by Lynne Gentry
Toting Isabella, Maddie scooted to a seat close to the window and tried to banish the sensation by distracting herself as well. “See the clouds?”
Isabella craned her neck until her nose touched the glass. “Cowds,” she repeated.
Maddie couldn’t help but chuckle at Isabella’s pronunciation of words minus Ls. Just to hear the child’s interesting speech pattern again, she asked, “What’s your name?”
“Isbaya.”
“Ah. That’s a smart name for a smart little girl.” The jet hit a pocket of turbulence and Maddie and Isabella reached for each other simultaneously. “Whoa.” Maddie looked down and Isabella was looking up at her with a trusting intensity. “We better buckle you in again.”
“No.” Isabella threw her arms around Maddie’s neck and pulled her tight.
“But you could get hurt.”
“No.”
Well, she was certainly as stubborn as Parker that was for sure. “Okay, then. We’ll strap in together.” Maddie reached behind her, retrieved the seatbelt then snapped herself and Isabella into place. She chanced a downward glance at the little body pressed against her chest. Once again, the little face was pointed up at hers. This time the expression on Isabella’s face was total contentment.
Before she could stop herself, Maddie unstuck the curl from Isabella’s cheek. “We’ll be home soon, little one.”
“Home.” Isabella plastered the side of her face against the pounding in Maddie’s chest.
Questions of why Parker had a child and had kept it a secret were still scrambling Maddie’s brain when the jet’s wheels smoked the Mt. Hope Municipal Airport runway.
Getting answers would have to wait. The flashing lights of Charlie Copeland’s ambulance raced to meet the plane. No one in Mt. Hope wanted Parker to die. Especially, not her.
Because once he was well, she intended to kill him.
CHAPTER FOUR
A hot, dusty smell reminiscent of a West Texas wind roused Parker from the deep sleep that held him captive.
Home.
He worked his gritty eyelids open. The curly blonde he’d had a crush on his whole life was stroking his face.
Home and Maddie?
He had to be dreaming. Surely the familiar voice barking orders on his behalf didn’t belong to the girl who’d made it clear they would never be more than friends.
“Mad—?” Her name stuck in his dry throat the way thoughts of kissing her had stuck in his thick skull for far too long.
Someone patted his shoulder. “Parker, it’s your mother.”
He turned his head away from the vision of Maddie. “Mom?”
“Kathy, we need to get them both to the hospital.” He’d recognize that impatient voice anywhere.
“Mad—?” he tried to say again, but her name couldn’t get past the sour taste in his mouth.
“Is the baby sick, too?” His mother asked.
“She’s not exhibiting any signs, but she’ll need to be tested.” Maddie peeled his child’s arms from her neck and handed his daughter off to his mother. “All’s she had to eat was a granola bar.”
“You gave this poor baby granola?” His mother’s uncharacteristically curt response should have been directed at him. He was the one who hadn’t told her about his daughter. “Does she even have teeth?”
“It’s all I had,” Maddie shouted over the mounting cries of Isabella insisting she be returned to Maddie. “And yes, she has teeth.”
“I don’t think she likes me.” His mother juggled his crying daughter on her hip, tears forming behind her glasses. “What if she never likes me?”
“We’ll think of something to settle her down.” Leona Harper wrapped an assuring arm around his mom. If his old pastor’s wife was in his dream, he must be dying, which would explain the terrible pain in his belly. “I’ve borrowed a car seat from David,” Leona went on to say. “I’ll take the baby in my car, Kathy, and you can follow us to the hospital in the truck.”
“A grandchild?” His mother sniffed. “How could he—”
Parker tried to lift his hand, but he was weak as a tomato seedling and feeling just as green.
“What’s her name?” Kathy asked.
“Isabella.” Maddie stepped between him and his mother. “Kathy, I know this is all a shock, but Parker needs immediate medical attention. We need to go.”
