Chapter Nine
Jeremiah returned to his office to tidy up. He had rushed upstairs as soon as his last patient left, and he needed to jot down some notes on the visit and stow his examining instruments.
He sat down at his desk and tried to concentrate, but his thoughts strayed to the sad young woman upstairs. Leigh had lost much in her short life. Her blue eyes grew hard when she spoke of the deaths of her mother and husband, but they softened when she looked at Harry, and twinkled when she laughed.
Jeremiah far preferred the twinkling. He poised his pen over his notes, yet wrote nothing, instead staring at the paper with a growing sense of unease.
Surely he could not possibly be on the verge of giving his heart away to yet another time traveler—a captive of Kaskade’s peculiar penchant for kidnapping people.
“No,” he said aloud. “That will not be possible.”
Tanya had broken his heart. True, he was a physician, and he understood that the muscle could not truly break due to grief, but there were times when medicine simply did not adequately account for matters of the heart.
He was not going to fall in love with another time traveler. He simply was not! With determination, he pressed the point of his pen to the paper. But his thoughts took him elsewhere.
Leigh was as dissimilar to Tanya as two women could be.
Tanya, a nurse in her twenty-first-century life, was not afraid of disease, of illness. But then again, Leigh, despite her protestations, had shown admirable tenacity in offering to care for Harry, in undressing him, feeding him and bathing him. She had not shied away from that which would have appalled many a young lady.
Tanya had a superior intelligence and education that Jeremiah had admired and enjoyed. Leigh too appeared to be well educated with a clever mind and quick wit.
Tanya had a kind heart. Leigh too appeared to have a tender heart. One had only to see her care for Harry.
Jeremiah set his pen down and leaned back in his chair. How were Leigh and Tanya dissimilar?
Tanya had been petite and golden haired. Leigh had a small figure and auburn hair. Tanya’s eyes had been brown. Leigh’s eyes were a delightful shade of robin’s-egg blue. Both women were beautiful.
And both women disliked living in 1908. Although to be fair, Leigh had not had enough experience in the early twentieth century to assess whether she enjoyed his era or not.
Perhaps they were not as dissimilar as he thought. Nevertheless, he was determined to maintain a professional relationship with Leigh. He realized that he had warmed to her but thought he must not let his foolish emotions get the best of him as they once had.
“Do you need anything, Doctor?” Mrs. Jackson asked, poking her head into the examining room door.
“No, I am fine. Could you look in on Leigh and see if she needs anything for herself? Something to eat or drink?”
“I just did. I will take her a cup of coffee. She claimed not to be hungry, but I think I will just take up a sandwich as well. If she eats it, so much the better.”
Jeremiah smiled his appreciation. “Thank you, Mrs. Jackson. She does appear to be a bit stubborn, doesn’t she? I suspect she needs to eat but doesn’t want to trouble you.” He rose. “And if it is not too much trouble, could you also bring me a sandwich upstairs? I will collect that coffee and take it up to her.”
“Certainly, Doctor.”
Jeremiah followed Mrs. Jackson into the kitchen and collected two cups of coffee to carry upstairs. He eschewed a tray but wished he had taken one as he attempted to balance the cups on his way up the stairs.
He arrived at Harry’s door with his hands full, and he lifted his foot and tapped at the door with the tip of his shoe. Thankfully, Leigh opened the door.
She eyed him in surprise before seeing the cups in his hands. A bright smile spread across her face.
“Coffee! Thank you!” she exclaimed in a hushed voice, taking a cup from his right hand. “Coffee and chocolate. That’s all I need in life.”
“Then we shall have to find a source of chocolate for you,” Jeremiah said with a charmed smile. He had forgotten his earlier intention of maintaining a professional distance.
“That would be great!” she whispered. She stood back and allowed him to enter.
“How is he?” Jeremiah asked, nodding toward Harry, who appeared to sleep.
“Still sleeping. His temperature seems okay—not too hot, not cold. I worried that he would get cold after we bathed him, but he seems fine. I put another pillow behind him to keep him propped up like you said so he can breathe.”
