Read Online The Doctor's Redemption by Susan Carlisle - Free Book Online Page B

been.”
    “I’ll have a look and see what we come up with. Don’t worry.”
    They stopped at the last door.
    “Anna isn’t a fan of doctors.”
    “I’ll be on my best behavior.” He gave her a reassuring smile.
    Laura Jo nodded and knocked quietly on the door before she opened it. “Anna, someone is here to check on little Marcy.”
    Laura Jo entered and he followed closebehind. A lone light shone, barely giving off enough light for him to see the room. There was a twin bed shoved into the corner and another at a right angle to that one where two children slept feet to feet. There was also a baby bed but it was empty because the child was in her mother’s arms. The woman was reed thin, wide-eyed and had wavy hair. She couldn’t have been more than twenty-five.
    “Hi, Anna, I’m Mark, and I’ve come to see if I can help little Marcy. Why don’t you sit on the bed and hold her while I have a look? I promise not to hurt her.”
    Anna hesitated then looked a Laura Jo.
    “I’ll sit beside you.” Laura Jo led her over to the bed.
    Mark went down on one knee and placed his bag beside him. He pulled out his stethoscope. The heat he felt as he put his hand close to the child’s chest indicated she was still running a fever.
    “I’m only going to listen to her heart and lungs now. Check her pulse.” He gave the mother a reassuring smile and went to work. Done, he asked, “How long has she had this fever?”
    “Since yesterday,” the mother said in a meek voice.
    He looked a Laura Jo.
    “I had no idea.” She sounded defensive and he hadn’t intended to make her feel that.
    To Anna he said, “I’m going to need to check Marcy’s abdomen.”
    “Let’s lay Marcy on the bed. That way she’ll be more comfortable,” Laura Jo suggested.
    Mark moved his hand over the child’s stomach area. It was distended and hard. Something serious was, without a doubt, going on. He glanced at Laura Jo. Their gazes met. The worry in her eyes was obvious.
    “Anna, thank you for letting me see Marcy.” He looked at Laura Jo again and tilted his head toward the door. As he stood he picked up his bag and walked across the room. Laura joined him. He let her precede him into the hall and closed the door behind him.
    Laura Jo looked at him.
    “Marcy has to go to the hospital.”
    “I was afraid of that. What do you think the problem is?”
    “The symptoms make me think it might be an obstructive bowel problem. This isn’t something that can wait. Marcy must been seen at the hospital.”
    “I’ll talk to her.” Laura Jo went back into the room.
    Mark pulled out his phone and called the ER. He gave the information about Marcy and theyassured him they would be ready when he arrived. Finished, he leaned against the wall to wait.
    Soon Laura Jo came out, with Anna holding Marcy in her arms.
    “Anna has agreed to go to the hospital as long as you and I stay with her,” Laura Jo said. “I need a few minutes to let someone know to see about her other children. Will you drive?”
    His stomach tightened. He didn’t want to but what was he supposed to say, “No, I might injure you for life”?
    “If it’s necessary,” Mark answered.
    Laura Jo looked at him with a question in her eyes before he turned to walk down the hallway to the front.
    “The car seat is by the front door,” Anna said in a subdued voice.
    “I’ll get it.”
    He was still working to latch the child seat into his car when Laura Jo arrived.
    “I’ll get that.”
    With efficiency that he envied she had the seat secured and Marcy in it in no time. Laura Jo didn’t comment on his ineptness but he was sure she’d made a note of it. She would probably call him on it later.
    Anna took the backseat next to Marcy, and Laura Jo joined him in front. Before pulling outof the parking space, he looked back to see that the baby was secure and that Anna was wearing her seat belt. “Are you buckled in, Laura Jo?”
    “Yes. You sure are safety conscious.”
    Yes,