From Brooding Boss to Adoring Dad (12 page)

“For how long? Ten minutes?”

She shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.”

“Sometimes it does,” he said, heading away from her. His wife had been fixed on a lifestyle that had consumed her. Erin was fixed on work that consumed her. They weren’t the same at all, but in a way they were. So why the hell was he attracted to the obsessive types when he hated obsession so much? Would he ever find the woman who knew how to strike the balance he wanted? Because more than anything else, he needed balance in his life. He
desperately
needed balance. “See you in thirty,” he called over his shoulder, without looking back.

“Why here?” she asked, after twenty
long,
silent minutes when the only sound came from the tires on the rutted road.

“What?”

“Jamaica. The less-traveled places. Why did you choose this as where you wanted to practice medicine?”

“Didn’t,” he said. “It chose me. I had an opportunity to come out with some mission doctors, sort of an offset to some of my medical tuition, and I found … home. I liked it. It fit me, I fit it. Decided to stay.”

“And your wife didn’t agree with the decision?” That was probably overstepping the boundary, but she was curious. And even if they couldn’t be involved as anything other than friends or colleagues, friends and colleagues did have some intrusion privileges. So she was intruding a bit. “She wasn’t the island paradise sort?”

He visibly winced over that one. “I thought she was. Stupid me, I forgot to ask. So you can imagine how surprised I was when, after a year or so into our marriage, I opened my eyes to find out she was on the corporate track. She wanted to be an administrator, not a doctor who gave patient care. She wanted position and prestige and I wanted.Jamaica.”

“That’s a big difference?”

“Especially when you embarrass your wife.”

“What did you do to embarrass her?”

“I was me. I worked in a free clinic, came to Jamaica to give free care whenever I could. Used our marital assets to do it and didn’t include her on that decision because I knew what she’d say. One day she told me that I loved the kind of medicine I practiced more than I loved her. And I accused her of the same thing, loving her career more than she loved me. As it turned out, we were both so right, we couldn’t argue it. So, where do you go from there, except to a divorce lawyer? The thing is, in that divorce, they gave her everything but my grandfather’s inheritance and
Stella,
because the judge figured I’d already spent my fair
share of our assets on my various medical pursuits. Which is probably the case. So … that’s it, the story of my pathetic life.”

“Not pathetic. Admirable, Coulson. It’s unfortunate that your marriage didn’t survive, but there’s nothing pathetic about your choices or the way you live your life.”

“Well, whatever way you want to look at it, she’s fine, I’m fine. And we’re both right where we want to be, so it’s not all bad.”

“Most people never get to live the dream. Yours may not be turning out exactly the way you’d planned it, but you’re living it. So rather than saying it’s not all bad, I think you should say it’s pretty much all good.”

“Ah, yes. The optimist.”

“Someone has to be,” she said.

“So, now that you know all my secrets, tell me some of yours. Like why you’ve never made a commitment to anybody. Not in the for ever-after or marriage kind of sense. Or maybe you did, and it didn’t work out.”

“Maybe because the person I am knows the foibles I have. You said it yourself, that I never relax. Earlier, at the beach, ten minutes of playtime and I was ready to go. You saw that. And look! Here I am now, getting ready to work again. It’s what I do. Who I am. All I am, and nothing about that would make it easy for someone else to find their way in.”

“Don’t underestimate yourself. I have an idea if you take a good, hard look at yourself, you’re going to see a woman who wouldn’t let anything she wants stand in her way, work or otherwise. And there’s a whole lot of
otherwise
in you, Red. You’re just not ready to see it yet. Or maybe you’re too stubborn to see it. But it’s there, when you decide to look.”

“Is that a compliment?” she asked. It was nice being
perceived as substantial when so much of her life she’d been thought of as weak or languishing. But Coulson had never seen her during those days and he was basing his impression on what he saw now. It pleased her, actually. “It could be.”

