Page 106 of The Blessings of Christmas
But Dr. Hot Stuff wasn’t feeling the love. “Look left. Look right.”
“Didn’t we do this already?”
“Yes. Different injury.”
“Oh, is everything okay,” she whispered. This felt like one of those personal moments. His warm breath on her face. Those gray suede eyes studying her.
Her mother once told Victoria she read too much into things. Could this be one of those moments?Naw.
The hand dropped. The electricity fizzled. “No tenderness? No oozing?”
Wow, she’d hit it big today. When a man talks about vomit and oozing in one visit, a girl’s hit the jackpot. “No. Nothing.”
Because nothing’s wrong with me except for my obsession with you. Now he’d send her home.
Clicking off the light, Dr. Darling leaned back. Her instinct was to lean right with him. Thank goodness, she fought it. “Could I give you some advice?”
Oh, my. The personal touch. “Yes, please. I mean, sure.”
Dr. Darling made a circle around his own eye. “About your eyes...”
“Yes,” she whispered, dropping her voice. “It’s called smoky eyes.”
“That goop invites infections. I’d watch that if I were you.”
She felt crushed. “Oh, okay.” Wrestlers probably felt like this when they were slammed to the floor.
The nurse arrived with another blasted clipboard. He rattled off some instructions. She jotted them down. Pretty soon Victoria’s desk at work would be littered with messages from the urgent care center. But not the messages she wanted.
“All right then.” He backed up. “Let me know if you start to see double. Severe headaches.”
“Vomiting,” she threw in.
Did a faint smile tease his lips?Not.She couldn’t let him go. “So, you have a clinic?”
He turned at the door, the overhead lights casting a ridiculous shine on his dark hair. “Yes, I do. It's for the underserved population in the area.”
“Undeserving?” That sounded so wrong. “Why, I would think everyone deserves something.”
Dr. Darling wasn’t smiling. “Under-served.” He broke it into two words while her self esteem shriveled. “A lot of people don'thave access to health care. They can’t just visit a doctor or a center whenever they like.”
Like me.She slid lower in the chair.
“No insurance. No money. A group of us volunteer.” He said all this very slowly, as if she was stupid or something.
“That sounds nice.”
His frown softened. “In addition to medical care, we have a small kitchen and offer some hot food. You know, that kind of thing.”
Some activity in the hall made him turn. Dr. Darling gave her a backward glance, like she was wasting his time. She’d seen that look before. Victoria was used to people not taking her seriously. And she didn’t want that from Derek Darling.
He blew out a breath. “Guess we’re good here. Let me know if you have any problems.”
“Oh, I hope not.” Then she remembered.I’m a girl with a concussion. Putting a hand to her head, she tilted it into what she knew was her best angle. “But I'll let you know if I do.”
With a curt nod, he was gone.
Going out front,Derek watched Victoria Pomeroy back her big red convertible out of her parking space. “She’d better not hit my jeep.”
