The Heart Remembers by Al Lacy

Author:Al Lacy [Lacy, Al]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-56384-2
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2012-12-06T05:00:00+00:00

At closing time, as the last patient was leaving, Tharyn was at her desk, and Dr. Fraser was standing over her. She noticed that he was pressing a hand to his back again. She was about to say something about it when both of them saw Dr. Dane pull up at the hitch rail in his buggy.

As the young doctor left the buggy, medical bag in hand, the elderly doctor said, “He looks a bit tired, doesn’t he?”

“That he does.”

“Well, I can understand. I had those long days of house calls for many, many years. It’s wearisome on both the mind and the body.”

Dr. Dane came through door, smiled at both of them, and said, “Is this what I pay you two to do? Wait for the boss to arrive, and gawk through the window at him when he does?”

Dr. Fraser winked at Tharyn, pressed the hand to his lower back once more, and said, “I do love this young man. What would this town do without him?”

“I don’t know,” she said giggling, “but I certainly would be a mess without him!”

Dane smiled at her, then noted the lines of pain etched on his friend’s face as he took his hand from his back. Placing steady eyes on the elderly man, he said, “Your back’s hurting, isn’t it?”

Dr. Fraser forced a grin. “A little.”

Dr. Dane ran his gaze between them. “Has it been a busy day?”

“That it has,” Tharyn said. “A very busy day.”

Dr. Fraser forced another grin. “When you’re my age, dear boy, even an unbusy day seems busy!”

“I know you’ll be happy when you can retire completely,” Dane said. “I can see the toll that coming into the office and helping us when you’re needed is taking on you. I hope within a few months that need will be remedied.”

Dr. Fraser looked up at him. “You mean you’re considering hiring another doctor to come with you full-time?”

“I think it’s about time, don’t you?”

“Well, yes, I do. But until that happens, young fellow, I want to help you around here the same as I’ve been doing. And don’t you start feeling sorry for me and try to get along without me when I’m needed, understand?”

Dr. Dane placed his hands on the stooped shoulders of his elderly friend and looked deep into his eyes. “I understand, and both of us appreciate it. But if on any given day we ask you to come in, and you’re just not up to it, you tell us, all right?”

“I’ll do that.”

“Promise?”

“Yes, sir. I promise.”

“All right. Tharyn and I will drop you off at your house on the way home. Okay?”

“Okay.” With that, Dr. Fraser went to the hooks on the wall and exchanged his white frock for his coat and hat.

Dane helped Tharyn into her coat, and the three of them stepped out the door onto the boardwalk. The sun had dropped down behind the mountains to the west, and the air already had a bite to it.

Dane locked the door, and the elderly physician shuffled alongside them as Dane guided Tharyn to the buggy and helped her in.

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