Unlocking the Ex-Army Doc's Heart by Juliette Hyland

Author:Juliette Hyland
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-02-12T19:09:26+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

RAFE SMILED AT Annie as she dropped one patient’s record off and grabbed another. The past few days had been blissful. He’d briefly worried that working together would be awkward after they’d begun dating, but it actually made the day so much better.

They started the day with breakfast, went over patient’s records, and Annie often shared little notes to make his patient interactions easier. At lunch they grabbed a quick sandwich in the main office, usually while finishing up morning patient notations, and then they met up for dinner.

The schedule already felt familiar—and perfect.

Now he had one final patient, and then he could spend the rest of his evening laughing, talking and making love to Annie before starting the wonderful cycle over again tomorrow.

Stepping into the exam room, Rafe held out his hand. “Good afternoon, I’m Dr. Bradstone.”

“Amelia Clarke.” The woman’s cheeks flushed as she gripped Rafe’s hand. “I can’t believe I get to meet a famous person!” She squealed, and then immediately started coughing.

Rafe nodded. He’d run into several exuberant fans since his arrival in Blue Ash. They saw Annie regularly too, but no one seemed to react to her the same way. “Well, why don’t you let me check that cough?”

Amelia waved a hand. “It’s nothing. I came because my ear hurts.”

Rafe frowned. Her cough sounded painful, but she’d turned her head and was pointing at her ear. He’d start with her complaint, but he was going to listen to her chest too.

Her eardrum was inflamed and pulsing. “Your right ear is infected,” he told her. “Now I want to listen to your lungs.”

“I’m just not as young as I was, Dr. Bradstone. I’ve had this cough for a few weeks. It will go away. Really.”

She started to hop off the table but Rafe put his hand up. “Humor me.” He held up the stethoscope and smiled.

Amelia sighed but acquiesced.

Her lungs were raspy. Rafe suspected she had walking pneumonia. The ear infection might be related, but it was more likely her body was trying to fight the pneumonia and hadn’t been able to battle the dual infection.

Rafe pulled up a chair and folded his arms. “Mrs. Clarke—”

“Please call me Amelia.”

“Amelia.” Rafe smiled—everyone in Blue Ash insisted on first names. He liked that; it made him feel closer to Annie’s patients. “I think you may have walking pneumonia. I need to schedule a chest X-ray to confirm. The clinic is closing now, but come in first thing tomorrow. Until then, I’m going to start you on some antibiotics for the ear infection.”

Amelia frowned as she held his gaze. “Well, at least I’ll get to tell my canasta group that a real celebrity checked me out twice.”

Rafe laughed. “You’ve been checked by Dr. A before. Even though she hasn’t acted in years, she’s still more famous than me.”

“Yes, but Dr. A is family. Family doesn’t count for famous.” She chuckled before coughing again.

“Family?” Rafe asked. He’d thought Carrie was the only relation Annie had.

Amelia smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes as she patted his knee.

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