“Well, then, I think I’ll take it as a compliment.” A compliment with lingering good feelings that lasted all the rest of the way to the hospital and on through the first few patients she saw.

“You doing OK?” Coulson asked, on a fast pass through the corridor on his way to have a look at a broken leg.

“Busy. Nothing complicated.”

“Well, I have complicated for you. Down in the first exam room. She wants to see you, insists on it, won’t let me anywhere near her. She said she knew there was a lady doctor working tonight, and—”

“I’ll get it,” Erin said, snapping off her pair of gloves and grabbing a fresh pair from the box on the shelf next to the sink. So far, she’d treated abrasions, stomach aches, headaches, menstrual cramps … not a bad night. But she was ready for a challenge. And as it turned out, her complicated patient was just that. Complicated. She was a tiny, old lady, somewhere north of seventy, Erin guessed. Flawless ebony skin, pure white hair, sharp brown eyes. Arms folded tight across her chest. Very precise about what she wanted.

“I won’t take my clothes off, young lady. That’s not fitting.” She was dressed well, in a nice flowered dress of red and yellow, white gloves, dressy hat, enormous red beads to match her bright red lipstick.

“But to examine you—”

“You’ll listen to my symptoms, that’s how you’ll examine me.” Miss Francelle Henry proceeded to pull a list from her black patent-leather purse … one that matched her
black patent leather shoes. “Then we’ll discuss how you will proceed to treat me.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Erin said, impressed with the woman. “But you’ve got to understand, Miss Henry, that in order to treat you, I may have to examine you. We’ll discuss it first, though, to see what’s appropriate.”

Miss Henry mulled it over for a moment then nodded. “As long as you don’t treat me like that other doctor who came in here and insisted, right off, that I open my dress so he could listen to my heart. Brash young man.” She shook her head in clear disapproval. “Rough manners.”

Erin could see Coulson as brash. But rough manners? That brought a smile to her face, because she liked the roughness. It was tempered with an odd gentleness that came out in the strangest ways and places, however. Part of his charm, which, it seemed, had escaped Miss Henry. “So, please tell me your symptoms.”

She cleared her throat, as if preparing to recite. “Feeling tired and sleeping more than usual. Feeling the cold more than normal. Dry skin, thinning hair. Brittle nails. Sore muscles. Slow movements. General weakness. A hoarse or croaky voice. A change in my facial expression. Depression. Problems with my memory and concentration. Weight gain. Fertility problems. Slowed heart rate.”

Fertility problems? That brought a smile to Erin’s face. “Are you currently receiving treatment for any of these symptoms, Miss Henry?”

“I’ve been here three times, and every time I have, that young man has been the one to see me, and he refuses to give me any medication.”

“Would you excuse me while I step out of the room for a moment and ask him about it?”

“You tell him for me that I’m having a real doctor take care of me now.”

“I will, Miss Henry,” she promised.

Coulson was waiting for her in the hall. Smiling. “Diagnosis? ”

“She’s either got a fairly good medical textbook or access to the internet. So what am I supposed to do with a woman her age who’s making up symptoms? In my pediatric practice, I tell them why doing that is a bad thing and tell their parents.”

“She’s alone, never married. Needs attention. This is the best she gets, I suppose.”

“But she’s healthy?”

“As the proverbial horse. Although she won’t let me touch her. I think she’s afraid I’ll discover her little scam.”

Erin swatted him on the arm. “It’s not a scam. Like you said, she just needs attention.”

“She and her sister spent a lifetime together, but her sister died a few months ago, and Miss Henry comes here now because there are people around.”

It didn’t take but a split second for an idea to form.

“Didn’t you say the bus from Regina comes here three times a week?”

“What are you thinking of doing, Red? I recognize that devious glint in your eye.”

“I’m trying to figure out a way Miss Henry can have her attention. Is she good for the bus ride, you think?”

“What I think is that you’re cute as hell when you’re being devious.”

“No wonder she says you’re brash!”

