She looked like she was about to cry, which panicked me. “It’s okay. It’s fine. Do you still have the prescription I gave you?”
“Yes.”
“How about you get that filled today. Start taking the antibiotics immediately, and I suspect within a week you’ll be feeling much better. You can still do the apple cider vinegar and the meditation, but I personally feel, as your physician, it’s imperative you take those antibiotics.”
“I probably will continue the meditation.” She screwed up her face as if she had a bad taste in her mouth. “But the apple cider vinegar is disgusting.”
I couldn’t help but laugh, which seemed to please her.
“I don’t want any ill will with you, Doc.” She grimaced. “You’re right, I should’ve been more open with you. How were you to know I don’t like taking antibiotics?”
I sighed. “Maybe when I prescribe antibiotics to a patient, I should see how they feel about it. It never occurred to me you wouldn’t want to take antibiotics. I suppose I should have been more sensitive to that concept. Healing people is my priority, but people have opinions. I guess I need to make time to hear them.”
She grinned that same toothy grin from earlier. “Look at us. We worked this out like grown-ups.”
“It would seem we did.” I actually felt relieved that we’d managed to come to an understanding. I was flattered that she still wanted me to be her doctor. As charming as River was, apparently she still wanted me to be her physician.
“I know it’s been rough for you here sometimes,” she said quietly.
I winced under her scrutiny. She was looking at me so intently, I wasn’t quite sure how to act. “There’s definitely been an adjustment period for me.”
She laughed. “Not just for you. For us too.” Her expression changed and became more serious. “I hope you know most of us here in Rainy Dale feel very lucky to have you.”
I grimaced. “I won’t be winning any popularity contests, I suspect.”
She smiled. “Dr. Martin is definitely charming, but when I’m really sick, I think of you.”
“I think that’s a compliment?”
Her grin returned. “It definitely is.” She got off the examination table. “I’ll schedule another follow-up visit with Girdy. This time, I’ll actually have taken the steps you prescribed before I come back in.”
“I find that follow-up visits go more smoothly when the patients actually do the things I asked them to do,” I said sardonically.
She moved to the door, buttoning her blouse. “I’ll see you next time, Doc.”
“Have a good day, Mrs. Henrietta.”
Relief at having worked things out with Mrs. Henrietta was overshadowed by my anger at River. The more I thought about how he’d overstepped, the more I fumed. He’d had no right to intercede with one of my patients. Telling her to do something other than what I’d instructed her to do was definitely over the line. I highly doubted he’d be okay with me ambushinghispatients in the lobby. No doctor would be okay with that. It verged on unethical.
I had a full roster of patients to see, so I had to put my resentment toward River on the back burner. I spent the rest of the day seeing patients while pushing down my angry feelings. It wasn’t easy pretending everything was fine, and I wasn’t the best actor in the world. Luckily, most people were so preoccupied with their own problems, they didn’t pick up on my buzzing anxiety.
Once I’d seen all my patients for the day, I stayed in my office. By some miracle, I’d managed to avoid River the entire day and didn’t want to break my lucky streak. While Girdy finished some after-hours filing up front, I opened my laptop and began perusing the available commercial properties in Rainy Dale.
There were several spaces available that looked promising in the Bandito Business Park on the opposite side of town. The center was zoned for retail commercial and medical offices. I didn’t like the idea of being on the other side of town from Royce’s house, but Rainy Dale was small enough it probably wouldn’t really matter in the long run. Especially since I now had a car, thanks to Royce.
There was a soft knock on the door, and Girdy poked her head in. “I was thinking of taking off. Is that okay?”
“Uh…” I needed to tell her what was going on. I waved her into the room. “Can you come in for a minute?”
“Of course.” She entered, closing the door behind her. She took the seat in front of my desk. “Is everything okay?”
“I’ve decided not to rebuild the clinic.”
“What?” Shock washed across her delicate features. “You’re going back to LA?”
I winced. “Oh, no. Sorry. I… I mean I’m going to find a new spot. I’m not going to rebuild at the old location.”
“But why?” She lifted her auburn brows.
