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Authors: Amy J Miller

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BOOK: Apache Heart
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Maggie leaned her head against the glass of the window, looking dejected.  She said nothing, but her hands held her belly protectively.  Randi remembered what Lee said about how when you talk too much, it doesn’t leave room for people to think their own thoughts, so she let her be.  Maybe Maggie would reason her way to the right decision.

             
Randi steadied Maggie getting out of the car, but then Maggie shook off her hand and walked into the hospital with her head up.  To Randi’s surprise, Lozen was there.

             
“You’re here?”  Randi asked.

             
“We rotate Sunday coverage, so yeah.  You’ll get your turn. The more interesting question is what are
you
doing here?”  She turned to Maggie, “What’s going on?”

             
Randi answered for her, “Blunt trauma to the abdomen.  She needs an ultrasound.”

             
Things checked out okay, but they insisted on Maggie spending the night at the hospital for observation. 

             
“Go home Lozen, I’ll stay over.  It’s not like there’s much going on at my house.  I’ll run home in the morning to shower and change before the clinic opens at 8.”

             
“Things should be quiet.”

             
Randi walked with Lozen toward the door.  “Maggie doesn’t want her brother Lee to know, said he would kill her husband—and their uncle, the cop, made some reference about family taking things into their own hands.  Is there something I need to know here?”

             
Lozen stopped, putting her hand to her mouth, as if trying to decide whether to speak or not.  “Lee—Lee’s been in jail.  It’s a messy story, but Lee did a year for assault and battery.”

             
Randi sucked a breath in.  She was falling for a criminal?  How could she be so stupid to throw herself at the first guy that came along without knowing anything about him?  She could hear her father’s voice in her head, “Don’t get blinded, Randi, don’t waste yourself on guys that aren’t up to your standards.  If you wouldn’t consider them for the long haul, don’t consider them at all.”   Three days in this little place, and already things were complicated.

             
“Thanks—thanks for telling me.”  Randi felt a little dazed, and maybe just a little bit sick to her stomach.  Just because it glitters doesn’t mean it’s gold, she reminded herself. 

             
The next morning, Maggie had a friend come pick her up, and nothing Randi could say could make her change her mind about going back to the home she shared with Joe.  Randi ran home to change after a crappy night of sleeping in the chair next to Maggie. When she got back, Elan was standing with a stack of files, somehow managing to look very handsome in a white lab coat that had seen better days.  He handed them over.

             
“Blood pressure clinic this morning.  Read’em the riot act if they aren’t taking their meds. Dr. Wilson is covering the usual stuff—sore throats, poison ivy, encounters with rusty nails—I’m around to help if anything serious comes in, but otherwise, I’m going to try to catch up on my charting.”

             
“Got it.”  Randi turned to head toward the clinic.

             
“Randi…” Elan, coughed a little, “I’d like to take you to lunch today, give you a proper welcome.”

             
Randi smiled, “I’d really like that, thanks.”

             
The morning passed uneventfully, and most of her patients seemed friendly enough.  She began to see a pattern in the way people took their time warming up to her, taking some time to just observe.  It wasn’t in any way rude, just a certain kind of reserve, but she felt like she managed to win most of them over before the appointment ended.  Most seemed to approach their health stoically which was very different than what she had experienced in the past.  She appreciated that they weren’t whining and exaggerating their issues, but she worried that they might not divulge the facts if there was a real problem.  The blood pressure cuff was the most reliable indicator, and she got a feel for with whom she needed to be really tough, and which patients might respond better to a little joke.

             
The clinic wrapped up at 1:00 pm, and soon Elan appeared. 

             
“I thought we’d drive into Rio Blanco, maybe some Mexican?”

             
“Sure, that sounds great.  I’m sure it’s a lot more authentic here than in Philly.”

             
On the drive to town, Elan kept up a running stream of conversation.  He talked about cases, about interviewing for a new physician’s assistant, about restaurants in town, about the movie he’d seen the weekend before.  Randi began to wonder if he would run out of things to talk about before they even got to the restaurant.  She didn’t really think he was a compulsive talker by nature, but for some reason, he was a little nervous.  Either way, Randi didn’t have to say very much.

             
They ordered, and when he was ten minutes into a comparison of enchiladas at different restaurants around town, and a detailed analysis of why he liked these particular ones best, he suddenly stopped and turned red.

             
“I’m doing it again.”

             
“Doing what again?” Randi queried.

             
“Giving you a lot more information than you need about not very interesting things.”  He paused.  “Apparently I’m turning into some kind of eccentric bachelor.  It’s been so long since I’ve talked about anything but work, I don’t even know what to say.”

             
“Well, you do seem a little…pressured.”  Randi smiled gently.

             
“There’s something else you should know.”  Randi waited for the other shoe to drop.  She was hoping that Elan didn’t have some secret past like Lee.

             
“Beautiful women make me nervous.”  Elan sipped at his water anxiously.

             
“I’m going to take that as a compliment.” Randi said with a little laugh.  “But I’m not much reason to get nervous—you’ll find that I’m a pretty easy going gal.”

             
“I guess I’m a little embarrassed that we got off on the wrong foot on Friday.  Lozen told me about you bringing in the pregnant woman yesterday—that was a little above and beyond the call of duty.”

