Free Discovering Pride (Pride Series) by Jill Sanders Page A

evening shift.  Her head was getting worse; her vision was narrowing as if looking through a tunnel. What really bothered her was remembering Stacie and Bridget giggling over the new town doctor, Stacie and Aaron…Aaron and Stacie.
     
    She was leaning back with her eyes closed trying to decide whether she was going to be mad or sick when she heard a loud crash in the kitchen followed by screaming.
     
    Running into the kitchen she saw Katie sitting in a chair, Iian was holding her head down between her legs. He held a towel wrapped around her hand which he held above her head.  Lacey saw the blood.
     
    Rushing over she grabbed a fresh towel and began to apply pressure to the wound, while trying to calm the girl down. When she’d glimpsed the wound, she knew the girl would need stitches. Looking up at Iian he nodded in silent agreement.  Katie was very pale but Lacey could see her eyes were still clear and focused.
     
    “ Katie, I’m going to drive you over to the doctors so he can have a look at this. Can you walk?”
     
    When she nodded they helped her into Lacey’s car for the short drive.  Lacey kept Katie calm by talking to her about the busy lunch hour they’d had. When she pulled up to the door, Aaron came rushing out with a wheel chair.
     
    “ The restaurant called ahead.” Aaron said helping Katie into the wheel chair. “How are you feeling Katie?” Aaron started to wheel Katie into the building and down the hall while asking her questions, no doubt to keep her alert. Not once did he look over at Lacey.
     
    Lacey was left standing in the doorway holding a bloody towel.
     
    She hadn’t been into the office since Aaron had taken over the practice.  She noticed there was new paint and carpet and the old hardwood floors had been refurnished. Lacey walked into what used to be Dr. Stevens office, it had been turned into a waiting room with new leather couches.  A flat-screen TV sat in the corner and a small table with boxes of toys sat underneath.  Along one wall was a large fish tank with tropical fish swimming around peacefully. This was a doctor’s office. Oh, it had always been a doctor’s office, just not this…shiny.
     
    Lacey let out the breath she’d been holding to long and sat on one of the new couches to stare at the door, waiting for Aaron to walk in.
     
    Aaron’s heart had skipped a beat when he’d heard that one of the girls at the restaurant had cut her hand pretty bad. The boy who had called hadn’t known the details just that someone had been hurt and they were being driven over. When he had seen Lacey’s car pull up, panic had surged through him. Then Lacey had gotten out of the car, and he noticed Katie sitting in the passenger seat holding her hand above her head.
     
    As he put little stitches into the palm of Katie’s left hand he allowed her to chat about the busy day at the restaurant. He’d given her a local and could see the color finally coming back into her cheeks.
     
    When he finished and was wrapping her hand up in gauze, a short stout woman came rushing in.
     
    “Katie? Oh my God! Doctor is she going to lose her hand?”
     
    “No ma’am, she just needed a few stitches. She cut it pretty deep so I’ll prescribe an anti-biotic along with pain pills. She’ll need to keep the bandages dry and clean for a week.”
     
    Aaron ushered the two women out of his office with assurances that the hand wasn’t going to need to be amputated.  He stood in the doorway watching them leave and noticed Lacey’s car was still sitting out front of the building.
     
    He walked back to the waiting room and saw her curled up on the couch clutching a blood-stained towel, fast asleep.
     
    Walking over to a closet he pulled out a medical blanket and covered her up.  He slid the towel out of her fist and noticed that she hadn’t moved. Bending down he could see the lines under her eyes. He had been focused on his patient before