Free Healing Hearts (Easton Series #2) by Anna Murray Page B

Sunday.”
It pained him to admit his relaxation didn’t come without drugs.
       “Doctor Cole used to say we’re so
busy treating others we don’t take time to treat ourselves. I’m doing something
for myself. You should, too. Recreations cleanse the soul.”
       “I don’t have such talents.”
       She furrowed a brow. “Everyone has
something.   Hunting. Fishing. Wood
carving.”
       Maybe it was the sun or her
carefree manner that compelled him to open up. “I used to play base ball.”
       She quickly scraped her charcoal
across the canvas. “When you were a kid?”
       “During the war. Most of the
surgeons had more practice at playing ball than treating war wounds. At first.”
       “I like base ball.”   She blew lightly on the paper to dismiss
charcoal particles. “ A manful recreation. What was your position on the
field?”
       “I played the first base.”
       “Oh, lots of action there! Doctor,
you should start a town team. It would be something for Easton to write about
in the paper, instead of me.”
       “We have a town team.”
       “Then you should play.”
       Jed grunted, lay back on his
elbows, and picked up his reading. The sun warmed through his shirt and
trousers, and after a spell he dozed off.
       Hannah was sitting on the blanket with him, smiling.   She moved closer and pulled the pins
from her hair. He suddenly had an insane desire to see her naked.
       “I’d bet you have
pretty legs,” he said.
       “You want to see
them?   I’ll show them to you.”
       Hannah lifted her
skirt to her knee. The calves of her legs were slender, sinewy, muscular, and
her little feet were adorable.
       Jed couldn’t resist
the impulse to touch, and stretched to touch the flesh.
       With a jerk she
pulled her dress down.
        “You can look, but
not touch!”
       He couldn’t help
himself. The need that had triggered his desire was too strong, too impetuous.
He seized her around the waist and tried to capture her lips. She wasn’t able
to dodge him, and for a moment he felt his chest against Hannah’s firm breasts.
For brief seconds he held her lips prisoner, and then her mouth gentled and
responded to his, and it was a sensation as hot and blinding as a strike of
lightning. She twisted, broke loose of his grasp, and fled into the
battlefield.
       Men were everywhere,
bloodied and crying out. Hannah stopped and fell to her knees at the side of a
young corporal. She yelled back to him. “Get your hand on this artery! The man
is bleeding profusely! I can’t see to saw off his leg!”
       “Get some light in here!” Jed was shouting out loud, thrashing and
sweating. He woke to Hannah beside him on the blanket, yelling back, “I have
the light! I’ve got the light, sir!”   She was leaning into him, courageously, dodging his flailing arms.
      Jed grabbed her shoulders and brought
her against him. “Thank God, you’re here.”
        “You were having a
nightmare, sir.”
       Panting and shaking and feeling
deep humiliation, Jed held her ferociously to him, as if she were the cure for
this terror. Maybe she was, but he wasn’t going to delve into it just then.
       “It’s ok, sir. I worked with veterans
back in Ohio.   It’s ok.”
       Jed’s trembling continued.   “It’s not ok, Dr. Sutton. I have
laudanum in my bag. Please get it for me.”
       “You sure, sir?   It can become a habit –“
       “I need it.”
       Indeed. Shuddering had seized him
and his wounded soul was bared to her.
       Hannah’s eyes widened, and she moved
away from him slowly, and he watched as she dug into his bag and found the
bottle. She dispensed the drug with water she poured from the canteen into a
tin cup.
       “Thank you, Doctor Sutton.”
        Hannah’s mouth was drawn tight. “How
long?”
       “It started while I was serving. All
the docs needed something.”
       Her eyes misted and she lowered
her head. She