before I treat him.”
“Can it wait?” Mr. Fields asked with a forced smile on his face. “Don’t bones sometimes heal by themselves?”
“Wait?” Alex looked taken aback. “I’m afraid not in this case.”
Mrs. Fields stepped closer. “How much will it be, doctor?” She kept shifting the handle on her purse from one side to the other. “I get paid next week, but—”
“We’ll pay our bill somehow,” Mr. Fields finished for her. His face was red with embarrassment. “We might need to wait until our Permanent Fund checks come. I lost my job. It was the one that carried our health insurance, but we’ll get you paid somehow—” He looked at Alex. “You’ve been here long enough to know about the Permanent Fund checks? They’re the ones we get from the state for all the oil that’s pumped out of Alaska? Those checks are good as gold.”
“Ah.” Alex cleared his throat. “Sure, I know about the checks. Don’t worry, though. I don’t have the figures added up, but I could use some new shelves in the waiting room. If you’re interested, we could trade services.” He looked at Mr. Fields. “I hear you’re a good carpenter.”
“I’ve nailed a few boards together in my time,” Mr. Fields said proudly. “Your shelves are as good as done. I can come back later today to measure everything.”
Alex nodded. “Good. I have some lumber in the back we can use.”
“Thank you,” Mrs. Fields muttered.
Maryann watched the whole scene with satisfaction. She knew she was right that the children of Treasure Creek needed this doctor. She only had to look at the sudden hero worship in Timmy’s eyes to know that. Alex didn’t make anyone look small, and that won him the respect of his young patients.
“We’ll just take Timmy in the back and get him set up,” Alex said as he motioned for Maryann to follow him. He looked at Mrs. Fields. “I’ll need to cut the leg off his jeans, but I’ll do it as carefully as I can, so you can sew them back together later.”
The woman nodded. “Thanks. He doesn’t have enough pairs as it is.”
“Say, Doc,” Mr. Fields said from beside the door. “If the shelves aren’t enough, my wife here can introduce you to some of the local women. You know, it’d be like one of those matchmaking services they have in the big cities.”
“What?” Alex turned to look at the man.
“I heard you were looking,” Mr. Fields said as he reached for the doorknob. “We could help you out. Nothing fancy, but the wife here knows everyone. She’ll fix you up.”
Maryann felt the breath leave her body. She had a bad feeling about this.
“Hush about that.” Mrs. Fields turned to her husband. “How can you be thinking about that when our son lies there in pain?”
Then the woman turned to the doctor. “Should we go back in the room with you when you work on Timmy’s leg?”
Maryann risked glancing at Alex. His face looked frozen.
“I’m fine.” Timmy spoke up from where he lay.
Maryann noticed the boy had a strong grip on that small Bible of hers. She wished she was the one holding it, though.
“Maybe you and Dad could wait here,” Timmy added. It looked as if there was a ragged piece of old paper peeking out from the pages of the Bible. Timmy must have put it there. “In this room.”
“Well, I guess.” Mrs. Fields muttered, as if she didn’t know what to do.
“I could wait with you if you’d like,” Maryann offered. The doctor didn’t really need her for the splint. Besides, she’d give anything not to have to face him right now. She could tell he knew all about the conversation she and her cousin had had about him. “We have a few magazines on the table by the chairs.”
She saw Timmy’s parents sit down in two chairs and noted they left an empty one between them. She figured that was where Timmy usually sat. No wonder the boy was torn apart by their arguing; he’d grown up right in the middle of things. Just as she had.
“Nurse Jenner. You’re with me,” Alex said before she even moved.
“Yes,” she said as she gave the chairs one last look and walked toward the gurney.
“Here, I can do that.” Alex reached the gurney first and put his hands on it.
“But I usually push the patients. That’s my job.”
“We’re a team,” Alex said, wheeling the gurney back to the examining room.
Well, Maryann thought, what was that supposed to mean? If she didn’t know better, she’d think The Ice Man was melting. But that was unlikely. Perhaps he was planning to fire her. Not that she could blame him if he did. She hadn’t intended for the whole town to be talking about Alex’s love life. When would she ever learn to keep her mouth shut?
“It was a mistake,” Maryann muttered, as she followed Alex down the hall. “That conversation with my cousin.”
Alex finished pushing the gurney into the room and Maryann turned on the lights.
“We can talk about that later, Nurse Jenner,” he said.
Maryann nodded as she stepped closer to the gurney and bent slightly to adjust a corner of the sheet. At least Alex wouldn’t fire her as long as there was a patient around to hear him do it.
Timmy gave a weak snicker.
“What?” She glanced over at the boy. His face was still pale, but his eyes were mischievous.
“You still look like an angel,” he said, and chuckled a little louder.
Maryann straightened up and glanced at the mirror by the sink. Her hair was just as windblown as it had been after she’d stepped outside to give Johnny Short that lime lollipop. Why did her hair always have to look so wild? It was puffed up in a circle around her head. No wonder Alex hadn’t shown any interest in the women up here. He probably liked women with their hair smoothly drawn back in elegant styles, like the models wore in those glossy magazines. Ever since last night, she’d wondered what kind of a woman he would marry. She hadn’t meant to accept her cousin’s challenge, but she’d been thinking about it ever since.
She eyed Alex as he stood beside the gurney. Whoever he married would need to fit into the world of a prosperous doctor in Los Angeles. Those fancy women were probably right about the expensive cars he would drive. Cooperative hair would be important. He’d want a young trophy wife to ride in his red BMW convertible. Or maybe it would be a top of the line Lexus.
“You might want an angel by your side for the next few minutes,” Alex muttered to the boy, as he removed the sheet that had covered his leg. “I’ll have to cut off part of your jeans before we can set your leg.” Timmy nodded.
“It’ll do my best to be careful, but it’s bound to hurt some.” Alex smoothed down the sheet beside the boy.
“Okay,” Timmy said, as he gripped the Bible.
“I can take that for you,” Alex said, as he held out his hand for the book.
Maryann noticed the boy was reluctant to give it up. “We can put it on the shelf by the doctor’s desk,” she said. “You’ll be able to see it.”
Timmy shook his head.
Alex looked over at her. “It’s okay. He can keep it.”
It was time for them to get to work.
Alex was focused on getting the plaster splint on Timmy’s leg quickly. At times like these, he liked working with an efficient nurse like Maryann. Even though he could sense she was nervous, she anticipated what instruments he’d need and she had them ready for him. More importantly, she kept up a steady stream of soft