Page 1 of Holiday Haven

CHAPTERONE

Adam Monroe rolled his shoulders and bent his head from side to side, working the crook out of his neck, fighting to hide the depth of his exhaustion. “Doris, this is the last patient, right?”

“Yes, I placed the infant and mother in exam number two.” Doris, his receptionist, glanced at him with a frown. “You didn't eat lunch, did you?”

“No.” There hadn’t been time. He munched a stale cracker as he logged into the last patient's chart. They'd been extremely busy all day and well into the evening but he knew the true source of his fatigue was plain, old ordinary lack of sleep. Ever since the Christmas season had hit, the nightmares of the car accident had returned. He shook off the feeling of despondency and glanced at Doris's concerned features. “Don't worry, I'll make up for it at dinner.”

“Maybe teaming up with the public health department to offer medical care to low-income families wasn't such a good idea,” Doris said in a low tone. “You're exhausted.”

“I’m fine.” As one of the founding partners of the private practice pediatric clinic, he was proud of their success. Tuesday evenings were reserved for the public health department referrals. The first appointment was free, and if any patients needed more extensive care and follow up, subsequent visits were prorated according to income level. Which meant basically subsequent visits were pretty much free, too. “We’re providing a great service. And besides, you know I'd normally have Phoebe’s help with this.”

“True.” Doris sighed. “I'll be glad when she's back from her second honeymoon.”

Phoebe Cooper was his nurse practitioner, who usually shared his patient load, especially the infants. As she was currently off in the Caribbean, celebrating her tenth wedding anniversary, he was on his own.

His stomach growled as he walked down the hall, mentally reviewing the notes he'd seen in the chart. This patient was a two-month-old baby, and he mentally prepared himself as he knocked briefly on the door before walking in.

“Good evening, Ms. Turner,” he greeted the young mother, who paced the room while holding a crying baby against her shoulder. “I'm Dr. Monroe. I understand Grady has been very fussy and has been running a low grade fever for the past twenty-four hours.”

“Yes.” Grady’s young mother appeared extremely frazzled, as she bobbed the baby up and down, patting the infants back. The distress in her expression made him fear she might start sobbing herself. “He cries constantly. I tried feeding him, changing him, holding him—everything! Nothing works. There's something seriously wrong with him, I just know it.”

“I’ll take a look,” Adam promised. “Excessive crying is very frustrating and can be from something simple like an ear infection or colic.” He maintained a professional demeanor, washing his hands in the sink and flashing Grady’s mother a reassuring smile. He wished Phoebe was here to take this case.

“Would you please set him down on the table for a moment so I can examine him?” When she did so, he performed a thorough assessment. He tried to remain objective. When dealing with small infants, the history from the caregiver and the physical exam were the most important keys to an accurate diagnosis.

Grady's temperature was normal, his eyes and ears were clear, no sign of infection. His heart and lungs sounded good, but as abdomen was tense with hyperactive bowel sounds. He asked about the baby's eating habits and bowel movements and discovered Grady’s mother was using a dairy based formula.

He handed the infant back with a sense of relief. “He's not running a fever now. I believe Grady has colic. He likely has an intolerance to milk, so I'd like you to try some soy based formula for two weeks. I'll give you some samples, so you don't have to buy any unless it helps.” He washed his hands again, while Ms. Turner dressed the baby in his dark blue sleeper. “If that doesn't work, bring him back here and we will try something else. You were right to bring him in to see us. Babies shouldn't cry all the time.”

“Thank you, Dr. Monroe.” Her eyes filled with gratitude. Sometimes new mothers just needed a little bit of reassurance.

“I'll give you some information on colic. There are some other tricks you can try, like using a baby swing or as silly as it sounds, placing the car seat on top of your dryer while doing laundry. The motion and the sound seem to help settle a baby's upset stomach.” He sat for a moment at the computer, brought up Grady's chart, and made a few notes. Then he quickly logged off. “I'll have Doris give you the formula samples, all right?”

“Yes.” Grady's mother was already bundling him into his car carrier. “Thanks again for everything.”

“You’re welcome. Have a good evening.” Adam left the exam room, and almost ran into Doris. “Oh, please take some soy formula to Grady’s mother.”

“Sounds good.”

Back in his office he stared at the package of stale crackers, fighting a wave of grief. As a pediatrician, he knew he couldn't avoid taking care of babies. They were the mainstay of his practice. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temple. How long would the past haunt him? To be fair, it had only been a year, but the Christmas decorations surrounding him didn't help. His memories of the past just wouldn't stay buried.

Somehow he needed to find the strength to get through this Christmas holiday. At least he had a warm, loving, generous family to distract him from his guilt.

Time to finish up his documentation and get out of there. He logged back into the computer, reviewing his patients notes. Once he'd made sure everything was in order, he sent electronic copies to of each record to the public health department. Other physicians provided care, too and they needed to be kept in the loop on what was going on.

His stomach grumbled again. While he wasn't really in the mood, he knew he needed to eat. Fast food didn't appeal, but it was quick and easy and would stop the gnawing in his belly.

Maybe. Unless he had an ulcer.

“Adam!” Doris called out from the reception desk. “Come here, quick. Someone left a baby!”

What?Adam levered himself out of his seat, heading straight to the waiting area, thinking Doris had to be mistaken. “Are you sure?”

Doris waved a hand at the empty waiting room. Well, almost empty waiting room. “See for yourself. That baby wasn’t there thirty minutes ago.”

He stared, not sure if his glucose deprived brain was playing tricks on him. He blinked. Nope, still there. A small, crying baby, safely tucked into an infant car seat which had been left on one of the waiting room chairs.

“I'll check the bathrooms,” Doris said over her shoulder as she headed down the hall to the public restrooms their office shared with an adult walk in clinic across the hall.

---