Читать книгу The Doctor's Cowboy - Trish Milburn - Страница 11
ОглавлениеWyatt flipped through the channels on the TV for what had to be the tenth time. Still nothing remotely interesting. He was beginning to look forward to a nurse coming to check his vitals just so he’d have something to do.
As if the cosmos had heard his plea, someone walked into his room. Fate had taken pity on him because it was pretty Dr. Brody. She glanced at the TV, where he’d paused on some sort of infomercial for jewelry cleaner, and smiled.
“Got a lot of silver you need to clean?”
He flicked off the TV. “Daytime TV is garbage.”
“Yeah, sorry we don’t have any decent movie channels.”
“Is it possible to die of boredom?”
She lifted his chart from the end of the bed. “Afraid not, though I’m sure it feels that way.” She made a couple of notations on the chart before returning it to its previous spot.
“So, I think I’ve figured out your name.”
“That so?” Dr. Brody walked around to the side of his bed and checked the fluids in his IV bags.
“Yeah. You look like a Carly.”
“Swing and a miss.”
“Christa.”
“Nope.”
When he started to guess again, she shook her head. “Only two guesses a day.”
He lifted a brow. “Just how long do you think I’m going to be in here?”
“That’s partly up to Dr. Pierce.” She pointed toward the IV bags. “But we’ll start gradually lowering the dosage on these as well as the painkiller.”
“So what do I get when I guess your name?”
A hint of a smile tugged at the edge of her mouth. “The satisfaction of a mystery solved.”
He laughed a little, and damn if it didn’t hurt his middle. “You must have gone to the medical school where they teach doctors to have an actual personality.”
“Oh, this is all me, there way before med school.”
“Naturally quick with comebacks, huh?”
“That’s what happens when you grow up with brothers. Couldn’t beat them up, couldn’t outrun them, but I could win in a smart-mouth contest any day.”
She shifted as if leaving already, and he caught himself just before he reached out and grabbed her arm. “Seriously, when can I get out of this place?”
Her light demeanor fell away. “You sustained significant injuries. If that horn had cut a little deeper, you might not be talking to me right now. You’d at the very best be feeling a lot worse. So you need to give your body time to repair itself.”
“That’s not a definite answer.”
“Because I don’t know a definite answer. It depends on how quickly and how well your injuries begin to heal.”
Frustration welled up within him. He was not good at lying around doing nothing, especially when he was pretty sure he’d exhausted his limited health-care coverage by the time he rolled out of surgery.
“Is there anyone we can call to let them know you’re here?” she asked. “Having visitors would make the days go by more quickly.”
He shook his head. Even if he were back in Wyoming, there wasn’t anyone close enough that he’d be able to call them up and have them sit in a hospital with him.
“Tell you what. I’m done with my rounds in a few minutes. I’ll bring you some magazines, maybe a crossword puzzle book. That will help pass the time until something decent comes on TV tonight.”
“Any chance I can at least go sit outside?”
He had to give her credit. She looked genuinely sorry when she shook her head. “Not yet.”
He was going to go stark-raving mad.
“I know it stinks. But I’ll be back with some issues of Woman’s Day before you know it.”
“You are evil,” he said, at least thankful that she was personable and he had her brief visits to look forward to.
“Who, me? I’m an angel.” She pretended to buff an invisible halo before laughing a little and heading for the door. “Hang in there, cowboy.”
She knew his name, but there was something about the way she called him “cowboy” that he liked. Still, part of him enjoyed imagining her saying his name right before he kissed those pink lips. Yeah, he’d been daydreaming about his doctor. That’s what happened when you were full of stitches, unable to get out of bed and had way too many hours of staring at the wall. Not to mention not having been on a date in a while.
Wyatt was pretty sure the minutes slowed after she left. He stared out the narrow window, but the view of the empty helipad lost his interest pretty quickly. He closed his eyes and tried to think of every possible female name that started with a C. He wanted to know the doc’s name, but he sure didn’t want to stay in the hospital long enough to guess it. Maybe he’d get lucky tomorrow. He settled on the two most likely choices then was left with nothing to do again. He finally resorted to turning on the TV and found an older-than-dirt action movie. It wasn’t a great film, but it was better than resorting to counting the divots in the ceiling tiles.
He was beginning to wonder how the movie even got made when Dr. Brody returned, the promised magazines in hand. He muted the TV as she placed the magazines on the rolling table and pushed it close so he could reach it.
