Authors: Steven Gossington
Chapter 4
Aaron strutted into the clinic the next morning, his arms held wide.
Juliana stood from her chair, looked over the registration counter at Aaron, and nodded. “
Bueno
. The boots make the man. Good choice. They look just right on you.”
“Thanks. I’m walking tall this morning.”
He clomped away snapping his fingers to the beat of a country song he’d just heard on his car radio.
Later in the morning, Stella stopped Aaron before he entered the patient room. “You’ll get to know this guy well. He’s the town drunk and lives in the trailer home just down the road. He’s got some kind of bite on his arm, so he probably fell asleep again in the Big Thicket.”
“The Big Thicket. That’s our local forest?”
“It’s more than a forest. There’s nothing else like it. Lots of different animals and insects live in there, not to mention all kinds of snakes and even alligators.”
Aaron opened the door and winced at the smell of cigarettes. A man in a dirty T-shirt and tattered jeans thrust his hand out. “I’m Rocky Donnigan,” he said with a gravelly voice. “Glad we have a new doctor in town.”
“Thanks. How can I help you today?”
Rocky pointed to his right forearm. “Something bit me here a few days ago, and it’s a lot more sore and swollen today.”
Aaron examined the skin lesion. “It looks like an infected insect bite. We need to get you on an antibiotic.”
“That’s what I figured.”
Aaron continued with a general physical exam and spotted healed insect bite lesions over his arms and lower legs.
“I hope you stay, Doc.”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“There’s a lot of weirdness in this town. The last doc got spooked, I think.”
“Weirdness, what kind of weirdness?”
“Evil people. Strange things happening. But, you know, I’ve lived here my whole life. Maybe all towns are like this one. Was your last town weird, too?”
Aaron’s chest tightened as a vision popped into his head: idiot doctors sitting around a mahogany table demanding that Aaron resign. He nodded. “Yeah, I guess in a way it was.”
On his way out, Rocky stopped at the door of the room and turned to Aaron.
“I like you, Doc. I hope you’ll like us, too.”
Aaron grinned.
I’ve made some positive impressions so far.
After Rocky left, Aaron stood at the registration desk.
“I know it’s just your first week, but how do you like it here?” Juliana said.
“So far, so good. One thing I like, no one ever seems to be in a hurry.”
Stella laughed. “Only when you’re being chased by a bull or by somebody with a gun.”
“You mentioned Calamity Jane yesterday,” Aaron said. “Are you a history buff?”
“I like to read books about history. My high school history teacher turned me on to it. And then I learned I had an ancestor that died in the Civil War, fighting for one of the ‘colored’ infantries.”
“You traced your family tree?”
“Part of it. Some of my ancestors were slaves, and many slaves had no last names, so it’s difficult. I hit a lot of dead ends.”
“I can’t imagine the whole slave thing. If I was given a slave, I wouldn’t know how to relate.”
“It’s part of our American history, an ugly part of it. Even though slavery is over, the black-white relationship still has a ways to go.”
Aaron cocked his head. “What do you mean? You and I are relating okay, aren’t we?”
“You don’t believe me? Let’s go together to a restaurant and see what happens.”
“You think something will happen? Blacks and whites together is common these days. What could happen?”
“Chances are, we’ll get seated in the back or in a corner, away from the all-white groups.”
Aaron snorted. “Are you sure you’re not exaggerating?”
“One of these days, we’ll go together for a meal. You’ll see.”
Later in the afternoon, Aaron walked up to Juliana at the copy machine.
“Where did you move from?” Aaron said.
“Not far away. Dallas.”
“Ah, the southern tip of Tornado Alley.”
Juliana looked off into the distance. “I saw a tornado once.
Terrible.
” She crossed her fingers. “But I’m lucky so far. I’ve never been hurt by one or lost anything.”
“Does life seem much different out here for you?” Aaron said.
“Well, it’s country life. More wilderness and wildlife.”
Aaron nodded as he thought of the huge green turtle he almost hit with his car. “How about the people?”
“I think country people are different in some ways from city people. For one thing, they seem more connected with each other.”
