Redeeming the Rebel Doc

by Susan Carlisle

  Thankfully shrill sirens filled the air in the distance.

  A person came up behind him. “Can I help?”

  “Yes. I’m a doctor. I want you to stay right here with this lady.” Rex pointed to another person. “When the paramedics get here I want you to show them where this woman is. Do not move the people in the car. Understood?”

  The people nodded.

  Rushing to the next car, he passed the truck driver. He was wobbling on his feet. “Hey, buddy, you need to sit down.” Rex shined the light on him. The man had a gash on his forehead.

  “Rex, I’m here. What can I do?” Tiffani came to a halt beside him.

  “I need you to get this man somewhere he can sit down and see if you can find something to put over the cut. I’ve got to check that other car.”

  He jogged in the direction of the second vehicle. There was no need to worry whether or not Tiffani would take care of the trucker. Rex was confident she would follow his instructions. At least this car was sitting upright. A middle-aged man sat behind the steering wheel. Rex tried the door handle. Tapping on the window, Rex said, “Open the door.”

  The man didn’t look at him.

  Was he in shock? Dead? Rex knocked harder at the window. “Sir, open the door.”

  The man looked at him through glazed eyes. There was a click of the lock. Rex pulled the door open. “Can you tell me what’s wrong?”

  Someone came up behind him. “Let me hold the flashlight.”

  It was Tiffani. He could count on her to know what was needed. Handing it to her without looking back, he checked the man’s pulse. It was erratic.

  “Tiff, help me. We need to get him out of here. Go around to the other side and climb in. Help me get him out far enough that I can get him on the ground. I’m afraid he’s headed for a heart attack.”

  Tiffani did as he instructed. She grunted in her effort to push the heavy man out of the seat. Finally Rex was able to get his arms under the man’s shoulders and pull him from the vehicle. Tiffani rushed back around the car and held the light for him.

  He could kick himself for not putting his emergency bag in Tiffani’s car. Normally he had it on his bike. Placing his ear to the man’s chest, he listened to his heartbeat and checked his pulse. It was unsteady, but there. The man needed immediate medical attention as well.

  There wasn’t enough of him to go around. Too many seriously injured. “Anyone here know CPR?” he asked the crowd behind him.

  “I do,” a woman said, coming forward.

  “Then you stay here with this man. If he stops breathing you start CPR. I’ll be right over there. You...” he pointed to a man “...go meet the paramedics and tell them they have a possible cardiac arrest. Tiffani, come with me.”

  Not asking any questions, she followed him. She stumbled, and he caught her before she went down. “Careful, I don’t need you hurt too.”

  They returned to the woman in the first car. To his relief, the ambulance pulled up with lights flashing and sirens blaring.

  “Tiffani, hold the light right there for me. I need to examine this woman.” Rex placed his fingers on the artery in the woman’s neck. All he was getting was a faint response. It was lighter than before. He felt over her chest to her midsection.

  A brighter light than the one Tiffani was using shone over his shoulder, giving him a better view of the woman.

  The paramedics came up behind him. He stood. “I’m Dr. Rex Maxwell. The best I can determine is that she has internal bleeding. Her husband and two children are in there as well. The man over there...” he pointed “...is having cardiac issues.”

  * * *

  Tiffani stepped back from the car so as not to block the light. It turned out it was the light from a news camera.

  A woman she recognized as a reporter at a local station came up beside her. “Who is that guy?”

  For a second Tiffani didn’t understand what the woman was talking about. “He’s a doctor.”

  The reporter said, “We were only a few cars back when the accident happened, and started filming as soon as we got here. He’s been amazing. A real hero.”

  Tiffani’s mind shifted gears to her job. “That’s Dr. Rex Maxwell, a surgeon at Metropolitan Hospital.”

  “He’s been a lifesaver here tonight.” Tiffani didn’t miss the awe in the woman’s voice.