His mother’s free hand grabbed hold of the gurney. “Maybe your momma can stay with Isabella and I can take care of my boy.”
“Parker’s going to the ER and then into isolation,” Maddie explained. “He won’t be seeing anybody but me.” While Maddie looked at her mother, he couldn’t help searching his old flame’s left hand. No ring. His Adam’s apple did that thing it used to do whenever she came around...grew way too big for his throat and completely shut off his ability to form words.
Maddie, on the other hand, remained in full-charge of her faculties. “Momma, can you take Isabella and Kathy to the ER?”
“Whatever they need,” Leona said. “And I’ve asked Saul to take over the job of getting your temporary privileges at the hospital sorted out. It may take a few days . . . until then you’ll have to work with Dr. Boyer.”
“The maternal-fetal specialist you hired for Amy?” Maddie sounded equally confused and miffed.
“Dr. Boyer is our newly appointed chief of staff.”
“Long as she stays out of my way, we’ll be fine.”
“She’s a he,” Leona corrected. “And he’s proven himself quite capable.”
“How did he manage to become chief so fast?”
“It’s a long story.”
“Then you’ll have to explain later, Momma.” Maddie checked the strap across his chest then gave the ambulance driver the thumbs up. “Charlie, I hope this heap still runs better than it looks.”
“Maybe it ain’t fancy as those rigs in the big city, but I ain’t lost a patient yet...well, ’cept for your daddy, but he was already in glory by the time I got to the church.”
Maddie swallowed hard, as though the guilt of not being around when her father needed her most was the size of a horse-pill. “If you don’t get a move on, this poor fellow could be knocking on the pearly gates.”
“You always were a bossy little thing.” Charlie shoved Parker’s gurney into the back of the ambulance.
“Still am.” Maddie climbed in and squeezed in beside him. “Call ahead and tell the ER to prepare for an infectious disease arrival.”
“You’re momma’s done warned everyone. She’s a one-woman wonder.” Charlie locked the gurney in place, glancing over his shoulder to make sure he hadn’t been overheard. “Now that Leona’s keeping Mt. Hope Memorial afloat, everybody hops to it whenever she speaks.” He smiled proudly and slammed the door.
The next time Parker roused, Maddie was standing beside his bed. Her hair was pulled into a messy bun and her clothes were rumpled like she’d been sleeping in them for days. To his gritty eyes, she’d never looked better. He wanted to tell her everything he should have said before he let her walk out of his life, but she was arguing with a tall guy in a white coat and, besides, his Adam’s apple was doing that thing again.
“You’re a maternal-fetal specialist,” Maddie snapped, obviously perturbed she wasn’t getting her way. “How many typhoid cases have you treated?”
“I’m just saying, Dr. Harper, if you felt this man’s condition warranted the supervision of an infectious disease specialist, then why didn’t you take him to Dallas?”
“I brought him here, Dr. Boyer, because Mt. Hope is his home.”
“So you assessed his condition, without benefit of proper testing, and decided to bring a highly contagious disease into my hospital?”
“First of all, since when does being appointed chief make Mt. Hope Memorial your hospital? And, secondly, when I assessed the risks against the benefits, I decided Mr. Kemp’s child had needs as great as his.”
“Does she have typhoid?”
“Negative.” M
addie squared her shoulders and Parker wanted to shout at the guy with Chris Hemsworth good looks to take cover, ’cause the girl he’d known most of his life was fixin’ to blow. “I know Parker Kemp,” Maddie continued. “You don’t. And if he, for any reason, felt that his child was in danger or not being cared for properly, the emotional strain would have hindered his recovery.”
“Maddie?” Parker croaked.
Her head whipped around. “Hey, stranger.” A pleased smile lit her face. “You’ve had me worried for a couple of days.” She reached around the IV tubing and took Parker’s hand.
“Dr. Harper, we haven’t—”
“Formalities will have to wait, Dr. Boyer. My patient is awake.”
