The Doctor's Blessing

by Patricia Davids

  “Uncomfortable and about every two minutes.” She glanced repeatedly at Phillip with a slight frown on her face.

  “Good. It won’t be long now,” Amber reassured her.

  Walking over to Phillip, she asked, “Would you like to help?”

  “You seem to have everything under control.”

  “You look like you’re ready to jump in at any second.”

  “I am.”

  “I’ll tell you what you can do to help. I find reading from the Bible will often calm my mothers.”

  “And nervous doctors, too?”

  Smiling, she nodded. “Yes, you, too. I hand out an instruction packet on diet and exercise and what new moms need to expect on my first prenatal visit with a client. The packet also contains some of my favorite Scripture passages.”

  “Do you do that because they are Amish?”

  “No, I do it because I have been called by God to be a nurse-midwife. Praising His name and reading His word while a new life is coming into the world just seems right.”

  “Would one of your favorite Scriptures be 1 John 3:18?”

  “Yes, how did you know that?”

  “Your coffee cup told me. ‘My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.’”

  Her eyes softened. “Exactly.”

  “Would you like me to read to you, Mary?”

  “Ja.”

  Amber said, “I think it would make us less nervous than having you hovering in the background.”

  He looked about the room. “Do you have a Bible I can use?”

  “How good is your German?” Amber asked with a know-it-all grin.

  He adored her smile. “I now know Doktor, doktor, komm schnell and Der Englischer ist ab im kopf.”

  Mary and her husband chuckled at that.

  Amber slipped past him in the doorway. “I have my Bible in my bag. I’ll get it.”

  When she came back, she handed it to him. Happily, it was an English version. She said, “Read anything you like.”

  Settling himself on a wooden chair by the bedroom window, Phillip started reading as Amber coached Mary in her labor, checked her progress and kept a good eye on the baby’s condition without seeming intrusive.

  Later, when it grew dark outside, Mary’s husband lit the gas lamp on the bedroom wall. Phillip moved to make use of the soft, warm glow.

  Throughout the evening, Mary asked for numerous readings and he was happy to oblige. In amazement, he watched as Mary labored with her husband at her side in the quiet stillness of their own bedroom and by the light of a single lantern. It was a surreal experience for Phillip who had attended many deliveries under bright hospital lights with numerous medical personnel in the room.

  At 12:09 a.m. Anna Yutzi arrived, weighing seven pounds, three ounces. She was twenty inches long and as bald as a rock.

  “A beautiful and healthy girl,” Phillip said after examining the baby. He gave the weighed and measured infant back to her smiling parents. He had usurped Amber’s job, but the chance to hold such a precious child wasn’t to be missed. “Ja, she is our gift from God. My mother will be excited to have her first granddaughter,” Mary replied, never taking her eyes from her baby’s face. Her gentle smile warmed Phillip’s heart.

  It took another hour or so to clean up and make sure both mother and baby were comfortable. Mary’s husband assured them Mary’s mother would come to stay as soon as she heard the joyful news.

  Phillip knew it was the man’s way of saying that he and Mary wanted to be alone.

  Amber said, “I’ll check in on you tomorrow.”

  “And I’d like to see you in the office in about a week,” Phillip added.

  As he followed Amber outside to her car a little after two o’clock in the morning, he noticed at once the full white moon shining down on them. A soft breeze stirred the night air and carried to him the scent of roses from Mary’s garden and the smell of corn ripening in the fields. He drew in a deep, cleansing breath and blew it out slowly.

  “Tired?” Amber asked.

  “A little. You?”

  “A lot.”

  “Want me to drive?”

  She turned and leaned against the car door, then slipped her hands into her scrub top pockets. “First tell me what you thought of this home birth. How did it compare to your hospital deliveries?”

  At a loss for words, he simply shook his head.

  “Come on. You must have some opinion. What did it feel like?”

  Moving to stand beside her, he rested his hip against the car, too. “It was amazing. To see their all-embracing faith, their absolute trust in God’s will, was humbling. There is beauty and serenity in every birth but this was special. Mary was so quiet, I’ve never seen a laboring woman stay so calm.”

  “You will find that’s the norm among Amish women.”

  “Really?” He studied her upturned face. Her eyes glittered in the moonlight. Her hair glowed from the touch of moonbeams. Her skin looked flawless and pure. He beheld her ethereal beauty that was so much more than skin-deep.

  This time, he wasn’t going to mess up. Cupping her chin in his hand, he bent down and kissed her before she could turn away.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The world stood still around Amber. The full moon faded away and the stars winked out. The wind died to a soft sigh. Only it wasn’t the wind she heard. That wistful sound formed in her own mind. The wonder of the moment swept her away from everything she’d ever known and into enchantment.

  Phillip’s lips were firm yet gentle as they moved across hers. The rasp of his whiskers on the tender skin around her mouth sent a thrill racing over her, making her want to draw closer. She leaned into the kiss and her arms crept up to encircle his neck.

  Nothing in the world existed except the two of them and this wonderful feeling of rightness. Her hands moved up his neck to tangle in his hair. He was a very good kisser.

