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The voices all stopped. And then, as if on cue, Alex walked into the room.
Something inside her applauded. He might be an ice man, but she could count on him to show up when she needed him.
“Doctor,” Mrs. Fields said, looking up and giving him a tight smile, “how is he?”
“Your son will be fine. He’s running a slight fever. Keep him inside and warm. Let me know if he develops a cough or the fever goes higher. But the immediate thing is that he fractured a bone in his right leg. I’m setting up a splint for it now. I just want your signature before I treat him.”
“Can it wait?” Mr. Fields asked with a forced smile on his face. “Don’t bones sometimes heal by themselves?”
“Wait?” Alex looked taken aback. “I’m afraid not in this case.”
Mrs. Fields stepped closer. “How much will it be, doctor?” She kept shifting the handle on her purse from one side to the other. “I get paid next week, but—”
“We’ll pay our bill somehow,” Mr. Fields finished for her. His face was red with embarrassment. “We might need to wait until our Permanent Fund checks come. I lost my job. It was the one that carried our health insurance, but we’ll get you paid somehow—” He looked at Alex. “You’ve been here long enough to know about the Permanent Fund checks? They’re the ones we get from the state for all the oil that’s pumped out of Alaska? Those checks are good as gold.”
“Ah.” Alex cleared his throat. “Sure, I know about the checks. Don’t worry, though. I don’t have the figures added up, but I could use some new shelves in the waiting room. If you’re interested, we could trade services.” He looked at Mr. Fields. “I hear you’re a good carpenter.”
“I’ve nailed a few boards together in my time,” Mr. Fields said proudly. “Your shelves are as good as done. I can come back later today to measure everything.”
Alex nodded. “Good. I have some lumber in the back we can use.”
“Thank you,” Mrs. Fields muttered.
Maryann watched the whole scene with satisfaction. She knew she was right that the children of Treasure Creek needed this doctor. She only had to look at the sudden hero worship in Timmy’s eyes to know that. Alex didn’t make anyone look small, and that won him the respect of his young patients.
“We’ll just take Timmy in the back and get him set up,” Alex said as he motioned for Maryann to follow him. He looked at Mrs. Fields. “I’ll need to cut the leg off his jeans, but I’ll do it as carefully as I can, so you can sew them back together later.”
The woman nodded. “Thanks. He doesn’t have enough pairs as it is.”
“Say, Doc,” Mr. Fields said from beside the door. “If the shelves aren’t enough, my wife here can introduce you to some of the local women. You know, it’d be like one of those matchmaking services they have in the big cities.”
“What?” Alex turned to look at the man.
“I heard you were looking,” Mr. Fields said as he reached for the doorknob. “We could help you out. Nothing fancy, but the wife here knows everyone. She’ll fix you up.”
Maryann felt the breath leave her body. She had a bad feeling about this.
“Hush about that.” Mrs. Fields turned to her husband. “How can you be thinking about that when our son lies there in pain?”
Then the woman turned to the doctor. “Should we go back in the room with you when you work on Timmy’s leg?”
Maryann risked glancing at Alex. His face looked frozen.
“I’m fine.” Timmy spoke up from where he lay.
Maryann noticed the boy had a strong grip on that small Bible of hers. She wished she was the one holding it, though.
“Maybe you and Dad could wait here,” Timmy added. It looked as if there was a ragged piece of old paper peeking out from the pages of the Bible. Timmy must have put it there. “In this room.”
“Well, I guess.” Mrs. Fields muttered, as if she didn’t know what to do.
“I could wait with you if you’d like,” Maryann offered. The doctor didn’t really need her for the splint. Besides, she’d give anything not to have to face him right now. She could tell he knew all about the conversation she and her cousin had had about him. “We have a few magazines on the table by the chairs.”
She saw Timmy’s parents sit down in two chairs and noted they left an empty one between them. She figured that was where Timmy usually sat. No wonder the boy was torn apart by their arguing; he’d grown up right in the middle of things. Just as she had.
“Nurse Jenner. You’re with me,” Alex said before she even moved.
“Yes,” she said as she gave the chairs one last look and walked toward the gurney.
“Here, I can do that.” Alex reached the gurney first and put his hands on it.
“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 it clear he wasn’t to come with him. If Rocco had been alone when the car came, he could have jumped to safety. Instead, he’d turned and pushed Alex out of the way. Alex had idolized his older brother. Couldn’t he have obeyed and stayed behind just that once?
“I’m sorry,” he finally said. He looked over at Maryann. “I don’t mean to stand here talking about someone you don’t even know.”
“But I feel like I do know Rocco a little,” Maryann answered gently. “I didn’t know his real name was Frank, but when he calls, I answer the phone. He always wants to know what the weather is like up here, so I look out the window and describe what I see. Once we saw a bald eagle fly by.”