“That’s got to be good.”
Juliana smiled. “I believe it is.”
Just before closing time, the waiting room was empty and the clinic was quiet.
A man threw open the front door and ran back to the hallway in front of the patient rooms.
“Sir,” Stella shouted after him. She stood from her chair and jogged toward him, then she stopped and gasped.
The young man pointed his handgun at her. “Open your medicine cabinet, the one with narcs.” His hand was shaking and his pale face was sweaty.
Stella held her hands up. “We don’t have any narcotics here.”
“Open the cabinet, now.”
Aaron ran around the corner. “What’s all the noise …” He stopped and his eyes widened as the gun barrel swerved over to his chest.
Aaron’s legs turned to jelly and he fell to his knees with his hands up. “Don’t shoot.”
“I need Vicodin. Give me your Vicodin.”
Aaron’s throat tightened and his words squeaked out. “We don’t—”
“You’ve got to help me. The last doc had Vicodin here. I’ll use this gun if I have to.”
Everyone turned to look as the front door of the clinic banged open.
A tall silhouette filled the doorway. “Son, lower the gun. Don’t do this.”
The young man's gun quivered as he stepped toward his father. “No one will help me. I need medicine. Can’t you see I’m sick?”
Stella crept up behind the man and locked him in a tight bear hug, his gun hand trapped down by his side. He struggled, but he was no match for Stella.
“Let me go. You’re hurting me.” He took a breath and screamed.
Aaron flinched as the high-pitched shriek stung his ears.
The man’s father bounded over and extracted the gun from his hand, slid the gun into his own pocket, and looked at Stella. “I’ll take him to a hospital now.”
Stella squeezed the young man, who moaned and gasped for air. A few words escaped as his face turned blue. “I can’t breathe.”
Tears streamed down Stella’s cheeks.
“I said I’ll take him to a hospital now. You can let him go.” He gripped Stella’s wrists and forced her arms open.
Stella fell back several steps, holding her hands out. Her eyes were wide and her face flushed.
“Come with me,” the father said. He supported his son as they stumbled out of the clinic to their truck.
Stella collapsed into a chair in the hallway. She was trembling and her hands were clenched. “I can’t handle . . . drug addicts,” she said between shallow breaths.
Aaron stood up on shaky legs. “I have a hard time with addicts, too. Let’s go back to my office.” He turned and watched the truck drive out of the parking lot.
Juliana helped Stella into Aaron’s office and they plopped into chairs.
Stella laid her head and forearms on the desk and sobbed. “Two years ago, my son was killed during a drug deal.” Tears wet her forearms. “He was my only child.”
Aaron sat up in his desk chair. “I’m so sorry.” He pushed a box of tissues to her.
It was a struggle for Stella to get her words out between the sobs. “I think about him all the time … I try to forgive … I pray about it … I thought I was getting better, but it’s so hard to control myself around those people. They killed my son.”
Aaron and Juliana were silent as Stella wept. After a short while, she raised her head and took several deep breaths. “I’m sorry. I just lose control.”
“I know. I have the same feelings,” Aaron said.
Stella raised her eyebrows. “You do?”
“I was responsible for something.” Queasiness gripped his stomach as he thought of the woman who died from the Vicodin he’d prescribed. “Something I regret.”
Stella blotted her eyelids with a tissue. Aaron stood and came around the desk to her. “I know it’s tough. Let’s both keep trying to heal those wounds,” he said.
Stella covered her eyes with the tissue and nodded.
No one spoke for several minutes.
“You saved the day,” Aaron said to Stella.
“It’s all a blur. The last thing I remember is looking at my hands and him walking out.”
“Who were those people?”
“Brad Benningham and his son, Preston. Brad’s a rich oilman. They live in the mansion on the hill,” Stella said.
“That must be the big house I can see from my front door.”
“That’s the one.”
“How long has Preston had a problem?”
“A long time, I think. He’s been through rehab before. Brad tried to fix things with money, like big birthday bashes for Preston in Vegas. But we all know just throwing money at a problem doesn’t do crap.”