  It took a while but Amber’s common sense finally reasserted itself. As hard as she tried to stay in the glorious moment, reality seeped in. It was a wonderful kiss. It was a doomed romance. She couldn’t let this go any further.

  Moving her hands to Phillip’s shoulders, she pushed gently. He loosened his embrace but didn’t release her entirely. The kiss lasted one more heart-stopping second before he pulled away.

  Drawing a ragged breath, he cupped the back of her head and tucked her face against his neck. “Wow.”

  It felt marvelous to rest in his embrace. He was so warm and strong and vital. It was the kind of moment she’d dreamed of but never thought would become a reality. She didn’t want to lose this marvelous feeling but the sensation was fading. She had to get the two of them back on solid footing.

  “Phillip, if you say something stupid like ‘I’m sorry,’ I’ll kick your shin.”

  He chuckled. The sound reverberated deep in his chest beneath her ear and made her smile. “Amber, of all the things running through my mind right now, I’m sorry is not even on the horizon.”

  “Good.”

  Where did this leave them? It changed nothing and it changed everything.

  “Does this mean we’ve resolved the trust issues between us?” he asked.

  “I’m working on it.” If only it were that easy. One kiss and everything became rosy. Not.

  He leaned back so he could see her face. Amber looked up, hoping her heart wasn’t shining in her eyes. Before she could think of anything else to say, he released her and stepped away.

  “I think it’s time I drove you home.”

  Without his arms around her, the night air felt cold. She crossed her arms as a shiver ran down her spine. “If you aren’t going to kiss me again, we should go.”

  He paused in the act of opening the car door. “Oh, Amber. Talk about temptation. You’ve been one since the first day I came to Hope Springs.”

  His comment pleased her feminine side to no end, but it didn’t narrow the chasm that existed between them.

&
nbsp; “Okay, home it is,” he conceded.

  Once in the car, Amber hoped things would return to normal. Her hopes were in vain. He said, “What are we going to do about this?”

  What could they do about it? The answer was painfully clear to her. “Nothing.”

  His gaze jerked toward her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Don’t get me wrong. It was a wonderful kiss.”

  “That was the impression I had at the time. Now I’m wondering if I misread something.”

  “You didn’t. It just can’t happen again.”

  By the sudden deep silence, Amber knew he understood. Finally, he said, “It won’t.”

  “We have to work together. You’re my boss. Besides that, you’re leaving in a few weeks. If we jump headlong into a relationship, we’ll end up hurting each other.”

  “I thought I was practical. You’ve got me beat hands down. But answer me this, what if we allowed this relationship to take its natural course and see where it leads?”

  He had no idea how much she longed to have that happen. One kiss from him was not enough. It would never be enough. That didn’t change anything. “Okay, you tell me how this might play out differently.”

  “We could enjoy each other’s company when we aren’t working. You know, spend time together. We could get to know each other. Who knows, we might find this is the real deal for both of us.”

  “And then what? You’d settle down in Hope Springs for the rest of your life? You’d be happy being a family doctor to the Amish and skip the part where you practice cutting-edge medicine with the latest technology?”

  She hated driving home the point, but it was a pipe dream to think what they had between them could ever be more than a breathless kiss in the moonlight.

  “You’re right,” he admitted.

  “Of course, I’m right.”

  He gave in so easily. That hurt a little. He could have offered a few more arguments.

  Okay, maybe it was better that he hadn’t. This way she could make believe it was nothing more than a simple flirtation.

  By now they had reached the edge of town. It didn’t take much longer to reach her house. When he pulled up to the curb in front of her home, she turned in her seat to see his face better. Trying to convince herself it hadn’t been an important moment didn’t cut it. She had to admit the truth. “I’ll never forget tonight, Phillip.”

  Reaching out, he tenderly stroked her cheek with the back of his knuckles. “Neither will I, Amber. Neither will I.”

  Phillip didn’t want her to go. The delight he’d felt when he held her in his arms was stronger than anything he’d experienced before. She fit so perfectly.

  Perhaps those feelings had been caused by the heightened emotions they both shared following Mary’s delivery. Perhaps it was because Amber was a remarkable, beautiful woman.

  Whatever the reasons, he knew once she stepped out of the car they had to go back to their roles of doctor and nurse. Working side by side, never touching the way he touched her now.

  She said, “I should go.”

  He withdrew his hand. Other than locking the doors and driving away with her, he couldn’t think of any way to stop her from leaving.

  Silently admitting defeat, he tried for a normal, friendly tone. “Then I’ll see you tomorrow at the clinic.”

  “You mean today at the clinic.”

  She was right. Dawn was still a few hours away, but he wasn’t in any rush to get home. Sleep would be very hard to come by. He would relive that tender kiss many times before he slumbered. Probably for many nights to come.

  “Don’t forget, Gina Curtis will be in first thing,” she reminded him.

  Shaking his head, he said, “I’ve never seen a person so happy to find out there was actually something wrong with her.”

  “Poor Gina. I feel terrible for dismissing her complaints so callously.”

