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The Mask

Carmenica Diaz

2004 Carmenica Diaz

Part 5 Indian Mask

I woke up to the smell of coffee and eggs cooking. Remembering I was seeing the guy from the gas station before I began driving again, I decided against shorts, even though they would be more comfortable in the car, and dressed in the same jeans I wore the night before with a dark blue top and sneakers.

I was halfway through my hair and my face before I realized what I was doing. Shrugging, I told myself I might as well continue, what was the harm?

Eleanor was cooking in the kitchen when I walked in. ‘Good morning,’ I greeted her. ‘You didn’t have to do that.’

‘I don’t mind. I used to cook breakfast for Doc Johnson, so it’s kind of nice doing it again.’

‘Okay,’ I smiled, ‘you talked me into it. Mrs. Simpson asked me to see her husband before I go,’ I said after swallowing a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

‘I know,’ she said with a sly grin, ‘he’s in the waiting room.’

‘Already?’

‘Jim’s nervous about going to doctors, he hates it, so Rhoda must have seriously threatened him to make him come in,’ she said with a wink. ‘I think he’s been told go see the doc or miss out for a long time, if you know what I mean.’

I choked on my scrambled eggs and laughed. ‘I see.’

I finished, had a cup of coffee and glanced around the door into the waiting room and froze, the room was full of people! ‘What’s going on?’ I whispered to Eleanor, pushing her back into the kitchen. ‘What do these people want?’

‘They want to see a doctor,’ she said.

‘Is this some sort of trick, Eleanor? Is this Ron’s idea?’

‘Jacquie,’ Eleanor said seriously, hand on my shoulder while she looked deep into my eyes, ‘Indian Mask hasn’t had a doctor for over five months and word got around that you were seeing Jim so…’

‘People thought they might come around as well?’

She nodded. ‘Jacquie, are you in a hurry to get somewhere? I mean, if you weren’t, you could at least see the urgent ones before you go.’

Part of me wanted to say, no, I’m out of here, look after yourselves, sister! On the other hand, I remembered the smiles at the diner, the feeling of relaxation and the look of hope on the faces of the people in the waiting room.

I laughed softly, surrendering. ‘And I suppose they’re all urgent?’

‘Could be,’ Eleanor said with a grin.

It was strange but I didn’t want to disappoint Eleanor and what did it matter if I delayed my trip for a while? Where was I going, anyway? I shook my head. ‘You going to stick around?’

‘I wouldn’t miss this for the world, a young feisty female doctor in this town! Besides, somebody has to update the files, collect the fees. Here, doctor,’ she said, handing me a file, ‘your first patient file.’

Grinning, I walked out into the waiting room and the murmured conversation stopped as everyone looked at me expectantly. ‘Good morning, I’m Jacquie Rhodes and I guess I’ll be seeing you all before I go.’ They broke into smiles, and I looked at the patient’s file. ‘Jim Simpson?’

A big man got up and walked slowly across the floor towards me and I stuck my hand out. ‘Hi Jim. Don’t worry, I don’t bite,’ I said as I led him away, ‘Much!’ and I winked to the other waiting patients. They were chuckling as I shut the door.

The doctor’s surgery was a comfortable room with a big old fashioned desk, bay window with light curtains, bookshelves, a fire place and, of course the examination area.

‘Now, Doc,’ he began.

‘Call me Jacquie, Jim,’ I said, ‘where’s this cut Rhoda is worried about?’

Sheepishly he pointed to his leg. It was a long gash and severely infected so I had to clean it thoroughly before I stitched. He grimaced and then pulled his pants back up. ‘Thanks, Jacquie,’ he said swinging off the examination table and buckling his belt.

‘Step on those scales, Jim,’ I said, pointing at them.

‘What for?’

‘What do you think?’ I said with a smile. ‘I want your weight. I see from this file you haven’t been here for three years.’

‘Well, if I ain’t been sick …’

‘Have you heard of preventative maintenance? Don’t you tell people to have their motor cars serviced regularly?’

‘Yeah,’ he said warily.

‘Pretty important to do that, is it?’ He nodded. ‘It’s more important to check yourself out regularly, Jim. Now, tell me your weight.’

At the end of the basic examination I wrote a prescription out and gave it to him. ‘This is for the leg and this,’ I gave him a sealed envelope, ‘is for Rhoda.’

He was puzzled. ‘What is this?’

‘Never you mind, and I’m going to ask Rhoda if she got it and if it was opened, okay?’

He shrugged as if to say, women! ‘Okay, doc,’ he said resigned. ‘Thanks again.’

I smiled and walked out to the waiting room and to my surprise, the number of people had increased, there were even people seated on the porch. It was going to be a busy morning.

Steadily, I worked through the patients and had no trouble; even the most cantankerous males seemed to accept me although they looked at me with suspicion until I proved I knew what I was talking about.

Mid-morning, Eleanor came in between patients with a coffee and smiled as she put it on the desk. ‘You okay, Jacquie?’

‘Sure,’ I said, ‘don’t tell Ron, but I’m kind of enjoying it.’

Eleanor laughed and then told me I had some visitors. Scott and Lou were standing by the screen door and Lou had a big bunch of flowers in her hand, her other arm still in the sling.

‘What’s this?’ I asked, squatting down so I was level with her eyes.

‘These are for you,’ she said formally, pushing the flowers into my hand, ‘to say thank you for helping us.’

I was conscious that everyone in the waiting room could hear and were all watching. ‘My pleasure,’ I murmured, ‘how’s the arm?’

‘Itchy,’ she complained, and I smiled.

