Doctor Right. Janet Tronstad

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      “But I usually push the patients. That’s my job.”

      “We’re a team,” Alex said, wheeling the gurney back to the examining room.

      Well, Maryann thought, what was that supposed to mean? If she didn’t know better, she’d think The Ice Man was melting. But that was unlikely. Perhaps he was planning to fire her. Not that she could blame him if he did. She hadn’t intended for the whole town to be talking about Alex’s love life. When would she ever learn to keep her mouth shut?

      “It was a mistake,” Maryann muttered, as she followed Alex down the hall. “That conversation with my cousin.”

      Alex finished pushing the gurney into the room and Maryann turned on the lights.

      “We can talk about that later, Nurse Jenner,” he said.

      Maryann nodded as she stepped closer to the gurney and bent slightly to adjust a corner of the sheet. At least Alex wouldn’t fire her as long as there was a patient around to hear him do it.

      Timmy gave a weak snicker.

      “What?” She glanced over at the boy. His face was still pale, but his eyes were mischievous.

      “You still look like an angel,” he said, and chuckled a little louder.

      Maryann straightened up and glanced at the mirror by the sink. Her hair was just as windblown as it had been after she’d stepped outside to give Johnny Short that lime lollipop. Why did her hair always have to look so wild? It was puffed up in a circle around her head. No wonder Alex hadn’t shown any interest in the women up here. He probably liked women with their hair smoothly drawn back in elegant styles, like the models wore in those glossy magazines. Ever since last night, she’d wondered what kind of a woman he would marry. She hadn’t meant to accept her cousin’s challenge, but she’d been thinking about it ever since.

      She eyed Alex as he stood beside the gurney. Whoever he married would need to fit into the world of a prosperous doctor in Los Angeles. Those fancy women were probably right about the expensive cars he would drive. Cooperative hair would be important. He’d want a young trophy wife to ride in his red BMW convertible. Or maybe it would be a top of the line Lexus.

      “You might want an angel by your side for the next few minutes,” Alex muttered to the boy, as he removed the sheet that had covered his leg. “I’ll have to cut off part of your jeans before we can set your leg.” Timmy nodded.

      “It’ll do my best to be careful, but it’s bound to hurt some.” Alex smoothed down the sheet beside the boy.

      “Okay,” Timmy said, as he gripped the Bible.

      “I can take that for you,” Alex said, as he held out his hand for the book.

      Maryann noticed the boy was reluctant to give it up. “We can put it on the shelf by the doctor’s desk,” she said. “You’ll be able to see it.”

      Timmy shook his head.

      Alex looked over at her. “It’s okay. He can keep it.”

      It was time for them to get to work.

      Alex was focused on getting the plaster splint on Timmy’s leg quickly. At times like these, he liked working with an efficient nurse like Maryann. Even though he could sense she was nervous, she anticipated what instruments he’d need and she had them ready for him. More importantly, she kept up a steady stream of soft conversation with the patient, so he didn’t need to think of words to say to distract the patient. For some reason, she was talking about cars today.

      He’d given a local anesthetic to Timmy to dull most of the pain in his leg, and the boy was groggy, but Timmy still laughed at Maryann’s chatter.

      “There. We’re done,” Alex said, as he finished the splint.

      “I think our patient will need a minute to recover,” Maryann said.

      He looked up at Timmy’s face and saw he was almost asleep. The book had slipped from his hands and was lying on the gurney beside him.

      Alex picked up the Bible. “I’ll move this to the shelf so it won’t fall off the gurney.”

      “Careful with it,” Maryann said.

      Alex nodded as he walked over to the bookcase. “Timmy sure is attached to it. Although I suppose that’s true for lots of children.”

      “It’s natural for children to believe in God,” Maryann said, with a nod.

      Alex grunted as he laid the Bible down on an empty shelf. “Maybe, but it passes soon enough.”

      Maryann looked over at him curiously. “Why do you say that?”

      “The minute we’re born people start having problems. Sooner or later, everyone comes up with a problem God can’t solve for them. And it’s usually sooner.”

      “Oh.” Maryann looked at him and then blinked.

      “I’m not the only one who has been disappointed in God,” he added, softly. The sympathy in her brown eyes grew and he found the words escaping him. “And, at that, I’m better off than—” He broke off, but he didn’t stop. “Well, I’m better off than my brother.”

      Alex held his breath. He never talked about God or his brother. He must be more bothered than he’d thought about Maryann calling him The Ice Man. Why did women judge a man by how easily he spilled his emotions, anyway? Or maybe it had nothing to do with her. Maybe it was the confidence Timmy had in his face when he held onto that Bible. It made Alex remember the way he used to feel a long time ago. Back then, he’d embraced God in the same way he loved his pet frog and the stack of comics under his bed. It was all part of a carefree childhood.

      But then came the moment when everything that was good in his family shattered—the day Alex’s life had been spared when his older brother shoved him out of the way of a runaway car. Even though they had carefully checked that the light in front of them said it was okay to walk, the car’s brakes had failed and the driver couldn’t stop for the two boys crossing the road. Within seconds, Alex had landed safely back on the sidewalk, while his brother, Frank Rocco Havens, was crumpled on the street, with his body so damaged he’d never walk again.

      “You mean your brother that phones?” Maryann finally asked.

      Alex nodded. “His first name is Frank, but we don’t call him that anymore.”

      Now, why did he have to say that? He never even thought about Rocco’s old name anymore. Their mother was the one who had renamed Frank after the accident. The first time she’d heard another kid draw the name Frank out into Frankenstein, she’d told the family they’d use Frank’s middle name, Rocco, from now on. His mother had been kind back in those early days; she fought the whole system to get her son care. It wasn’t until later, when the doctors said his brother would always be paralyzed, that she drew away from the rest of the family. Shortly after that his father started traveling more.

      Alex had felt like it had been only him and Rocco that made up the family after that. Alex had to fight his guilt, wondering why he couldn’t have stayed out of the crosswalk that day, instead of trailing behind his brother who’d already made СКАЧАТЬ