Page 14 of Stables

At least it isn’t worse.

Her fussing lessens when I start the water.

Not too cold.

“Do you want bubbles, Paisley?” I tilt the bright pink bottle in the air so she can see it.

Her fingers fill her pouty mouth, but she nods.

As the foam fills the tub, I kneel slowly to the thick rug next to her. “Let’s get your clothes off so you can play.”

It’s so hard to fight the grimace of pain with every move. The last thing I want to do is scare her.

Once she’s in, she seems to calm down and pushes her rubber duckies around her in a swirl.

Maybe there’s some meds in the cabinet over the sink.

The twinge in my side is ever present, and reminds me when I reach across the sink.

Nothing in here I can use, but there is a forehead thermometer.

I’m happy to see that the batteries still work.

“Hold still, honey. Momma’s going to look at your pretty hair.” Fussing over her sweaty curls, I manage to get a reading.

One hundred and one.

Oh boy.

Finding the closed toilet to use as a seat, I fish my phone out of my pocket.

My contact list is full of people I don’t know, or ever talk to.

Libby.

The clinic might work?

If I remember right, the clerk may live near me? Maybe she can bring me some medicine?

Only one way to find out.

Chapter 4

Dixon

The last hour ofa shift is the worst. I hope for no patients, but then it goes by so slowly I feel like every tick of the large clock is a hammer knocking on the back of my skull.

Trying to convince the nursing manager we could get rid of it didn’t matter. She insisted it was a staple in the clinic.

I don’t think she’s quite joined the digital age, yet.

Days like today makes me contemplate breaking it and swearing it was an accident.

At least in my office I can’t really hear it.

But as I finish my dictation, I hear the low murmur of Maggie’s voice.

Is she talking on the phone? Nope, there’s another person out there.

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