Read Online Good Medicine by Bobby Hutchinson - Free Book Online

It must be the sea air.”
    â€œOr it could have something to do with a major emergency your first day on the job. I meant to ask, are you planning on having office hours every day? A couple of Roberta’s relatives were asking.”
    â€œEvery day except Sunday. I didn’t come here to laze around, I’m used to the pace in the E.R. I’ll put a sign on the door with the hours. What do you think is reasonable? Eight to twelve, and then two to five?”
    â€œYou can try that.” Christina laughed. “People here don’t go much by the clock, we run on what we call Indian time. That means people will turn up when it suits them. But they also don’t mind waiting, so it evens out. There’s also a lot of extra stuff that won’t fit into rigid office hours. Like the well-baby clinic once a week and Community Care where we go out to whoever needs us. There’s also a drug education program for teens and a prenatal group. You sure don’t have to attend all those things all the time, but it would be great if you’d come once in a while.”
    â€œI wish now I’d gone into general practice. Until I get the hang of it, I’m going to have to rely on you to keep me on track.”
    â€œIt shouldn’t take that long, you strike me as a reasonably bright woman.”
    â€œGee, thanks.”
    They both grinned. Today they’d worked together as a smooth, efficient unit. As if they’d done it for years.
    â€œWe’ll grab time tomorrow to work out a sort of timetable,” Christina said. “You go on to bed. If anybody needs you, they know where to come.”
    â€œThanks, Christina. For everything. And tell your mom thanks for the lunch, I sort of ate and ran.”
    â€œNo kidding, I wonder why? I’ll tell her.”
    After Christina went back into the clinic, Jordan covered the remaining food, turned out the lights, and made her way into the bedroom. Groaning when she realized her suitcase had been flopped onto the double bed, she wrestled it to the floor so there’d be room for her to sleep. She put on the worn flannel nightgown she’d had since her intern days, and after a quick wash in the bathroom, tumbled into bed. She’d unpack in the morning.
    The mattress was firm, the sheets soft, and Jordan burrowed into the fluffy comforter. The window she’d opened let in the smell of the sea with a distinct tinge of pine, mingling with wood smoke, maybe from her own kitchen stove.
    She really had to learn how to light that thing—she’d probably even have to learn how to use the oven.Unless the women took pity on her and kept bringing food, she’d also have to learn to cook. There was so much for her to learn here. It felt as if she’d been catapulted to a different planet. One where Garry couldn’t find her.
    But it wasn’t Garry’s face that came to mind as she began to relax. It was the lean, hard-edged features of Silas Keefer.
    You’re out of it, Burke. You’re so tired you’re hallucinating.
    With a sigh of exhaustion and something closer to contentment than she’d felt in a long while, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
    L ESS THAN A MILE AWAY , Silas slumped in front of his laptop, struggling with the lengthy article he’d agreed to write on ideological differences toward healing between native and white culture. It was for the University Press, to be included in a book on many diverse healing modalities. It had been assigned by a professor he’d come to respect during his student days, and Silas was being well paid for it—the main reason he’d taken on the contract.
    Living in Ahousaht was definitely a low-rent proposition, but even the simplest lifestyle required an income.
    He ran a hand through his hair. This wasn’t going well at all, and it should be a piece of cake. He knew the material, he lived the material.
    He deleted a couple of paragraphs,