Page 87 of Tumbleweed Temptation
“I couldn’t help her. God, Ginny, standing there, knowing she’d lost the baby, but she still had to go through that labor. I’ve been in labor rooms before, you know, and there’s the pain, the suffering, but there’s joy at the end. This room was—horrible. Everyone knew, everyone was solemn, some of the nurses were even crying. And Susan was so brave, God, so brave. I’d say I wish you could have seen her, but no. No one should go through that. Not ever. Not ever.”
Ginny’s arms went around him and she pulled his head down to her shoulder. He resisted, for a minute, the tension in his body ready to snap, but then he breathed her in, the soft scent of her, and he broke, his arms wrapping around her, pulling her tight against him. She didn't flinch, just let him hold her.
He wished he could let the tears go. Maybe he’d feel better if he could.
Finally, he lifted his head and loosened his hold. The parking lot had filled in a little, and the sun was over the top of the buildings.
“We need to get back.”
She nodded, releasing him slowly, then stepped back to walk around the car.
Once they were settled in and back on the road, he sighed. “I’m going to have to tell people. I don't want her to have to come back and tell everyone. It’s going to be traumatizing enough. I don't know what to say.”
“What about her family? Her mom? Can't she get people to spread the word? Susan’s friends?”
“Yeah, maybe. Maybe.” He let his shoulders relax. “Who are her friends? I don't even know.”
“I can find out. She’s at the high school, so probably some in Kimmel, some here. We can figure it out. But this doesn’t have to be your thing.”
“I can’t do much for her, but I can do this.”
“Okay,” she said. “Okay. We’ll do it.”
Why was she putting herself into this? She didn't need to. But maybe for the same reason he felt the need to put himself into it—he didn't know how else to help.
*****
OH, IT WASN'T GOOD. He had been so busy blaming himself that he didn't think that the people in the town would blame him. But the murmurs started when he walked into the diner, and then when he started losing patients. Ginny was agitated, and he wasn't sure what was going on until Lacey came in with the twins.
“Hey. I’m glad you were able to fit us in.”
“Yeah, well, it seems like I’m not as busy as I used to be.”
“Maybe it was just the initial rush, when you got here, after not having a doctor for so long.”
He gave her a long look. “We’ve always been honest with each other, Lacey.”
She shifted her gaze toward her kids in their stroller. “Well, you know.”
“What did you hear?”
“I had a couple of people tell me not to trust my kids to you.”
That hurt more than he expected, and he rubbed the heel of his hand over his sternum. “Ouch.”
“People are just upset that she lost the baby. They don't really think you had anything to do with it.”
“Like they didn't think my mom had anything to do with the accident,” he said.
She shook her head as she lifted one of her babies from the stroller, cradling him against her. “That was different.”
“How?”
“Your mom was driving the bus.”
“And I was Susan’s doctor. Jesus, Lacey. What could I have done to figure this out?”
“Honey, there’s nothing. No thing. I’m sure they’ll say it was a genetic condition, something you couldn't have foreseen.”
