The rest of the area had larger chairs, plastic potted plants and pictures of different cartoon characters hanging on the wall. Literature and magazines were in a rack near the door leading to the back.
Rachel seated herself and started filling out the paperwork. She’d done this three dozen times in the twin cities when she’d tried to get her daughter treated.
There was no help for Lindsay. And she didn’t want to hear bad news again. Yet, here she was…because of her mother.
Looking sympathetically at her daughter, she could only hope they didn’t poke and prod Lindsay any more. Lindsay used to cry every time she saw a doctor’s office because she’d been stuck, jabbed and examined until she was terrified to go near anyone in a white coat.
Rachel finished the paperwork and returned it to the nurse, who promptly called their names.
Rachel went over and lifted Lindsay into her arms. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s go see Morgan.”
Lindsay’s smile collapsed when she saw the uniformed nurse. It didn’t matter what color they wore, she recognized the scrubs. Her lower lip trembled, and her arms went around her mother’s neck.
Rachel’s mouth tightened when those tiny little arms squeezed her so tightly. She rubbed Lindsay’s back, humming, softly speaking soothing words.
The walk to the small room seemed like forever. She knew her daughter was going to lose it any minute and throw a hysterical fit. Please, God. Please help me with her, she silently whispered.
“Just let me take her temperature and examine her,” the nurse said.
Rachel shook her head. “No. She’s fine. This is just for inoculations and a general checkup.”
“Ma’am, it’s our policy to check.”
Rachel smiled. “I know. But I’m afraid that will just have to be bypassed this visit. This is her first time to a doctor after a long absence. Dr. Talbot will agree with me if you go ask him.”
She could tell she angered the nurse. But she couldn’t surrender her daughter to a stranger. If Morgan didn’t agree, then she was out of here with her daughter. She was not going to allow her daughter to have any unnecessary procedures. Guiltily she hugged her little girl. “It’s going to be fine, Lindsay. Mama will be here.”
“Ome,” Lindsay whimpered. She wanted to go home.
“Soon,” her mother reassured her. “Soon, my darling little angel.”
The door opened, and Morgan strode in, surprise clearly evident. “Rachel? Is Lindsay okay? What’s the matter?”
This was the first time Rachel had seen him in a lab coat with a stethoscope. He had tall, wide shoulders and dark hair, and he looked even bigger in that white coat. And so like the many other doctors Lindsay had seen in the past. Had she met him like this, there was no way she would have allowed him to get near her. He looked too much like a doctor. Of course, that was because he was a doctor, but for some reason Rachel didn’t think of him like that, but as a tender, caring man who had a sense of humor and liked Lindsay.
“She’s fine,” Rachel said. “Just terrified. I let my mom talk me into an appointment when we came for the inoculations.”
“I’m sorry that she had a bad time with other doctors,” he said sympathetically.
She nodded and bounced Lindsay, who sensed a change in the room and whimpered louder.
Morgan frowned as he studied Lindsay. “It’s a shame, but some kids have a hard time. Other kids are scared or hurt by a doctor who is insensitive,” he murmured. Then he smiled. “I have an idea.”
He slipped off his coat and tossed it on the examination table. Then he leaned near Lindsay’s ear and whispered, “Buzzzzy beee, zzzz, coming to get you, buzzzzz…” and reached around, grabbing her belly.
She jumped and giggled and launched herself at Morgan.
“Hello there, Lindsay.”
He seated himself. “I hear you came to see me.”
She looked around the room and whimpered. “No lii o-ur. Baaad.”
She signed doctor and bad. Morgan got the message loud and clear. “I like doctors. Watch this,” he whispered, and slipped his stethoscope from around his neck, stuck the ends in his ears and put it to his own chest to check.
Widening his eyes, he said, “Thump, thump, thump.”
She giggled.
“What does your heart do?”
He reached out and put her hand over her heart. “Thump-thump, thump-thump. Or is it tick-tock, tick-tock?” He signed clock.