Jeremiah set his coffee down on the nightstand and withdrew his stethoscope from his jacket pocket. Harry’s lungs resounded with crackles and rumbles. Jeremiah straightened and stowed his stethoscope away.
“I cannot like the sound of his lungs. I only hope this passes. I believe it is a viral pneumonia. There is little we can do but care for him while his body fights this disease.”
He picked up his coffee and looked at Leigh. Given that the curtains had been drawn against the outside light, the room was dark, but Jeremiah noted circles under her eyes.
“You must take care of yourself, Leigh. It will not do to fall ill. You will not have developed the appropriate antibodies to resist some of the infections present in our time. Mrs. Jackson is bringing up some food, and then I think you must rest.”
“No, I’m fine!” Leigh said. “You’re staring at me.” She put a hand to her face.
“You have shadows under your eyes.”
“Oh those! My skin is pale. Those shadows pop up for almost any reason—fatigue, anxiety, illness. I’m fine.”
“Nevertheless, I would like for you to rest after you eat. We cannot know what the human body endures in traveling through time as you have. To date, no one has suffered any ill effects—physically—but I do believe that it puts tremendous strain on your body, if not your mental state.”
A tap on the door brought Mrs. Jackson, who set a tray of sandwiches down on the small table by the window. She looked down on Harry before leaving the room.
Jeremiah pulled out a chair for Leigh, who sat down. They ate in silence for a few moments as Jeremiah tried to think of subjects that wouldn’t darken the lightness of her blue eyes. He looked out the window and caught sight of the lake.
“Tell me about the lake in your time,” he said. “Does it look the same?”
Leigh shook her head. “No, not entirely. There are far more floating logs in your time than in mine. Because the timber mill is gone, so are the logs. The lake seems lower in my time. I would not have recognized your house as being so close to the lake. I’ve walked along the shore lots of times, but never encountered the foundation before. It must have been farther inland, but because we’d had a lot of rain which spilled over the path that I walked, I had to take another route.
“We have occasional fisherman on the lake, but they’re only recreational. Those folks out there look like they mean business!”
Jeremiah smiled. “Indeed. I think I mentioned that they sell the fish to the local market.”
“Not in our time.”
“Why is that?”
Leigh shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably not enough stock? Everything has gone to big corporations, and mom-and-pop industries are struggling to make a living. So a lone fisherman in a canoe could not make enough to support himself.”
“What a pity,” Jeremiah said.
“It is, isn’t it?”
“It would appear that not all things are more advantageous in the future,” he stated.
Leigh shook her head. “No, but you know that the breakthroughs in medicine save tons of lives.”
“I had heard that,” Jeremiah said.
Leigh looked over at Harry. “Though modern medicine still can’t cure everything,” she said.
To Jeremiah’s dismay, her eyes darkened, and he knew she thought of her mother. He had hoped to avoid topics that saddened her.
“No, I hear that as well. I believe that Tan— I was told that pneumonia has not been eradicated. I was very sorry to hear that.”
Leigh sighed. “Yes, I think people do still die of pneumonia, though probably far fewer than used to. You say you think Harry’s pneumonia is viral. How can you tell? Did you treat him with antibiotics?”
Jeremiah quirked an eyebrow. “You do have a working knowledge of medicine, Leigh. I regret to say that we do not have antibiotics yet. I believe a drug called penicillin will be discovered in the early 1920s, but it is not available yet. I should say that I hope Harry’s pneumonia is not caused by a bacteria.”
“No antibiotics?” Leigh echoed in a tone of surprise.
“No, not yet. Soon though. I believe some forms of antibiotics are being devised, but Tan— But I was told they have dangerous side effects, so I will not be using them.”
“You can say her name, you know, Jeremiah. Tanya. I take it that you were in love with her?”
Jeremiah’s face heated, and he dropped the rest of his sandwich on the plate. He rubbed a hand across his cheeks, as if in doing so, he could disguise his embarrassment.
“Was I so transparent?” he asked.
Leigh scrunched her nose in a charmingly childish fashion. “A little bit, but to tell the truth, I already knew.”
