Close To Home (Westen Series) (18 page)

“You’re laughing?” Emma couldn’t resist returning the smile.

“Em, you’re full of surprises.” He nipped at her mouth. “Haven’t you ever had an orgasm before?”

Her smile disappeared. Her body tensed. “How did you know?”

“When you hesitated.” He kissed her softly. “I knew you weren’t sure what would happen next.”

Emma’s whole body burned with her blush. She tried to turn her head away, but Clint cupped her face between his hands. The calluses from weeks of working on her home brushed against her chin and cheekbones as he held her still. “Em, don’t be embarrassed.”

“Wouldn’t you be, if you’d been married for nearly eight years and never knew what making love should be like?” Suddenly, her humiliation turned to anger. She pounded her fists into the bed. “Eight years. Never once.”

“Sh, Em,” he crooned as he gathered her in his arms, turning them both on their side.

“The bastard.” The comfort of Clint’s arms gave her the freedom to reveal the humiliation of her first marriage. “He told me I was frigid. He made it sound like he took pity on me just to have sex with me. Like it was my fault. It wasn’t my fault at all. He was just a lousy lover.”

“You’re right.”

“That he was a lousy lover?”

“I’ll take your word on that, Em. But you’re right, he’s a bastard.” With a tenderness that warmed her from the inside out, he brushed the moisture from her eyelashes with his thumb. “How about we do it again, just to prove what a really pathetic man your ex-husband really was.”

A giggle burst out of Emma. “Oh that really would drive the point home. The slimeball never could get it up more than once a week.”

“I don’t seem to have that problem,” he said with a wicked gleam in his eye. To emphasize his words, he began to thicken inside her again.

“No. No, you don’t, doctor,” she giggled as he rolled her back onto the mattress.

A
brisk tap sounded on the door, awakening Clint in the gray hours before dawn. In a protective gesture he tucked the quilt around Emma’s warm sleeping body. Throughout the night she’d gone several times to check on the boys. He kissed her on the forehead, before slipping out of the bed and into his sweats.

“What’s up, Harriett?” he asked, not surprised to see his nurse standing at the door. He’d recognize that knock of hers anywhere.

“Sorry to wake you, Doc.” She matter-of-factly handed him his clothes that had disappeared the night before. Thank God she couldn’t see Emma through the small crack of the door. “Millie Tompkins is bringing Naomi Elder in to the clinic by car. She just gave birth to her eighth baby and is bleeding a bit more than Millie cares to see.”

Millie was the midwife Clint had been making country rounds with the last few weeks. The no-nonsense, yet kind-hearted woman knew her business. And her business was birthing babies. If Millie brought in a patient there had to be a problem. His clinic sat between the Elder’s farm and County General, the nearest place for Millie to bring a compromised mother.

“I’ll be right there, Harriett. Set up two IV lines, Ringers solution in one bag and normal saline in the other. Oh, and prepare the D&C equipment just in case.”

“Gotcha, Doc. And you might as well wake Emma, too. She’ll be helpful on this one,” she called a bit louder into the room before walking down the hall. “I’ve called Suzie Miller to come and watch the boys and Isabelle this morning. Preacher’s wife ought to be good for something in an emergency.”

Clint closed the door and pressed his forehead against the door. Great! Now his nurse knew he and Emma had slept together.

“She won’t tell anyone, Clint.”

A rustle of the sheets from behind caught his attention. As he turned, Emma’s curvy, creamy form arose like Venus from the sea of blankets. When she reached into her bureau for underwear and clean scrubs, he shook the lusty thoughts filling his mind. Quickly he dressed then sat on the bed tying his shoes, watching Emma braid her hair. Her fingers worked deftly. He checked the desire to go run his fingers through her tresses and undo all her efforts.

They had important work to do. His hormones, released after months of idleness, were going to have to take a backseat to saving Naomi’s life.

They hurried out of the house into the cool morning predawn air, their breath a trail of mist behind them in their urgency. At the door, Clint held it open, stopping Emma with a brief kiss, his lips lingering a moment. “There may be no time until later, but Em, last night was special to me.”

A delightful blush spread across her cheeks. Clint resisted the need to pull her into his arms.

“It was special to me too, Clint,” she murmured, but he could read the hesitancy in her reply.

Whatever was going on in her mind, he’d have to wait until later to figure out.

