pulled out onto the road. "Any luck finding a
job?"
"No.
I kind of figured there wouldn't be any openings. The Bally Clinic is a popular
place, most of the people in my classes at college wanted to get hired on
there." She dug in her purse, found the bottle of pain medication for
Trace, and handed them over. "Here, you should take one. I've got a water
bottle you can use."
Trace
shook his head. "I'm fine."
"It'll
make you feel better. In another hour, your leg could swell from being out of
the cast while you had x-rays. No matter how much the nurses try not to move
your leg, your muscles tighten up. You don't want to suffer later." She
waited, but ended up putting everything back in her purse. "What scares
you at the doctors? The needles? I had to get over that fear myself when I
started school. It only took hours of jabbing myself and the other nurses for
practice to forget about the slight pain that comes with the poke."
"Really?"
Brody curled his lip and shivered. "Ugh. I thought you used cadavers or one
of those fake dummies to learn on."
"Nope.
We practiced on each other and the patients who walked into the free clinic at
the hospital. That's what having no insurance gets you…you become pin cushions for
people like me." She turned to Trace. "First time I poked someone
with a needle, I passed out. No lie.
"I
just don't like having people ask me questions and not minding their own
business." Trace shifted in the seat. "Needles don't bother me."
The
rest of the way home, they rode in semi-comfortable silence. Brody dropped her
and Trace off at the front door of the ranch, and then she helped Trace lay
down on the couch. She could tell he was in pain, but put on a brave front.
With
a late lunch, she gave him two ibuprofen with his meal. She fingered the mark
of an X over her heart. "I promise, it's not a pain pill, but it will help
with any swelling."
He
popped them in his mouth and washed them down with water. She returned to the
kitchen to eat her own lunch. Standing in front of the window, she stared
outside. There was a pool in the backyard, horses to ride, wide-open spaces in
every direction she turned, and more cows than she'd ever seen in her life. It
was more than most people owned, and she imagined none of the guys were ever
without something to keep them occupied.
Even
though she wasn't involved with all the activities around the ranch, she knew
her stay would never become boring. For some reason, whenever she was near
Trace her mind kept her busy.
The
relationship between the men of the house fascinated her. She enjoyed talking
to each one of them, but Trace took up most of her thinking time. He was
mysterious and quiet, when he wasn't snapping at her and telling her to leave
him alone.
Trace
touched a place deep within her with his brooding manners. The sadness in his
eyes and the way he struggled through the pain had her wanting to make
everything better for him. She still had a lot to learn about patient care. Mainly,
how not to become emotionally attached to her patient.
Her
professors warned her about the possibility of overstepping her boundaries in
school, and she needed to remember her place. Yet, there was something
enthralling about Trace and she seemed unable to get him out of her head.
Fueled
by the additional caffeine she'd drank before going back into the living room,
Joan sat down in the chair across from the couch and picked up the magazine
she'd yet to read fully. Trace snored lightly, and she relaxed. It was nice to
see a little imperfection in a man who always seemed in control.
She
turned her attention to the article she had begun reading yesterday about a
rancher in Montana who'd converted his operation from commercial feed to
organic. Before coming to Lakota ranch, she would've never picked up a farming
magazine, much less read the stories from front to back. Knowing the guys ran
their cattle on organic grass made her want to learn more. Oh Katie, if you
could see me now,
job?"
"No.
I kind of figured there wouldn't be any openings. The Bally Clinic is a popular
place, most of the people in my classes at college wanted to get hired on
there." She dug in her purse, found the bottle of pain medication for
Trace, and handed them over. "Here, you should take one. I've got a water
bottle you can use."
Trace
shook his head. "I'm fine."
"It'll
make you feel better. In another hour, your leg could swell from being out of
the cast while you had x-rays. No matter how much the nurses try not to move
your leg, your muscles tighten up. You don't want to suffer later." She
waited, but ended up putting everything back in her purse. "What scares
you at the doctors? The needles? I had to get over that fear myself when I
started school. It only took hours of jabbing myself and the other nurses for
practice to forget about the slight pain that comes with the poke."
"Really?"
Brody curled his lip and shivered. "Ugh. I thought you used cadavers or one
of those fake dummies to learn on."
"Nope.
We practiced on each other and the patients who walked into the free clinic at
the hospital. That's what having no insurance gets you…you become pin cushions for
people like me." She turned to Trace. "First time I poked someone
with a needle, I passed out. No lie.
"I
just don't like having people ask me questions and not minding their own
business." Trace shifted in the seat. "Needles don't bother me."
The
rest of the way home, they rode in semi-comfortable silence. Brody dropped her
and Trace off at the front door of the ranch, and then she helped Trace lay
down on the couch. She could tell he was in pain, but put on a brave front.
With
a late lunch, she gave him two ibuprofen with his meal. She fingered the mark
of an X over her heart. "I promise, it's not a pain pill, but it will help
with any swelling."
He
popped them in his mouth and washed them down with water. She returned to the
kitchen to eat her own lunch. Standing in front of the window, she stared
outside. There was a pool in the backyard, horses to ride, wide-open spaces in
every direction she turned, and more cows than she'd ever seen in her life. It
was more than most people owned, and she imagined none of the guys were ever
without something to keep them occupied.
Even
though she wasn't involved with all the activities around the ranch, she knew
her stay would never become boring. For some reason, whenever she was near
Trace her mind kept her busy.
The
relationship between the men of the house fascinated her. She enjoyed talking
to each one of them, but Trace took up most of her thinking time. He was
mysterious and quiet, when he wasn't snapping at her and telling her to leave
him alone.
Trace
touched a place deep within her with his brooding manners. The sadness in his
eyes and the way he struggled through the pain had her wanting to make
everything better for him. She still had a lot to learn about patient care. Mainly,
how not to become emotionally attached to her patient.
Her
professors warned her about the possibility of overstepping her boundaries in
school, and she needed to remember her place. Yet, there was something
enthralling about Trace and she seemed unable to get him out of her head.
Fueled
by the additional caffeine she'd drank before going back into the living room,
Joan sat down in the chair across from the couch and picked up the magazine
she'd yet to read fully. Trace snored lightly, and she relaxed. It was nice to
see a little imperfection in a man who always seemed in control.
She
turned her attention to the article she had begun reading yesterday about a
rancher in Montana who'd converted his operation from commercial feed to
organic. Before coming to Lakota ranch, she would've never picked up a farming
magazine, much less read the stories from front to back. Knowing the guys ran
their cattle on organic grass made her want to learn more. Oh Katie, if you
could see me now,
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