“Ump ump,” she repeated.
He slipped the stethoscope quickly to her chest before she could object. “You know, I think you’re right. That’s not a clock at all.”
Her eyes widened, and he grinned before releasing the end of the instrument. “Listen,” he whispered. “But don’t tell Mommy.”
He slipped the earpieces from his ears, quickly inserted them into Lindsay’s ears and let her listen. He wasn’t sure if she could pick up the noise, but she must have heard something, because her eyes widened and she smiled.
He let her wiggle down, and then he leaned back in the chair, relaxing slightly. Lindsay ran to her mother to let her listen by putting the small end to her ear.
“That’s your examination?” Rachel asked, confused.
“No, I was playing with her. The examination will come soon. So, tell me, Rachel. How are you today?”
“I’m fine.”
“Sorry I haven’t been back over to see Lindsay. The last two days have been hectic. The young child in the accident—his family and I are friends so I’ve spent a lot of extra time with them. He developed a postoperative infection this morning, but I think we caught it in time. What did Betty have to say about Lindsay’s fish?”
Rachel smiled softly. For some reason his explanation eased tension she hadn’t realized was there. Had she been that worried about Morgan Talbot coming around again? “Actually, she loved it. It’s still alive on our porch, by the way.”
“Have you thought about getting a fish tank for Lindsay?” he joked.
Rachel stared at him, thinking that would be a wonderful idea. “No, actually I hadn’t. I just didn’t even think….”
“She really seems attached to the little thing. Maybe other fish would distract her, and you could get rid of it.”
“I should have words with you about bringing it home in the first place,” Rachel retorted with mock sternness.
“Rachel.” Morgan uncrossed his legs and leaned forward in his chair. “I have to ask you now, before I examine Lindsay, is this what you really want? I don’t want to continue if you’re against this, or doing it just because you feel coerced into it by someone else.”
Rachel shoved her hair behind her ear. Was she being coerced? Did she really not want her daughter examined? So many things had happened in the last year, so many changes. One part of her desired her daughter to be healed above everything else. Yet another part of her was terrified to allow Morgan to examine Lindsay. She sighed wearily. “I don’t know, Morgan. I don’t want it because I know there’s no hope for her and I don’t want her—or me, for that matter—hurt again, but then I do want it, the selfish part of me, because I hope there is something which will be unveiled. The mother in me screams and runs from the room at the fear I see in my baby’s eyes every time she goes to the doctor.”
“Not every time,” Morgan said softly.
His gaze slid away, and Rachel followed it to her daughter, who had the stethoscope on top of her head and was talking.
Rachel couldn’t help but giggle. “Why didn’t any other doctor ever try to talk with her first before coming in and examining her?”
“So many children to see and so little time to see them, possibly. Of course, it could be that those doctors were overworked or just burned out. Or maybe they just forget what it’s like to be in a situation where you aren’t in control and don’t know what’s going to happen.”
“She knows you. Maybe that’s the difference.”
“Maybe.” He stood and moved over to Rachel
. “Get up on the table,” he said.
Rachel blinked. “Excuse me?”
He chuckled, and Rachel noted tiny crinkles around the corners of his eyes when he smiled. The man was too handsome by half. She could spend hours just staring at him and watching all the different expressions that crossed his face, mentally tracing every line on his features and listening to his deep, musical laughter. “Time for your examination. Surely you don’t expect your daughter to be examined if you aren’t?”
He saw the moment she understood what he was up to.
“Oh.” Flushing, she nodded. “I didn’t…. Ingenious,” she finally conceded.
She hopped onto the tiny pediatric table.
“Did I mention you look nice in your navy suit?”
Her color inched up a notch. “Thank you, Doctor.”
He chuckled low. “Lift your arm.”
She lifted her arm.
“Now drop it.”
She dropped it. “Why?”
“I just wanted to see if you’d do it.”
She smacked his arm. He chuckled, and so did she.
He picked up the hammer and walked to her. “Let’s check your reflexes.”
