He knocked on the exam room door with more force than necessary. There were patients to see.
Wednesday afternoon he and Shay were on their way to see patients after lunch when Sheree met them in the hallway.
“Matt, Mr. Clayton is here requesting to see you.”
He looked at Shay. People didn’t request to see him. They usually asked for Shay. “Who? Oh, yeah, the man who hurt his hand the first week I was here.”
“Yes, that’s the one.” Sheree pointed to exam room two. “He’s in there.”
“I’ll see him right now.”
“I’d like to see him too, if it’s all right with him,” Shay said from behind Matt.
“I’ll ask and see. Make sure it isn’t something he’d rather see a male doctor about.” Matt knocked on the door and entered.
Mr. and Mrs. Clayton stood with wide smiles on their faces. “We wanted to come by and say thank you.”
“Thank you?” What were they talking about?
“For saving my hand.” Mr. Clayton raised his bandaged hand.
“You’re welcome.” Matt couldn’t help but be impressed they had stopped in just to see him. “Dr. Lunsford would like to see you too if that’s okay?”
“Sure,” the man said in his deep, gravelly voice.
Matt went to the door. “Come in. They’re just here for a friendly visit.”
Shay entered. “It’s good to see you, Mr. Clayton. How’s the hand doing?”
“Dr. Roper says it’s doing great thanks to Dr. Chapman. They tell me I might have lost it altogether if it hadn’t been for Dr. Chapman.”
Embarrassment filled Matt at all the praise. “Do you mind if we have a look at your hand, Mr. Clayton?”
“Not at all.”
Matt sat on the rolling stool while Mr. Clayton took a seat on the exam table and Mrs. Clayton took the chair. Shay stood beside him. She handed him a pair of scissors.
As Matt removed the bandage he said, “Your surgeon has kept us posted on how you have been doing. He’s pleased with the results.” Matt finished taking the gauze off and dropped them in the garbage can.
Gently, he took Mr. Clayton’s hand in the palm of his and studied it. Shay stepped close behind him and looked over his shoulder. The mangled skin would be scarred but otherwise the hand looked as if it would recover well. “Can you move your fingers for me?”
Mr. Clayton moved the tips of his fingers. “I’ve been told it’ll need some physical therapy but that I should get the majority of the use back.”
“That’s wonderful to hear.”
Shea put her hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
“It does look good. I’ll get the supplies and get this wrapped up again for you.” Matt pushed back from the exam table.
“I’ll do that,” Shay said. She went to the cabinet and started pulling out what was needed.
Mrs. Clayton picked up a large basket filled with fresh vegetables that had been sitting on the floor and handed it to him. “These are for you as a thank-you. They’re from our garden. Jim is known for his tomatoes.”
Matt had received casseroles and pies but for some reason this simple gift meant more. This was the first time he’d ever had a patient bring him a gift for doing his job. With a lump in his throat Matt said, “Thank you. These look wonderful.”
A few minutes later Matt, with Shay beside him, watched the Claytons walk toward the front door. Shay squeezed his upper arm. “Nice going, Dr. Chapman.”
He looked at her. “That’s the best patient visit I’ve ever had.”
“You deserved it.”
* * *
Shay had just gotten home from having dinner with her parents and changed clothes. She’d thought about going by Matt’s, but stopped herself. It would have been sending the wrong message if she had. She’d drawn the boundaries and she should live with them. As Matt had been. As much as she would’ve liked for him to kiss her, he’d been a gentleman.
She smiled at the memory of the look on his face after the Claytons’ visit. He’d been overwhelmed. Shay feared he’d not had enough admiration in his life. Matt was the type of doctor, and man, that deserved it. It was good he’d received it while working here.
Her phone rang. She picked it up.
She recognized Matt’s voice even though it was little more than a groan. “I need help.”
“I’m on the way.” Shay scooped up her purse and ran for the car.
Twenty minutes later, of what was usually a thirty-minute trip, she pulled to a jerking stop in Matt’s drive and ran for the back door. She raised a hand in Ms. Gladys’s direction where she stood near the street talking to a neighbor. Not bothering to knock, Shay entered the house. “Matt, where are you?”
“In here.” His voice came as little more than a painful moan from somewhere deep in the house.
She found him sprawled on a bed with a sheet over his hips and the rest of him bare. Shay swallowed hard. Then she saw his ankles and legs and the rest of him was forgotten. They were a deep red with small marks dotting them. One calf had swollen to a painful size. Matt’s arm lay across his face covering his eyes.
Her heart went out to him. “Matt, what have you done to yourself?”
He didn’t remove his arm as he spoke to her. “I just mowed the grass. Some kind of ant did the rest. My legs are on fire.”
“Yeah, that’s because you stepped in a fire ant bed. They don’t like that at all.”
He raised his arm just enough to glare at her. The pain showed clearly in his eyes. “I learned that the hard way. All I did was push the mower over a mound of red dirt. The engine bogged down and quit. I was trying to restart it when something stung me. I looked down to see my shoes and ankles covered in red ants. They swarmed me. No matter how much I stomped they hung on.”