  As if on cue, Rex carried a child over to the ambulance and set him down. Tiffani glanced at the cameraman. He was focused on Rex and the camera was rolling. What would it hurt to give the newswoman a few choice tidbits about Rex? He might not like it but Tiffani still had a campaign to run. “Did you know he’s the go-to general surgeon for west Tennessee? They find him indispensable over at the Metropolitan.”

  “Really?” The woman was obviously enthralled with Rex. “I’m going to have to get an interview with him.”

  A policeman approached and told them all to get out of the accident scene area. Tiffani was almost to the car when Rex jogged up.

  “All the injured are going to Metro. I’m going to ride in with the woman. She’ll need surgery right away. You good to get home by yourself?”

  “Of course.” She liked it that Rex worried about her but she’d been taking care of herself for a long time. “I’ll be fine.”

  He gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “I’ll call you.”

  Tiffani watched as he ran back into the thick of things. She couldn’t help but be proud of him. He was her hero. And tomorrow he would be the city’s.

  * * *

  Rex pulled his surgical cap off and dropped it into the bag hanging on a stand. It had been a long night. He’d been asked to scrub in when he’d arrived at the hospital. The woman had coded on the way in. It had taken everyone to keep her alive long enough to get her into the OR. There was a slim hope she’d make it through the night.

  Now he was going to go home and get some sleep, then give Tiffani a call and invite her over for dinner. He smiled. And dessert. The sweet kind only she could provide.

  “Hey, Rex, how does it feel to be the man of the hour? You hiding a red cape under those scrubs?” one of the doctors coming into surgery asked.

  “Uh?”

  He grinned even wider, “You haven’t seen the news this morning, have you?”

  “No, I’ve been in the OR until ten minutes ago. What’re you talking about?” Rex was starting to get a nasty feeling in his gut.

  “Go out in the waiting room and have a look at the TV. They’re even talking about you on social media. My wife texted me to see if I knew the doctor everyone was talking about.”

  Rex strode to the waiting room. Thankfully it was empty. He didn’t have to wait to find out what was going on. There, in living color, was a video of him carrying the boy to the ambulance. He had offered to help and the paramedic had handed him the kid. The next clip was of him on his hands and knees beside the window of the other car involved. How had they gotten those pictures?

  A knot formed in his chest. Anger roiled, feeding his suspicion. Tiffani. Would she do anything to get the publicity she needed? The picture moved to a woman holding a microphone, who was talking to Tiffani. She was talking about him. She had no excuse for not knowing how he would feel about taking advantage of the tragedy. How could she have done it? Because all she could think about was that promotion, about PR, about appearances. Just like his parents. Do whatever you can to get what you want, even if it hurts others.

  Less than thirty minutes later he pulled his motorcycle in behind Tiffani’s car parked in the driveway of her condo. Jerking his helmet off, he laid it on the seat and stomped to her door, not bothering with the bell, instead hammering on it. He didn’t care who he woke.

  Seconds later the lock clicked. Tiffani, dressed in her robe, opened the door and hissed, “What’s wrong with you? It’s early.”

  Rex pushed his way
in and slammed the door behind him. He had to give her credit. She didn’t even step back. “How could you? Does your job mean so much to you that you don’t care about anyone else? Not even a family who almost lost a wife and mother?”

  “You saw it?” She walked into the living area where her TV was turned to the morning news channel.

  He followed on her heels. At least there was some contrition in her voice. “You bet I did. After I’ve spent hours in the OR, trying to save the woman’s life, I came out to that nonsense.”

  “How is she?” Tiffani looked at him.

  “Like you care.”

  She flinched. For a fleeting second he had compassion for her. He lowered his voice. “All you’re interested in is getting your promotion. What did you do? Call the news?”

  “They were already there. Not far behind us on the road. The reporter came up to me. They had already been filming you. I just told them your name and where you worked.”

  His eyes bored into hers. “And you knew good and well how I’d feel about that.”

