Just What the Doctor Ordered Read online

  He came up to the clinic from behind, paused with his hand on the door. He didn’t relish facing Liz. He hadn’t meant to get her so upset by criticizing her work. He’d come to the office thirty minutes early because he wanted to talk to her before Salome and Sadie arrived. Even though he knew he was right, he wished he’d never said a word about Salome. He was sure Liz had done the best she could. He wouldn’t do anything right now, but when the time came, he’d show her the proper way to go about staffing a medical office.

  But the minute he stepped inside, all thought of staffing problems left his mind. In the hallway between all the offices and the examining rooms, he saw Liz kneeling over the body of a man, alternating between giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and cardiac massage.

  “Nobody answers at your house,” a frightened woman was saying to her.

  “Then let’s hope he’s on his way here,” Liz said as she applied all her strength to the man’s chest. “Did you get the fire station?”

  “Yes. They’re sending the ambulance right over.”

  “Then you’ll have to help me until they arrive,” Liz said, and changed to mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

  Matt, coming out of his momentary immobility, hurried forward.

  “I’ll do heart massage,” he said to Liz. “You keep up the breathing.”

  A look of startled recognition was the only reaction he got. As he worked to restore the man’s heartbeat, Liz kept breathing for him. In between gasping breaths, she calmly told Matt what had happened.

  “This is Tommy Pruitt.... He was eating breakfast.... He collapsed here.... He’s forty-three.”

  “What’s your name?” Matt asked the older woman.

  “Edith Pruitt,” the frightened woman replied. “I’m his wife. This is our daughter, Doris.”

  “Liz and I can’t stop what we’re doing. You’re going to have to help us. Can you do that?”

  “Edith never panics,” Liz said between breaths.

  “Go into that first room on the right,” Matt directed, keeping his voice as even as possible despite the tremendous exertion required to give cardiac massage, “and bring me the cart with the red toolbox.” He hoped Liz’s estimation of Edith’s character was accurate. Her husband’s life could depend on it. “Doris, find me a blanket. Look in any examining room.”

  Edith returned with the cart faster than he’d expected.

  “Good work,” Matt said. “Now open the top drawer. Look for a 2-cc syringe. Find it? Good. Now look for a bottle of the epinephrine. It should be right in front.”

  Tommy Pruitt was very fortunate in his wife. She found the unfamiliar objects with no trouble.

  “Liz, take over while I give this injection and get the paddles ready for cardiac shock.”

  He hated to involve her. She looked exhausted. He didn’t know how she’d managed it this long, but she took over without a moment’s hesitation.

  Matt could hear the sound of the ambulance. They’d be here in a few minutes. He filled the syringe and gave the shot in the man’s arm. The clinic wasn’t equipped to give shots into the heart. Tossing the empty syringe aside, he took the paddles off the cart, greased them and slapped them on the man’s chest.

  “Move back,” he told Liz. “I’m going to shock him now.”

  Matt flipped the switch, and the man’s body convulsed. Grabbing up his stethoscope, Matt listened intently to his chest. “I’ve got a pulse,” he said. “It’s not regular, but it’s there.”

  Matt started to take over the breathing—he knew Liz was too exhausted to continue—but just then the ambulance crew poured in through the office door. The first man slipped an Ambu bag and mask over Tommy’s face which took over his breathing.

  “He’s as stable as we can get him here,” Matt told the ambulance crew. “Get him to the E.R. You probably saved his life,” he said to Liz as he helped her to her feet and over to Salome’s chair.

  The look she returned was expressionless. He wanted to take the time to tell her what a great job she’d done, how extraordinary she had known what to do and had kept doing it as long as necessary. Nothing had thrown her off stride. It took guts not to panic when you’re suddenly faced with a dying man and no one to help you.

  “Would you like me to drive you to the hospital?” Liz asked Edith Pruitt.

  “You’re too tired to do anything but go home and lie down,” Matt said to Liz. “I’ll drive Edith to the hospital. Her daughter can bring their car.”

