Saving Dr. Merar

Chapter 1

"Come on, Jarrod, wake up," the voice said, commanded. Jarrod did his best to pry his eyes open, but they seemed to be stuck. It wasn't until the rest of him started to feel things – like this bed was awfully hard – that he was able to awaken.

But when he tried to sit up, a hand on his chest held him down. "Not so fast. Take it slow."

Slow? Jarrod looked and saw faces coming into focus, faces he hadn't expected to see – Sheriff Madden and Judge Farnham. He was awake in a flash but they wouldn't let him sit up. His head rested on something soft but it wasn't a pillow, and he suddenly realized the bed was hard because it wasn't his bed. He was on the floor, with someone's coat under his head.

Judge Farnham and Sheriff Madden. Jarrod realized where he was. He was flat out on the courtroom floor. "What the – "

"You fainted," Sheriff Madden said.

Jarrod's eyes went wide. "Fainted?"

"Curled up your toes and went right down," the sheriff said, easing back on his haunches.

"Don't worry, the trial was over and practically everyone had left," Judge Farnham said. "We cleared the courtroom. There's no one here now but the sheriff and I."

Jarrod tried to get up again, but Sheriff Madden still kept him down. "Stay still. You hit your head on the defense table when you went down. The bailiff's gone for the doctor."

Jarrod reached for his temple and his fingers came away bloody. "Why in the world would I faint?"

The sheriff and the judge looked at each other with expressions that said He's kidding, right? "Maybe it has something to do with you working yourself near to death lately," Sheriff Madden said. "And knowing you, you haven't been eating right either – remember how you get when you don't eat."

"I don't pass out," Jarrod said.

"Well, you got a little disoriented before you passed out," the judge said. "As you were packing up to leave, you kept looking around the courtroom for your horse and your – what was it, Fred? His muzzle?"

"Your muzzle," Sheriff Madden agreed.

"That doesn't make any sense," Jarrod said.

"That's why your gonna stay right here on the floor until the doc has a look at you," Sheriff Madden said.

Jarrod was still woozy and unclear, so maybe they were right. Maybe he should just stay put. But then the urge to look for his fishing rod came over him, and he tried to get up again. By the time he knew what was happening again, the doctor was kneeling beside him, saying, "His fishing rod? What else has he been asking about?"

"His horse and his muzzle," Sheriff Madden said.

Dr. Merar shined a light into Jarrod's eyes. "Jarrod, when did you eat last?"

"I don't know," Jarrod said. The world seemed to go underwater.

Dr. Merar had the bailiff go to the café across the street for a glass of orange juice, and in another fifteen minutes or so, Jarrod had drunk some and was sitting up, feeling better. Feeling very embarrassed.

Especially when the doctor's lecture started up. "All right, here's what I believe is going on. You have had a rough couple of years and you've thrown yourself into your work so much you've forgotten how you get when you don't eat right and don't get enough rest. So now you've fainted dead away in the courtroom. You've got a bump on your head, but I don't think it's bad. But the rest of you is bad! We're going to get you on your feet and walk you over to my office. I'm going to have a thorough look at you and we're going to figure out how to keep you from dropping dead in the courtroom next time, not just fainting. Got that?"

Jarrod felt about ten years old. "Yes, sir," he said.

As they helped him to his feet, he apologized to Judge Farnham for the inconvenience. Sheriff Madden gathered Jarrod's papers and briefcase together, and he and the doctor walked Jarrod over to the doctor's office. Jarrod felt even more embarrassed when he saw all the people looking at him as they crossed the street. At least Nick isn't here, Jarrod thought.

"Jarrod!"

Jarrod moaned to hear the voice. Nick was here.

"What's going on? What happened?" Nick asked.

"Nothing," Jarrod said.

"He fainted in the courtroom," the sheriff told Nick. "Doc says he hasn't been eating right."

"Aw, Jarrod, you know how you get," Nick began to chew him out as he joined them in walking to the doctor's office.

"I'm all right," Jarrod said. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I went to the bank," Nick said. "Good thing I am here. It looks like I'm gonna have to drive you home."

