He glanced at his watch, wondering how it had gotten so late. “Have her come in here while I finish this up.”
The gleeful shriek that had been part of his world for the past eight months had him smiling before he even looked up from the computer. “I see he’s in a happy mood. Thanks for watching him again, Ma.”
“He’s such a good boy.” His mother beamed down at the baby in her arms. “He was cranky before his nap, but he’s been all smiles since.”
“I just need to finish up these notes, and then I have one more patient to see. Can you take Mika to my office to play until I’m done? Shouldn’t be long.”
“You still have things for him in there? Your dad bought him a new toy in Fairbanks today, but it’s at our house for when we’re babysitting. I told him he was going to spoil the child to death, since he’ll be getting all kinds of toys for his birthday. One-year-olds deserve a special party, don’t you think?”
“I don’t think he cares if he gets a party, but I do know he’ll love the attention.” He glanced up and smiled. “As for the spoiling—you were both good at that with all three of us, growing up, but I think we turned out okay.”
“Yes, you sure did. Two doctors and a lawyer? Not bad at all.”
“Yeah, except Timothy always said I’d be the doctor, Grace would be the lawyer and he wanted to be the Native American chief. I think he still kind of wishes that had happened, instead of planning to come work here next year when he’s finished with his residency.”
He finished the notes and stood. The serious look his mother sent him was a surprise, considering their light conversation.
“What?”
“Have you invited Rory over for dinner yet?”
“No, and I’m not planning to—which I already told you.”
Seeing her in the office when she brought in her mother was going to be difficult enough. The last thing he wanted was hours of small-talk with the woman he’d thought would be with him forever—the woman who’d crushed his heart into tiny pieces, then stomped on them for good measure.
“She’s busy with her mother, and I’m busy with work and Mika.”
“Then I’ll invite her. I want to catch up with all she’s been doing since she moved to LA.”
“Go ahead and invite her, then. Just don’t expect me to come, too.”
“Jacob,” she said in a disapproving voice. “It’s been a long time. I know things were...bad for both of you. But can’t you two just be friends now, since you went through the same heartache together? You were such good pals for such a long time.”
Good pals. That had been true for what seemed like nearly his entire life—until they’d become lovers. And then had come the happy surprise...before the horrible shock and the heartbreak. The fact that his mother wanted him to be friends with Rory now told him she had no clue how bad it had really been.
He wished he didn’t still feel the bitter resentment and hurt. But seeing her for even a few minutes last night had proved he still wasn’t ready to move on from that.
Maybe he never would be.
The moment he’d walked in through her mother’s front door a storm of emotion had swarmed up and strangled him. Far more than he’d expected, considering it had been seven years since he’d last seen her at her dad’s funeral, and they’d barely spoken then.
But he hadn’t forgotten the amazing deep green of her eyes—like moss on a hillside in the summer. The honey highlights in her silky brown hair. And when he’d slipped and fallen on that damned floor, and she’d leaned over him, he’d been stunned that she smelled exactly the same as she always had. She obviously still dabbed grapefruit oil on her skin—something her mother had encouraged her to use as a child, claiming it boosted the immune system and made people feel more cheerful.
Rory had always rolled her eyes at her mother’s conviction about all the things herbal oils would do for a person, and he’d sometimes wondered why she used it when it she claimed she didn’t believe in it. Obviously she liked the stuff, no matter what she said about it.
If he closed his eyes he swore he could still smell her. But he wasn’t going to tell his mother about all those memories and the discomfort—damn it, the anguish he’d felt when Rory left. Or that it was careening around inside of him all over again.
Before he could come up with some kind of answer that would satisfy her, Ellie poked her head in the door again.
“Rory Anderson is on the line. She says she thinks her mom has a urinary tract infection. She’s having trouble passing urine, and it’s cloudy. She’s wondering if she can get an antibiotic from you.”
He hesitated, then opened his mouth to say he’d write it and Ellie could call it into the pharmacy in Fairbanks. He forced himself to close it again. His policy was never to prescribe medicine—especially antibiotics—over the phone. He had to see the patient first, make sure it was really what they needed.
But maybe this time he could make an exception, since Rory was a doctor. He could leave a prescription at the front desk for Rory to pick up, and he wouldn’t have to see her—except for the day after her mother went to her surgeon for a follow-up.
No. Much as he didn’t want to see Rory, he couldn’t let his feelings urge him to violate good medical practice. Rory dealt with bones in her job. Who knew when she’d last had a patient with a UTI? Not to mention that a lot of surgeons called in antibiotic specialists for post-op infections. Truth was, there was no way around it.
He grimaced. “Tell her to bring Wendy in right now. We’ll fit her in before the day’s over.”
* * *
“I feel fine, Aurora. I mean, yes, it really hurts to go to the bathroom, but my stitches hurt, too. I don’t see any reason we have to go see Jacob. Can’t I just take more pain medicine?”
“A urinary tract infection isn’t something to mess around with, Twinkie. Not when you were on a catheter post-op and are having fever and chills now. You don’t want it to get worse and result in a kidney infection. Plus, you’ll be more comfortable when an antibiotic gets rid of it.”
“I just hate going to doctors.”
“Who doesn’t? Except this doctor is one of your favorite people, so quit complaining. He already said he’ll squeeze you in this evening.”
Which had her feeling relieved that her mom would get the meds she needed, but totally dreading having to see Jake again, even though her mother would love it.
“Okay. I guess it’s true that seeing Jacob is always fun. But why can’t you just get me an antibiotic, if that’s what you think I need? Isn’t that why you went to doctor school?”
“I went to doctor school for a little more than that.” Trust her mom to make her laugh, even as Rory was a ball of nerves. “But I can’t prescribe medicine here. I don’t have a medical license or privileges in Alaska.”
“Well,
