by Pamela Toth
Zoe must have looked surprised, because her boss began to chuckle. “I may not put a lot of store in hospital gossip,” she continued, “but I’m not oblivious to what’s going on around me.” Before Zoe could respond, she held up her hand. “Not that I would let some silly rumor influence my professional opinion of your performance in my department,” she added. “Unless it affects your performance as a doctor, your personal life is your own business.”
“Uh, thank you,” Zoe replied, cheeks burning with embarrassment. “Do you think it would be a mistake to allow myself to be influenced by, um, elements outside work when it comes to making career choices?” she asked anxiously.
As soon as the question left her mouth, she wanted to recall it. The woman seated behind the desk was her supervisor, not her guidance counselor.
“Good question,” Dr. Chester replied before Zoe could apologize for asking it. “I have to tell you that I can’t imagine being able to separate the two. That said, I must caution you that I also believe it’s an absolute necessity to keep the personal and professional sides of your life in harmony so that one does not overshadow the other.”
Zoe frowned. “How do you suggest I do that?”
Dr. Chester shook her head slowly. “Zoe, when I figure it out, I’ll be sure to let you know. In the meantime this community is growing and we need doctors with your talent and empathy. You’ve got plenty of time to decide, so don’t rush.”
Zoe knew a dismissal when she heard one. “Thank you, Doctor,” she replied. “I appreciate your support.”
She went back to the nurses’ station feeling more confused than ever. Having her goals mapped out, knowing exactly where she was headed, always made her feel more secure.
Suddenly something her mother had told her popped into her thoughts. Whichever one you choose, you’ll be fine. I believe in you. Perhaps Zoe didn’t need to have her entire future laid out in order to succeed. Maybe the way to proceed was by taking one step at a time.
The idea was a scary one.
The phone rang, making her jump as the receptionist seated behind the desk picked up the receiver. As she listened to the voice at the other end, she looked at Zoe. “I’ll send Dr. Hart right down.”
“That was Dr. Taylor in E.R.,” she told Zoe after she’d hung up. “They need you down there stat. Possible miscarriage following a car accident.”
Zoe’s personal life had just been put on hold.
Forty-five minutes later, after the patient’s contractions had been halted with medication, Zoe realized that she was done for the day. She was about to go back upstairs when the doors from the ambulance entrance opened to admit a paramedic pushing another gurney.
“Twenty-five-year-old female waitress, seven and a half months pregnant, fainted at work,” he said, continuing on to recite the patient’s vital signs as an intern and one of the nurses rushed over.
When the woman on the gurney turned her head, Zoe recognized her to be Juliet Rivera from The Hitching Post.
“Let me take her,” Zoe told the intern. “Hi, Juliet. How are you feeling?”
“Still a little light-headed,” Juliet replied softly. Her hands were pressed protectively to her rounded abdomen. “Is my baby going to be all right?”
“You’re both going to be fine,” Zoe reassured her as the gurney was taken to one of the cubicles. “Have you had any contractions?”
Juliet shook her head. “No, not at all. No cramping, either.”
As the staff had her settled into a bed in one of the curtained cubicles, one of the RNs on duty wrapped a blood pressure cuff around her arm. Another nurse poked her head through the curtain.
“She’s been seeing Doc Codwell. Want me to call him?”
“Let him know that she’s here and tell him what’s happened,” Zoe replied before donning her stethoscope and pressing it to Juliet’s abdomen.
“I’m hearing a healthy fetal heartbeat,” she told Juliet, whose eyes were huge with worry.
“I must work,” Juliet babbled, “but I’ll never forgive myself if it affects my baby.”
“Let’s not jump to conclusions just yet,” Zoe cautioned.
“BP is one forty-five over ninety-two,” the nurse said, “pulse is eighty-six.”
“That’s fine.” Zoe patted Juliet’s hand as she prayed softly in Spanish.
Carrie came back in and leaned down to Zoe’s ear. “Dr. Codwell is with a patient at the clinic, but he’ll come by as soon as he gets a chance.”
“Is something wrong?” Juliet asked, shifting anxiously.
Zoe repeated what the nurse had told her. “Would it be all right for me to go ahead and finish examining you?” she asked.
Juliet nodded, lips trembling. “Sí, sí. I mean, yes, please.”
Zoe ruled out previous dizzy spells, headaches and heart palpitations. “And no recent spotting or contractions?”
Juliet shook her head. “I just felt dizzy and then, bam. The next thing I knew, I was on the floor.”
After Zoe had finished, she took Juliet’s hand in hers. The poor woman’s dark eyes were glistening with tears.