“I behaved,” she said as he sifted through the stack of magazines. One about hunting and fishing, another about cars, Sports Illustrated and... “Mostly.”
He laughed at the copy of Cosmopolitan. “Maybe it’ll help me figure out how women’s minds work.”
“You mean you don’t think you know that already?”
“There’s not a man alive who’s figured that out.”
“Maybe you all just aren’t observant enough.”
Wyatt shook his head, not going down that road filled with land mines. “Thanks for the magazines.”
She reached into her coat pocket, pulled out a candy bar and set it beside the magazines and the crossword puzzle book. “Figured this might come in handy, too.”
“You were in my head.”
“No, I just see what passes for dessert here.”
Thunder rumbled outside, drawing their attention to the window. It had grown dark out, even though it was still a few hours from nightfall. Wyatt noticed that a weather broadcast had broken in on the movie. The radar image was several shades of red with lots of indications of lightning strikes.
“That doesn’t look good,” he said.
Dr. Brody sighed. “Just in time for my drive home.”
“Guess you’ll have to stay here until it passes.” When she glanced at him, he winked at her.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you ordered the storm.”
“If I had that much power, I’d heal myself so I could get out of this awful bed. My back feels like I fell off a building.”
“Here, let’s see if we can do something about that.” She crossed to the other side of the room, where an empty bed sat awaiting another unfortunate hospital guest. She grabbed a pillow and stepped close to his side. “Carefully lean forward.”
He bit his lip to keep from wincing, but then his breath caught for a different reason. Dr. Brody grasped his shoulder as she tucked the pillow so that it stretched from his lower back to his shoulders. She stood close enough that he could smell her feminine scent, something flowery but not overwhelming.
“You smell nice.”
She stopped moving for a moment, and he thought he heard her breath catch, too. But when she eased him back against the pillow and took a step away, she smiled.
“Well, you’re used to smelling antiseptic and bleach,” she said, deflecting his compliment.
A loud crash of thunder that sounded as if it were right above his room caused her to jump. Right on the heels of the thunder, the sky opened up and released a deluge of rain. In the space of a couple of seconds, the helipad became obscured.
“Even Mother Nature thinks you should stay and keep me company,” he said.
“Since I didn’t bring my canoe to work, I think you’re right.”
He was actually sort of surprised when the doc pulled up a chair and propped her feet on the end of his bed.
“So, Wyatt Kelley, tell me something about yourself.”
“Not much to tell.”
“Everyone has a story.”
“And some of them aren’t all that interesting. What about you?”
“What do you want to know?”
“Your name.”
She smiled, and he spotted a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Nice try.”
“Okay, are you originally from Blue Falls?”
“Yep, born and raised on a ranch outside of town. My turn. Where are you from?”
“Laramie, Wyoming.”
“Long way from home.”
He shrugged, irked that even that slight motion sent a twinge through his injured side. “Not really. I mainly live on the road.”
“Traveling from rodeo to rodeo.”
He nodded.
“I don’t know how you guys do that, especially climbing onto bulls. My younger brother did rodeo for a while, but he was a roper. At least he wasn’t cheating death every time he got in the chute.”
“Most of the time I don’t even think about it.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. I’ve been around rodeo all my life. It’s nothing out of the ordinary.”
Dr. Brody shook her head slowly. “Maybe all of you have just had one too many concussions to know better.”
“Maybe, but the crowds love it. We crazy bull riders help to bring people in to events like your town’s rodeos.”
“Yeah, but I end up patching you guys up. Do you all have contests to see who can get the most broken bones or stitches in a year?”
“No, but maybe I should start that bet. I’d have a good chance of winning.”
She snorted a little laugh that told him just what she thought of that idea.
Another loud boom of thunder set off a car alarm outside, and in the next moment the electricity went out. Dr. Brody immediately jumped to her feet and headed for the door, but before she got there the backup generators kicked in.
“Be back in a bit,” she said then disappeared.
He listened to the flurry of footsteps out in the hall, as the staff checked on patients to make sure all the necessary monitors and equipment were operating correctly. Wyatt glanced at the TV and realized the angriest part of the storm sat right smack on top of Blue Falls. After a storm like this, there would no doubt be necessary cleanup. If only he weren’t a prisoner of his injuries, maybe he could pick up a couple days of work. Lord knew his wallet could always use the extra cash.
