Just Down the Road (39 page)

When she walked into Tinch’s room, Addison was shocked to see how many people were standing around. She thought of trying to order them all out, but she knew it would be a waste of time. Most of them she knew. Noah,
the rodeo cowboy she’d patched up a few times. His friends, Big Biggs and Reagan Truman, she’d visited with often when Jeremiah Truman was dying. She also recognized Liz Leary and her husband, Gabe. One of the student nurses stood by the big construction worker.

Addison frowned at the nurse. “Don’t you think you should ask a few of this gang to leave so your patient can rest?”

The student nurse shrugged. “I’m one of the gang.”

Addison should have kept frowning, but she couldn’t hide a smile. For a man who considered himself a loner, Tinch Turner sure had a wide assortment of friends.

“How’s he doing?” she asked Noah, who stood at the end of Tinch’s bed as if on guard.

“Check for yourself, Doc.” Noah moved out of the way.

Addison was shocked to see Tinch propped up in bed. He had his arm around Jamie and appeared to be reading the boy a comic book.

She moved to his other side, needing to touch him. “You should still be flat on your back,” she said as her hand moved lightly over his bandaged side until she felt the warm flesh at his ribs.

“I’m fine,” he obviously lied. “That stuff you gave me is finally wearing off. I feel like hell, so it looks like I’ll live.” He winked at her, and Addison had a hard time maintaining a doctor/patient manner.

Jamie folded the comic and tried to push it into his back pocket. “We’re about ready to go home, Doc. Can’t you take care of him back at the house? He said if he had a day of doing nothing but watching movies he’d be back in the saddle for sure.”

“It would probably be quieter at home.” She faced the group. “Would all of you mind waiting outside the door while I check his wound?”

They looked at one another as if they were considering taking a vote, and then without a word they all shuffled out, leaving only Jamie.

“I’d mind,” he whispered. “I’m not leaving.”

Addison smiled, brushing his hair back out of his eyes. “I understand.” She looked around the room for some place the boy could stand so he couldn’t see her dress the wound. She spotted the wide windowsill, littered with papers and a dozen more comic books. “If I offered you a way to stay and still allow Tinch some privacy while I check where he was shot, would that be all right?”

“Sure.”

“Then up you go into the window.” After she lifted him up, she handed him a juice Tinch had left on his tray. “I’ll close the blinds just enough so that you can still hear us.”

Jamie seemed to think it was an adventure. He settled in behind the curtain with nothing but his boots sticking out.

Addison quickly moved back to Tinch. As she checked the stitches where she’d removed a bullet, she was fully aware of him watching her.

Her fingers taped the bandage back into place, but her hand didn’t leave his ribs. “You’re healing nicely.” Her hand spread over the flat plane of his stomach as she met his stare. “But, you do look terrible. I doubt even the bar butterflies would pick you up tonight.”

“Is that your professional opinion, Doc?”

She moved her hand to the center of his chest, letting her fingers rest there as she studied his blue eyes. Even beat up he was still the sexiest man she’d ever known. The memory of their few minutes in the barn warmed her insides.

“I’m not looking to get picked up, Addison. I think I’ve found what I want. If she’s still interested in a man with a few added scars?”

“We’d never work,” she whispered. “We’d fight all day.”

He put his hand over hers. “How about we give it a try? After all, we’ve still got the nights free.” When she started to pull away, he added, “How about we start with that date you promised me? Then we could just see where things go.”

“All right. When you’re well enough to give me another dance lesson, I’ll go on that date with you.” She brushed his hair away from his forehead, loving the way he watched her.

“You won’t leave before then?”

“I promise.”

Exhausted, he leaned back on his pillow. “Mind if I dream about you, Doc? It’ll be R-rated.”

She giggled. “I’m already dreaming the same thing and my eyes are wide open.”

He closed his eyes as he smiled. “Maybe I should make that dream X-rated.”

“Just rest,” she whispered as she kissed his forehead and felt his hand relax over hers.

For a few minutes, Addison checked the chart and made sure all the instruments were correct. He still needed more blood and antibiotics and rest, but soon he’d be ready for that date.

As she turned to leave, the door slowly opened. Turning, she prepared to scold whoever came in uninvited, but before she could say a word, she saw the dirty hand that held the door.

A second later, a small man, barely over five feet tall, moved into the room. She saw a hint of madness in his red-rimmed eyes and a gun in his other hand aimed directly at her.

“Where’s the boy?” he whispered as he moved toward the bed, as if making sure Tinch hadn’t awakened. “Don’t act like you don’t know who I’m talking about. I know the kid was with Tinch. Has been since the sheriff took him out of the trailer.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Addison saw the boy’s small boots disappear behind the curtain. “He’s not here. We don’t allow children on this wing.”

The man poked Tinch with the barrel of the gun, but Tinch didn’t wake. “I figured that,” he said, keeping his voice low. “But Tinch here will know where he is. All I want to do is talk to him, then I’ll disappear. The boy has something that belongs to me and I want it back.”

Addison studied the man before her. She’d seen the signs before. He was a druggie in need of another fix.
Slowly, Addison moved for the door. “I think you’d better leave,” she said in her most formal voice.

As she opened the door, he moved behind her, pointing the barrel of the weapon against her back. “Why don’t you come with me, Doctor. You live just down the road from Tinch—maybe you know where that boy is. I’ll bet if we take a little walk out back you’ll start remembering real fast.”

Addison stepped into the hallway.

Noah was ten feet away talking to his sister. An empty gurney, used to move patients into surgery, stood just outside Tinch’s door. Addison figured that gurney had something to do with how this man had maneuvered his way down the hallway without Noah noticing.