“Maddie?” Parker whispered.
“Yes?” She leaned over him, her eyes shining with the same tears of relief he’d seen the night he’d plowed them into a snow drift. “It’s me, Parker. Can you hear me?”
He waved her closer. The brush of her hair on his cheek awakened desires he’d moved to Guatemala to escape. “Give the poor guy a break.”
She pulled back, her brow furrowed. “What?”
“Mr. Kemp,” a male voice interrupted. “I’m Robin Boyer, chief of staff here at—”
“Your hospital. I heard.” Urges long buried steamrolled the good sense he’d thought he’d acquired in service to others. His gaze darted from the beautiful blonde whose bloodshot blue eyes still danced with the intensity of a range fire to the guy with the chiseled good looks. Barbie and Ken. Matched in looks, smarts, and profession. Much as they probably deserved whatever the other could dish out, he couldn’t lay here and let some guy take pot shots at his...what? The last time he’d read more into his relationship with Maddie, the mistake had pushed her away. He wasn’t going to make that mistake again. He quickly settled on old friend and did his best to rally his parched tongue to speak on her behalf. “Maddie wouldn’t have come for me if I hadn’t been knockin’ on the pearly gates. I reckon the thanks for saving my life go to this little lady.”
“Lady is a generous term,” the chief said bluntly.
“You’re right,” Parker agreed. “Doctor suits her better. Always has.” It would be easier to put wind in a bottle than to try and make Maddie into something she was never meant to be. He knew. He’d tried. “I’ve got typhoid. Don’t I, Dr. Harper?”
“Yes,” she concurred, her expression more miffed than pleased by his defense. “But I was able to get you started on the right meds before your bowels perforated.”
“I’ll grant that her family medicine and epidemiology credentials are impressive.” Dr. Boyer’s tight-lipped smile indicated this battle wasn’t over. If he was as smart as his title implied, he’d retreat and regroup.
“How long before I can get back in the field?” Parker asked Maddie.
Dr. Boyer stepped up. “We’ll have you out of here as soon as—”
Parker interrupted, “I was asking my doctor.”
A frustrated sigh huffed between his perfect teeth. “Dr. Harper, once you’ve explained Mr. Kemp’s course of treatment, I’ll be waiting in my office to finish our . . . conversation.” If it hadn’t been for the muscle flinching in the man’s clenched jaw, the chief might have sounded almost neighborly.
“Wash your hands before you leave the room, Dr. Boyer,” Maddie ordered smugly.
Once Dr. Boyer had scrubbed up to Maddie’s satisfaction and exited, she turned what was left of her unspent wrath on Parker. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, mister.”
“Good to see you, too.” Parker raised his finger, head still throbbing but pleased a little strength was returning to his limbs. “All that savin’ your butt has made me thirsty.”
“Let’s be clear on who’s saving whom here.” She filled the cup and bent the straw. “I’m going to have to adjust the bed.” After he was raised, she sat beside him and slid one hand behind his neck. Her hair brushed his cheek again as she lifted the cup to his cracked lips. “How in the world did you contract typhoid?”
Cool liquid snaked down his parched throat. “I’m guessin’ the same way anyone does...ingesting tainted water.”
“Healthy people who keep their vaccinations current don’t usually end up on medevac planes.”
He didn’t like confessing he’d been foolish, but if confronted with the same choice, he’d gladly make it again. “I let them give my shot to a kid.”
“What kid?”
“The one you’ve been defending.”
She swallowed hard and removed her hand from behind his neck. “And how did you get this...kid?”
“Do you mean did I get her the usual way people get kids?” He hadn’t let himself think about what it would be like to hold Maddie in his arms for a long time but now those images gushed from the well he thought he’d capped. “Or are you asking if I picked her up at the market along with a couple of street tacos?”
“This isn’t funny, Parker. Your mom’s wiggin’ out.”
