'That’s about all you’ll agree with me on.' I glared playfully.
'That’s not true. I mean, I agree that your feet stink, that your place is messy, that,'
'Okay, okay. Enough battering for one day.' I grinned at her, letting her know that I was kidding.
'So, let me make up my pouting tonight.'
'And how do you plan to do that?' I finished off my Dr Pepper, crushing the can in my hand.
'I’ll make you dinner. Grilled lemon salmon, your favorite.'
'Oh, you are not nice.' I ran a hand through my hair, trying to decide mentally if I wanted to go, if I’d have enough energy after what I knew would ultimately be a long day, to go. I looked at her. 'Okay, you’re on.'
'Great.' She smiled, wide and bright. That had been one of the first things that had caught my eye three years ago. When she smiled she looked so young, so innocent. 'What time?'
'Six? Seven at the latest.'
'Oh, baby. You’re going to be here that late?' I shrugged, pushing my chair back from the table.
'It depends on how much we get done today.'
'Okay. Talk to you later?'
'Yup.' I ran my fingers over her shoulder as I passed by her, on my way back to the lab. As I walked down the hall, hands in the pockets of my khakis, I thought about my life, and where I was. I was on the verge of thirty, and I thought back to when I was younger, and what I had wanted for myself then. I had pretty much stayed on course, save for a few minor setbacks.
I certainly had the job of my dreams, though I had never imagined I’d still be in Minnesota. That’s every kid’s dream, isn’t it? To get out of their hometown? Home state? I had been on that trail, had even left Minnesota.
I sighed, smiling at a doctor who passed me, though for the life of me I couldn’t remember his name. The front desk of the Mayo Clinic was coming up just ahead. I glanced at the front door, seeing the bright May sunshine, then began to take a right, down the hall that would lead to my lab, but I stopped short, hearing some commotion at the front desk.
'What’s going on with my brother!' a woman snarled, the voice deep and harsh.
'Ma’am, I told you that you’ll have to talk with his doctors. Dr. Samung hasn’t completed his examination,'
'Look, I don’t give a rat’s ass what doctor man has to say. You tell me where he’s at right now.'
As I entered the main entrance way, I saw a tall woman leaning menacingly over the front desk, the receptionist looked frightened out of her way.
'Honey, now you need to stop that.' I looked and saw a shorter, blonde woman with a cowboy hat on, her hand on the other woman’s back.
'Stay out of this, Tyg.'
'I said knock it off.' The blonde pulled the woman by the back of her jeans, starting a deadly staring match between the two. I was almost afraid for the small blonde.
'Y’all can’t come into an establishment like this an scare the bejesus outta this nice lady.'
The tall woman crossed her arms over her chest, then looked at the receptionist, who I’m not sure had even taken a breath, yet.
'I’m sorry,' she mumbled, then turned away. I walked over to them, and the woman behind the desk’s face lit up.
'Dr. Littman!' Gee, I didn’t realize were so close.
'Hello.' I looked at the two women looking at me expectantly, hope filling the taller one’s blue eyes.
'You a doctor?' I nodded. 'Then tell me what’s going on with my brother, Johnny.' I could tell she was near the boiling point again, and I had to do something to defuse her, and quick.
'Listen, I heard as I walked up here, so what do you say we get a cup of coffee?' The woman looked at me as if I’d grown three heads.
'Honey, Jamie, go on with her.' The blonde was standing beside me, her hand on the other woman’s shoulder. 'Let me take care of this.' They looked at each other.
'Tyg, I am not about to leave him.'
'Honey, you ain’t leaving anybody. Johnny is in good hands.' The one named Jamie sighed, then looked at me, nodded.
'Alright, doc. You buyin’?' I grinned, nodded.
'Follow me.' We walked down the hall, the heels of her boots clicking on the tile. 'So, who’s your brother?' I glanced over at her. She looked straight ahead, her dark hair, which fell around her face, hiding much of her profile.
'John Madden.'
'Older or younger?' I turned into the cafeteria, headed for the coffee line.
'He’s my baby brother.'
'Oh, I’ve got one of those, too.' I smiled up at her, then handed her a paper cup. 'He’s back home now, though. I’m about to be an aunt.' She smiled at me.
'Where’s home?'
'Winston. Not too far. Where are you from?'
'Texas, LaGrange.' Both our cups filled with steaming coffee, I led Jamie to a table, away from the hustle and bustle of the lunch crowd.
'I’ve never been to Texas. What do you do there?' I rested my cheek on my hand. Jamie sipped from her coffee, wrinkling her nose.
'This stuff is weak. They’re obviously not used to the coffee on a ranch.' She smiled, pushing her cup aside.
'Do you live on a ranch, Jamie?' she nodded.
'Tyg and me, that’s the woman out there,' she pointed toward the door, 'we run the Triple M Ranch down there. Move horses and cattle.' I was surprised; she didn’t look much like a rancher. The other one, though. The country life was written all over her.
'Sounds nice.'
'It’s beautiful.'
'So tell me about John.' Jamie looked down for a second, her fingers entwined, nervously rubbing against each other.
'He got sick, maybe a year ago. None of the doctors in the infirmary could do anything.'
'Infirmary? I hear the doctors in the military’s infirmaries are wonderful.' She looked down again, taking a deep breath.
'Johnny isn’t in the armed services, doc.' She looked up at me, pain in her eyes. 'A prison infirmary.'
'Oh. I’m sorry.' She shrugged.
'You keep messing things up, keep trying to beat the system, it’ll beat you back.' She leaned back in her chair, one arms hanging behind the back.
'So what were his symptoms?'
'At first it started out with his energy just dropping to nothing. He’s a young guy, but just like that,' she snapped her fingers. 'He’d be dead tired. No one could understand it. Then, finally Tyg and me went to visit him, and he collapsed right there behind the glass. The cops took him to the infirmary, they sent him to the hospital, and then sent him back to prison. It kept happening, then he started bleeding from certain places, and back to the hospital he went. They gave him some drugs, did some tests, but nothing did the trick. So,' she sighed. 'Here we are.' She looked around the cafeteria, then her eyes landed on me. 'Can you help him, doc?'
'There you are. Come on, honey. We need to get.' We both turned to see Tyg standing by the table. She smiled at me. 'Howdy. Tyg McClure.' I took her outstretched hand, and shook it.
'Andi Littman.'
'Y’all can help Johnny, right?' Her eyes showed such concern, such care and love. I was touched by these two.
'We’re going to do our best, Tyg. That’s all I can say.'
'And that’s enough.' She gave me another winning smile, then turned to Jamie. 'Come on, honey. The doctor wants to talk to us.' Jamie pushed her chair back and stood. She looked at me, and smiled.
