Christmas Kisses Collection. Louise Allen

She pursed her lips tightly as she continued to search. Finding the bullet, she grabbed it and pulled it out. The wound bled anew. She dropped the bullet to the floor and snatched some four-by-fours and placed them over the hole.

      “Nice job, Doctor.”

      “Thanks, but I have to stop this bleeding. Could you apply pressure while I get the sutures ready?”

      “Sure. Now I’m assisting you.”

      She glanced at him. “Problem with that?”

      “Not at all.” After she’d helped him pull on a glove, he put two fingers in the center of the pads.

      Minutes later Ellen had the wound sutured closed. She checked on Chance as she worked. She didn’t need him passing out. He seemed comfortable. The entire time she worked she was conscious of him watching her.

      As she applied the final piece of tape to the bandage Chance said, “You handled yourself well, Dr. Cox.”

      “Thank you. How’re you doing?” She took the patient’s vital signs. He was stable, but barely.

      “I think I’m about at the end of my giving. Head’s a little light.”

      “Well, let me try to stand and I’ll see about you.” She pushed up but her knees were stiff and didn’t want to move.

      “Give me your hand and I’ll pull.”

      She took his hand. It was a struggle but she finally made it to her feet.

      “Walk around a minute and get some feeling back into your legs.”

      Ellen took his suggestion and made a couple of circles around the shack.

      Returning to Chance, she removed the needle and applied a pressure bandage. “Now, sit there for a while. I don’t need two patients. I’ll have to admit this is out of my usual wheelhouse. Even in a clinic in the middle of New York City, what we have done here is over the top.”

      “If it makes you feel any better, this is a little extreme for me as well.”

      “Thanks for that. I thought you might remind me again that I shouldn’t be here.”

      “I only acted that way because I was afraid that you had bitten off more than you could chew. These conditions are harsh.”

      What he didn’t say was that today was an example of that. She had a patient waiting and couldn’t worry about that now. Going down on her knees again, she started caring for the last bullet wound. With the lower one, the bullet had gone clean through. Working as efficiently as possible with the few supplies as she had left, she closed the wounds Done, she started cleaning up.

      In all the medical work she had ever done she’d never felt better or more confident about herself than she did at this moment. This work was what she had been born for.

      She looked at him. “We’re not all the hothouse flowers you think we are.”

      “I know that now. You’ve more than proved it.” Chance looked around the shack. “It seems we’re here for the night. We need to keep an eye on him.” He nodded toward the injured man.

      Ellen placed a hand on their patient’s head. “Infection is our enemy now. And you don’t need to do any activity for a while either.”

      Chance looked in the direction of the woman and boy, who waited in the corner in what was nothing more than a makeshift kitchen. There was a small table and a bench with a shelf above it. A bucket sat on the bench. Chance spoke to the boy, “Can you find us something to sleep on? A blanket for your father? Something to eat?”

      “Sí.” The boy left and the woman went out the door behind him.

      Chance stood and walked to the doorway. Ellen joined him. Chance spoke to Ricco. He nodded and move to the corner of the building, his gun at the ready. She and Chance continued to stand there. The night sounds were almost overwhelming as animals as well as bugs communicated.

      “This is an amazing country,” Ellen said. “I know why you keep coming back.”

      “It is.”

      She looked at him. “You love it here, don’t you?”

      “If I said I didn’t, you would call me a liar.”

      Ellen smiled. “That I would.”

      The boy returned carrying a rolled-up tarp. They followed him inside. He placed it on the floor. “Sleep.” He pointed to it.

      Chance chuckled. “All the comforts of home.”

      “Better than the dirt.” Ellen sat on it with her legs crossed.

      “Do you ever see the negative in anything?” Chance asked, taking the chair again.

      “Sometimes but it’s better to see the positive because the negative is usually far too obvious.”

      The woman came in holding two banana leaves. She handed one to her and the other to Chance. Ellen had never seen anything like it.

      “Pulled pork and vegetables. It’s cooked in the ground. You’ll like it.” Chance picked up a bite between his thumb and forefinger and put it in his mouth.

      Ellen wasn’t so eager. She looked at it more closely in the dim light then moved it around with a tip of a finger.

      “This is the first time I’ve seen you squeamish about something. You need to eat.”

      “I’m just not sure about this. I usually have my food on a plate.”

      Chance chuckled. “Just pretend that you’re at a baseball game and you’re having a hotdog.”

      “My father has box seats for the Mets and a cook comes in.”

      Chance’s fingers stopped halfway to his mouth. “Just who is your father?”

      “Robert Cox.” Even in the low light she could see Chance’s eyes widen.

      “As in Cox Media.”

      “Yes. That’s my father’s company.”

      “So why in the hell are you down here? You don’t need the money or even to work.”

      She glowered at him. “I’m a doctor because I want to help people. And today shows that I’m needed. Even by you.” In a show of defiance, she picked up a finger full of food and plopped it into her mouth. “That’s good.”

      The boy came in again, this time with two bottled drinks. He gave them each one.

      Chance said, “No matter how far out of civilization you get, soda companies are there. Thank goodness. We don’t need to drink the water.”

      Ellen finished off her meal and stood. “Let me have those.” Chance handed her his leaf and bottle. “I’ll put this away and then check the patient. You need to sleep. Work on building new blood cells.”

      “Yes, ma’am.”

      “No argument?” Ellen looked at him.

      “Nope.”

      “We really have gone into a different world.” She placed the stuff she held on the bench then stepped over to her patient. He seemed comfortable enough. There was a low fever but that was expected. “We’ll need to get him out of here and to a hospital tomorrow.”

      “Agreed,” Chance said as he lay out on the tarp. “Come on, you need some rest as much as I do.”

      Ellen stretched out beside him, leaving as much space as possible between them. She put her arm under her head, trying to get comfortable.

      “Come over here,” Chance said. “You can use my shoulder for a pillow.”

      The tarp made a crinkling sound as she shifted closer. She laid her head on his broad shoulder. He moved his arm around her and his hand settled on her waist.