“Mrs. Jackson,” he murmured.
“Yes.”
“I was very fond of Tanya. One of her interests was the history of medicine, and it was she who educated me on the medical discoveries that will come.”
“Were you engaged to her?”
Jeremiah’s face continued to burn. “No. I asked her to marry me, but she could not stay here in Kaskade. She chose to return to her time.”
“I’m so sorry, Jeremiah.”
He lifted his chin and squared his shoulders. “No need,” he said brusquely. “Her decision was perfectly understandable, and I dare say one that you yourself will make.”
Leigh blinked. “Probably,” she responded.
“Of course!”
Jeremiah had his answer. Leigh would leave as well. And of course that was right and proper. The lack of antibiotics alone seemed to trouble her. He suspected she had no idea how difficult her life was about to become.
“Don’t take it personally,” she said.
“Of course not!” he said, forcing a smile. “Were our roles reversed, I would hate to be thrust into a future in which I could not function with any great success.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that, Jeremiah. You’re pretty smart. It wouldn’t take you long to catch on.”
Jeremiah’s spirits lifted at her confidence in his abilities. “Thank you,” he said. “Though I think there might be too many difficulties to surmount, I value your vote of confidence.”
“Could do with some more soup,” a voice said from the direction of the bed.
Jeremiah and Leigh rose and headed for Harry’s bedside. He looked at them with bloodshot eyes. Leigh picked up the bowl of broth.
“It cooled down,” she said. “I’ll go ask Mrs. Jackson to reheat it.”
“Cool is fine,” Harry said. “Sure was tasty. It’s more than I’m used to.”
Leigh looked at Jeremiah, who nodded.
“It is just broth. The temperature does not matter.”
Leigh sat down on the edge of the bed and resumed spoon-feeding Harry, who didn’t seem to mind at all. Jeremiah stood by with his stethoscope in hand and watched.
“Doc, please tell me you’re the one who put me in this nightshirt,” Harry said between bites.
“Certainly, Harry, if that makes you happy,” Jeremiah responded with a wide smile.
“I’ll take your word for it. So you have a new nurse? Can’t say as you told me that.”
“Mrs. Peters is not a nurse, but she has agreed to care for you.”
“Do you hear anything from that nice gal Tanya?”
Jeremiah froze for a moment, cast a glance at Leigh and then moved forward with his stethoscope.
“Shhh, Harry. No talking. I need to examine you now.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Jeremiah saw Leigh rise from the edge of the bed and set down the bowl. She moved away to resume her seat at the table.
Harry’s lungs still sounded full of fluid, but Jeremiah did not reveal the extent of his concern. It would do the old man no good.
“You still have pneumonia, Harry, but I think you’re on the mend. You need to continue to drink and eat lightly, and rest. Perhaps we shall have you up on your feet in a day or two in order to help clear your lungs.”
“Thanks, Doc. I appreciate you taking me in like this. I’m sorry about the hospital. I just didn’t want to die somewhere else.”
“You’re not going to die, Harry,” Jeremiah said. “Not yet.”
“I feel like I’m going to,” Harry mumbled. “Doc, I got a request before I do.”
“Harry, you’re not going to die!” Jeremiah hoped he sounded convincing. He noted that Leigh had returned to stand beside him.
“But I’m happy to oblige a request if it will ease your mind and help further your recovery.”
“It’s my daughter, Nancy, and my granddaughter, Rosanna. I want to see them.”
Jeremiah blinked. “You have a daughter? And a granddaughter? I did not know that, Harry! I thought you had no family. How can we contact them?”
“Well, you see, that’s the thing, Doc. I’ve never even met my granddaughter. I think she’s about twenty years old now. Nancy stopped talking to me years ago, wouldn’t let me see her. They live in Orting.”
“Orting? Why, that’s just up the road! Of course we could try to contact them. What is their last name?”
“Nancy married a fella by the name of Reid. William Reid. I think he might have passed. They have a fruit farm up near there.”
“My third great-grandmother’s name was Nancy Reid,” Leigh said softly. “I think she was married to a William Reid. Are you Harry Johnson?”