That thought took him back to Dr. Brody’s comments about how he put his life in danger every time he settled himself atop a bull. But it was all he knew beyond basic manual labor. Maybe he could have done something else if he’d applied himself, but rodeo had gotten into his blood early and he’d not thought much beyond it. Good damn thing that bull two nights ago hadn’t done anything that was irreparable.
But what if it had? He’d be totally screwed.
Maybe he needed to think about a plan for when his rodeo days were over. Even the best of the best had to quit riding sometime. If he started chatting up some of his contacts now, maybe he could plant the seed that would grow into some sort of rodeo-related job after he quit riding. Maybe he’d even follow in his grandfather’s footsteps and become an announcer.
But that was down the road. All he needed to do now was heal enough to escape this damn bed and get back on the road. He was losing precious time, points and money, none of which he could afford.
Dr. Brody stayed gone so long that he’d begun to think maybe she’d headed home. He hoped not, and not just because he liked her company. The storm hadn’t slackened much. Even he would have pulled over in this mess and let it pass. He might ride bulls for a living, but that wasn’t as dangerous as driving when you couldn’t see the road in front of you.
Using the dim light above his bed, he started flipping through the fishing-and-hunting magazine. He honestly wasn’t much for hunting, but he liked the solitude and quiet of a morning of fishing. He had a lot of fond memories of fly-fishing with his grandfather on the Laramie and North Platte Rivers, outings he often wished he could relive just once.
Not wanting to travel down memory lane, he tossed the magazine back onto the table and looked at the TV screen. It appeared the storm was moving quickly. As if to confirm that observation, the rain subsided outside. He shifted his focus to the doorway and watched as people walked back and forth, but none of them were the person he wanted to see. He’d barely had that thought when she popped her head in the door.
“I’m going to see if I can float home now. Behave yourself.” She gestured toward the magazines. “And good luck figuring out the mysteries of the female mind.”
He snorted. “I’ll settle for figuring out your name. I’m confident I’ll get it right tomorrow. I’ve got two good guesses ready to go.”
“You’ll have to hang on to them. I’m off for the next couple of days.”
Wyatt’s heart sank. The days were long and boring enough without her brief visits. What the devil was he going to look forward to without them?
“Then I get six guesses when you come back.”
She smiled. “You’ll need them.”
Wyatt tried to occupy himself with some more channel surfing and reading the magazines. He even pulled out the crossword-puzzle book and worked a few. But his mind wandered and he started writing down all the C names he could think of down the margin of one of the puzzles.
When a nurse came in after the shift change that evening, he chatted her up a little before springing the question uppermost in his mind. “Hey, could you tell me what Dr. Brody’s first name is?”
“Sure,” she said with a smile that made her eyes twinkle. “It’s Chloe.” The nurse lowered her voice. “Don’t tell the other docs, but she’s our favorite.”
His, too.
He waited until the nurse, Sophie, left the room before he let his mind fix on the lovely doctor’s name. Chloe. It fit her. But with his curiosity satisfied, there was no way he was going to give her the correct answer. For however long he was stuck here, he needed something to look forward to. And if “guessing” the wrong names kept Chloe coming back, he’d toss every crazy name he could at her.
He smiled and felt better than he had since she’d left.
* * *
AFTER WORKING A bit more at the clinic, Chloe raced to her car through the still falling rain. Once inside, she wiped the water from her face and smoothed back her wet hair. She stared at the rivulets streaming down the windshield. She’d done it. When she’d awakened from the dream about Wyatt being her husband and kissing her as if it were the end of time, she’d doubted she’d be able to face him without blushing so brightly she’d be mistaken for a solar flare.
She’d considered avoiding him and asking Dr. Pierce to check on him instead. It wouldn’t be unusual for the surgeon to do a post-op visit. She’d even been on the verge of calling Dr. Pierce before she’d caught herself, chastised herself for being so silly. She rarely turned away from a challenge or obstacle, so she wasn’t about to let an admittedly very nice dream about a sexy cowboy send her running.
Though she’d been antsy when she arrived at his room, the feeling had quickly faded when she’d found him looking more bored than she could recall ever seeing anyone. She’d nearly laughed and felt sorry for him at the same time. During her one hospitalization for pneumonia, when she’d been thirteen, she’d been bored out of her mind, too, and she’d had family and friends visiting her and keeping her company.