Back in the exam room, Erin convinced Miss Henry that she had to give her an exam. As it turned out, her blood pressure was perfect, so was her heart rate. Her reflexes were amazing for a woman her age, and her eyesight was perfect without glasses. “What I think, Miss Henry, is
that your symptoms will disappear once you pick up your activity level. You’ve become too sedentary.”

“No pills?”

Erin shook her head. “Pills would only slow you down.”

“Then tell me, young lady, how I’m supposed to pick up my activity level. I take a walk every day. I clean my house, cook for myself.”

“Get a job,” Erin said in all seriousness.

“You’re as brash as that young man. You know that no one will hire someone my age to work. Besides that, good jobs are scarce in Port Wallace, and I’ll not take anything other than a
good
job.”

“I would hire you. And the job I’m offering is better than anything you could hope to find here.”

Miss Henry’s face registered total surprise. “What kind of job?” she asked suspiciously.

“As a nursing assistant. I’m opening up a hospital in Regina for critically ill children who need long-term care. As a nursing assistant, you would read to them, help them with activities such as dressing, bathing, eating. Push them in wheelchairs if necessary, accompany them on short walks. Play games. Maybe even do some teaching since we’ll have to maintain their schoolwork. It’s all very important work, Miss Henry, and while I know it’s a long bus ride for you, too long to go back and forth every day, what I thought we might do is have you come to Regina and stay in one of the guest cottages for a day or two each week, then return to your home for a few days. Would you be interested?”

“I’d have to think about it,” she said, trying to sound matter-of-fact, when the expression in her eyes revealed so much more.

It was all Erin could do to hold back tears. In a way,
it was like the day her father had first discovered her. At the time, she hadn’t known there was such a long journey ahead, but there had been. And there was for Miss Henry, too, and Miss Henry had just realized it. “You can let me know. Leave a message for me here as soon as you’ve decided, then we’ll work out the details.” She was sure Leron Edward would be more than happy to help with the transportation since one of the things Breeon had mentioned to her was that they’d like to find a way to pay for their medical services. A bus ride every few days would do nicely.

“You do think this will cure my symptoms?” she asked, heading toward the door.

“Miss Henry, I can guarantee that once you keep yourself busier, you’ll feel much better.”

With a curt nod, Francelle Henry exited the exam room, dropping the list of her complaints in the trash can on her way out.

“Well?” Coulson asked, poking his head in the door a moment later.

“List in the trash, and I have a new nursing assistant. It’s been a very good evening.”

“You’re a miracle worker, Red. Miss Henry has been looking for her cure for months, and no one’s been able to figure it out.”

Maybe the ones who tried didn’t know what it was like to be left behind. Age didn’t matter, because emptiness was emptiness, and it was a terrible feeling. Shortly, Miss Henry would have something to fill that emptiness and Erin would have herself one sparky old lady who would be a tremendous asset to the hospital. Miracle, no. But very good.

“T
ADEO’S
running a fever,” Davion shouted through her front door. “Erin, can you hear me? It’s Tadeo.”

She hadn’t been asleep more than an hour. Her shift and a half in the emergency room had gone by surprisingly fast, and she’d loved it. There hadn’t been any real emergencies, but the pace of everyday treatment had stayed consistent for the twelve hours she’d worked, and by the time they’d made the long drive home and she’d crawled into bed, she’d been able to feel it … in her legs, in her lower back, in her shoulders.

“Erin, wake up!”

This time she did, realizing that Davion had an emergency. Pulling on her robe, she flew to the front door.

“He’s burning up. Delirious. I think Pabla must have left him on the steps because when I went over to the clinic to open up this morning, he was there.”

“Where’s Coulson?”

“Off to check on Breeon Edward again. She had a rough night. May be in labor.”

“Give me two minutes to dress, and I’ll be right there.” Two minutes were actually only one, and Erin was running out the door and across the compound as hard and as fast as she’d ever run. Her hair wasn’t combed, she was wearing
last night’s clothes, and none of it mattered.
Tadeo was sick.
Twenty-four hours with Pabla and he was sick.