“They’ll do that.” He sounded so pitiful Shay couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.
“I ran for the house pulling my clothes off as I went.”
“I bet Ms. Gladys liked that,” Shay murmured.
“It didn’t matter. I had to get those things off me. I wore my shorts into the shower. The water was the only way to get them off. Hot water only made things worse, so I ended up with a cold shower. That didn’t help much. Then I called you.”
Shay put her bag on the bed beside him. “I’ll see if I can make you more comfortable. It looks like you’re allergic to them. Are you having any trouble breathing?”
“No.”
“If you do start having trouble, we’ll need to get you to the emergency room. I’ll give you an antihistamine and some pain medicine and see if that helps.”
His arm went back over his eyes again. “I doubt that’s possible. This is embarrassing but I’m so miserable I’ll take any help I can get.”
“I’m sorry. You really must be in pain.” She squeezed his hand. “I’ll have you feeling better in a few minutes.” Shay dug through her bag and found the medicine. “I need to get you some water to take these with. Don’t move.”
“Like I could,” Matt grumbled.
She went to the kitchen and soon returned with the water. She handed Matt the pills and he quickly swallowed them.
“I don’t have any steroid cream with me. I’m going to ice your legs. If your leg swells any more then I’ll have to go to the clinic and get the cream. For now, I’ll wait and see. Do you have any freezer bags?”
“What?” he muttered.
“Then I guess not. I’ll see what I can find in the kitchen.” She’d be surprised if there was much in the house based on what she’d seen so far. “I’ll be right back.”
The house wasn’t much different than the last time she’d been in it. All the same furniture, mostly secondhand stuff. There were two other bedrooms along the hall but there wasn’t any furniture in them. Uncle Henry must figure his ren
ters would want their own bedroom furniture.
In the kitchen she checked the freezer of the refrigerator and found no bags of frozen vegetables. At least the ice tray was full. Pulling out drawers and looking in the cabinets, she found a couple of plastic bags from the grocery store. She filled them with some ice, tied them closed and returned to Matt.
From the bath, she grabbed a towel and draped it over his legs then placed the bags on his legs, arranging the ice so that it covered as much of his skin as possible.
Matt made a moan of pleasure. “Thanks.”
“Better?”
“Yeah. At least you put the fire out for a while,” he murmured.
She pulled the sheet farther up his chest and brushed his hair from his forehead. He had a fever. “Get some sleep. It’ll help.”
His hand caught hers and held it for a moment. “Thanks, Shay.”
“Not a problem. I’m just sorry you feel so bad.” When his breathing turned even, she pulled a stuffed chair from the corner and positioned it beside the bed. She would stay with him as long as he needed her.
There was a knock at the door. Shay hurried toward it, not wanting the person to wake Matt. Halfway there she realized what she wore. At Matt’s call she hadn’t thought to change clothes in her urgency to get to his house. Now she realized she wore a knit tank-top with no bra and very short cutoff jeans she’d pulled on to get comfortable.
Running back to Matt’s room, she shook out one of his dress shirts lying on the chest of drawers and pulled it on, tying it at her waist and rolling up the sleeves.
Another insistent knock had her dashing to the door. Ms. Gladys stood on the other side.
“Is everything okay? I saw you running in a while ago. I got worried.”
“Matt stepped into a fire ant bed and didn’t know what they were. Turns out he’s allergic to them.”
The old woman sighed. “I should’ve known. The lawnmower was left out in the yard. He’s been so good about mowing the grass lately.”
“He’s eaten up pretty badly and running a fever.” Shay hoped to placate the woman, so she’d soon leave.
“Is there anything I can do?” Ms. Gladys moved forward as if she planned to enter the house, but Shay blocked the doorway.
“Right now, I think we’re fine. Matt’s sleeping.”
“You let me know if you need me. Matt’s a nice guy. I’ve become fond of him.”
So had Shay. Too much so. “Thanks, Ms. Gladys. I need to get back to Matt right now. He doesn’t need to be alone until his fever is gone.”
“All righty, I’ll go.” The old woman slowly walked away.
“Hey, Ms. Gladys.”
The woman turned to look at Shay. “Yes?”
“I bet Matt would enjoy some of your soup when he’s feeling better.”
A bright smile came to the woman’s mouth. “I’ll fix him some.”
Shay had lived with this type of helpful yet sometimes nosy neighbor situation her entire life. There was a time when it bothered her, but it had nice aspects as well. Being cared for by others mattered.
Returning to Matt, she found him resting easy. His legs were still bright red and swollen. The fire ants had really done a job on him.
Shay touched his forehead. The fever remained. That concerned her. She’d hoped it would be gone since he’d had medicine to bring it down. Matt slept soundly enough as she hadn’t woken him with her touch. She didn’t feel good about leaving him yet. She’d stay a little while longer. Thankfully she kept a book in her purse for times like these. With it in hand she settled on the well-worn sofa to read.
An hour went by before she heard Matt stir. He went into the bathroom. At the sound of him coming out she moved down the hall calling out, fearing he wasn’t back in bed yet. “Hey, how’re you feeling?”
“Awful. My legs are on fire.”