  He hated to leave Liz just now, but he had no choice. “Promise me you’ll let Salome take care of everything.”

  He got a faint ironic smile. “You think she can?”

  He hoped Salome was as good as Liz thought. She was going to have to rearrange his entire schedule, and the patients weren’t going to like it.

  It required most of the morning to admit Tommy Pruitt to the hospital, so Matt didn’t get back to the clinic until nearly noon. Salome was the first person he saw.

  “How’s Tommy doing?” she asked, anxiety replacing her usual bubbly good cheer.

  “He’ll be all right, but he’s going to have to take it easy for a while. He’ll need to change his eating habits, too. No more vegetables seasoned with pork fat.”

  Salome grinned. “He’ll starve. There’s nothing Tommy likes better than fatback.”

  “I think he’s decided he likes living even more.”

  “Good.” Salome handed him a fistful of charts and batted her navy blue eyelashes. “Your office is full. There can’t be a single artist up at the hotel. Don’t forget you’re due at the camp at four. Amos is anxious for the campers to meet you.”

  Just what he needed. A waiting room full of women who weren’t sick, and a camp full of kids who would do everything in their power to break something before their two weeks were up. He wanted to talk to Liz, but he had the feeling she didn’t want to speak to him.

  Liz had not gone back home to lie down. She had spent the better part of the morning at the clinic trying to convince herself she didn’t care what Matt Dennis thought of her professional ability, or lack of it. She was foolish to devote even two thoughts to a man who was going to be gone in a matter of days. And any woman who let herself get carried away by one tiny compliment needed to have her head examined.

  It was obvious Matt Dennis held everyone and everything in Iron Springs in contempt. He saw only its smallness, its limits. He had no idea of the huge heart that beat in this small town. It was that heart, the caring, the feeling of belonging that had drawn her back home from New York despite having once run away from those very things that now repelled Matt.

  And when he did see something admirable, he had the effrontery to look surprised. What was she supposed to do, wring her hands in helpless dismay while Tommy Pruitt died in front of her? She didn’t have a medical degree, but she knew a few things. Matt had been even worse about Salome. She wanted to tell him that behind Salome’s wild colors was an encyclopedic knowledge of the medical needs of every person within thirty miles of the clinic. Whenever the clinic had free samples to give away, Salome knew who needed what most. She could make people feel like they were doing her a favor by taking it.

  But people from big cities didn’t value things like this. They were concerned only with how much money you made, the size of your house, whether you drove a BMW or Mercedes. David had driven a Jaguar and bought her a Volvo station wagon. He’d also cheated on her. Liz had been happy to trade it all for her parents’ house and a beat-up old Ford. It pleased her to know Dr. Dennis drove an even older car.

  She’d been startled to find him kneeling beside her over Tommy, but she’d been relieved to know he was there. She wanted to ask if she’d done the right things, but she hadn’t seen him for five minutes all day. First he’d been at the hospital. Now he was trying to catch up on the backlog of patients. He might be a snob, but she had to give him credit. He was a stickler about seeing every patient. She glanced at her watch. Three-thirty. He’d be here until late. Sh
e’d have to hold dinner. She stepped out into the hall to tell him she’d been able to get Amos to reschedule his visit to the camp. The clear, penetrating voice of Josie Woodhouse stopped her in her tracks.

  “Hannah says she couldn’t tell me a thing about the new doctor,” Josie was saying to Salome. “She said he hadn’t set foot in her store since that first day.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Salome said. “He doesn’t take me into his confidence.”

  Liz could hardly believe her ears. Salome was being circumspect.

  “I didn’t expect he would, you being just a receptionist,” Josie said. The woman was the worst snob in Iron Springs. “But you have to know something about him. You’re around him all day.”

  “I can tell you he’s the best-looking hunk of man flesh I’ve ever set eyes on,” Salome confided.

  “I’m not interested in what you think,” Josie said. “I just wanted to know something about him before I decided whether to consult him. My indigestion is acting up again, and Dr. Kennedy can’t seem to do anything about it.”