“Erin?” A voice called to her from across the compound.

She stopped. Spun round. “Dad?” There he was, suitcase in hand, with Mrs Meecham, who was also holding a suitcase.

“I was worried. You didn’t sound right, so I decided we’d better come and see what was going on. See if there was some way I could help you.”

Her dad had always come through for her, and her heart swelled with love just seeing him here. But she didn’t have time for him right now. “Look, Dad, I have an emergency. A very sick little boy … I can’t stop now. Sorry.” With that, she continued her run to the clinic, where she found Tadeo in the first exam room. Davion was removing the bandages from his hands, and even from the door she could smell the vile stench of infection. It had spread so quickly, and she couldn’t even begin to imagine what Pabla had forced him to do to cause that. Her heart immediately clutched, thinking of all the ways this could have happened.

“Skin’s gone purple,” Davion said. “More swelling, green discharge.”

“Probably pseudomonas,” Erin said, running to the shelf to find a pair of gloves.

“In this area, I would suspect
P. mallei,
or
Burkholderia mallei,
as it’s more commonly called. Possibly glanders, too, if he’s come into contact with contaminated soil, water or anything else a sick horse or mule might have touched.” Algernon stepped into the room and, like his daughter, donned a pair of exam gloves. “I think we’re looking at two separate conditions … the infection as the primary problem, with glanders as the result.”

“Glanders,” she murmured. Glanders could cause lung
damage, exacerbate cardiac problems, and it was marked by coughing, fever, runny nose, swollen eyes. Death was possible, and in her opinion Tadeo was nearing death. “I know what the textbooks say on how to treat it, but I’ve never seen it,” she said to her dad.

“Not in Chicago, you wouldn’t have. It’s pretty well limited to certain places in the world now, and then only to the more rural areas. Like this.”

“So it would have entered Tadeo through his burns?”

“And spread. Like wildfire, as they say. The incubation period can be very short, hours maybe, especially if the person infected has another underlying problem.”

Her dad was still so vital, it made her proud. Now all she had to do was convince him that he was badly needed. Maybe this was a start because he was in charge here, the way he should be. No one would ever dispute that. “He also has a heart murmur.”

“Untreated, I’m assuming. Probably no diagnosis of the problem and I’m speculating we don’t know to what degree he’s compromised, if at all. And I’d be willing to wager that he hasn’t had a tetanus shot either.”

The thought of that caused her to cringe. “He’s been medically neglected. His guardian won’t allow medical care, and we haven’t been able to convince her.”

“But he’s here now, so we start the process with him in order to get him well again.”

Spoken with no indecision. It felt so right, having her father back this way. This was, indeed, where he belonged. “Did you hear that, Tadeo? That’s my father, the best doctor in the whole wide world, and he’s going to make you better.”

“He wouldn’t have to if Tadeo being sick hadn’t been such an inconvenience to Pabla in the first place,” Davion
snapped. “But I’m betting that she won’t want anything to do with him now that he’s in this condition.”

Algernon looked at Erin and smiled. “Then it’s a good thing she gave him to those who want him, isn’t it?”

Swallowing back the lump in her throat, Erin turned to Davion as he finished plucking the remaining sheds of bandages from Tadeo’s hands. “He needs oxygen,” she said, and in an instant Davion was out the door on his way to get an oxygen tank.

“He’s also going to need a hospital,” Algernon said. He handed over her stethoscope, the one with her initials engraved on it, the one he’d given her the day she’d graduated from college. “Thought you might like a few of your medical tools.”

She took a quick listen to Tadeo’s chest. It was gurgly with fluid, his heartbeat irregular. Tadeo was dying and there was nothing here that could save him. “The hospital is two hours away, and I don’t think he has much more than two hours in him,” she said.

“Who?” Coulson asked, joining the group in the tiny exam room. He looked down at the exam table, and all the color drained from his face. “Damn,” he muttered, grabbing the wall for support.