Rachel paused and looked at her daughter. “Morgan is checking Mommy.”
Morgan could tell Lindsay didn’t like that a bit, though he never looked directly at her. Still, he could see from his peripheral vision that she frowned and inched closer to her mom’s leg.
“Watch this, Lindsay,” he said loudly. He moved to Rachel’s side where Lindsay could clearly see him. Then, not certain she had heard him, he reached down and touched Lindsay’s chin to get her attention. “Watch this,” he repeated.
He lifted the hammer, positioned it and tapped Rachel’s leg.
Rachel kicked him.
Morgan jumped back. “Good reflexes. Not used to having adults up here,” he said, chuckling.
Rachel laughed, too.
Morgan grinned when he heard Lindsay giggle.
“Sit by Mommy and watch,” he coaxed, then carefully scooped her up and deposited her next to Rachel before turning his attention away from her.
“Next leg,” he murmured. “Anyone ever tell you, lovely lady, that your legs don’t quit?”
“Doctor!”
He grinned. “That wasn’t a doctor comment, that was all Morgan, Rachel.”
He reached out and tapped her leg. Her response was the same.
Lindsay giggled. He handed the hammer to Lindsay and helped her hit her mom’s knee, then he helped Lindsay test her knees. Finally, he took the hammer and tried it.
Of course, she had to use it on him, too.
He listened to hearts and poked tummies, looked in ears and examined mouths and eyes. He did rudimentary testing of her hearing and after a lengthy exam he sat down. “I’d really like to test her hearing at the hospital in a little room we have set up especially for testing children’s auditory levels. I think her range is more than either one of us realizes. There’s something about the way she reacts. You think she might be up to going?”
He saw the fear in Rachel’s eyes as she gazed at her daughter. He couldn’t blame her. It was scary when a person was being asked to trust the very organization that betrayed her and her child in the first place. He understood that and hurt for her.
“I—I don’t know, Morgan. I won’t put her in an institution. Never. Ever,” she said emphatically.
Surprised, Morgan assured her, “Never, Rachel. She is quite capable of being in your household.”
“She means everything to me. I won’t give her up. No matter what.”
Morgan realized a whole lot more was going on here than he knew about. “Slow down, honey. Why don’t you explain what you’re talking about.”
Lindsay went over to the children’s chalkboard while waiting for the doctor and started drawing.
Rachel glanced at her daughter and then to him. Twisting her hands, she finally said, “Rachel was born after a long labor. I had…problems. We didn’t notice her hearing problem at first. She fussed a lot, talked a lot, too. I’m not really sure when I realized she had a hearing problem.”
She glanced up. “Actually, I think my husband noticed it first. He—he said she acted…” She took a deep breath—for courage, he was certain. Morgan wanted to go over and comfort her but knew better. He gave her time. It paid off. She finally said what was so very painful for her to articulate. “He said she acted stupid.”
Anger flushed Morgan’s face red. He felt it. Heat surged up his neck into his cheeks and forehead. “He called her stupid?”
She shook her head. “No, she acted stupid. He thought she was…” She waved her hands helplessly. “He called her retarded, too, and slow.”
“She’s not.”
“I know she’s not,” Rachel returned firmly, but her voice trembled, indicating just how much those words had hurt her. What could he do to help her? He felt helpless as he stood there watching her pain.
Rachel glanced worriedly at her daughter. Then he watched her valiant effort as she slowly worked to bring her emotions under control. “Things started deteriorating between my husband and me. He blamed…” She nodded toward Lindsay. “I wanted to prove there was nothing the matter, that we shouldn’t send her away, that we should just love her.”
Morgan felt his stomach turn over at her words. Betty had mentioned some things. But he’d learned in his field that sometimes grandparents were wrong. Even parents saw things skewed. But to hear both of them, and Rachel’s details added in. They were words so familiar to him that they terrified him. Oh, Father, he silently entreated. It was a plea for help.