  Liz had heard all about Josie’s indigestion. She used it to get her way when nothing else worked. She didn’t have to use it often, since she made a habit of getting her way.

  “The doctor’s overbooked,” Salome said, “but I’ll see if he can work you in.”

  That meant Josie would go into the first examining room that came open, Liz realized. She would never consent to wait Josie wouldn’t understand why she should. Liz waited until Matt finished with a little boy who was suffering from severe allergies.

  “Could I speak to you a minute?” she asked.

  “If it’s about this morning...”

  “It’s not.”

  He looked like he wanted to say something. Then he stepped back to allow her to precede him into her office.

  “It’s about one of your patients, Josie Woodhouse,” she said as she closed the door.

  “I haven’t seen anyone by that name.”

  “She just came in, but she shouldn’t be here. She has a private doctor—Dr. Isaac Kennedy. He’d have a fit if he knew you had looked at her.”

  Matt frowned. “That doesn’t prevent her from changing to the clinic if she wants to.”

  “Josie would never become a patient at a public clinic. She’d consider it beneath her. Besides, I heard her questioning Salome about you. Her indigestion isn’t troubling her. She’s just here to satisfy her curiosity. She has to know more about everything than anybody else or she’s miserable.”

  Matt’s frown became deeper, actually quite unfriendly. He looked like a teacher about to chastise an errant pupil. She hoped he would be careful what he said to Josie. It wouldn’t do to get her back up. Josie was basically harmless, but she could cause a lot of trouble.

  “I don’t know what kind of working relationship you had with Dr. Evans,” Matt said, his tone as unfriendly as his look, “but this sort of thing won’t wash with me. You’ve overstepped your bounds. I don’t discuss my patients with my staff, and I don’t expect my staff to bother me with gossip and innuendo.”

  Liz felt like she’d been slapped. It never occurred to her that Matt would interpret her remarks as gossip. She had merely wanted to warn him about Josie’s habit of using her complaints of indigestion in a manipulative manner. She’d also wanted to warn him against giving Dr. Kennedy a reason to complain about him to the medical board. Every doctor within a radius of fifty miles knew to keep well away from Dr. Kennedy’s patients.

  Liz forced herself to look Matt in the eye. “I apologize. I won’t do it again.”

  She walked over to the door, held it open for him. For a moment, he just stared back at her. She could feel the tears begin to gather at the back of her eyes, and it made her furious. She refused to cry in front of this pompous know-it-all. Nor would she allow her chin or lips to quiver. She would face him just as he was facing her, her body erect, her head high, her gaze direct and unwavering.

  “It’s very unprofessional to discuss patients with a doctor,” he said, “even when you know them very well.”

  “I said I wouldn’t do it again.”

  He waited as though he expected her to say something, but she had said all she meant to say to Dr. Matthew Dennis. He could find himself in the middle of a sticky investigation for all she cared.

  Matt waited a minute longer, then left her office without saying anything else.

  Liz remained standing. She felt like a cardboard figure, stiff, unable to move. Yet her insides were churning. She was mad and embarrassed at the same time. Mad that Matt thought she would do something as petty as spread gossip about his patients. Embarrassed that she had done something he considered unprofessional. It probably was, in the strictest sense, but she thought she’d acted for the best. The energy that had sustained her all day left in a sudden whoosh, and she collapsed into her chair.

  Confess it. She was also upset because Matt had seen her in a bad light. She was being just as silly as all the rest of the women in Iron Springs over a handsome man, but she wouldn’t do it again. She would keep her mind on her work and her nose out of other people’s medical histories.

  “I can’t prescribe anything until I examine you more thoroughly,” Matt said to Josie.

  “Dr. Kennedy says it’s indigestion.”

  “Then you’d better see him.”

  “He doesn’t like to see patients today,” Josie said. “It’s his golf day. Besides, it’s my body. I know what’s wrong with me.”

