Dorothy Garlock - [Tucker Family] Read Online Free Page A

I’ve ever had to learn is that sometimes folks’ lives get ruined, whether on account of their own selves or because of others,” he explained while he turned the car’s ignition key and the coupe’s engine rumbled to life. “As a doctor, all I can do is treat their wounds as best I can. Any injuries to their spiritual selves or minds are best left in other hands.”
    “I still worry that it’s not enough.”
    “Don’t get me wrong,” he grumbled. “I didn’t say it sat well with me.”
     
    Christina was pleasantly surprised to find Dr. Barlow’s driving better during the drive back into Longstock. Instead of his earlier reckless and terrifying madness, he now only occasionally drifted slightly over the centerline, and took curves at reasonable speeds.
    The landscape that had been a blur a few hours earlier now readily revealed itself to Christina’s eyes. Purple and white bellflowers flourished in the setting sunlight, billowing into the underbrush at the edge of the tall trees. A sudden, large break in the tree line revealed a broad river of fast, blue water rushing over smooth rocks. Just off the gravel road, two young deer raised their heads from where they had been eating berries to watch the coupe as it passed. It was all so similar to Minnesota that it was easy to imagine she was home.
    “So I reckon this is the moment you tell me the reason why,” Dr. Barlow said, interrupting her thoughts.
    “Why…why what?” Christina asked, concerned that she had made some unknown mistake back at the Simmons home.
    “Why you came to Longstock,” he explained.
    “Oh, well,” Christina began, relieved, “there was a nurse back in Michigan who—”
    “No, no, no, that’s not what I’m talking about. I already know those particulars,” he cut her off. “I may be getting on up there in years, but I’m not so far gone I can’t recall letters and conversations from a few months back. What I’m asking is why you chose to become a nurse.”
    “Because it seemed natural for me to help people who needed it,” she answered truthfully.
    “There are lots of ways to do that.” Dr. Barlow shrugged. “Like becoming a teacher or working through a church. That’s providing for those in need. There are some folks who’d argue that standing behind the counter of a diner is the same, if those they’re serving are hungry enough. So how is being a nurse better?”
    “I’m not saying that it’s better,” Christina explained, “just different. When people are sick, injured, or suffering a pain they cannot bear, that’s when they need someone who is trained to care for them. Being a nurse is the greatest career I could ever ask for.” Catching herself, she added, “I suppose that sounds selfish.”
    “Not to these ears,” he answered with a snort. “But if what satisfies you most is caring for those in need, medically speaking, why did you leave the Army? The way wars are always coming and going, there never will be a shortage of soldiers requiring care.”
    “That’s why I left. Seeing all that carnage became too much to bear. Spending every day, without end, caring for men whose lives I know would never be the same became a constant that I couldn’t ever completely let go. It was overwhelming and somehow futile. I know what I was doing was important, that I was serving my country, but…,” she faltered, remembering the difficult choice she had made to leave the Army Nurse Corps and return to chasing the dream of a life she had temporarily left behind. “But when I knew that I could no longer stay, it didn’t mean that I wanted to stop being a nurse, only that I needed to do it somewhere else. Explaining it like this, I still wonder if I…”
    “Made the right choice?” Dr. Barlow finished.
    Christina nodded.
    “You did. If there’s anyone who knows, it’s me.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I understand your troubles because of the fact that, a long time ago, I was just where you are