Healing Hearts (Easton Series #2) Read Online Free Page A

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       “Sir, I have the same training. I
am not lacking.”
       He hacked out a coarse laugh. This
woman was too young, and too . . . too pretty for frontier life. Her skin was
soft, her eyes those of an innocent. “Walker didn’t look like, look, it’s that
I was unprepared for – “
       “You dismiss me, but my training
is recent, and with the best minds. Walker was a regular, no doubt like you.”
Her words carried a sarcastic tone. “I’ve learned all that’s new to medicine.”
       He rolled his eyes to the ceiling.
“God save me. You’re a homeopath?”
       “In truth, I lean to the eclectic
philosophy. I’m a pragmatic, sir. I use observation and science. I was the best
in my class at curing infections.” She punctuated her points with a bobbing
fist.
       “Fine. Fine,” he bit off, as he
noted how her eyes shone through the dim space like silver coins. “Miss Sutton,
I’m spent. I’m in no mood to battle with you about approaches to practicing
medical arts. I’ve just now come from a grueling sixteen-hour birthing, and my
head feels like it’s been hit with an iron skillet. I’m going down to the
kitchen to sleep, and when I wake I hope to find this was all a bad dream.”
       Jed turned on one heel and stomped
down the stairs, his temples pounding with every step. He stumbled into the
surgery for a dose of laudanum before wandering to the kitchen, where he kicked
off his boots and dropped his body onto the wooden, canvas covered cot. The
makeshift bed was narrow and too short for his over six-foot frame. He turned
onto his side and brought his knees up, but they hung over the side and the
wood frame cut into his leg. Damn. What had he done to Cole to deserve this?
       With rain pelting the roof he drifted
off, and it felt as though five minutes had passed when he heard banging at the
back entrance.
       Jed rolled over, deciding he’d
shoot the coyote who was interrupting his sleep.
       Before he could think about where
he’d hid his pistol, the woman named Hannah Sutton flew past him and let the
varmint in. A gust of wind and water assaulted Jed as the door opened, and he
saw the outline of a small man clinging to a larger as they crossed the
threshhold. The shorter man was clearly injured. He was moaning, and his arm
hung askew. Both men were soaked to the skin.
       “Sheriff!” Hannah Sutton exclaimed.
       “Doctor Sutton! I have your first
patient. Name’s Pete Cochran. His horse spooked and threw him.”
       “Bring him this way Mr. Easton.”
Hannah, dressed in a wrapper thrown over her nightgown, took charge and led
them past Jed, who was scrambling to his feet and grabbing for his boots as he
hurried to join the group in the surgery.
       Cochran staggered to the
examination room before he lost consciousness. Roy Easton laid him out for
examination. Hannah gently removed his soiled shirt, and muttered with disdain about
how he smelled of whiskey.
       “Drunken riding is a dangerous
business, especially in a storm,” she chastised the man who was passed out on
the table. “At least the bone didn’t pierce the skin,” she observed. Hannah hunted
for splints.
       Jed swayed and hovered behind her.
“I’ll take over now.”
       “I’ve done this before,” she
argued. She pulled up her shoulders and waved an arm as if to fend off a pesky
horsefly.
       Great , Jed thought. He’d have a talk with her about the chain of
command after the sheriff left. Easton, for his part, was holding Pete Cochran
on the table but now he looked like he’d rather be anywhere else. “If I’d known
I was going to cause a spat, I’d have treated him myself at the jail,” Easton
drawled through clenched teeth.
       Jed opened his mouth to continue
his protest, but he was interrupted by another fist pounding on the door.
       “Excuse me,” Jed growled. He
turned, and he thought about finding his pistol again. This time he’d shoot the
coyote through