Chapter 7
Everyone showed up on opening day with a smile: Jon, Noreen, Alice, Steph and Pax . Even Jackson came down with the Shepherds. As instructed, all the volunteers and Jon dressed in white button-down shirts.
Pax grinned at them. “This is it, everybody. Jackson, we owe you.”
“Nope, I owe you for all the work you did to get this place up and running. Thank you .”
Caleb peered out the window. “I hope you ran off a lot of forms.”
“Are there many people out there?” Pax asked.
“A long, long line of them.”
“Let them all in,” Pax instructed. “It’s cold outside.”
Steph opened the door. Wow. Caleb was right. People milled in. The reception area filled up with some people standing behind the occupied chairs.
“Welcome everybody,” Pax said in a loud voice. “I’m your doctor, Pax Barry. You’ll need to fill out these forms then we’ll take the most serious in first. But I promise we’ll get to all of you.” He motioned to the others. “These people will assist you.” He introduced them, too.
The volunteers walked around with a paper form and helped those who needed help to complete them. Steph surveyed the room with a smile.
When Pax received each form he put them in three piles: urgent, not so urgent and kids. “We’ll see Jasmine Johnson in exam room one, Lester Smith in exam room 2 and…” The door flew open. A woman carried in a baby. “He’s not breathing, help us please.”
Pax said, “Exam room 3.”
Noreen stepped up. “I’ll take it. I’m a cardio person.” The duo disappeared with Alice and Noreen.
“All right. Jasmine and Lester, come with me.”
Jasmine, a nine-year-old, was moaning in pain holding her stomach. Lester, an adult, had a hugely bandaged hand leaking blood.
After they left, Steph stood on a chair. “Hi, everybody. As the doc said, I’m Steph . Let’s quiet down out here. Fill in the chairs that become empty. The rest of you will have to stand a bit while waiting for a seat.” She looked at Jackson and the Shepherds. “The people in white will help you.”
They’d under planned somehow. She hoped Pax was doing all right with all this. In actuality, the big crowd, expected or not, underscored his success.
* * *
Pax had Lester rest his hand on a couple of towels on a small worktable attached to a chair. Then Pax began to unwind the makeshift bandages. The coppery scent of blood from the towels filled his head.
“It’ll gush out,” Lester warned. He was an older man with white hair and a frail body.
“I think it’s coagulating now, but the towels will absorb any more bleeding.”
After the last bandage was removed, the cut had indeed stopped gushing. Only trickles leaked out. “What did you cut this on?”
“A jagged soup can top.”
“Then you’ll need a tetanus shot, too.”
A knock on the door; it opened and Alice came in. “What can I do, doc?”
“Set up sutures for this cut. Then prepare a tetanus shot.”
Alice worked efficiently. She handed him the numbing agent first. Pax gave him a shot with lidocaine . “We’ll wait a bit for this to take effect. Meanwhile, I’ll give you the tetanus shot.”
After a few minutes, the bleeding stopped completely and Pax said, “I’m ready to suture.” Alice handed him the needle. Soon, Lester was all fixed up. “I want you to come back in five days so I can check this and maybe take out the sutures.”
“Yes, Doc. Thanks.” Again, the meekness.
There was a steady stream of people to be treated. After an hour, he checked on Noreen. “How you holding up?” he asked, after waiting for the patient to leave.
She leaned against the exam bed. “Whew! This is nonstop .”
“There’s still patients for a while yet.”
“I’m game.” She gave him a sexy smile. “You can buy me a drink afterward .”
“We’ll all go out.”
“ Aw , I’d rather just us.”
Uncomfortable with the remark, he said, “I’ll see you later.”
Jon sent the patients in. Pax treated a broken finger, a dislocated shoulder, a knife wound (only gunshots needed to be reported to the cops), a rash, a bad cough, a stomachache that he diagnosed as an appendix that burst. He sent the person to the hospital in an ambulance. When all were treated, he went out into the waiting room.
Jackson, Gemma and Caleb had sprawled out on chairs, and Jon was seated behind the desk looking dazed. Steph perched on a table. “Hey, everybody. Thanks so much for assisting out here. This should be the last day we have a mob.”