“Everything looks fine,” Zoe told her. “The important thing is that you aren’t in labor and the baby’s heartbeat is strong. Now I’m going to order a blood test to make sure you aren’t anemic.”
“What can I do to take better care?” Juliet asked.
Zoe sighed. Obviously Juliet’s choices were limited. “Eat regular meals and get off your feet as often as possible.” She stood up. “You need to take a little time off, at least a couple of days, and rest up.”
Juliet nodded tearfully. “I will.”
Zoe’s heart ached for her situation. Chris had confided that Juliet had been through some very tough times. Her brother had been killed and the baby’s father abandoned her, so she had no one to watch out for her.
“Do you need a note for work?” Zoe asked.
“Martha has been good to me. She will understand.”
Zoe patted her hand. “Take care of yourself and have a healthy baby.”
Once again Carrie appeared through the striped curtain. “Dr. Codwell is on his way.”
“As soon as I talk to him, I’ll send him right in,” Zoe promised Juliet, who thanked her profusely before she left.
As Zoe walked tiredly back up the stairs a little while later without seeing Chris, she couldn’t help but wonder what patients like Juliet Rivera would do if there weren’t enough doctors and clinics in Thunder Canyon to treat them.
Chapter Thirteen
As Zoe climbed the hospital staircase, ahead of her was a nurse she knew slightly. Frances wore her gray hair in a tight perm and her white nylon uniform clung to her wide rear end. The entire staff knew that she was one of the biggest gossips at TCG.
Zoe’s heart skittered in her chest when Chris appeared at the top of the stairs. After the way she had acted, what chance did she have to make things right?
When he drew closer, he winked at Frances and nodded to Zoe. Although his smile didn’t dim, she could tell that his expression was guarded.
“Sorry that I missed you in the E.R.,” he said as he passed her.
Briefly she told him about Juliet. When Zoe reached the top of the stairs, Frances was still hovering there.
“That man should be on the cover of Vanity Fair,” she exclaimed, hand fluttering over her ample bosom. Her small eyes brimmed with curiosity as she studied Zoe.
“What went wrong between the two of you?” Frances probed, lowering her voice. “He’s got to be the best catch in this county—and probably in the entire state—if you ask me.”
For a moment, Zoe was taken aback by the other woman’s nosiness, but then she had an idea. Glancing around, she grabbed Frances’s arm, practically dragging her to the side of the corridor. “Promise you won’t tell anyone?” Zoe asked softly.
Frances’s eyes bugged out. She nodded so enthusiastically that—for a moment—Zoe feared her head might fall off her shoulders and
roll across the floor. “Of course,” she breathed. “You can tell me anything, cross my heart!”
Zoe leaned even closer. “It was my fault,” she whispered conspiratorially. “I made a stupid mistake and let him get away.”
“Do you love him?” the nurse asked.
For once Zoe didn’t bother to keep her emotions hidden. “He’s the one for me,” she admitted. “I love him with all my heart.”
Frances patted her arm. “It’s never too late to make things right.”
“I wouldn’t know where to start.” Zoe shook her head sadly. “I probably shouldn’t have said anything. Be sure to keep it between you and me.”
Frances’s eyes were already darting back and forth as people passed them in the corridor. “Of course, dear,” she told Zoe. “I won’t breathe a word to anyone.”
As they parted company, she hurried away so fast that Zoe was surprised the thick soles of her orthopedic shoes didn’t burn rubber.
For several days, Zoe endured the curious glances and the whispers that died abruptly whenever she appeared.
“Has he said anything?” Vadivu asked when they met in the cafeteria on a break. She had confided to Zoe that her romance with John seemed to be going well.
There was no point in pretending ignorance. “Not a word.”
“Maybe he doesn’t know,” Vadivu suggested hopefully after she had taken a drink of her juice.
“Thanks to Frances, the entire hospital knows,” Zoe retorted. “I just have to face the fact that my feelings no longer matter. It’s my own fault.”
The other resident drained her glass and scooted back her chair. “I told John I’d come by the lab.” She gave Zoe’s shoulders a quick hug. “I’m sorry.”
After Vadivu left, Zoe finished her soda, refusing to let the curious glances drive her from the cafeteria. At the next table, Dr. Codwell—smelling of cigars, as usual—was talking to a colleague in a booming voice.
“I don’t know about you,” he grumbled, “but my practice is getting too busy. It’s affecting my golf game.”