“Should we call the police?” Aaron said. “I guess that might mean our constable.”
Stella shook her head. “No, I don’t think it would help. They know about Preston’s problem. They usually let Brad take care of it.”
Aaron walked toward the office door. “In that case, let’s lock up and go home. I’m exhausted.”
Aaron brought creamy tomato soup and a large chicken salad home for dinner. He sat in his office and picked at the food for a while, then walked out to the front yard. An owl hooted from a nearby tree.
He looked up at the Benningham mansion.
I’m not through my first damn week, and I’ve already run into a drug addict.
Listening to the owl, he tried to imagine where it was in the trees.
A shudder passed over him.
I’ve never had a gun pointed at me before.
His legs felt heavy as he meandered over and kicked at a rock in the driveway.
Stella and Juliana saw me fall on my knees today. Am I that weak?
Aaron sighed and walked back into the house.
That woman’s overdose death and her father’s malpractice lawsuit against me . . . I should call my lawyer and find out about the status of the suit.
He sat on his bed, searched the contact list on his smart phone, and found his lawyer’s number to leave a message.
After staring at the number for several minutes, he threw the phone down on the bed. “Oh, to hell with it.”
Aaron climbed into bed several hours later. He tossed and turned all night.
Over and over, he saw in his mind the father of the dead girl with his raised machete, his bushy eyebrows scrunched together on his beet red face.
Chapter 5
Aaron heard a horse trotting behind his house.
He swallowed the last drop of home-brewed coffee and walked out the back door, his shoes slipping along the dew-moistened grass. Behind the fence, a horse and rider loomed in the early morning light.
“Hello.” Grant Belkin’s voice echoed around the pasture as he dismounted his horse. He strolled over to Aaron’s backyard fence. “I noticed my cattle were over in this part of the pasture. I thought I’d see if you were still home.”
Aaron leaned against the fence. “You’re up early.”
“I’m a cowboy.”
“How long have you run this ranch?”
Grant looked over at his cattle. “A few years now.”
“Do you have family to help you?”
“A daughter. She’s married and lives in California.” He rubbed his horse’s face. “Cancer took my wife two years ago.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
A few of the cows mooed.
“You keep the herd healthy and then sell them?” Aaron said.
“I used to.” Grant put his hands on top of the fence.
Startled, Aaron stepped back.
His eyes are like lasers,
Aaron thought.
“What are you running from, Doc?”
“What?” Aaron touched his jaw. “I …” He sighed and looked down. “I’m not sure.”
“Ever’body runs from something now and then. You’re lucky. Sometimes there’s no place to run to.” Grant mounted his horse. “What brought you to our neck of the woods?”
“I just want to plant my roots and run a decent medical practice. I’ve heard a little bit about this part of the country. I’m told it’s pleasant and relaxing.”
“Pleasant and relaxin’?” Grant pulled on the reins and turned his horse. “It can be.” He looked back at Aaron. “Stop by my place sometime, and I’ll show you around the ranch.”
“I will.” Aaron watched him ride away. He stood by the fence until he could no longer hear Grant’s horse.
Aaron shook his head.
Who is he to ask if I’m running away from something?
“Are you okay?” Aaron said to Stella as she walked into the clinic.
“Sorry I’m late. I overslept my alarm. I didn’t sleep well last night.”
“Neither did I. Let’s face it. We both have a neurotic problem with drug abuse patients.”
Stella smiled. “So we’re both neurotic. Got a pill for that, Doc?”
Aaron shook his head. “No pill. No magic wand.” He pointed to his temple. “We’ve got to rewire our brains.”
“Now, how do we do that?”
“Practice and time. It takes effort, and maybe some counseling.”
Stella sighed and looked out the window. “So we have to take on the demon again, face to face.”
“That’s one way to look at it. We’ve got to stay confident. Others have overcome this. We can, too.”
“I’m not looking forward to that day.”
He looked down as Stella walked away. “I sound like I know what the heck I’m talking about,” he said under his breath.
Later in the morning, Aaron opened the door to a patient room.
“Good morning, Cristal and Marley Brighton.”