  “I had an idea, but it was too good an opportunity to pass up, Rex. You were a hero last night. If you hadn’t helped those people, they could have died.”

  “You’re just like my parents. Trying to dress things up to look a certain way when they’re not. I’m a doctor, I care for people. That’s my job. My calling. I don’t do it so I can be a hero on the morning news. Don’t make me into something I’m not.”

  She put her hands out, palms up as if pleading with him. “But the coverage was important—”

  “Why? So you can get a promotion and run away from a jerk who was never good enough for you to begin with?” he spat.

  “Run away?” She made a step toward him. “You’re one to be talking. You run every day from who you were. You did a complete role reversal so you don’t have to remember how much it hurt to be rejected from your old life. And you’re blaming everyone else for feeling that way. I bet you don’t even see your parents but maybe once a year! Yet, from all I can tell, outside of them trying to live the good life, they loved you. They cared for you.”

  “Don’t put your issues on me just because you act like this strong, assertive woman, but when you get around your father you become a child who’ll do anything to make him happy. The problem is you can’t. He uses his disability to control you. You can’t see he’s eaten up with bitterness and that if you don’t get away soon, one day you will be too.”

  Her shoulders reared back as if he had slapped her. “How dare you!”

  “I dare because it’s the truth. Have you ever thought that he might have learned to walk on artificial legs if you hadn’t waited on him hand and foot? He demanded attention. You gave it to him. You’re still giving it. Granted, you were a child, but he should’ve been man enough to know better than to put that guilt trip on you. All that stuff about doctors is to cover up his fault in the accident. You ask him. I bet he was driving too fast. Had been drinking. Not paying attention to the road. You and I both know his doctors saved his life.”

  “If you’re done psychoanalyzing me and my father, you need to go.” Tiffani circled around him and got as far from him as the space would allow. She held the door wide.

  He gave her a pointed look. “I’m going, but I won’t be anyone’s pawn. I am through with your crusade. I’ll let Nelson know. You do your thing without me. Goodbye, Ms. Romano.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  REX’S FINAL WORDS had rerun over and over in her mind like a bad film for days. He’d called her by her last name. When he’d said goodbye that was what he’d meant. Not only to the campaign but to her. She’d thought she’d been hurt before by a breakup but that pain came nowhere near the searing agony she was feeling now. Just getting out of bed was torture. The only relief she found was sleep but there was precious little of that. The dreams were too intense. She woke aching for Rex. It was both a pleasure and a pain to see his smiling face on the billboards around town.

  Dr. Nelson had called the next day to inform her Rex would no longer be required to participate in the campaign. She had no idea how Rex had explained the situation and she hadn’t asked. Despite Dr. Nelson’s announcement, he seemed genuinely pleased with her progress. That news coverage of the accident scene had boosted the hospital’s image in the public’s eyes—and destroyed any chance she had at happiness.

  She had fallen in love with Rex.

  But she had hurt him. Worse, disappointed him. She couldn’t take it back. Didn’t know how to fix it. All she knew to do was accept the promotion she had been offered for her successful campaign, move away and hope to start anew. There would never be another Rex. Just a hole in her heart where the piece he held belonged. Had he been right to accuse her of running away by chasing the promotion to the other office? She’d never thought of herself as a coward. If she could endure losing Rex, then she shouldn’t have any difficulty facing Lou every day at work. After all, she did deserve better than him. She’d let Lou treat her like her father did. That wasn’t a healthy relationship. For a boyfriend or a father. It was time to make changes in her life.

  * * *

  That Sunday when she visited her father she entered his room with her head held high. It was time for him to start taking responsibility for his actions and his life.

  “Baby girl. There you are.”

  She didn’t pull up a chair. Instead she chose to stand. “Hi, Daddy. How’s your hand?”

  He waved it at her. He no longer wore a bandage. “Much better. Even though that quack looked at it.”