Wyatt was a thousand miles from home, stuck in a town where he knew no one, unable to even get out of bed. That had to suck for a guy like him, always on the go. He was the poster child for someone who could use a friend right now. And it wasn’t the first time she’d spent extra time with a patient she felt needed it. The other doctors called her a softie. Chloe had decided long ago she could live with that label. To her, it was way better than becoming so detached that patients became a list of symptoms on case files instead of people with hopes and fears and who would rather be anywhere than in a hospital bed.
She started the car and headed home through the rain that was letting up even more. Her thoughts drifted back to when she was a child, when she would hang out at the hospital while her mom was at work there. Her mother had been a nursing assistant, but she’d been great with the patients, calming them, making them laugh, gifting them with a smiling face and a sympathetic ear.
Chloe’s memories settled on Beatrice Collins, a tiny slip of an old woman who’d been in the hospital back when Chloe had been about eight years old. Even though it’d been more than two decades since then, Chloe could still remember how very alone Beatrice had looked in her bed. The sad part was that she’d had family. They simply hadn’t come to see her. Chloe’s mom had done what she could to cheer up the older woman, but Beatrice had still died alone in the hospital. Chloe remembered her mother being upset about it, not so much that Beatrice had died but that she’d been so lonely in her final days. Chloe could still hear her mother saying, “I think she died of a broken heart as much as anything.”
She hadn’t thought of Beatrice in a long time, but the image wouldn’t leave her. Wyatt was out of the woods now and otherwise young and healthy even if he did wear the scars of his trade. Even so, she found herself pulling into a parking space in front of the Primrose Café. Before she could talk herself into driving on home like any sensible person, she got out of her car, walked inside and proceeded to order two meals to go. While she waited, she texted Garrett to let him know the Brody men were on their own tonight without telling them why.
By the time her order was ready, the rain had moved out. A sliver of the sun setting in the west had found a crack in the clouds and spread out its rays as if comforting the landscape after the storm. She took a deep breath of the rain-scented air before slipping back into her car and retracing the route to the hospital.
Luckily, the staff seemed to be busy elsewhere as she made her way down the hallway and into Wyatt’s room. “Did you miss me?”
He looked up from where he was reading the Sports Illustrated and scrunched his forehead in concentration. “Who are you again?”
She lifted an eyebrow at him. “Just for that, I’m taking this chicken-fried steak to someone who will appreciate it.” She spun toward the door.
“Wait. Don’t tease a guy like that.”
Chloe turned halfway toward him and lifted one of the takeout containers. “So you do want this?”
“I don’t care if you have a gas-station hot dog in there. It’s got to be better than the food here.”
She honestly felt sorry for the cafeteria workers. They no doubt worked hard and got no love. Still, facts were facts. Hospital food was, as a general rule, dreadful.
Chloe placed both meals on the rolling table, which Wyatt had positioned in front of him. “Scoot.” She motioned for him to move his legs so she could sit on the edge of his bed.
Wyatt opened his container and inhaled deeply. “Will you marry me?”
Chloe froze for a moment before forcing herself to laugh. She hoped he didn’t notice the jolt that went through her at his joking proposal. What was it with Wyatt and all these references to marriage? She seriously needed to get a grip. Just because she’d decided maybe it was time to start her own family before she was too old did not mean she had to latch on to the first guy who crossed her path. Sure, he was good-looking—really good-looking—but you couldn’t base a relationship on looks alone, even if that person didn’t live his life on the road cheating death most of the year.
Remembering that she hadn’t made any sort of response to his “proposal,” Chloe shook her head and opened her plastic utensils. “I think you might have that concussion after all.”
Thankfully, he didn’t pursue the topic, instead diving into his meal as if he hadn’t eaten in days. Maybe he hadn’t had a decent dinner in a long time. She’d been around enough rodeo cowboys, especially the ones who weren’t at the top of the rankings, to know they didn’t have enough cash to toss toward pricey food.
“So, what’s life like in Wyoming? I’ve never been there.”
He shrugged, and she saw the wince that motion caused.
“Probably not much different than here, just a lot colder in the winter.”
“How’d you get into bull riding?”
“Looked like fun.”
Chloe stopped eating and stared at him. “You’re going to make me work hard for every scrap of information, aren’t you?”
He met her gaze. “Frustrating, isn’t it?”
She knew he was talking about her first name. “Fair point.”
He took another bite of his gravy-covered chicken-fried steak and chased it with a drink of tea. She’d just taken a bite of her green beans when he spoke again.