“I’m glad we could be here,” Caleb said. “We’ll try to schedule another day next week. Do you have other volunteers?”
“Yeah, some of guys who helped paint are coming tomorrow with their spouses.”
“Thanks. Let me see how it goes the next few days.”
Jon said, “It’s six, Pax . Is it okay if I leave?”
“Sure. Thanks Jon.”
“See you tomorrow.”
Steph said, “Where’s Noreen?”
“Must be in the back. I’ll go check. Then we can leave.”
Pax went to the staff area in the back of the clinic. Noreen was packing up her bag. “Hey, thanks for today. You’re not on again till Saturday.”
She turned to face him. Her eyes narrowed a bit. “No drink?”
“No.”
“Why?” she asked coming toward him. She’d changed out of her scrubs. Her shirt had three buttons open which exposed a bit of cleavage. Her hair fell sexily to her shoulders.
He cleared his throat. “What are you doing, Noreen?”
She reached him. Pushed him against the counter, came up on tiptoes and fused her mouth with his.
Startled, his hands circled her waist to put her away.
He didn’t. Instead, he kissed her back.
* * *
Wondering what was taking Pax so long, Steph slid off the table and walked to the back area. At first, it didn’t click what she was seeing. Then she realized that Pax and Noreen were kissing.
I was involved with her …
He’d confessed that after she’d first come to the clinic.
Steph ’s breathing sped up and her eyes moistened. She froze for a minute, then quietly, she slid her coat off the hook and felt for the keys in her pocket. She turned and fled the room.
She didn’t let the tears fall until she got to her car. Noreen wasn’t just kissing him, Steph saw, but he was kissing her back. His hands had gripped her at the waist.
Was this considered cheating on her? They’d never talked about exclusivity. She’d assumed she was safe with him. Well, it looked like she’d been wrong. Visions of him muddled her mind: getting the clinic ready; the barbeque and their first kiss afterward ; the tender way he touched her intimately, then his passion…. It was no wonder she assumed they were exclusive.
Damn him.
She wiped her tears, started the engine and drove to Syracuse.
* * *
Camille Rousseau’s appearance belied the fact that she was a hotshot attorney. She was dressed in lilac- colored knit pants and shirt, her beautifully cut and highlighted hair up in a topknot. She lived in a little house close to others of French origin and stores which specialized in French food. Steph had knocked first, then used her key to unlock the door. They were best friends.
“Oh.”
“I didn’t mean to startle you.” Steph had stopped crying but her upset must show on her face.
A frown marred Camille’s unlined brow. “ Mon amie .” She set down her cup, crossed to Steph and hugged her. Steph cried again. Then drew back. “I can’t believe I’ve become a crybaby.”
Camille led Steph to the couch, sat her down and gave her the cup she’d held. “It’s tea. It’ll calm you.”
Steph took a few sips.
“Does this have anything to do with that doctor you’ve been working with?” They talked often on the phone as well as having lunch and dinner when they were both available.
Tears moistened Steph ’s eyes again. She nodded. “Honestly. No man has ever reduced me to tears this way.”
“Don Ackley did, sweetie. Tell me what’s happened. I know you were opening the clinic today.”
“It was a grand success.”
“I’m glad. What went wrong?”
“After we closed, I walked back to the common area to get my things and I found Pax kissing an old flame—a doctor—who’d volunteered at the clinic.”
“ Quel batard .” The cursing was odd considering her sweet personality. Then again, they’d learned to swear together.
“I must have misinterpreted what happened between us.”
“Like hell. You told him you were falling in love with him. He knew how you felt.”
“He never said it back.”
“Is there a chance that this woman kissed him and he was unwilling?”
“No. He was holding onto her waist like a…lover.” She raised her eyes to the ceiling. “We never said we were exclusive.”
“Hmm. Maybe some things need to be cleared up between you two before you judge this as a disaster.”
“Maybe.” But she doubted it. Her phone buzzed. She checked the ID. “It’s him.”
“Don’t answer it. We need to talk some more.”
“About what?”
“About what exactly you want from him. You’re going to stay here with me and we’ll hash this out.”
“Okay. Thanks, Cami .”
“You’re welcome, Stephie .”
