Medicine Man's Affair by Malek Doreen Owens

Author:Malek, Doreen Owens [Malek, Doreen Owens]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Gypsy Autumn Publications
Published: 2012-08-07T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

It was hours before Jennifer realized that they still hadn’t eaten, but Lee seemed unaware of it He was more talkative than she had ever seen him, discussing his background more freely than he usually did. He was troubled by his choice to play professional football, which had been made ten years before but apparently still weighed heavily on his mind.

“If I had gone to medical school,” he said thoughtfully, “I’d be just starting now. In this business, I’m on my way out. You can’t stand being beaten up every Sunday for an unlimited amount of time. I think I’m approaching the limit.”

“Why didn’t you go to medical school?” Jennifer asked.

“Because I love to play football,” he answered simply. “And I thought if I could be paid, and paid well, to do what I love to do, then that would be the best life anyone could want.”

Jennifer smiled. “Oh, yes.”

He sighed. “But that was a decision I made a long while ago, when all I could see was money and a good time. Now I wonder if I did the right thing. Any career in sports is a short one. What will I do in a few more seasons when all this is over? My life has been devoted to, as you correctly pointed out to me once, a children’s game. If I’d been a doctor, I could have done some good, gone back to Montana, worked on the reservation, in the schools. I could have done some good,” he repeated. He shook his head. “It’s funny how, the older you get, the less the material things matter, the more important a sense of accomplishment becomes.”

Jennifer studied him, touched to the heart.

“You should feel a sense of accomplishment,” she said. “You’ve risen to the top in a difficult field, in which the competition is fierce. And I don’t agree that you could have done more for your people as a doctor. Then you might have healed them, true, but now you are a symbol of success to American Indians everywhere. Think of the little boys all over the country looking up to you for what they might become. I’m sure you’re an inspiration to them all.”

He swallowed hard, looking down. “I...thank you. I needed to hear that today,” he said huskily.

She reached for his hand, and he gripped her fingers convulsively.

“That dream has never left you, has it?” she said.

He shrugged. “I guess it never has.”

“Then do something about it.”

He looked up at her, astonished. “Like what? I’m thirty-two years old, for Christ’s sake.”

“A great age, to be sure,” Jennifer responded dryly. “I’m certain that some school would take you. You’re famous, Lee. Think of the boost to the reputation of the school. And you told me your grades were good.”

He waved his hand, dismissing the notion. “That was another life. I could never live like a student again. I would have to take entrance exams, compete against kids fresh out of college.”

“I didn’t say it would be easy,” Jennifer said.

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