“I’ve had to hire another nurse and I’m thinking about taking on an associate,” the other doctor replied, his tone disgruntled. “If the rumors are true and the deed to the mine is missing, this town will be crawling with speculators, developers and God knows who else before we know it.”
None of it mattered to Zoe. If she had lost Chris for good, every minute of her remaining months would be agony.
Without bothering to finish her soda or her break, she left the cafeteria. When she got back to the maternity wing, the receptionist called out to her.
“Dr. Hart, I just got a message that you’re needed in the E.R. There’s been some kind of altercation out at the mine and several people were injured. Dr. Taylor wants you down there stat.”
At least he was still willing to work with her, Zoe thought grimly as she headed down the stairs. She may have screwed up her personal life, but her career appeared to be on track.
An hour later, the board was cleared of patients and the E.R. waiting room was miraculously empty as the staff gathered around the triage desk. Chris had disappeared.
“This place won’t be the same if Dr. Taylor should leave,” one of the nurses muttered as she moved a stack of charts. “What would we do without him?”
Zoe froze. “Leave?” she echoed, unconcerned that her interest would no doubt make her appear even more pathetic than before. “When?”
“I don’t know,” the nurse replied. “All I heard was that he’s been looking into positions out of state.”
Oh, God. Was it possible that the gossip she had started so impulsively was driving him away? Maybe he was attempting to spare her because he no longer loved her. Her mind whirled with confusion.
It was exactly the kind of thing he might do—sacrifice his own contentment in order to spare her from the embarrassment of being around a man who didn’t return her feelings. What had she done?
She leaned over the counter as heartbreak and regret threatened to overwhelm her. She had to get out of the E.R. before she started crying or her humiliation would be complete. And then when she had regained control of her emotions, she would have to convince him not to leave the home that he loved.
“I heard that he might go to California,” someone else said.
California? That couldn’t be right. Surely he would have said something.
“Oh, would you look at those flowers,” Carrie exclaimed before Zoe could escape.
Chris was carrying a large bouquet of red roses as he came over to the counter where Zoe stood. His usual smile was absent, his expression somber.
She was dying to ask about his plans, but her questions would have to wait for a more opportune time. As she moved out of his way, she noticed that the flowers weren’t in a vase.
“Where are you going?” he asked, shifting so that he blocked her escape.
“I thought you wanted to set them on the counter.” She ached to reach out and touch him. The scent of the roses filled her nostrils, making her head spin. I can’t do this, she thought. Not here.
Moving closer yet, he held out the bouquet. “These are for you,” he said softly.
For once the E.R. was quiet and no one said a word as she accepted them.
“They’re beautiful,” she murmured, tucking them in the crook of her arm as she struggled to read his expression. Hope flared at what she saw in his face and her legs began to tremble. “I don’t understand.”
“I just heard the rumor that’s been going around,” he said. “Apparently no one had the nerve to tell me about it until I ran into Willie this morning.”
“Oh?” she squeaked past the sudden lump in her throat as she noticed the maintenance man leaning on his broom, watching avidly.
Chris patted his pocket. “These are some e-mails I’ve written to hospitals in L.A.,” he said. “I’ve been researching the job market in that area.”
Someone groaned and was promptly shushed.
Zoe’s entire body began to shake. The roses trembled in her arms, so she set them aside.
“Why?” she whispered, hardly able to breathe as she stared into the face of the man who had become her entire world.
“There’s a rumor going around that you love me.” A collective sigh seemed to go up from the people around them as he dropped to one knee. “For once, I hope with everything that’s in me, that the grapevine got it right.” His gaze was locked on hers like a laser, making her forget everyone but him.
“It’s true.” she exclaimed. “I do love you with all my heart.”
The tension seemed to drain from his face. “Thank God,” he whispered hoarsely. “Marry me, Zoe. I swear, I’ll follow you anywhere.”
“She already said ‘I do,’” someone murmured.
Tears of joy threatened to blur Zoe’s eyes. “You don’t have to leave here,” she protested, realizing it was true. “I’ve fallen for Thunder Canyon. If you really want me, I’ll marry you both.”
As applause burst out around them, Chris stood up and pulled her into his arms for a tender kiss. For a long moment, they held each other close before he finally let her go.
“Let’s find somewhere private and make some plans,” he suggested.
Zoe reached up and laid her hand against his cheek. “That’s one prescription I’m happy to take.”
Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Pamela Toth for her contribution to the MONTANA MAVERICKS: GOLD RUSH GROOMS series.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-8757-4
PRESCRIPTION: LOVE
Copyright © 2005 by Harlequin Books S.A.
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