Alex saw Addison first and must have read the terror in her face. The sheriff put her hand on the butt of her holstered weapon. Noah stopped talking and turned, following her gaze down the hallway.

The little man made sure they saw the gun before shoving it hard against her back. “We’re just taking a walk.” He almost sounded conversational. “No cause for you folks to interrupt your conversation.”

Addison saw the stairwell entrance a few feet away. Noah would never get close enough to jump the man, and Alex wouldn’t pull her weapon for fear of what the man might do.

“Don’t do this,” Noah said as his lean body seemed to tighten, ready for a fight.

“Try anything and she’ll be dead before you can reach me.”

“You’ll never get away with this, Memphis.” Alex widened her stance. “You’re wasting your time to even try. My deputies picked up the package you’ve been looking for about an hour ago.” She took one step forward. “All this has been a waste of time. You’ll never see the half million in cash you made selling drugs. You don’t want to add kidnapping to your charges.”

Memphis shoved Addison into the stairwell door. “Open it,” he said as he pointed the gun at Noah. His hand shook as any plan he’d thought he had began to evaporate. “Don’t even think about following us,” he demanded.

Addison fumbled for the knob, and Memphis tried to hurry her with one hand over both of hers. She glanced back at Noah and Alex, wishing somehow they could help but praying they stayed out of the way and safe. If Memphis were pushed even an inch, he might snap and empty the gun.

In a fraction of a second, she met Noah’s stare and saw him look back behind her.

Then with a sudden pop, the little man tumbled into her, knocking Addison to the floor. The gun in his hand went off, but Addison didn’t feel any pain. She rolled and fought to get out from under the drug dealer as everyone rushed toward her.

It must have been Noah who pulled Memphis off her. She heard the little man scream as he hit the wall. For a few heartbeats, Addison kept fighting even though she knew she was no longer under attack. She kicked and pushed at the air, fighting the memory of her fear.

Then she saw the gun on the floor, forgotten. Memphis screamed about being mistreated as the sheriff handcuffed him. People flooded the hallway. Everyone else was trying to help her up and asking if she was hurt.

As she stood, Addison turned and faced the undertaker she sometimes saw moving through the hallways. He looked tired and frightened. He still had on the pajama top he’d worn to the hospital last night when he’d brought Autumn Smith in. She forgot her panic and thought of how she might help him.

Then she saw it. A crumpled pole that had once held an IV bag hung from his fist.

“I hope I didn’t hurt him,” Tyler said calmly. “I only knew I had to stop him.”

Addison put her arms around Tyler Wright and hugged
him as tightly as she could. “You saved my life,” she whispered. “I’ll check him out if it worries you that you might have hurt him, but first I need to know you’re all right.”

Tyler nodded, and suddenly everyone was hugging except for Memphis, who was swearing that he’d been attacked and framed.

T
HAT NIGHT
A
DDISON TOOK
J
AMIE WITH HER TO THE BED-AND-BREAKFAST.
Tinch talked him into sleeping with Addison so she’d feel safe, but the boy went along only when Addison promised they’d be back at the hospital right after breakfast.

For a four-year-old the old inn was a wonderland to be explored. “This place is old enough to be haunted,” he whispered, “or owned by a witch.”

Addison wasn’t sure she could argue with his guess. “We’re safe here. I promise.”

“I know,” he said. “Tinch and Noah both told me we would be.”

Martha Q, the owner, reminded Addison that she was expecting another guest, and Addison quickly assured her that they planned to turn in early.

An hour later, right before he fell asleep, Jamie whispered, “You think Dad will be all right up there all alone?”

“Dad?”

“Tinch calls me son, so I figured I’d start calling him Dad. My mom always said I didn’t have a dad, but I think if I ask him, Tinch might take on the job.”

She smiled. “I think he already has.”

The boy went to sleep, but Addison stared out into the shadows of the cluttered room she’d rented. She hadn’t heard from her father. For all she knew he was still sitting in her office waiting for her to come to her senses. The thought made her smile. Her father wasn’t the type who waited for anything.

And she had, Addison thought. She had no idea what would happen between her and Tinch, but she planned to stay around and find out. Tinch was a kind of man she’d never met before. He was maybe the first she’d ever met that she didn’t dread getting to know better.

The next morning when they came down to breakfast, her father was sitting at the table eating pancakes.

“I’m not going back,” she said as she sat down across from him. Somewhere amid all the chaos, the hold her father had on her had snapped. All her life she’d never measured up to what he wanted her to be, never done the right thing, never been good enough to be his daughter. Only now, for the first time, she saw that the fault was his, not hers, and that knowledge somehow set her free.

“So you’ve said,” her father replied. He took a bite of pancake. “These are the best I’ve ever tasted.”

Addison didn’t trust his calm manner. “I’ve decided to call this morning and extend my assignment here.”

“How long?” His words were as bland as a stranger’s might have been. He’d always been an expert at timing his attacks. Only, this time it wouldn’t matter.

“Indefinitely. I like it here and I’m staying.”

“I realized that after I heard a gunshot in the hospital yesterday. I had to be told my daughter was all right by one of the staff.” He cleared his throat and set down his fork. “You didn’t come running back for help, like you usually do when you get yourself in trouble.”

She poured herself a cup of coffee. He’d always managed
to make her feel that everything was her fault, but not this time. It had taken her more years than most, but she’d finally grown up. “I won’t be back for help again.”

She helped Jamie with his food, then took a bite of her pancake and smiled.

After a few minutes her father tried again. “You will come home to visit soon.”

It was more a statement than a question. “We can talk more then about your plans.”

“Of course I’ll come visit, but not soon.”

An hour later she left with Jamie for the hospital. Her father stood on the porch and watched without saying a word. Maybe he thought he was punishing her by his actions, but in truth he was freeing her.