“So, you took her to a doctor?” he asked, feeling light-headed. Trying to appear nonchalant, he moved closer to Rachel and stood near the counter. Carefully he put on his professional face to mask his feelings.
“I took her to a pediatrician, yes. He said there was nothing wrong unless something had happened when I had trouble birthing her. He suggested the oxygen supply could have been cut off and made her slower than her age.”
Morgan leaned against the counter and listened tight-lipped. “That didn’t stop you?”
“I took her to another family doctor who said she had attention deficit disorder.”
“ADD…” He shook his head. “Go on.” Morgan thought if there was any faddish disease that had been overdiagnosed, that was one that certainly had. From what she said, the doctor hadn’t even run tests on Lindsay.
“Another doctor told me it was too early to really tell if there was a problem.”
Morgan nodded. “Some feel that way.”
Rachel twisted her hands together, though Morgan was willing to bet she didn’t realize she was giving her emotions away or she would immediately stop. “My husband wasn’t coming home at all, spending his free time away by this period of our relationship. He had mentioned that he’d told his friend about my daughter. His friend was a pediatric doctor who had a sterling reputation for being the best. I thought I’d take her to that doctor. Jim insisted this doctor understood our plight. I misinterpreted my husband, though. The doctor understood my husband’s plight, not our plight. He examined Lindsay and said she had a degenerative disease of the nerves in the ears and that she’d soon be completely deaf and I should put her in a home. He said she would be useless to society because the degeneration of the nerves would spread and she’d end up an invalid. It wasn’t right to inflict her on a husband who was doing his best to keep his family together, he informed me.”
Morgan wanted to strangle the doctor. He didn’t dare ask the name of the associate, not in his current mood. No, instead he prayed for patience. Quickly, so he could help Rachel. When he felt peace flood him, he finally spoke. “You’re hiding her because he suggested a home?”
“Not hiding her,” Rachel objected. “Just—well, there’s no reason to go back to anyone. I mean…”
She trailed off.
Morgan stood, moved forward and took her hands. �
�Listen, honey. That doctor sounds like a fool. He could be right. Then again, he could be wrong. You think about it, pray about it and let me know. After all you’ve told me, I’d really like to examine her thoroughly. I can’t give you hope. But then again, I can’t say that doctor is right, either. Did he do a CAT scan or an MRI? Any tests at all?”
Confused, she shook her head. “He drew some blood. They all drew blood. Then he put earphones on her head and a couple of other things, like making her identify pictures. Cat, dog, things like that.”
Morgan sighed wearily. “He couldn’t have possibly…” He broke off. No reason to call the fool a fool in front of her and add fuel to the fire. It was in the past, and he’d just have to concentrate on not letting something like this happen in the future to Rachel or to Lindsay. “Just think about it. Okay?”
Lindsay came running and patted Morgan’s legs, covering him with chalk as she babbled incoherently to him.
Rachel glanced at his dark pleated pants in dismay. “Oh, dear.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he reassured her. “I work with kids all day. Promise me you’ll think about what I said, instead?”
She hesitated, torn. He ached as he watched her. Finally, however, she nodded. Relieved, he smiled. “Good girl.”
“What about her?” Rachel made the motion of giving a shot.
“Tell you what, if you decide to go through with the tests, we’ll do them then. But since this is her first visit here, I don’t want to do that to her. I’ll talk to the day care and see if we can put them off another week.”
She nodded. “Thank you, Morgan.”
Looking at his watch, he said, “Will you meet me for lunch in front of the church in an hour? I’d like to treat you to a super-duper all-beef polly dog.”
“I’m afraid to ask,” Rachel said, laughing.
“It’s a special hot dog the little café near the church offers. Actually, if you don’t want that, I’ll be crushed, but I’ll accept it.”
She smiled. “I’d like to see that, so I guess I’ll have to meet you.”
“You wound me, fair maiden,” he whispered, covering his heart. She chuckled again and Morgan helped her off the table. She went to her daughter.
What The Doctor Ordered Page 7