Alex was surprised. “I thought he just asked to speak to me and that you put him straight through. He doesn’t usually talk to strangers.”
“I’m not a stranger, I’m your nurse,” Maryann said. “Besides, he seems nice. He likes what I say about the mountains. Why wouldn’t he talk to people?”
Alex could hardly say it was because Rocco was bitter. His brother’s mouth might still work, but he was so self-conscious about his legs he’d managed to become a recluse in the middle of the largest city on the west coast. Granted, Rocco hadn’t sounded as grim the last few times Alex had talked to him, but something was wrong. Rocco kept saying he wanted to talk in person and Alex kept saying he needed to just speak on the phone for now. Alex would be in Los Angeles in three weeks anyway, so he couldn’t make a special trip down there now, not when he had so much to do to wrap up his practice here.
“How long does he talk to you anyway?” Alex finally asked.
Maryann shrugged. “It’s only a few minutes. He usually wants to know if we have snow on the mountain yet. And what the lunch special is at Lizbet’s Diner. And if you’ve been out on any tours lately as the guide. He’s very interested in Treasure Creek. You should invite him up to visit.”
“Rocco? He never goes anywhere.” Alex’s voice sounded harsh to his own ears. He knew Rocco could go places, but he never even went to the grocery store anymore.
It was silent again, but finally Maryann said, “Maybe he likes to stay home.”
Alex grunted. “He has a choice. I’m not saying it would be easy. He’s in a wheelchair. My brother can only go out if someone is with him. I got him an attendant last year, to help him with this exercise program that could make him more independent, and if he wanted to go outside he could—”
Timmy moaned and Alex looked down at the boy.
After that, he and Maryann worked in silence.
By the time they had Timmy ready to go back to the waiting room, the child was almost able to sit up. The boy was still disoriented, but his parents could take him home with crutches.
This time Maryann wheeled the gurney back into the waiting room. Alex swore he could hear her singing a lullaby to the boy as they went down the hall, but he had to get the prescription written, so he sat at his desk in the examination room while she took Timmy back to his parents.
Alex decided it was a good thing he was leaving in a few weeks. This whole thing about the ice man label and people worrying about him getting married had him feeling strange inside. He’d never told anyone about his brother. He didn’t know why he was opening his mouth about it now. Fortunately, he’d stopped before he told Maryann everything. Knowing her, she’d just feel sorry for him. Then he’d need to do more than stop her matchmaking, he’d also have to stop her from poking around in his heart to see what his guilt and sadness was all about. And then she’d move on to worrying about Rocco. He knew her kind. And his older brother wasn’t any more free with his emotions than Alex was. They’d never even talked about “that day” with each other. There were just no words for some things. Alex wasn’t even able to say he was sorry, not until he could do something to make up for the part he’d played in the accident.
When he finished writing the prescription, Alex took it out to where the Fieldses were sitting. He reminded them to bring Timmy back if he developed a cough or high fever, and they agreed. Then they left.
The second the door closed behind the family, Maryann turned to him. “I’m sorry. I had no business saying anything about you last night.”
Alex felt himself relax. As long as she forgot about him and Rocco, he didn’t care what she wanted to discuss.
“Just for the record,” Alex said to keep her talking, “what exactly did you say, anyway?”
He wondered if what he’d heard was true. Maybe she’d said something completely different, and the gossip had turned it into something else.
Maryann hesitated. Her whole face looked pinched by nervousness. “I said that you needed to be poleaxed by love.”
“What?” Alex was amazed. “I don’t even know what ‘poleaxed by love’ means.”
“It’s a Jenner family expression,” Maryann muttered. “You get sick. You want to die. All for the sake of love.”
“Sounds awful.” Alex noticed that his nurse was getting her color back. He felt they had averted some crisis.
Maryann smiled up at him. “I think it is actually. You should see my parents when they’re in love. Not with each other, of course. They’ve been divorced for years. But each time one of them is poleaxed, they stare into the eyes of their latest and get all disoriented just talking about it. They’re like children.”
Alex was quiet for a bit. Maybe there had been no discontent in the words she’d spoken about him to her cousin after all. “And how about you? Did you ever fall in love like that?”
“Me?” Maryann squeaked. She looked alarmed. And then much too pale. Finally, she shook her head. “I’m immune to that kind of stuff. I’ve seen it go wrong too many times.”
Alex frowned. That didn’t seem right. “But surely you plan to get married.”
“If I do, I plan to pick my husband based on reason. And genetics. I think good genes are important, don’t you?” Her cheeks were still pink, but he suspected it was indignation turning them rosy this time.