* * *
Steph had left without waiting for him, and Pax was puzzled by it. He led Mutt to the car and headed home. When he took the dog out, he tried her cell again. It went to voice mail.
The hell with it. He’d go over to her apartment. He hoped she wasn’t sick or anything. Now, he worried. He and Mutt got back in the car and headed to her house. He drove around back; there was no car in the parking space. He got out and knocked on the door. “ Steph ,” he called out. Mutt barked.
No answer. He fished the keychain out of his jacket pocket and used the spare she’d given him after they slept together. She had one to his house, too. He and Mutt walked inside.
The apartment was empty. He could feel it. “I don’t think she’s here, Mutt.”
The dog went to the bed she’d put out for him and settled in.
Pax walked to her bedroom, just in case. Nope, no sign of her. What to do? Maybe he’d wait. He took off his jacket and stretched out on the comfy couch which overlooked the trees. The place was soothing. Soon his eyes closed.
Someone was shaking him. He awoke and saw Steph , standing over him.
“ Pax . What are you doing here?”
“You left without saying goodbye. I called, then came here to make sure you weren’t in bed sick. I must have fallen asleep.”
“You couldn’t have been too worried.”
He sat up. “Sweetheart, where have you been? It’s two o’clock in the morning. What’s going on?”
She sat down beside him. Lines etched around her eyes, which were swollen. “You tell me.”
“I’m flummoxed.”
“You didn’t see me before I left.” She swallowed hard. “I went back to the staffing area to get my stuff and I saw you . With Noreen.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“For what, Pax ? For kissing another woman? For cheating on me, like Don did?”
“Don’t put me in his category.”
“It fits. Do you have any idea…” Tears came to her eyes and fell onto her cheeks. “Any idea what that feels like to someone who’s in love with you?”
He held her gaze and said simply, “I love you, too.”
“Don’t. I saw what I saw. You kissed her back.”
“For a few seconds. I was startled but it felt familiar. Like I said, for a few seconds. You didn’t stay to see that I pushed her away and told her I was involved with you and not to do anything like again.”
He didn’t tell her Noreen had accused him of the same thing. Of kissing her back.
She wiped her face. “I can’t accept this.”
“I’m not Don.”
“I can’t accept it,” she repeated.
“So what? You’re calling our relationship off because one little slip. For a few seconds? A thing that I corrected right away. A thing that meant nothing.”
“I’m sorry.” She sniffed. “We had a good run. Thank you for that.” She stood. Walked to Mutt and bent down. “I’m gonna miss you boy.” Mutt licked her face.
She stood and turned to him. “Now go. Please, honor my wishes.”
He leashed Mutt and they walked to the door. But he turned back. “I’ll go for now. But I’m not in any way giving you up.” He said, “Come on, boy. She doesn’t want us anymore .”
The dog whined. Pax felt like howling.
* * *
Steph woke up the next morning with a splitting headache. She rolled over and buried her head in the pillow. She couldn’t face today. She could call Will and say she was sick.
You have to face this head on, mon amie . You can’t bury your head in the sand.
As usual, Camille had been right. She had to go to work.
She’d broken up with Pax and wouldn’t cower at home.
After she showered, she dried her hair, pulled a suit out of the closet blindly, along with a blouse, underwear and shoes. She made herself eat some cereal, then left the house and arrived at the clinic by eight. Dreading this, she walked in through the back. No one was in the area where she stored her things. After doing that, she headed into the waiting area.
Alice and Jon were already there, as well as Diego and Annie Rodriguez, who she’d met at the barbeque . Steph greeted them all warmly and then faced Pax .
“Good morning, Stephanie,” he said flatly. His expression revealed nothing.
“Good morning.”
Pax turned to the others, “I expect that today will be less busy than yesterday but we’ll still have a crowd.”
Diego took off his jacket and Annie removed hers. She had a bigger baby bump than at the barbeque and the long white shirt she wore didn’t disguise that. Jon took their coats from him. Diego asked, “How did the opening go?”
“It was gloriously mobbed. Things ran smoothly. Then again, it seemed like we prepared forever.” He smiled. “All because of our friend Jackson Kane.”