“My grandpa was a rodeo announcer, so I was around rodeo from the time I was young. Can’t really say why I chose bull riding other than I was full of myself, thought I could do anything.”
“How long have you been riding? I can tell you’ve had several broken bones and probably more cuts and bruises than you can count.”
“Since I was thirteen in junior rodeo.”
“I still can’t believe they let kids ride bulls.”
“They’re not the rank ones you see in rodeos like the other night.”
“They’re still bulls with horns that can do damage.”
“Have to learn sometime. Is it any different than being a doctor? When did you know that’s what you wanted to do?”
She stared at him then sighed. “You need to stop making valid points.”
He laughed and winced again.
“Are your injuries causing you pain? We can look at the dosage of the painkillers again.”
Wyatt shook his head. “No, nothing I can’t handle. I want off those drugs as soon as possible.” The intensity of his words caused her to look at him more closely. Had he experienced a problem with painkillers in the past?
They ate in silence for a couple of minutes before she noticed Wyatt was watching her.
“What?”
“I was wondering why you decided to come back.”
This time, she was the one to shrug. “I’ve worked here long enough to know how incredibly long and boring the days can be when you’re stuck in the hospital. It’s as if time moves slower inside these walls.”
“That’s perceptive.”
She smiled then wiped the edge of her mouth with her napkin. “I like to think I’m a bit smarter than the average bear.”
“Guess you’d have to be to become a doctor.”
“It’s certainly not easy. There were times when I didn’t think I could cram one more medical fact in my head or it would explode or start oozing out my ears.”
“Nice image.”
She gave a little bow. “Thank you, thank you very much.”
“You make a habit of this, then?”
“I’ve been known to spend extra time with patients, watch a movie or two, hand out cupcakes from time to time. I’m probably too softhearted.”
“No, it’s great. More doctors should be that way.”
“There are lots of doctors who care or they wouldn’t be doing what they’re doing, especially in small communities like this.”
“But do they bring their patients dinner or sit and watch TV with them?”
“Well, no, but I understand the need for distance, especially if you want a long career. Lots of people we see don’t make it, and it carves a little part out of you if you’ve allowed yourself to get close to them.”
“But you do it anyway.”
Chloe twirled her fork in her mashed potatoes. “I can’t seem to help it.”
When Wyatt didn’t say anything in response, she looked up to find him staring at her as if he’d just stumbled upon the eighth wonder of the world. He seemed to realize he was staring and shifted his gaze back to his food.
“I’m surprised a doctor would bring me fried food.”
“You shouldn’t eat it every day, but sometimes you just need comfort food. Like when I get sick, I’m going to eat some chicken and dumplings, carbs be damned.”
When they both finished their meals, Chloe tossed the containers in the trash. She didn’t resume her seat on the edge of the bed, but she picked up the crossword book and flipped through the pages. Wyatt had already completed a dozen of the puzzles.
“Don’t look so surprised,” he said.
“What?”
He pointed toward the book. “You looked surprised I’d done any of those.”
“You just haven’t had the book that long.”
“And a rodeo cowboy should have a lot harder time with it?”
She set the book down on the table and crossed her arms. “That is not what I meant at all. For all I know, there are Mensa members who ride bucking horses and chess champions who do tie-down roping. I think lots of people have hidden talents.”
“What’s yours?” He appeared to be having a hard time hiding a mischievous grin.
“I’ll have you know that I’m the family Scrabble champ and have been since I was twelve.”
“Yeah? Maybe you should broaden your competition.”
“Is that a challenge, Mr. Kelley?”
“Only if you’re willing to accept it, Dr. Brody.”
“Then I guess you’ll have to do everything you’re told so you can get better and we can have a Scrabble duel before you leave.” She took a step back from the side of Wyatt’s bed. “And speaking of leaving, I really am going home this time.”
“If you’re bored on your days off, you know where I’ll be.”
She couldn’t help but smile. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
When she stepped out of the room, she nearly collided with Sophie, who was wearing a too-happy smile. “Dr. Brody.”
Chloe did her best not to utter an “oh, crap” at how loaded those two words from Sophie’s mouth were. She remembered their earlier conversation about the matchmaking pool and wondered if she’d just opened herself up to a full-on assault by Verona Charles and her determination to make sure everyone in Blue Falls got paired up to live happily ever after.
Perhaps the bigger danger was how much a part of Chloe liked that idea.