It was as if the mention of his mother and the realization of all he’d left undone suddenly and completely snapped him out of a deep fog. “You didn’t have a right to tell my mother anything.”
“She knew the girl wasn’t mine the minute I stepped off that plane.”
“I’ve got to go.” He struggled to try to get out of bed. “Isabella must be scared half to death.”
“Calm down, cowboy.” Maddie eased him back onto his pillow. “I’ve heard she’s settling in and has finally taken to your mother.”
He shook his head. “I promised her she’d never be left alone again.” His breath was coming in short little spurts. The gruesome memory of what he’d found buried beneath that mudslide was threatening to bury him. “You’ve got to bring her to me, Maddie.”
Maddie covered him with the sheet. “I’m sorry, but you don’t see anybody but me until you’ve been on the right antibiotics for a few more days.”
CHAPTER FIVE
“You’re angry that I cut you off.” Dr. Boyer sat behind his desk wearing the same condescending glare he’d used in the ER. It hadn’t stopped her from taking over the management of the ER’s infectious disease protocol and it wouldn’t stop her from continuing to monitor Parker’s care. “That’s why you won’t consider my offer.”
Maddie picked up her backpack. “I don’t know what you’re talking about and I really don’t care. No way am I giving you a month of family medicine practice for hospital privileges here.” She started for the door.
“A few days ago. Out on I-20. When you gave up at the last minute.”
She stopped and turned slowly. “You’re the guy in that nasty black convertible.”
“You’re the girl in the poor-performing Porsche.” The same cocky grin he’d flashed that day took over his tanned face. “I’m the guy who beat you then, but I suspect I’ll have a fight on my hands if I’m going to beat you now.”
This dead-end conversation had circled the obvious resolution long enough. Maddie hadn’t slept for more than thirty minutes in nearly three days. She needed a shower and a change of clothes worse than she needed a decent meal. The Cipro she’d prescribed for Parker was working. He was finally out of the woods and she felt comfortable leaving him for a few hours with the nurse she’d briefed on contagious disease protocol.
“Look, all I need is temporary hospital privileges, only long enough to manage my patient’s care for the length of his stay. I’m not asking to take your job, although I’m pretty sure I could get it if I wanted the headache—”
“I admire your mother and what she’s done for this place as much as everyone in this county, but she and her husband hired me to run this hospital and that’s what I intend to do.”
Maddie snorted. “You think I need my mother to get your job?”
He drummed his fingers on the desk, his eyes raking her from the top of her head to the soles of her feet. “I thought southern girls were supposed to be sweet and easy to get along with.”
She didn’t l
ike the way his gaze cut straight through her bravado. “Oh, we can be sweet, but don’t turn your back on us for a minute.”
“Then I guess it behooves me to keep my enemies close.”
“Behooves? Who says behooves?”
The return of his cocky smirk produced symmetrical dimples. “Tell you what, Dr. Harper, have dinner with me tonight and I’ll go over all the big words in your contract.”
If he wasn’t so condescending, she’d accuse him of hitting on her. “We can discuss my contract right here, right now.”
“I’m in this hospital fifteen hours a day. I need some fresh air.”
She could stand here and argue about the multitude of ethical lines he’d crossed and probably win her case, but what she wanted was the ability to guarantee Parker’s recovery. “Name the time and place, Chief.” She ground his title as an emphatic reminder of the professional standards that came with his position.
“There’s a new steak place on the lake.”
“I’d rather stay close to the hospital.”
He sighed, “That just leaves the Koffee Kup.”
“Don’t look so glum,” Maddie said smugly. “Friday night is all-you-can-eat fried catfish.” She wheeled for the door.
“Until we have a signed agreement, no practicing medicine in my hospital.”
She stopped and spun on her heels. “Does your hospital also have rules against sitting with a friend?”
“In quarantine, yes.”
She answered him with a glare. “See you at seven.” Without waiting for his agreement, she marched from his office feeling equally victorious and apprehensive.