* * *

In the time it took them to dress and cross the street to the clinic, Harriett had prepared for the impending emergency. Two IV bags hung from poles on either side of the exam table, each complete with IV setup trays. A table, covered in green sterile drapes, sat near the rear wall. A portable oxygen tank, and a tank of nitrous oxide sat near the head of the exam table.

“Looks like you have everything ready, Harriett,” Clint observed as he checked both the oxygen and anesthesia tanks to be sure they would function, if needed. “We’ll need to call the hospital...”

“For the emergency squad to come,” his efficient nurse finished his thought. “Already done that, doc. Sheriff Justice said they were out on a run to the other side of the county. But they should be here in the next half an hour.”

“How about the county...”

“Blood bank? Doc Ray had Naomi blood-typed there at the beginning of this pregnancy. Said he didn’t trust women having this many babies. So Joanie there is cross-matching her now and will send the blood in about half an hour, too.”

Clint nodded. “Good. Let’s just hope Naomi doesn’t need either. By the way, Harriett, who’s ...”

“Joanie sending it with?” Harriett continued to eerily read his mind. “Gage, the sheriff’s son. Used to be a policeman in Columbus. He’s already headed to the blood bank so he can get the blood to us as soon as it’s ready.” She stopped in her recitation, lifting one eyebrow.

Clint nodded again, afraid to ask anything else. His nurse’s skills at anticipating his needs scared him.

He walked to the side entrance where Millie would bring Mrs. Elder. His pulse quickened with the adrenaline rush he always felt in true emergencies. Until this moment he hadn’t realized he’d missed it.

How long had the rush been gone? Since he’d come to Weston for sure. But if he thought about it, even longer. It started when his ex-girlfriend Kara told him that she’d aborted his baby. For some reason his life had gone gray at that point, like old faded black and white pictures. Then Johnny Wilson’s limp body arrived at his ER. Nothing had been the same since.

When a cloud of dust a mile down the access road shot up into the air, Clint filed his disquieting thoughts into the back pocket of his mind. “Emma!” he called as he hurried down the steps to meet the Suburban pulling into the drive and screeching to a halt.

Tiny Millie Tompkins hopped out of the front seat and met Clint at the rear of her truck. Opening the doors, he was greeted by the worried expression of Thomas Elder, his wife Naomi in his arms.

“I packed her tight, to try to compress the bleeding, Doc,” Millie explained as she helped him relieve Thomas of his burden. “And I gave her some Pitocin, but the placenta came out in pieces this time. I just don’t think medicines are going to be the answer. Hello, Emma, glad to see you here, too.”

“Morning, Millie.” Emma maneuvered the stretcher close to the car’s rear bumper and locked it in place. She helped Clint settle Naomi on it then they hurried her into the clinic.

“Let’s get both IV’s in her, wide open on the Ringers, Harriett,” Clint ordered when they got in the exam room.

They worked as a team lifting Naomi onto the table. Emma whisked the stretcher into the hall then took a quick set of vital signs. While Harriet and Millie started the IV’s, Emma positioned Naomi on the table and prepped her for a manual vaginal exam, careful not to dislodge the vaginal packing.

While the women prepared Naomi, Clint took a few minutes to explain to Thomas what he was about to do and why it was necessary.

Emma glanced to see Clint gently put his arm around the quiet farmer. She couldn’t remember a time when she’d seen a young doctor take this kind of time and compassion to speak to the patient’s family. Oh, she’d witnessed Doc Ray do it throughout the years. Apparently, Clint learned more than just the science of medicine from his uncle. Just when she thought no more nice guys existed in the world, Clint Preston came bulldozing his way into her life to prove her wrong.

Clint left Mr. Elder’s side to scrub at the sink, and Emma’s attention returned to the problem of saving Naomi.

The group worked to stem the bleeding. Twice Clint’s hand explored Naomi’s womb, bringing out parts of the afterbirth. Emma watched him work as gentle as he could under the circumstances. Concern etched the firm set of his mouth and the fine lines around his eyes. She knew he didn’t want to perform a D&C here in his office, but would, if the bleeding didn’t stop.

Just as the bleeding slowed and they had Naomi cleaned and draped once more, a knock sounded on the exam room door. When Emma opened it, she smiled at the tall, handsome—if slightly weathered—man that stood there. “Hello, Gage.”