She entered his room. He’d returned to the bed and was in the process of adjusting the towel and ice on his legs. The sheet collected low on his hips just covering his groin. Shay made herself look away. She was a doctor. She’d seen naked men before. But this wasn’t just any patient.
“Lie back and I’ll do that.” The words came out harsher than she intended.
To her amazement, he did as she asked without argument, indicating how uncomfortable he must be. Thankfully, he pulled the sheet up to under his arms as she went about seeing to his legs. “I need to get some more ice. Are you hungry?”
“Yeah, I guess so. What I really am is thirsty.”
“Then I’ll be right back with ice and something to drink.” She headed out the door.
“Hey, Shay.”
She looked back at him. “I like those sexy shorts and you look cute in my shirt.”
* * *
Matt grinned for the first time in hours. A flush of color came to Shay’s cheeks at his observation. He liked it when he got the best of her. She appeared so self-assured all the time but when he made any suggestion of attraction between them, she acted all shy as if she didn’t want to think about the spark between them.
He settled back, waiting for her to return. He hated that she had to take care of him, but even he realized he’d messed up when he’d gotten into that ant hill. As bad as he felt, it didn’t mean he was unaware of Shay’s charms, especially those unbounded breasts she covered with his shirt.
Soon Shay returned with ice in bags and a large drink in her hand. She handed him the glass and fussed around his legs. He checked his phone while she left briefly; then she returned with a slice of chicken potpie for him. Thank goodness for neighbors. Sitting up, he leaned back against the headboard, making sure his waist remained covered. She handed him the plate then took a seat in the chair.
He picked up the fork. “Thanks for taking care of me.”
“You’ve already said that.” She watched him as if ready to jump in to help him.
“I mean it. Tell me about these fire ants. Who knew ants could be so vicious?”
She leaned back as if settling into a subject she was comfortable with. “Hundreds of years ago they rode into America on a banana boat from South America. They got off in New Orleans or someplace on the coast and started their march north.”
Matt grinned. “You make them sound like a human army.”
“They’re more destructive.” She pointed at his legs. “You should know. I’ve seen small children hospitalized from being bitten by fire ants. They’re awful. Haven’t you seen the mounds of dirt one or two feet high in the fields?”
He swallowed. “Yeah, but I didn’t know what they were.”
Shay gave him a wry smile. “I bet you do now.”
“That I do. Who was at the door earlier?” He finished off his potpie.
She grinned and took his plate. “Ms. Gladys. She was concerned about her favorite neighbor.”
He raised his brows. “Was she?”
“She would’ve come in to see you if I’d let her.” Shay placed the plate on the dresser.
“She might have seen more than she wanted to.” Matt adjusted the sheet.
Shay grinned. “Knowing her, she wouldn’t have minded.”
“Still, I’m glad you didn’t let her in.” He paused for a drink.
She moved to stand.
He grabbed her hand. “Stay and talk to me for a while.”
She settled on the edge of the chair. He didn’t like her being skittish around him. He thought they’d gotten past that. “Tell me about your family. I met your mother and father, but do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“I have a brother who lives in Memphis. He and his wife have two children—who are the best, by the way. They come down when they can but it’s not often enough for me, Mom and Dad. How about you? Brothers and sisters?”
He could tell by the look on her face and the sound of her voice she love
d them dearly. He was sure he didn’t have those tones when he spoke of his family. “Both. I have a half brother who lives in California and a half sister who lives in St. Louis. I haven’t seen either of them in years.”
Her eyes widened and she leaned forward as if she didn’t believe him. “Oh, wow. That’s awful.”
How like Shay to say exactly what she thought. “I’ve been busy.”
“I’m never too busy for people I love.” Her mouth turned down in horror. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
Shay wouldn’t be, but then she knew what it was to meet their expectations, to make them proud. He didn’t. Despite him being a doctor, he never felt he’d been enough in his stepfather’s eyes. The issue in LA and changing hospitals wouldn’t improve on the situation either.
Shay stood. “Let me check and see if you’re still running a fever.” She pulled her electric thermometer out of her bag, placing it on his forehead. When it beeped, she looked at the instrument. “It’s low-grade but still there. I’ll take this—” she picked up the plate “—and get you more to drink, then give you another dose of medicine. You should sleep. By morning you’ll hopefully be better. I’ll be here if you aren’t to take you to the hospital.”
“You’re going to stay?” Surprise filled his voice.
“Yes. I don’t want you to get worse and no one know it. I can’t have you going into anaphylactic shock with no one around.” She gave him a stern look.
She did care. He watched her tight behind in those short shorts as she left the room and wished he felt better.
The next thing he knew he woke to a dark room. A light came from down the hall, but the house remained quiet. He was cold and his legs itched like the devil. Climbing out of bed, he made his way to the bathroom. When he came out Shay stood in the doorway. He should have put some shorts on but didn’t have the energy to look for them. In the dim light she couldn’t see much.
“Hey, how’re you doing?”
He got back into bed. “I’m freezing and my legs itch. Other than that, I couldn’t be better.”
Taming the Hot-Shot Doc Page 8