Marley is looking great today.
Marley had one leg folded under her, so that she sat on her foot in the chair.
That is one flexible woman. I don’t think my knee could ever bend like that.
“Cristal wanted to tell you that she’s better,” Marley said.
“I’m glad to hear that.”
Cristal held up something.
“What have you got there?” Aaron said.
“Genie.” Cristal hugged the light green plush character.
“That’s her favorite character,” Marley said. “She saw it in a children’s book at her day care center.”
“Interesting. Why do you like Genie?”
“He can give me a flying carpet if I want one.”
Aaron nodded. “I’d like to have one of those.”
“Then I could fly real high and find my daddy.”
Marley stroked Cristal’s hair. “She really misses her father.”
“And … and I’ll save my third wish for when I grow up.”
“That’s smart. Have you already made your first two wishes?” Aaron said.
“Yeah. One was for my daddy to come home.”
“That’s a good wish. What’s the second one?”
“I want to talk with the cows like Mr. Belkin does.”
“Mr. Belkin talks to his cows?”
“I don’t know where she got that,” Marley said.
Cristal looked up at Marley. “Mommy, I’ve heard him talk to the cows.”
Marley patted Cristal’s shoulder. “It’s okay. I’m sure you’re right.”
Cristal nestled Genie in her arms and rubbed his turban. “And sometimes they talk back.”
Aaron smiled at Marley, and then looked at Cristal. “I might ask Mr. Belkin about that. I’d like to learn to talk with cows, too.”
In the hallway, Marley turned to Aaron. “I don’t mean to meddle, but I wonder if you could look into something?”
“Sure.”
“A family lives down the street from my house. The Taggetts. You met Wanda at the diner, remember?”
Aaron nodded.
“Sid is her husband, and Race is her son. I’m worried about them. I hear that Sid is very ill, and no one seems concerned. Could you look in on them?”
“I will.”
Marley smiled. “Good.”
He watched Marley as she and Cristal walked out the front door of the clinic.
I have to get to know her better.
A few minutes later, Stella approached Aaron in the hall. “A drug rep is here to meet you. I know him well. He’s sharp, but a little strange.”
Aaron nodded and Stella returned with a well-groomed man, medium height, thin and angular.
Aaron offered a handshake, and the man responded with a fist bump.
“Hi, I’m one of your local drug reps. I cover middle East Texas.” He rocked up and down on his heels.
“That’s a big area.”
“It sure is. I put a lot of mileage on my car, but I enjoy the job.” He lifted his briefcase to the hallway counter. “It’s great to have a doc around here again.”
Aaron smiled. “Do you have any freebies today?”
“Sure, always.” The rep laid writing pens and pads out on the counter. He aligned the pens in a level parallel row and stacked the pads in a flush pile.
He stood back and admired his work and then launched into a spiel about an antibiotic he was promoting for the treatment of sinusitis, bronchitis, and ear infections, rocking on his heels as he spoke. After he finished, he rubbed his hands with an antiseptic wipe.
“I’ll keep your antibiotic in mind, when it’s indicated,” Aaron said. The rep handed Aaron a few drug samples and discount coupons for patients.
“Are you a runner?” he asked Aaron.
“Not now, but I need to get back into jogging.”
“Great. There’s a 5K run coming up soon. I’ll get the information to you.”
“That may be just the incentive I need.”
The rep turned to Stella. “Was that Marley Brighton I saw driving away from here?”
“Yes.”
“I haven’t seen her in a while. I was in school with her husband, Forrester.”
“Lucky you,” Stella said.
He laughed and turned to leave. “See you next time.”
Aaron watched the rep use hand wipes after he walked out the front door.
Stella knocked on Aaron’s office door.
“Come in.”
She and Juliana stepped inside.
“I called the hospital this morning,” Stella said. “Preston was admitted last night. Maybe he’ll kick his addiction this time.”
“Some addicts recover, right?” Juliana said.
Aaron nodded. “People can overcome addiction, with the right help. It can take a long time.”
After a few seconds, Aaron looked up.