“Hello, Emma. Dad asked me to bring the blood for Naomi as soon as it was ready.” He handed the small cooler to Emma. “How’s she doing?”

“Better. But we still may need to give her this.” She started to turn away, but his hand on her arm stopped her.

He nodded at Clint’s back. “Is that Doc Ray’s nephew?”

“Yes. His name’s Clint Preston.” He appeared to study Clint intently. “Why?”

“No reason. I’ll wait out here with Thomas, if it’s okay?”

“Sure.” She watched him stride off to the waiting room then shook her head. How odd. Gage was always an intense man, but this was weird even for him.

“Emma, is that the blood?” Clint called from his patient’s side.

Putting her cousin’s odd behavior out of her mind, she hurried inside with the cooler. She monitored Naomi’s vital signs while Harriett hung the blood. They stayed with their patient while both units of blood were administered. When no further evidence of renewed bleeding took place, Clint went to talk to Thomas Elder about his wife.

* * *

Clint glanced at the tall, longhaired man in the faded and patched leather jacket and worn jeans seated next to the somberly dressed Thomas. The contrast between the two couldn’t be more stark.

So this was Emma’s cousin.

Both men stood as Clint approached. The worry on Thomas’ face drew Clint’s attention to the task at hand.

“Mr. Elder, Naomi seems to have made it through the crisis. I’d like to send her on to the hospital where she can be watched for a day or two.”

The farmer shook his head. “I don’t see how we can afford that, doctor. The harvest isn’t in yet. Couldn’t Mrs. Tompkins come to the house to check on my Naomi?”

Clint understood the farmer’s worry. He would allow his wife to go to the hospital if absolutely necessary, but the hardship on this already impoverished family would be great.

“I can’t be sure the bleeding won’t start again, Thomas.” The man’s shoulder seemed to slump under the weight of his decision. “I tell you what. Perhaps Naomi could stay here at least over night. Then we can decide in the morning what to do.”

“Ya. That is a good idea,” Thomas said in his accented old German voice and nodded with grim sincerity. “May I see my wife, now?”

“Sure. You go on in.”

Taking a step to the side, Clint watched the farmer, his black hat in his hands, timidly enter the room and sit at his wife’s side.

Then Clint extended his hand to Gage. “You’re the sheriff’s son?”

Gage shook it with a firm grip. “Yes. Been spending time with my father. You’re the new doc?”

“Temporary doc. My uncle will return after January.”

“You planning on staying around a while?” The question held more interrogation than curiosity.

Clint straightened to his full six feet. Even so, the other man still towered above him by several inches. “I really haven’t thought that far ahead. Why?”

“My little cousin doesn’t need any more hurt in her life.”

“It’s not in my plan to hurt Emma.”

“Good. See that you don’t.” He turned to go, then stopped. “Oh, and Doc?”

“Yes?”

“I’d like to bring my dad in sometime this week for an exam.” The other man’s voice no longer contained any menace.

“Sure. Make an appointment with Harriett. Is there a problem? What’s going on with him?”

Gage shoved his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. “He’s been a smoker for years. Since I’ve been home, I’ve noticed he’s lost some weight, and he coughs almost all night. I’d just like it checked out.”

“If you can get him to come in, I’ll run some blood tests and get an x-ray or two.” Clint knew how irascible the sheriff could be at times.

The corners of Gage’s lips lifted. “Yeah, my dad is a tough customer. But he’ll come in if I ask him.”

They shook hands again, and this time Clint walked him to the door of the clinic. “By the way, could you ask him to cancel the emergency squad for me? Looks like Naomi is staying with us for a while.”

“No problem, Doc. And remember, be careful of Emma’s heart. I like you. I’d hate to start not liking you.”

Clint stood for a moment, watching the other man descend the clinic stairs. Gage lifted his legs over the large saddlebags Clint assumed he’d used to carry the cooler of blood in then climbed onto the biggest Harley he’d seen in years. When he turned around, he saw Emma standing in the exam room doorway watching him.

He thought about Gage’s warning.

He’d be careful of Emma’s heart, all right. He just wondered if his would survive this thing between them.

* * *

Emma finished tucking Naomi into the observation room in the rear of the clinic. Doc Ray and Caroline built this room for just such times.