Erin went immediately to his side, pushed him gently back into the hall. “He’s infected. Badly. My father thinks it might be glanders …”

“Your father?” he asked, suddenly noticing the older man also standing in the tiny group.

“Tadeo’s heart is compromised, Coulson. He’s having difficulty breathing. Davion’s putting oxygen on him right now, and he’s not responsive. We’ve got to get him to the hospital or—”

“Breeon’s in labor,” he said. “I brought her in with me because it’s going to be soon. Baby hasn’t turned yet, but
I think it’s going to happen. She said you stopped by the other day, gave her some exercises to do?”

Erin shrugged. “Sometimes it works. Anyway, one of us has to go, the other has to stay.”

“I’ll stay,” Algernon volunteered, stepping into the conversation. “I’ll keep that young man, Davion, with me, and Glenda as well.”

“Glenda?” Coulson asked.

“Mrs Meecham,” Erin explained. “She’s a social worker and an old family friend. She’s moving here to work at the hospital with us.”

“The three of us will be able to deliver the baby,” Algernon said. “While the two of you tend to the boy.”

“But, Dad, it might be breech,” Erin protested.

“And how many breech babies have you delivered, young lady?” he asked.

“None.”

“I’ve delivered dozens. So go. You and Dr Coulson go and take care of that boy because he’ll be needing both of you. We’ll take care of things here while you’re gone.”

Coulson looked at her, as if to ask whether Algernon was still fit to work, and she gave him a barely perceptible nod. This was Algernon Glover after all. The most amazing doctor she’d ever known. A lump formed in her throat just thinking about her dad working as a doctor once more. “We will,” she whispered, finally giving her dad the long-overdue hug.

“And, Dr Coulson,” Algernon said, while Erin was still clinging to him, “you tell Serek that you need supplies here. Tell him to give you what’s required and send the bill to me. I know that budgets are tight and medical supplies not in abundant quantity here, but I expect that if my old friend looks hard enough, maybe calls in a few favors, he’ll be able to do something for you. If I’m going to be pressed
into service here from time to time, which it seems I will be, I’ll need better than what you have to offer. Do you hear me, young man?”

“Yes, sir,” Coulson said, sounding almost intimidated.

“Isn’t he something?” Erin said, on her way over to the next room to have a quick chat with Breeon while Coulson readied Tadeo for transport.

“Well, I see where you get it. Like father, like daughter.”

“You think so?” she said, beaming.

“I think so.”

“If that isn’t just about the nicest thing anybody’s ever said to me.” Impulsively, she stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek. “Don’t worry, my dad will take good care of Breeon,” she whispered in his ear.

Mrs Meecham had found her way into Breeon’s room and was holding her hand when Erin came in. “Your timing’s not very good,” she said to Breeon as she gave her old friend a hug.

“I heard the little boy is very ill,” Mrs Meecham said.

“We have to take him to the hospital in Port Wallace. Dad’s going to stay here and look after Breeon.”

“I’ll be fine,” Breeon said. “Pains aren’t too bad yet. Maybe Davion could stay and help me if I need it before you come back.”

“He will, but, like I said, my father is going to be here, too. And he’ll deliver your baby if we don’t get back in time.”

“Has your father done this before?” Breeon asked, her face marked with concern.

“My father is a doctor in the United States. In my opinion, the best doctor in the world. He’s delivered more babies than most doctors, and if your baby stays breech, he can take care of that, too.”

“Will you stay, too?” Breeon asked Mrs Meecham. The bond between the women was already forming.

“I’d love to stay. And what she says about Algernon is true. There’s no finer doctor anywhere.”

“Algernon?” Breeon asked. “Your name is Glover, Erin, so would your father be
the
Algernon Glover?”

Erin nodded.

“It’s a miracle!” Breeon cried, breaking into an ear-to-ear grin. “Meant to be. He’s the doctor who delivered me. My parents were from Alligator Pond, and he was there once, visiting …”

“My grandmother,” Erin supplied.