  “You’re not going to talk about Rex that way around me. If you do I won’t be coming to see you anymore,” she said tightly, holding her father’s shocked gaze.

  “But you know how those doctors are.”

  She did. The one she loved was giving, caring and dedicated. “Daddy, you never really told me what caused your accident.”

  Her father looked uncomfortable and turned his gaze away from her. “Why do you want to know now? That was a long time ago.”

  “It was but I’d still like to know.” She used her most encouraging tone.

  “I was on the way home from work. I came through a curve and the bike came out from under me.” He repeated the words as if it was a rehearsed statement.

  “You didn’t stop on the way home? You used to tell me you stopped by Charlie’s for a drink sometimes.” She watched him closely. His eyes shadowed.

  “I might have. I don’t really remember.”

  Tiffani could tell he did. “It had been raining that day.”

  “How do you know that?” he said with uncharacteristic quietness.

  “Because I couldn’t go out to play. I ran to the door when the policeman rang the bell.”

  “Ah.” He nodded, still not meeting her look.

  Rex had been right. There was more to the story than what her father wanted to admit to.

  “Dad, I think it’s time you think about getting some help. Use your wheelchair more. Get outside some. Talk to other people.”

  There was moisture in his eyes. “What’s going on?”

  “It’s time for you to take responsibility for yourself. I’m not going to enable you anymore. I’m not coming to see you for a while. I think we both need a little time to think.”

  “That’s fine with me. I don’t need you,” he spat.

  “Bye, Dad.” She sighed. “I’ll see you in a few weeks.”

  Tiffani walked down the hall with her shoulders straight but that had been one of the hardest things she had ever done. She’d hated to do it but it had needed to be done. She and her father needed space from one another.

  Tiffani stopped by the attendants’ desk and told the woman there, “I just wanted to let you know I won’t be coming in for a while. My dad needs to learn to deal with things on his own.”

  The woman gave her a wry smi
le. “I couldn’t agree more.”

  “Thanks for taking care of his hand. It looks much better,” Tiffani said.

  “It does. I told Dr. Maxwell that as well just yesterday.”

  Rex had been checking in on her father? Even after the way her father had treated him?

  “Bye,” she told the woman, and hurried out of the building before she broke down in sobs.

  * * *

  Rex had worked himself to the point of exhaustion for over a week now. That was the only way he could get any sleep. Still, those hours weren’t restful ones. He missed Tiffani. The worst thing he could have ever done was invite her up to his place. Now, wherever he looked he thought of her, even when washing his clothes.

  As soon as he had made it home that morning after seeing Tiffani, he had phoned Nelson. He was excited about the TV report but his joy vanished when Rex told him in no uncertain terms that he wouldn’t be continuing as part of the PR campaign. If the hospital didn’t want him for his skills he would go elsewhere. Nelson assured him the hospital didn’t want to lose him. When he asked what the problem was, Rex just told him that he and Ms. Romano could no longer agree on how much of his time could be diverted from surgery for the sake of the campaign.

  He felt betrayed. She’d chosen her career over him. Once again, someone he cared about had placed their own wants and needs ahead of anything else.

  His job was to help people, not create material for great PR. He’d done his best by Mr. Royster and it had come back to bite him. He was trying to do the right thing for the people in the High Water neighborhood, but what if somehow that turned into a negative too? He hoped not. Surely Tiffani wouldn’t use the clinic like that.

  But now, after calming down, he couldn’t help but wonder if she had been right. Was he doing the same thing as she was? Running? He wouldn’t have ever believed he was doing that, but now...

  Were his hair, clothes and motorcycle all a show? How was his determination to present a specific image to the world any different from what his parents had done? They’d worn clothes for who they wanted to be, had lived the lifestyle they’d wanted. Where they had messed up had been failing to create a plan to prevent it all from one day crashing down on them. Was his blind determination to be an individual with no pretensions causing him to push away the one person he wanted in his life?