her hips with determination. She looked at him as if she wanted nothing more than to give a stern lecture. And she looked adorable.

  Her soft dark hair was hanging down this morning. Last night she’d worn it in an upswept style. He remembered the scent of her perfume drifting to him as they danced. Later, when the E.R. was full of life, remnants of her lingering perfume clinging to his shirt soothed him with the memory, reminding him that there was something more to life than just the aftermath of the horror on the bridge and the chaos right in front of him in the clinic.

  Now he had Teresa’s undivided attention. “I don’t have to try out that cot at your office to know you’d rest better on a mattress,” she said.

  He arched an eyebrow. “Is that a fact?”

  “Don’t argue with me, Dennis. You’re going to march right up to my condo and stay there for a few hours. You’ll get much better rest here than if you sleep at the clinic.”

  “Thank you for the offer, but I can’t do that, Teresa.”

  “I have errands to do, so it’ll be quiet and you won’t be disturbed. You said you have your beeper. If an emergency comes up and you’re needed at the clinic, they’ll call.”

  She was right, of course. The cot was hardly big enough for little Drew to sleep in comfortably, let alone a man his size. And everyone at the clinic knew how to get in touch with him if it was urgent. If he was there, he’d be interrupted with little things that could wait.

  Still, he couldn’t inconvenience her that way. He shook his head, but she pressed on.

  “Who’s going to take care of all those people who were hurt last night if you end up falling asleep at the wheel when you’re driving? I’ll be gone for an hour or two, and that will give you enough sleep to get through the rest of the day. It will take me at least that long to do everything I have to do, so you’ll have the place to yourself. The clinic is a short drive across Abbey Bridge. It’ll take you less than five minutes to get there if someone calls.”

  Finally, he nodded, his body shifting into low gear as if having the opportunity for sleep was all he needed to allow himself to finally shut down. He recalled the tail end of those two-day shifts when he was an intern. Somehow he’d always manage to find a second wind when needed only to collapse from exhaustion when he finally made it home.

  He offered up a smile and followed her to the elevator. They walked the length of the hallway in silence. When they got to her door, she unlocked the condo and let him inside. She stayed only long enough to grab her purse and ski jacket.

  “If I’m not back by the time you wake up, feel free to use the shower. There are fresh towels on the shelf.”

  Dennis walked past her through the narrow bedroom doorway, catching a hint of her scent. Soap. Shampoo. It smelled like fresh rain and baby powder. A much different scent than the perfume she’d been wearing last night, which was a heady fragrance of flowers and musk. He decided both seemed to fit her perfectly.

  “Rest well, Dennis,” she said quietly from the doorway before closing him in.

  Dennis sat on the sofa and pulled off his boots. He could feel the events of the past twelve hours weighing on him, making it hard for him to move. There had been a horrible accident here in Stockington Falls, right at the base of this mountain. And he’d lost a friend. The whole town had.

  Many lives now balanced dangerously on a tether, including his teenage nephew.

  He hated the look on his sister’s face when she’d run through the clinic door last night. The entire time he’d been stationed in Iraq, Dennis knew Karen had worried about him. It was clear from her letters. Also clear was the trouble she’d been having with Benny. Her normally affectionate young son had become more distant, locking himself in his room and only talking to her when it was absolutely necessary. It was a common progression for some kids when they moved from boyhood to manhood, and he’d told her so in his letters home. But he didn’t know the extent of Benny’s withdrawal until he’d returned home from Iraq.

  Dennis didn’t want last night’s accident to be the straw breaking the proverbial camel’s back. He wasn’t sure Benny was up to handling it, and it was clear to him his sister was at her wits’ end. There were days he feared Karen would have a nervous breakdown from all the stress.

&n
bsp; He needed Teresa’s help more than she knew.

  Dennis got up and lazily made his way into the bedroom. The bed was made. He’d sleep on top and pull the throw blanket over him. As he sat on the edge of the bed, he noticed the Bible sitting on the nightstand. He knew the resort supplied complimentary copies for its guests, but they usually stayed tucked away in the drawer.

  Warmth spread through him with the idea that Teresa had taken the time to pull the Bible out and place it by the bed. He fingered the pages but kept it in its place as if left there for safekeeping. He normally enjoyed reading a few pages of the Bible before turning in to bed at night. It always gave him comfort no matter what distressed him during the day. He’d kept his Bible close during his tour in Iraq.

  Teresa had done the same. It was heartening and made him want to reach for the Bible himself, but he left it alone.

  Instead, he stretched out and pulled the throw blanket over him, letting his mind shut down as the warmth and comfort of the bed soothed him.

  Teresa hadn’t agreed to help him, but she hadn’t kicked him out the door either. She’d invited him in. Even after she’d discovered the circumstances of his visit. That left him an open invitation to try again.

  Chapter Three

  It wasn’t eight hours, but the three hours of deep sleep Dennis had managed to gain were good ones. He felt rested enough that he’d be able to make it through the remainder of the day until he could go home again this evening.

  He took Teresa’s invitation and treated himself to a hot shower, which gave him a second wind. Wiping a clean spot in the fogged-up beveled mirror, he looked at his reflection. Without his shaving kit, he had to live with the coarse stubble of a beard on his face. He shook his head and brushed his hand over his wet hair to move the strands back into place after towel drying, and he was done.

  The aroma of good food drew him through the louvered bedroom door into the suite. Teresa must have returned without him being aware of it. Now the smell of coffee was invading his senses, reminding him that he hadn’t even eaten the turkey croissant before he’d fallen asleep. His stomach was growling.