“Your grandmother?”

Erin nodded. “Odessia Glover.”

“My mother worked for Miss Odessia, in her office. She went into labor and your father was there. He delivered me in that very office. And now he will deliver my baby.” Tears rolled down Breeon’s cheeks. “It’s a miracle that brought you here … all of you. Everything will be fine with me and my baby. Now, go and take care of the little boy.”

Five minutes later, Coulson sat in the backseat of his car holding Tadeo, while Erin drove. Neither of them spoke for a while. Mostly, she concentrated on the road while he concentrated on taking Tadeo’s vital signs and wiping down the boy’s head with cool, wet rags Davion had sent along.

“He’s not going back there,” Coulson finally said. “When we pull him through this, Pabla’s not getting him back. And I don’t care who I have to fight over this.” He meant it. He didn’t care what he had to do, he was never going to let Tadeo go and live with that woman again.

“Davion doesn’t think she’ll want him back,” she said, swerving to avoid a bump. “He doesn’t have much of an
opinion of Pabla anyway, and he’s pretty sure she’d done with Tadeo now. That’s why she brought him to you.”

“Well, let’s hope he’s right, because I’d rather do this the easy way than have to fight her over it.”

“You mean, adopt him?”

He hadn’t thought that far. But, to tell the truth, it sounded right. Him, a father. He glanced down at Tadeo, and his gut churned. A would-be father with one very sick little boy. A little boy who, even after he was over the crisis, would take a long time to completely heal. Yet, in spite of it all, he would adopt him if that option came his way. “Yes, if the magistrate here will grant that.”

“Even though you know how sick he’s going to be for a while? And that his recovery could take months, maybe longer? ”

“Eyes wide open.” He picked up his stethoscope and listened to Tadeo’s chest again.

As Erin glanced back over the seat, that’s when she knew she loved Coulson. Oh, there had been hints, she’d been on the verge of admitting it to herself. But right now, at nine-nineteen in the morning, on a Tuesday, that’s when she knew she did love him with all her heart, when she knew there was no turning back. And the bonus that came with Coulson was Tadeo. In her wildest imaginings she could picture them all as a family, which was odd, because she’d never before considered herself as part of anything other than what she was already a part of. Where she was now, it was safe, and she loved safety. But stepping outside that protective little net? It scared her, especially as Coulson hadn’t so much as cast her an interested glance.

Didn’t matter, though. Not right now, anyway. Her feelings were involved and it was going to take some time for her to get used to them. So it was just as well that he wasn’t
involved in this because, she suspected, she wouldn’t do it very well anyway.

Still, she did love him.

“Not good,” Coulson said, slumping down in the chair in the doctors’ lounge. It was a small, gray room affording doctors only a place to get away from the masses of humanity lining the halls. No luxuries but a coffee pot. Coffee wasn’t always available, but that was fine because, right now, his stomach was already filled with bitter acid. He didn’t need any more to add to it. “They’re going to have to surgically debride his hands, and treating him for the glanders goes without saying. But they’re not sure what’s going to kick it because he’s septic.” Meaning the infection had spread through his bloodstream.

“No,” she gasped. “It happened so fast.”

“And it only gets worse from there.”

She hated asking because she already knew. But the words had to be said aloud because doing so made it a very real problem to deal with, not just one put off in the background somewhere. And Tadeo had a very real problem. “His heart?”

He looked over at her, his eyes answering every question she could possibly ask. The two of them were sitting directly across from each other, their knees practically touching, and she could feel the tension in him even from there. The pressure of it all, the stress, the overwhelming gravity of Tadeo’s condition was so dense in that little room it was nearly sucking out all the oxygen. She could feel it in her lungs, in the way they were fighting her. Coulson felt it too, in that impenetrable blanket of dread slipping down over him. It was there, in the way he moved, the way he sat in the chair, the way he breathed.