‘You’ll have to put up with that for a while, I’m afraid. Should be easy for someone as tough as you.’

‘Sign my arm, Jacquie,’ Lou said with a grin and I noticed that Scott had already written something on the cast.

‘Sure,’ I said and wrote my name and drew a little heart next to it. For a moment, a thought flashed within me, asking why I did that, but I shook my head, ignoring it.

Lou surprised me then by suddenly kissing my cheek and hugging me. When she let me go she stood back next to her father, so I stood and smiled at him. ‘We just wanted to stop by and say thanks,’ he quickly said, twisting his cap in his hands. ‘We’d better get going. Thanks again.’

‘No problem,’ I said, watching them go until Eleanor gently pushed a file under my arm. ‘Okay,’ I said, reading it, ‘Mary-Jane Brown?’

The morning continued with a steady stream of patients until Eleanor stood in the waiting room and informed everyone that, ‘The doctor is going to have a break for lunch, I suggest you do the same.’

We sat at the kitchen table and ate the sandwiches Eleanor had made. ‘It seems to be going okay,’ I said, reaching for the glass of iced lemonade.

‘Are you kidding?’

‘What?’ I asked, alarmed. ‘Is there a problem?’

‘No,’ Eleanor laughed, ‘you’re a big hit. It’s already around town how you wrote a note to Rhoda to change Jim’s diet. She’s tickled pink about it.’

‘It’s his blood pressure…’

She nodded. ‘Doc Johnson tried to get him to change and Jim always said he would but never did. The fact that you sent a note to Rhoda has pleased the ladies of the town no end.’ Eleanor grinned and then said slyly, ‘Lou’s a bright young thing, isn’t she?’ I nodded agreement and sat back feeling full and relaxed. ‘Pity about her mother, though.’

She had my interest and knew it. ‘Her mother?’ I asked at last.

‘It’s a sad story,’ she said as she cleared the table.

‘Come on Eleanor,’ I said in exasperation when she didn’t say anymore. ‘Why is it sad?’

‘Her mother, Betty, ran off when Lou was just four. Betty was always a wild thing, we often wondered what Scott saw in her, but that’s the way it was. They were real young when they married and it was because they had to. I think Scott was only nineteen when Louise was born. One day, Betty just took off, left a note and was gone. She sent postcards for a while, the last one was from
England or somewhere.’

‘Poor Lou,’ I said softly.

‘Scott took it pretty hard, he hasn’t been near a woman since, just devotes himself to Lou and those fancy boats he builds. Scott’s mother helped but she was taken by cancer last year and now it’s just Scott, his father, and Lou.’

I nodded, lost in thought and finally stood up, stretching. ‘Do you think I’ll get through all the patients this afternoon?’

‘I don’t think so, more have called wanting to know if they can get in to see you. I’ve told them I’d let them know.’

I stared out at the peaceful town and watched the people walking down the leafy street towards the surgery. ‘Guess I’d better stay tomorrow as well,’ I said before I knew it. ‘Book them in for tomorrow.’ When I turned back, Eleanor had a big grin on her face.

The truth was I loved what I was doing. This was real medicine, being part of a small community and helping real people. A country doctor has to be all things, not just dispense pills, but also advice, lifestyle changes and a multitude of other things. It was a challenge, but so rewarding, and just one day doing it had lit me up inside like someone had just turned a light on. I loved it and suddenly the thought of working in a big hospital made my stomach turn.

It was at six that evening when I finally finished and I sat in the kitchen while Eleanor cleared up the coffee cups. ‘I told Ron you’d be finished by now so I expect he’s coming around.’ The screen door banged and she rolled her eyes. ‘Speak of the devil.’

Ron poked his head through and smiled. ‘Evening Doctor, Eleanor.’ He sat down and pulled out a folder and brochures. ‘I thought I’d take a minute to tell you about Indian Mask, the history, what the town’s plans are and what we can offer a young doctor…’

‘Don’t bother, Ron,’ I said and his face fell. ‘You can tell me later.’

‘Later?’ he said hopefully and Eleanor turned from the sink to look at me, brow furrowed.

‘I’ll stay here for three months.’ His face broke into a huge smile as I continued, ‘While you look for a doctor. You are looking, aren’t you?’

‘Of course we are, we’re looking all the time.’

‘Well you’d better keep looking, I’ll just stay here for three months.’

‘What if we don’t find one in three months?’

‘Then you’re back to where you are now because I’ll be gone.’ Will you go, I asked myself, will you really?

‘Okay, thanks Doc.’

‘Ron, will you call me Jacquie? Please?’

‘Sure. Let me tell you about the benefits…’

‘No,’ I said waving a hand, ‘just draw up a fair contract for the three months.’

‘But, don’t you want to know the money? It isn’t much,’ he added apologetically.

‘Tell me later, I didn’t study medicine for the money. Do I get to stay here?’

Ron beamed as he stood up, eager to rush out, I guessed, to tell everyone the news. ‘Of course, Jacquie, it’s all yours while you stay. Eleanor knows how everything works.’

The screen door banged after him and Eleanor hugged me and kissed my cheek. ‘You’re a good person, Jacquie, we’re going to love having you around.’

I called Brenda that night and told her what I had done and she chuckled softly. ‘Do I get to visit?’

‘I hope so,’ I said. ‘Come when you can, I’d love to see you. Bring Kristine.’

‘I think we’ll let you settle in first.’ Brenda paused and then she asked quietly, ‘Are you happy?’

‘I think so,’ I answered softly, ‘I think so.’