  “What happened in the past can’t be changed. What we do from now on is what’s important. Get some sleep, Nurse Bradley. I’ll need you at your best today.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to drop you off at your place?” she asked.

  “No, a walk will do me good. It’s only a few blocks. Besides, it not like Hope Springs has much of a criminal element.”

  He got out and came around to her side of the car. Opening the door, he handed her the keys as she got out. “I’ll expect you at eight sharp.”

  “Yes, Doctor,” she replied smartly and walked up the steps to her house.

  She never looked back. He knew because he waited at the curb until she entered her front door, until the downstairs lights finally went out and until her upstairs bedroom window went dark. Only then did he walk away.

  At the corner, he stopped and looked back. How was he going to stay away?

  Chapter Sixteen

  After a sleepless, very short night, Amber arrived at the clinic determined to revert to her normal working relationship with Phillip. The last thing she needed was for things to be strained between them.

  By the middle of the morning she knew it wasn’t working.

  There were all those little things that sparked memories of the kiss. Like when he handed her a cup of coffee when she arrived and their hands touched for a brief moment. The current of attraction that ran between them zinged like lightning. It grew more powerful with each passing moment.

  Not long afterwards, she came face-to-face with him in the break room door. She froze, unable to move as she stared into his expressive eyes. He was thinking about the kiss, too.

  He found the presence of mind to step back and allow her to leave. If he hadn’t, she’d still be standing there longing to find out if a second kiss would be as wonderful as the first.

  Several times throughout the morning she looked up to find him staring at her. Once, he had the sweetest smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. The next time, he wore a faraway sad look, as if he’d lost something important. Was she important to him? She was afraid to ask. Afraid that he would say yes. Afraid he would say no.

  A little before noon, Amber’s phone rang. Phillip, having finished with their last patient of the morning, stopped outside her door to wait as she answered it.

  It was the husband of Sophie Knepp. Excitement sent Amber’s pulse skipping. She loved delivering babies and was grateful God had chosen her for this special work.

  After assuring Elijah Knepp that she would be there within the hour, she closed her phone, looked at Phillip and grinned. “Ready to help me bring another child into the world?”

  He glanced at the schedule board. “We’ve got three more patients to see this afternoon.”

  Sitting back in her chair, she shrugged. “Clue number one as to why Harold lets me do my own deliveries. Not enough hours in the day. I can do this on my own,” she offered.

  “That’s not the agreement we signed.”

  She smiled sweetly. “Can’t blame a girl for trying.”

  He struggled not to smile but lost the battle. “I’ll get Wilma to reschedule. Give me five minutes. Will this one last all night, too?”

  “That’s not likely. It’s baby number five for Sophie Knepp. She’s not due for three more weeks, but her other babies have come this early. They did fine.”

  “Knepp? I remember reading her chart. She’s not a candidate for home delivery. She’s high-risk.” All levity vanished from his face.

  Amber bristled. “In my professional assessment, she is not a high-risk mother.”

  “Then professionally we disagree.”

  “Yes, I believe we do.” To think she’d been feeling sorry for him less than an hour ago.

  “Call the Knepps back. Tell them to make arrangements for Mrs. Knepp to go to the hospital in Millersburg. I’ll meet them there.”

  “Yes, Doctor,” she snapped. Annoyed, Amber flipped open her phone and poked in the numbers.

  After eight rings, she hung up. “There’s no answer. It’s likely that Elijah called from one of the
rural phone booths shared by several of Amish families in his area.”

  “I thought they didn’t use phones.”

  “Not in their homes. Some who need phones for their businesses share a freestanding booth located centrally to their farms.”

  “So how do we contact him and tell him about the change of plans?”

  “Wilma will know if they have a neighbor with a phone who can deliver that message. If not, one of us will have to go out there.” Amber picked up her desk phone and asked Wilma to see what she could find out.

  Hanging up, Amber glared at Phillip. “She’s looking into it.”

  “Good. Keep me informed.”

  Something in his tone pushed her over the edge. “Yes, Dr. White, of course, Dr. White. I shall keep you informed of the situation without delay, Dr. White. How could you think otherwise?”

  Turning back to her computer, she said, “Now, if you will excuse me, I have work to do.”

  She pulled out her keyboard and began typing up her notes from her last delivery. He didn’t move. He simply stood in the doorway staring at her. Try as she might, she couldn’t ignore him.

  With an exasperated huff, she looked up. “Yes, Dr. White, is there something else? Some other mistake I’ve made that needs to be pointed out?”

  “Amber, please.”

  “Please what? Please don’t be annoyed that you can’t trust my judgment? You know what? You’re right. That little episode of bad judgment on my part last night proves your point.”

  Taking a step toward her, he said, “We need to talk about that.”

  Nope. That was the last thing she wanted. What if she blurted out how much she enjoyed it?

  “I have nothing to say to you. Now, this is still my office. I have work to do. Close the door on your way out.” Pushing the print button on the machine at the side of her desk, she focused on the noisy clatter as her notes were transferred to paper.

  He didn’t reply. When she looked up from her task, her door was closed. Phillip was standing inside with his arms folded across his chest. The look on his face said he wasn’t going anywhere.