Internal Fixation - Tawdra Kandle Page 0,80

at her house.”

Noah’s hand settled on my shoulder, not trying to get my attention, just giving me a quiet assurance of his presence.

“I don’t know all the details, Emma. Only that apparently, she has a routine with her neighbor Bethany, the one who owns the coffee shop in town—on her way into work, Bethany drops off whatever pastry they’re featuring that day to Miss Sissie. You know Miss Sissie, she’s always up at the crack of dawn. So today, she went to make the drop off, and the door was locked. The house was quiet. She had a key, and she used it, and she found Miss Sissie.”

“Was it her heart?” I heard the hitch in my voice and felt hot tears running down my face. “Isn’t there something they can do? Are they bringing her to the hospital?”

“No, sweetie.” Jenny sounded sad. “I think . . . I get the sense that she’d been gone for a bit. She probably died in her sleep.” She sniffled, and the sound caused a fresh round of tears for me. “Deacon’s over there now, taking care of everything. She didn’t have any close family, you know. She had all her friends, and the church . . . but anyway, I told Mira I’d call you, because we need you to come in a little early so you can cover rounds for Deacon. I wasn’t sure if you were planning to be here in enough time.”

“Of course.” I glanced around the room, not sure what I was looking for. “I’ll get dressed and get in there right away. Are you heading home?”

“Eventually, yeah, but I’m going to wait until you’re here—and I’ll see if there’s anything I can do to help.”

“All right. I’ll be there in twenty minutes, Jen.” I hit the button to disconnect, dropped the phone on the bed and turned to face Noah. “I’m sorry. I can’t—I need to go in to the hospital. It’s Miss Sissie, Noah. She—Jenny said it looks like she passed in her sleep, I guess.” I swallowed over the huge lump in my throat. “It was—it was probably peaceful, which is just as she would have wanted it, and she’s—I’m—”

Noah reached out to gather me to him, and that one simple gesture of sympathy broke me. Curled against him, both of us still naked, I wept, not for Miss Sissie, but for all of us who would miss her for a very long time.

15

Deacon

It was only just nine o’clock by the time I arrived at the hospital, but I already felt as though I’d lived through an entire long day. I was exhausted and grieving, a particularly nasty combination; I knew I had no business thinking about practicing medicine today, not in my present state of mind. Still, I didn’t want to go home to my empty, silent house, nor did I feel like driving out to the farm to be with Gram and Pop, both of whom were heartbroken over the loss of their long-time friend.

Neighbors and friends would flock to be with my grandparents, and the idea of sitting around for hours while they all reminisced and offered up their casseroles, cakes and cookies didn’t appeal to me. Even if I didn’t see patients, at the hospital I could be around people who would understand my need to keep busy.

And then there was Emma, who I knew had jumped in to cover for me but who was also mourning our friend, I was certain. As I’d stood in Miss Sissie’s kitchen early this morning, waiting for the team from the funeral home to arrive, I’d noticed a pretty ceramic bowl sitting on the otherwise bare counter. Beneath it was a slip of paper on which was written, in Miss Sissie’s neat penmanship, Return to Emma. The beans were delicious!

It didn’t surprise me that our naturopath was part of Miss Sissie’s circle of friends, but it had made me smile, thinking of Emma’s stories of her first weeks in Harper Springs, when she’d felt like she’d always be an outsider. No one could say that about her anymore.

As soon as I arrived at St. Agnes, I went directly to my office. My eyes were bleary, and I thought I might stretch out on the sofa for a half hour or so before I checked with Emma and Darcy about our patients. I left the door ajar, toed off my shoes and laid down. My mind was racing still, but I’d just managed to close