Paradise Valley (Virgin River #7)(36)

And something happened during this whole operation that Mel would never comment to anyone about but that filled her with a warm pride. Dahlia had had a little accident, possibly from stark fear that she was dying, or maybe fear that the men would drop her. She’d wet herself and, in the process of moving her, Jack’s sleeve had been soaked.

Cam and Mel jumped in the back of the Hummer. Mel asked Preacher to call the hospital and tell them they were en route. The door slammed behind them and, without a word, Jack and Preacher unbuttoned their shirts and exchanged them. Jack was swimming in Preacher’s dry shirt; Preacher was walking back to the bar in a sleeveless T-shirt in the cold late-March afternoon, carrying Jack’s soiled shirt. And within ten seconds, Jack was behind the wheel of the Hummer, driving out of town.

Oh God, she thought. Where do you find men like these? Men who will do absolutely whatever it takes to help people, no matter what? She’d chosen this profession; she’d chosen to be up to her shoulders in whatever medical problem or mess came her way. She’d been bled on, crapped on, peed on, puked on, and it never discouraged her from providing whatever was needed medically. But Jack was just Jack. Preacher, a cook! They weren’t nurses, doctors or medics, and yet she couldn’t count the times they jumped in and helped, even if it left them covered with blood or amniotic fluid or—this time—the wet accident of a woman he barely knew who was in a traumatic, life-threatening situation.

They were made of gold.

Dahlia Creighton made it all the way to Valley Hospital before she arrested. She was resuscitated in the emergency room and the staff cardiologist was conferring over the phone with a doctor at a larger hospital about transporting her for an angiogram and possible bypass surgery.

Cameron, Jack and Mel didn’t hang around—there was nothing more they could do for her now. The drive back to Virgin River was long and quiet in the Hummer. When they got to town, there wasn’t enough day left to open the clinic. Jack pulled up in front of the clinic and Mel said, “I’ll get a bucket of soapy water to clean out the back.”

“I’ll help,” Cam said. “We’ll get it done quickly.”

“Need another hand?” Jack asked.

“Nah,” Mel said. “Your dinner crowd will be showing up pretty soon. I’ll stop by the bar before I head out to Brie’s to pick up the kids.”

Donned in latex gloves with twin buckets, Cam and Mel scrubbed things down. Mel took the gurney out and was working on it while Cam crawled inside the back of the Hummer, washing it down, standard procedure between uses. When everything was shining, supplies in the Humvee and medical bags refreshed, buckets of water tossed in the flower beds around the porch, Cam said, “I’ve been meaning to talk to you. I’m going to have to make a few adjustments in my schedule. I’m going to have to find another job in a few months.”

She smiled at him and dried off her hands. “I figured something would have to change.”

“I invited Abby to come here for dinner tonight. I want to talk to her about things. I’m going to try to convince her we should be roommates.”

“Roommates? How romantic,” Mel said.

“Yeah, well, she doesn’t have romantic feelings, but I want to take better care of my family. Whether she likes it or not, she’s my family. At least, she’s giving birth to my family. In another month, she’s going to realize how much she needs me nearby. After they’re born…” He shook his head. “After they’re born, she’s going to need me even more.”

“So. You have a plan?”

“I don’t want to let the town down. But if I can find a hospital or practice nearby that could use a doctor, at least part-time, I’ll live in Virgin River and keep appointments here as often as possible. I’d like to be on hand either in the mornings or afternoons, and evenings and weekends for house calls. The problem is the emergency care.”

“Cam, we have an emergency that needs medical intervention and transport about three or four times a year. There’s a fair chance you’d be taking a day off or out of town visiting your family when those emergencies occur. On the other hand, there’s an equal chance you could keep a job in Fortuna or Eureka and be right here when we have an emergency. What I really need is a physician who keeps appointments and makes a few house calls, not an E.R. doctor. We call the sheriff’s department or paramedics—it might take them a little longer, but that’s how it is when you live in a rural area. Our people understand that. If you hadn’t been here today for Dahlia, I could have called Mercy Air, medical transport.” She smiled. “I might hang on to you a little longer if you have a way to take care of your family.”

“Maybe,” he said with a shrug. “In the end, where I live isn’t going to be up to me. I’m not letting them get away. If Abby insists on living in some godforsaken place like London, I’ll follow.”

Mel couldn’t help it, she burst out laughing. “Godforsaken London? I’d give my eyeteeth to spend a year in London.”

“You know what I mean,” he said.

“I understand—you got your head wrapped around being a small-town doctor, living in the mountains, a low-stress lifestyle, and then, whoops—you’re going to be a father.”

“As you would say, boy howdie.”