“I’m glad to hear that though you had everything to do with that.” Diego smiled. “Don’t forget how valuable you are, Pax .”
“Thank you.”
Annie grinned. “We can stay for four hours. What can we do?”
The nightly cleaner had put the chairs on tables. They also cleaned the exam rooms. The expense was necessary, as the clinic had to, by law, be pristine.
“You can take the chairs down and place them around the room. Annie, you can do something easier like get the coffee ready and put out donuts .”
She rolled her eyes. “I can pick up a chair. I’ll help Diego first then do the treats.”
For a moment, Steph was struck with a thought. Pax would make a devoted expectant father.
“All right. Later, you two can go back to the office area and enter the forms from yesterday into the computer. I’ll show you how.” He turned to the others.
“Alice, Steph and Jon, are you all set?”
“Yes, boss.” Alice wore cute pink scrubs today. Pax ’s were blue bringing out the color of his eyes.
Jon asked, “Is Noreen here today?”
Steph felt herself stiffen.
“No. Remember, she’s parttime .”
Steph helped Diego and Annie with the chairs, then they headed out back.
The clinic opened at nine. Ten people were in line. Pax greeted them, then waited while Jon gave them the registration forms. After Pax read them he said, “We’ll start with Janice Appleby .”
Jon added, “We’ll take two more. Mark Cornell and Suzie Slate, go back with Nurse Alice.”
Alice smiled at them. She would check their forms and take their vitals.
The coffee pot had been perking since they arrived and Annie set out cups, milk, sugar and donuts ; she stayed on the floor to talk to the patients and help Jon.
Steph walked around too, greeting the clients. She’d do this every few hours to get a reading on them. No one was bleeding, but three were coughing. One old man leaned on his cane. His lined face and taut jaw told her he was in pain. Two children fidgeted in the chairs.
“There’s a play area over here,” Steph said to the mother. “They can use it until you’ve seen the doctor.”
“Can we go, Mom ?” one asked.
“I guess so.”
A few seats down, she walked by a man who was sleeping. Uh-oh. He reeked of alcohol. He must have slipped in late. They wouldn’t treat anyone who was high or stoned. She reached over and shook him gently.
He startled awake, said, “Get away from me bitch,” and smacked Steph hard in the cheek. Pain radiated everywhere as she was thrown across the room and hit the chairs on that side.
The world went black.
* * *
Jon shouted, “I need help out here.”
Pax , Alice and Diego rushed to the front. Pax froze when he saw Steph on the floor, her back against a chair, limp as a ragdoll . They all hurried to her. In the background, Annie tried to calm the other patients.
Pax went into doctor mode. “Don’t move her. I need a C-collar.” As Alice retrieved the collar, Pax put on gloves. Then he wrapped the device around her neck. “Ease her onto the floor now.”
Once she was stretched out, Pax forced himself to be calm. He felt her limbs, listened to her breathing then checked her head. Ouch. “There’s an exam bed in my office. We’ll take her there. Somebody get her an ice pack for her cheek.”
Diego and Pax picked up Steph . Pax murmured almost to himself, “Careful.” They carried her to his office and settled her on the bed. Alice tucked a blanket around her.
Both the wound and her bruised cheek were on the left side of her head, which he tipped to the right. He parted her hair and Alice secured it with hair pins she took from her pocket. Then he examined her head. She had a three-inch cut that had clotted; “I need a wet cloth to clean this out.”
Annie brought him one, along with an ice pack. Annie went to the end of the bed and placed it on Steph ’s cheek.
Pax dabbed at the wound, careful not to disturb the clotting. After he’d thoroughly washed it, he could see no signs of splinters from the chair. “It doesn’t require sutures. I’ll need antiseptic and salve and a roll of gauze.”
When Alice retrieved the medical needs, he treated the wound. Steph roused, presumably from the sting of the antiseptic. “Ah….oh.” She reached for her head. Alice grabbed her hand.
Pax said. “Hush now. You’ve got a head injury and you were unconscious for few minutes.”
She opened her eyes. “H-how bad is it?”
“Not bad. But I have to finish treating it and it’ll sting. Then I’ll wrap some gauze around your head. Stay still if you can.”
