A Soldier's Return. RaeAnne Thayne

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СКАЧАТЬ dad is a great doctor, but he worries too much about his patients,” Tiffany said.

      “Is that possible?” Eli asked.

      “He should have worried a little more about himself. He could barely stand up the last few weeks before the surgery.”

      Tiffany was a bit rough around the edges but like everyone else, she adored Dr. Sanderson and frequently told patients how cool it was that she now worked for the doctor who had delivered her twenty years earlier.

      “Your father was so worried about taking time away from his patients he almost didn’t have the surgery, though his specialist has been urging him to for months. At least as long as I’ve been here,” Melissa said.

      “Longer,” Carmen said, her expression exasperated. The older woman liked to mother everyone, even their boss, who was at least two or three years older than the office manager.

      “I think he would have continued putting it off and hobbling around if he hadn’t injured the right one so badly two weeks ago,” Melissa said. “Then the surgery became not only urgent but imperative.”

      “Everything worked out for the best,” Eli said. “I was able to create a gap in my schedule and here I am, at least for a few weeks.”

      Yes. Here you are.

      She had thought him gorgeous in skintight workout clothes. That was nothing compared to the sight of him in khaki slacks, a white exam coat and a crisply ironed button-down shirt a few shades lighter than his blue eyes.

      She had been a nurse for years and had never been particularly drawn to a physician, until right this moment.

      “How’s the wrist?” he asked.

      At his words, the pain she had been staving off seemed to rush back. She held up the brace and wriggled her fingers. “Still aches but it’s bearable. I agree with you that I should hold off a day or two before I have it x-rayed.”

      “Did you have any time to put ice on it?”

      “A few minutes. Which is the main reason I’m late.”

      “Good. That’s the best thing you can do.”

      They lapsed into silence and she tried to keep from gawking at him. She loved her job, working with Wendell Sanderson. The man had been nothing but kind to her since the day she’d come back to Cannon Beach. She hated thinking things would be awkward and uncomfortable with Eli here.

      She could handle anything for a few weeks, Melissa reminded herself. Even working for a man for whom she had developed a serious thirst.

      “Can you give me the charts of those who have appointments today? I’d like to try familiarizing myself with their files.”

      His words were directed to Carmen yet still provided Melissa the reminder she needed. He was her boss and she couldn’t forget that.

      “I’ve already pulled the charts of those coming in this morning. They’re on your dad’s desk, since I figured you would be setting up in there,” the office manager replied. “I’ll find the rest and bring them in for you.”

      “Thank you.” He gave the woman a polite smile, and Melissa could swear she felt her ovaries melt.

      When he walked back down the hallway toward his office, Melissa slumped into one of the chairs in the waiting room.

      Oh, this was not good. At all. She might have silently wished for a man this morning, but in truth she didn’t have time for that kind of complication. She had Skye and work and friends, not to mention the online classes she was taking to work toward her nurse practitioner license. There was no room left for her to be stupid about Eli.

      “Are you okay?” Carmen asked.

      “I will be.”

      Eventually.

      “He seems nice, doesn’t he?” Tiffany said. “Dr. Sanderson talks about his son like all the time, but I always pictured him different, somehow. Since he’s in the army, I thought he’d have a buzz cut and be all harsh and by the book.”

      She hadn’t pictured him at all, hadn’t really given Eli Sanderson much thought over the years. Now she was afraid she would be able to think about little else.

      Even her throbbing wrist couldn’t seem to distract her.

      * * *

      “How did your first day go? Any problems or unique diagnoses you think I need to know about?”

      Eli adjusted his dad’s pillow, giving him a stern look. “Your only job right now is to focus on healing from this surgery. I can take care of your patients, got it? You don’t need to worry about them.”

      “I have no concerns on that front,” Wendell assured him. “You’re a better doctor than I ever could have dreamed of being at your age.”

      Eli knew that was far from true. How could it be? His own dreams were haunted by the ghosts of all those he couldn’t save. Miri. Justine. Those ghosts at least had names and faces, but there were scores of others who drifted through, anonymous and lost.

      He let out a breath, wondering when the hell the sense of guilt and loss would leave him. It had been six months but still felt like yesterday.

      He turned his attention back to his father, instead of that war-battered market town.

      “Dad, I could never be half the doctor you are. We both know that. I’ll be trying my whole life to catch up.”

      His father rolled his eyes. “We could be here all day patting each other on the back, but I know what I know. And what I know is that you’re a damn fine doctor and I’m proud to call you my son. There’s no one else on earth I would trust more than you to fill in for me while I’m laid up. When I ask about my patients, it’s only because I’m concerned about them, not because I don’t think you can care for them the way I would.”

      His father had been the best doctor Eli knew. Wendell and his genuine concern for his patients had been the main reason Eli had gone to medical school in the first place. He had wanted to help people, to deliver babies and diagnose illnesses and give little kids their first shots.

      He had never expected that his first years of practicing medicine would be in a series of emergency shelters and refugee camps, but that was the path he had chosen and he couldn’t regret it.

      “If I’m not mistaken, that sweet Julia Garrett was supposed to come in today for a prenatal checkup. She and Will had an early-term miscarriage during her last pregnancy, so I’ve been watching her closely. How did things look today?”

      Though he instinctively wanted to tell his father to put all his patients out of his head, Eli knew that wouldn’t happen. Wendell wanted to stay current on all the people he had cared for over thirty-five years of practicing in Cannon Beach. Eli had a feeling that was the only way his father would be able to endure the long recovery from his double knee replacement.

      “Everything looked good today. The baby measured exactly where she should be at this stage in the pregnancy, the heartbeat sounded strong and steady, and Julia СКАЧАТЬ