  Matt hated to admit it, but he should have listened to Liz. Every time he tried to discuss Josie’s medical history or her present condition, she responded with a series of personal questions that made Hannah Coleman and Solomon Trinket look like disinterested bystanders.

  Matt stood. “Then I suggest you make an appointment to see him tomorrow.”

  Josie remained seated. “I may want to switch to you.”

  “I don’t expect to be here more than a few weeks. It would be better to stay with a doctor who’s familiar with your constitution.”

  “Why are you leaving?” Josie asked as she stood. “You just got here.”

  “My assignment to Iron Springs was a mistake.”

  “Of course it was if you’re any good. Are you any good?”

  Matt didn’t think he’d ever get used to such direct questions. However, he decided to meet Josie’s bold approach with one of his own. “I’m very good. So good, in fact, several major hospitals are angling to have me on their staff.”

  “You probably aren’t that good,” Josie said as matter-of-factly as if they had been discussing his shoe size. “Brilliant doctors are small and nearsighted. But you’ve got the confidence of a man who knows his ability. You’re probably good. Maybe even very good. We shouldn’t hope for brilliant. Not that it would make any difference. You wouldn’t stay in Iron Springs in any case.”

  Matt only wanted to escape. Josie was worse than Liz had said. He opened the door. “Let me say again that you should see Dr. Kennedy as soon as possible.”

  But Mrs. Woodhouse didn’t appear to hear him. She was staring at something at the end of the hall. Her entire body seemed to swell with indignation.

  “I see she’s still working here,” she said, her tone hard as ice.

  “Who?” Matt asked.

  “Liz Rawlins.”

  “Of course she is,” Matt said. “She’s the office manager.”

  “She’s a hussy and a harlot,” Josie hissed, “a stealer of men’s affections.”

  Matt was all at sea. He didn’t know if Josie had a husband or a boyfriend, but he couldn’t imagine Liz being involved with a man of Josie’s age. He realized he didn’t really know anything about Liz, but his instincts told him she was not a woman to compromise herself.

  “I don’t enter into the private lives of the people who work for the clinic,” Matt said. “I’m sure that—”

  “You’re living in her house.”

  Matt wouldn’t have stated it
exactly in those words. “I rent a room there.”

  “You watch out, or she’ll have you in her snare, as well. She can’t stand to see a man indifferent to her. She’ll weave her spell about you, hypnotize you until you can’t see anything but her. I’ve seen her do it. She’s bewitched my poor Ethan until he won’t even listen to his mama. He can’t see any wrong in her even when it’s under his nose.”

  Matt began to understand. Ethan was interested in Liz, and Josie didn’t like it.

  “Leave my poor Ethan alone!” Josie called out to Liz. “You can have anybody you want, even this doctor here.”

  She’d warned him against Liz, but she was ready to sacrifice him to save her son. This woman would bear watching.

  “Please give him back to his poor mother,” Josie continued dramatically. “Release him from your spell.”

  “I don’t have Ethan under a spell,” Liz said, her calm voice returning a sense of reality. “He’s welcome to date anyone he pleases.”

  “You know he can’t,” Josie wailed. “You’ve bewitched him. He’s forsaken his family for you.”

  “I’m sorry about that, Josie,” Liz said as she approached the woman, “but I have cast no spell over Ethan, nor do I have any desire to do so.” She turned to Matt and handed him a folder. “I canceled your visit to the camp. Amos said to reschedule whenever it was convenient. Unless you have an objection, I’m going home. Bye, Josie. I hope your indigestion is better.”

  “You don’t care about my indigestion,” Josie called after Liz. “You hope it kills me. Then you could have Ethan all to yourself.”

  Matt couldn’t stand any more. It was disgraceful that this woman should have so little self-control she’d stand in the middle of the clinic screaming accusations at Liz. He took Josie by the elbow and propelled her into the lobby.

  “Call Dr. Kennedy’s office and make an appointment for Mrs. Woodhouse tomorrow morning,” he said to Salome, who’d followed the exchange with an amused eye. “You can tell his nurse her indigestion is acting up again.”