“Okay, Doc, I have to know,” Stella said. “Are you seeing someone?”
Aaron laughed. “Give me a break. I just got here.”
“Everybody needs somebody. You should know that.”
Aaron sighed. “I thought I had somebody.”
“Ah. She hooked up with someone else, did she?”
Aaron’s face reddened. “With her personal trainer.”
Stella nodded. “I’ve heard that story before. What if she comes back to you?”
“It wouldn’t work.”
“So is that why you moved away?”
He frowned. “That’s one reason. I couldn’t go to work anymore. I felt like I was the butt of a joke. I had to get out of there.”
And some bastard doctor complained about my patient care.
“Well, there’s a church not too far from here with a singles group. You should check it out. Or maybe there’s a social club at the hospital for medical people.”
“I appreciate your interest, but I’m okay for now.”
Stella furrowed her brow. “I don’t know about that.”
Mid-afternoon, Aaron walked into a patient room. A tall, thick-chested man stood from a chair and extended his hand.
“I’m Boots McCorkindale.”
Aaron shook his hand and nodded. “Mr. McCork—”
“Folks call me ‘Dale.’ ”
Aaron stopped his handshake. “Okay, sure. Dale, how can I help you?”
“I need a refill on my medications. I’m diabetic, and it’s good to have a doctor close by again.”
Aaron unwound his stethoscope and listened to Dale’s heart and lungs. “Are you doing well with the diabetes?”
“Yep. No problems. You from the Northeast?”
“Connecticut.”
“You’ll need to get into the good food around here, especially authentic Tex-Mex food and real barbecue. Makes me hungry thinking about it.”
“Don’t worry. I plan to sample all the restaurants.”
“I don’t think of some of the Tex-Mex places as restaurants. The best ones are sometimes just little hole-in-the-wall shacks. Not much on the decor, but don’t let that fool you. The food will have you a-howling like a coyote.”
Aaron laughed. “I guess that’s good.”
Dale nodded. “You’ll see.”
In the hallway, Dale turned to Aaron. “I run the car dealership down the road.”
Great. A car salesman,
Aaron thought.
I got ripped off by one of you guys once.
“I’ve got a great deal on a pickup truck that would go well with your Volvo.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“You’re in Texas now. You need a pickup truck.”
Aaron frowned as Dale walked away.
Can I really trust you, Mr. Car Salesman?
Stella discharged the last patient on the day schedule, and then she closed and locked the rear door of the clinic.
Aaron walked up to her near the front door. “I think I’ll drive over to Wanda’s place. How do I get there?”
Stella pointed at the road in front of the clinic. “Turn left out of the parking lot and drive straight. This road dead-ends at her house, right on the edge of the Big Thicket.” She looked at him. “Are you going for any special reason?”
“I’ll ask if there’s anything I can do to help her husband. Do you want to come with me?”
Stella shivered. “No, thanks. I steer clear of that weirdness.”
There’s that word again.
Stella touched his shoulder. “I mentioned her son to you before. Sometimes he’s at the house. He works at the local cemetery, and as far as I can tell, he doesn’t have any friends.”
“You told me the husband is an invalid?”
“The word is he stays in bed most of the time. He used to be a real Casanova and played around on Wanda a lot over the years. Until six months ago or so.”
“Should I call first?”
“I don’t know if we have a number for them.” Stella walked to the registration desk, opened a drawer, and rifled through some files. “It looks like they had a land line once, but the number’s crossed out. There’s not a cell phone number listed. I can check the computer records, if you want.”
“No. I’ll just drop by.”
“Good luck.”
Aaron drove away from the clinic and passed by the alcoholic Rocky Donnigan’s trailer home on the right. He came to the intersection with the road he lived on and glanced at Marley Brighton’s house across the road to the left, then continued straight through the intersection and parallel with the Grant Belkin Ranch on the left. A house loomed into view, and he eased toward it until the road ended in a round, dirt cul-de-sac in front of the house, which was set back from the road about twenty yards. Aaron parked his car in the cul-de-sac and walked through a muggy mist up a dirt driveway, stepping over potholes.