Page 19 of Mountain Freedom
“I wouldn’t keep this one waiting,” she warned. “We take care of our own around here, and Detective Ford is a town VIP. Frankly, I’m surprised he’s here at all.” She sniffed, looking at me in disdain. “But since he is, don’t screw it up.”
I bit my lip, fighting back all the retorts I wanted to give her. Beverly was a snake, but unfortunately, she was a snake who seemed to have more job security than I did at the moment. Thankfully, the mention of Jackson was a balm that helped me keep my cool.
“Oh, Jackson. Good,” I said, nodding. “Let me pull his chart and I’ll be right in.”
She raised her eyebrow at the use of his first name. I felt a tiny bit of guilt at using him to gain some leverage with her, but I had a feeling he’d understand and approve.
There was almostnothing in Jackson’s chart other than his required annual physicals for work. He wasn’t on any medications and seemed to never get sick. The note for today’s visit said he was feeling rundown. He had seemed fine last night. Had something happened? Maybe a virus that had hit him in between now and then?
Or…was it possible he was here just to see me?
I leaned back in my office chair, gazing at the ceiling as I let my mind wander there. Jackson was…attractive. To say the least. It had caught me off guard the night before. All these years, he had lived in my memories as a kid. Blond hair, blue eyes, long limbs tanned by the sun. Wiry and athletic, always climbing trees or balancing his way across the boulders in the creeks. He had been a gorgeous little boy—when he wasn’t black and blue from the bruises his father loved marring his face with. But he had been a boy, nonetheless. A boy frozen in time in my memories.
The Jackson I’d met last night wasn’t a boy. That wavy hair had darkened some since he was a kid. He wasn’t skinny anymore—he was built to impress, with that little bit of sexy swagger that came from wearing the uniform. Those blue eyes were still bright though, and when he grinned—well, that grin took me right back to the best days of my childhood. The days when it felt like I might actually reach the clouds if he pushed me hard enough on the swing. The nights we stayed up giggling, scaring ourselves silly with ghost stories that weren’t half as terrifying as the ghosts he lived with at home.
My heart ached just thinking about those days and the closeness we had shared. It had been completely platonic. Just two kids trying to make it in a crazy world. After all, he was younger than me, so even when I hit the boy-crazy stage, I hadn’t put him in that category. But I had known he had been half in love with me in that innocent, childlike way.
After seeing him again, I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe there was a spark of that left.
I openedthe door to the exam room and saw Jackson sitting on the table, wearing a polite smile as Beverly openly flirted with him. She was wearing a skin-tight dress cut deeply enough to show off her ample cleavage, and she knew how to strike a pose on my stool to put her curves on perfect display.
“Finally,”she said before looking at Jackson and rolling her eyes like they were in on some sort of joke together. “I’m so sorry, Detective. I’m afraid our newdoctorhasn’t quite figured out how things work around here.”
“Hey, Allison,” Jackson said, a boyish grin lighting up his face. It was so much better than the polite smile he wore for her.
“Hey, Jackson.” I gave him a smile back, hugging my tablet to my chest. When Beverly made no move to leave, I looked at her pointedly. “I’ve got this, Beverly. And the phone is ringing up front.”
She just rolled her eyes again and huffed off.
“Wow,” Jackson said, raising his eyebrows. “I’ve dealt with a couple of coworkers who didn’t like me, but man. This is a whole new level.”
I just sighed and let myself plop onto my stool like I was at a bar with my best friend instead of a new physician in a professional clinic. It was wrong to be so casual with a patient, yet, with Jackson, it felt right. Like it would have been weird forme to wear my professional mask in front of him. How could I? He had known me since we were kids. Despite the years that had passed, I suspected he’d see right through it anyway.
“It’s been a rough day,” I said.
“Wanna talk about it?” His eyes were filled with genuine concern.
I shook my head. “No. Not here anyway. Besides, you’re the one who’s sick.” I cocked my head as I did a visual scan. He looked perfectly healthy from where I was sitting. “What’s going on? You seemed to be feeling okay last night.”
He gave me another grin. “Aw, I’m probably fine. I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night, so I looked a little rough this morning. The sheriff’s worried I’m coming down with the flu or something. Says it’s going around.”
“It’s not really flu season, but maybe,” I said. “Let’s check you out.”
I moved to take his vitals and he gave me a weird look.
“Danny already did that,” he said.
“I know,” I said, sighing again. I’d realized quickly that I’d have to double check Danny’s work, because he’d entered incorrect information on every patient of the day. I wasn’t sure if he was completely incompetent or if he was just having a bad day. “But I’m going to check you over myself.”
“Okay,” he said, swallowing hard.
I pulled out the thermometer and scanned his forehead. “No fever,” I said, showing him. “Let me look at your throat.” I checked out his throat, eyes, ears, and nose, and I listened to his heart and lungs. “Any symptoms other than the difficulty sleeping? Sore throat, body aches, anything?”
“Nope,” he said, shaking his head.
“You seem perfectly healthy,” I said, shrugging. “I don’t even see any reason to swab you for the flu.”
“I told you, I’m fine. Sheriff Morrison probably just saw this as a great way to force me to finally take a sick day before I lose them. Besides,” he said before clearing his throat. “I decided I didn’t mind having an excuse to see you again.”
