Page 2 of Daddy's Little Patient

Mara looked very concerned. “Not that would help this, but I have a friend that could help us. He’s a doctor.”

“Would he keep me hidden?”

“If we ask him to.”

“Okay. Please, as fast as you can.”

Mara went to a phone on the wall and dialed a number.

“Hey, Alex,” Mara said.

Raina couldn’t hear the man, but when Mara relaxed, she knew he would help. She lay down and sighed when the pain eased a bit.

Mara felt her forehead. “Raina, you’ve got a horrible fever.”

Raina couldn’t open her eyes, but she nodded.

“I hope Alex can help you,” Mara said.

Raina prayed he could, too, because he was her last chance.

****

Raina heard voices, and then a man knelt down beside her.

“Hi, Sally. My name is Alex. Can I see your injury?”

She nodded and lifted her arm. He pulled up her shirt and winced when he cursed.

“I’m sorry, honey. This is bad. I need to take you to the hospital.”

She struggled to get up. “No! If you don’t want to help, go. I have to stay hidden.”

“Honey, you could die,” Alex said.

“Then so be it. I’ll just pray the will I had made up will hold up in court, and it keeps my aunt from getting anything. I’ll go in peace.”

“No, hell. I’m going to pick you up. It’s going to hurt, but there’s no other way. I’ll give you a shot for the pain when we get to my house.”

Raina didn’t know if she had answered because she had passed out. She was asleep for a long time but needed it to let her body heal.

Chapter Two

Alex smiled as he pulled into his friend Rafael’s driveway and drove back to the barn like Mara had asked him. This would be the fourth time he had to come to her. Last time she wanted to make sure her pregnant cat was okay. No matter how much he explained he wasn’t a vet and he just worked with humans, she wouldn’t listen. She just said a doctor is a doctor, no matter what.

Even Rafael, Mara’s daddy, had tried to reason with her, but that didn’t work. Alex cursed him when Rafael told him it was his duty as a doctor to fix her animals. He prayed nothing really was wrong with the animal, and that they didn’t die. He’d be in trouble for the rest of his life.

He parked and got out when Mara ran to him. She seemed more frantic this time, and he cringed. He needed to find a vet Mara would trust, and then maybe she would call them.

She took his hand and started pulling him. “Alex, you have to hurry. She’s dying.”

He almost rolled his eyes. Mara pulled him around a stack of hay bales. It took a moment to realize it was a human, and he could tell right off the bat she was in bad shape.

“Mara, what’s going on?” he said, squatting by the woman and feeling her head. The fever that racked her body was high. “Who is this, and what happened?”

“I just found her. Her name is Sally, and she has a cut on her side.”

Fortunately, the woman had passed out. She lifted the shirt and cursed. “We’ve got to get her to the ER.”

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