             
“She needed someone to step in.  It was bad.”  Randi unconsciously touched her split lip.

             
“Did that hurt much?”

             
“What?  My lip?  Not that much.”  Randi was dismissive.

             
Elan awkwardly changed the subject.  “So, I was wondering, if maybe you’d like to go for a run together some time?  If I don’t run, I go completely crazy.”

             
“You’re not like one of those ultra-marathon runners or anything are you?  You know, you here these stories about Native Americans who can run a hundred miles at a go.”

             
Elan laughed, “I was thinking maybe we could start with a 5k, work our way up from there.”

             
“I don’t run on pavement, that’s the only thing. It gives me shin splints.”

             
“No kidding, I mostly trail run.”

             
Randi nodded, “That would be nice, as long as you promise not to totally smoke me.  I haven’t run much in the past few months.”

             
“You can set the pace.”  Elan looked happy, Randi thought.

             
“You say that now, but wait until you see how slow I am!” 

 

###

 

              The next day after work, Randi and Elan changed into their running gear at the hospital.  When Lozen saw them stretching, she shook her head.  “You two are making me feel ashamed.  I’m just going home to make fry bread.” She pinched her waist. “Thank goodness I run my tail off here.”  She waved and continued on to her car.

             
Elan indicated his car with a tilt of his head, “Let’s go, I’ll drive you to one of my favorite trails.  It’s a pretty run and not too hard.  A good one to ease you into the routine again.”

             
They started off on the trail, and once again, Elan supplied a steady stream of observations.  He talked about everything from running shoes, to muscle cramps, to protein versus carbs, and Randi found that she was mostly listening.  What he had to say was pretty interesting for the most part, and Randi rather liked that she didn’t have to make much effort.  It seemed to her that Elan had a lot bottled up, and she was guessing after they got to know each other a little, that he would relax.

             
True to his word, though, Elan let Randi set the pace, and it felt good to trot along the path as it would through grasslands and woods.  Then they popped out of some trees and in front of them was a gorgeous blue lake.  Randi slowed down and took a slug from her water bottle.

             
“Wow, that’s beautiful.”

             
“I thought you’d like it.”  Elan looked pleased as they paced down to a walk.  “By the way, you’re doing great for someone who hasn’t run in a while.  I have a feeling in a couple of weeks you might be smoking me.”

             
Randi shook her head, “I doubt it.  I’ve always been a better hiker than a runner.” 

             
“We could do that some day too, if you want.  I know some hidden gems, some good camping spots, too.”

             
Camping spots? Randi wondered.  Was her boss being suggestive?

             
In his running shorts and tight fitting Under Armour shirt, Elan was getting Randi’s attention.  He had tight, ropy muscles and almost no body fat, but he had a masculine shape, not the too skinny look of some serious runners.  His legs had nice curves and a lot of delineation, and when he wiped his face with the bottom of his shirt, the glimpse of his belly revealed a very respectable six-pack. 

             
After catching her breath for a couple of minutes, Randi took off at a clip, calling over her shoulder, “Try to catch me.”

             
Elan laughed and took off after her, and in just a couple of minutes he had caught up to her.  He grabbed her arm, and pulled her back, trying to playfully edge in front of her.  She tussled with him, trying to keep him from getting ahead, and then suddenly, without either of them really being conscious of how it happened, he’d caught her in the circle of his arms.  They stood belly-to-belly, looking into each other’s eyes as they both breathed quickly.

             
It was the kind of moment that could easily lead to a kiss, and while it wasn’t unpleasant, Randi could think of a hundred reasons why it would be better to
not
kiss her boss, and she had to admit, whether she liked it or not, one of those reasons was Lee.

 

Chapter 3

             

              Things had felt a little awkward in the interval since Randi slipped away from Elan’s grasp.  She pretended like she was having a coughing fit, walking away, and drinking water.  She was pretty sure that Dr. Elan Cody knew the difference between real coughing and the simulated variety, though.

             
On the drive back to the hospital, Randi tried to smooth things over.  The fact was, she liked Elan, and she had enjoyed the run.  She just thought that until she got herself settled, and knew a little bit more about people, she should keep things simple.  Romance straight out of the gate was probably a very bad idea.

             
“That was a great run.  I hope we can do that regularly.  I need a buddy, it helps me be more disciplined.” 

             
Elan perked up a little, “Yeah, whenever you want.  I generally run five days a week.  Wednesdays and Saturdays I’m coaching a group of teens—keeping them in shape while they’re out of school for the summer.  The track coach retired, and the school is looking for a new one.”

             
Randi was impressed.  That was exactly the kind of thing that she wanted to be doing.  “Maybe I could help with that.”

             
“I’m sure the girls would love having a woman coach.”  Elan gave Randi a big smile.

             
“As long as they don’t expect me to be fast!  But I do know a lot about conditioning and injury prevention.”  Randi felt better.  Working together on something outside of the hospital was a good way to get to know Elan, let things between them develop more slowly, if they were going to develop.  Being a volunteer and a good doctor—not to mention handsome—were all attractive attributes, but she needed to know a lot more about what he would be like in a relationship.

             
“Can I ask you something, about the community here?”  Randi glanced over at Elan.

BOOK: Apache Heart
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