She scowled. “My cheek hurts, too.”
“I know. That’s where the drunk hit you. The cold makes it sting more at first.”
“Alice, get the pillow block.” A triangle support made of hard foam. Alice and Annie helped Steph to sit up and lean against it. Steph groaned.
With her thick hair parted, he applied more antiseptic and salve. Then he took the bandage, put the end of the gauze over it and wrapped it around her head.
When that was done, he said, “Are you nauseous, sweetheart?”
“I don’t think so. I’m sore everywhere, though.”
“I’ll bet. We’ll get you something for that.” He nodded to Alice. “Put a couple of regular pillows behind her. Then get her some ibuprofen, please.”
“Yes, Doctor.”
“Now, let’s lay you back down.”
Gingerly, he held her behind her back and laid her on the exam bed. Annie continued to hold the ice pack to her cheek.
Diego peeked in. “I’ll stay out front to make sure everybody’s okay but wanted to know how she is.”
“She’s awake but in pain,” Annie told him.
Pax stepped away. “I’d like to know what happened, Jon.”
“A guy was sleeping and she woke him up. He smacked her on the cheek, hence the bruise on her face. She flew across the room.”
Annie said, “He reeked of booze so he was drunk.”
“Sorry Steph ,” Jon said. “But does this mean you’re too little to guard this place?”
“I don’t think so,” Annie stated before Pax could. “Unless your guard weighed 300 pounds, that would have happened to any normal or large sized man. The drunk was huge and woke up in a startle. No self- defense move would have prevented this. He could have sent Diego across the room.”
“I agree with Annie,” Alice said.
Pax only nodded.
* * *
Steph kept her eyes closed, but she couldn’t sleep so she could hear Pax ’s softly uttered words. He grasped her hand gently. “I was so worried when I saw you lying against the chair. I realized how much I love you, Steph . I’m not about to let you go over something that didn’t happen between me and Noreen. And I’ll lay her off if you want me to. Please, please, forgive me.”
She sighed heavily.
“Are you awake?”
She opened her eyes but they were sleepy. “Uh-huh.”
“I didn’t know.”
“I guessed that.”
“I meant what I said.”
“Noreen…doesn’t seem so important now.”
“She isn’t.”
“ Nah .”
“Are you in pain?”
“No, the meds you gave me kicked in.”
He squeezed her hand. “I’m glad.”
“I want to go home, Pax . Be in my own bed.”
“You can’t be alone. I can close the clinic, though.”
“No, I’ll call my parents. They’re retired.” She reached for her phone, but her hand fell back. “I’m so tired.” Her eyes closed again and she dozed right away.
Rising, he kissed her head and grabbed for her phone.
Outside the room, he clicked into her mother’s cell. Soon, he heard, “Hello. Fiona speaking.”
“Mrs. Giordano . Your daughter’s fine now, but there’s been an accident at her place of work.”
“Is she shot?”
“No, much less than that.” He described the incident and her injuries.
“I always worry about her getting shot. First the Secret Service, now this. I hate that she does protective work.”
Me, too.
“She’s still at the clinic in one the exam rooms, but she wants to go home. She needs someone with her.”
“Tony and I can be in Westwood in thirty minutes. Maybe less.”
“We’ll transport her from here and meet you at her place.”
“All right. Her address is—”
“I know where she lives.”
“Thank you, doctor.”
“See you soon.”
He checked to see if Steph was still asleep then went out front. He said to Jon and Diego, “She wants to go home.”
“Can one of us drive her?” Jon asked.
“I think we should call an ambulance. That’s probably an overreaction, but I’d rather be safe.”
Diego pulled out his phone. “I’ll call for one.”
“Thanks for your help.”
Jon asked, “Are you planning to stay with her?”
“No, her parents are coming from Syracuse. They’ll be there in a half hour.”
Diego’s gaze narrowed on Pax . “You okay? You’re white as a ghost.”
“I’m worried about her.”
Diego drew him aside. “You called her sweetheart, you know.”
“I did?”
“ Yep . You’ll have to talk to your staff.”
“I will when she’s settled.”
Diego said, “Smile. You and her together is good news.”
“I hope she sees it that way.”