"I'm all right," Jarrod repeated and wiped the blood running down his face away.

Nick gave the sheriff a look, and Sheriff Madden gave it right back. They agreed, Jarrod got the main dose of that damned Barkley stubbornness.

XXXXXXXX

About an hour later, Nick tied his horse to the buggy Jarrod had driven into town and the two of them settled down to head home. Nick drove. Having had a sandwich now on top of the orange juice, Jarrod was sensible again, but tired. Tired not just because of his blood sugar dropping. Tired because he had endured embarrassing looks from everyone in town and two very long lectures from the doctor.

"What are you gonna tell Mother?" Nick asked as they left town.

"I think the question is, what are you gonna tell her?" Jarrod asked.

"Oh," Nick said, "that they scraped you up off the courtroom floor because you fainted – "

"Don't use the word 'fainted'."

"Why not? It's what you did. I'll tell Mother your blood sugar dropped on you again because you haven't been eating right and you've been working too hard and Dr. Merar told you that you needed a week of complete rest and then a month of no legal work or the next time you might drop dead instead of fainting."

"Don't say 'drop dead,'" Jarrod said. "I took a rest when Heath and I went to New York. I'm not gonna drop dead."

"That's been months ago. Traveling that far has stress of its own, and God alone knows what the two of you got into back there," Nick said. "You've thrown yourself into work since you got back and you're worn out, and the doctor told me exactly how it is with you. Mother needs to know what's going on. I'm not gonna be worrying by myself."

Jarrod looked over at him and realized the doctor had probably scared Nick more than he'd scared him. "I'm sorry, Nick. I guess I'm not taking this seriously enough. It's just that I have a lot to do over the next few weeks – "

"Look," Nick cut him off. "You've had a bad year or two. You've had a some really serious injuries to recover from, and a terrible loss when Beth was killed, not to mention everything after that. And Julia Saxon, and that mess you got yourself into with Anita and Mary Ann and God knows who else which I hope at least you've straightened out from - "

"All right, all right," Jarrod said. He didn't like to think about the problems fate had handed him or he'd gotten himself into over the past couple years. He had started and ended a string of casual affairs after his wife died and he was still struggling with himself and his attitude after one of his partners was murdered. Life had tangled him up and while he had stopped the affairs, he had thrown himself into work instead - probably too much. He had to admit he was still getting untangled and not doing a great job of it. "I'm doing better, just not good enough, I guess."

Nick said, "Your way of dealing with problems is to give yourself more problems. You need to eat right and get more rest and take some time away from all the work you've gotten into. You don't have the easiest job in the world, you know."

"I know," Jarrod said. "I didn't know you knew."

"And if you don't do all that, you're not gonna be worth much as a lawyer even if you don't drop dead."

"I hear you, Nick."

"Good. Now, you get ready to tell Mother what the doctor said, and all of it, because I'll fill in whatever you leave out. You resign yourself to staying at the house and resting for the next week while Silas takes charge of your eating habits, and then you figure out what you're gonna do with the month after that."

Jarrod sighed. "Nick, I really don't want to take a month off."

"I know you don't. You want to keep driving yourself so you don't have to think about everything that's happened lately, and just because that's what you've always done, but remember what driving yourself after Beth died did to you. You never did let yourself recover from that, and the first person who would chew you out if she knew about it is Beth."

Jarrod had to admit, Nick was right about that. Although they'd never even had a chance to have a fight or get anywhere close to one, Jarrod knew his wife had been a strong, firm woman. She'd have had at him if she knew what his life had turned into after she was killed. He was embarrassed again, and just thinking about her sent a wave of grief over him. He was starting to feel dizzy again.

"And one more thing," Nick said. "You gotta back off the liquor. Maybe you can hide the fact you've been drinking too much from Dr. Merar, but you're not hiding it from me and Heath, and you sure aren't hiding it from Mother and Audra. We've been waiting for you to bring yourself around, but we're not gonna be waiting anymore. You got your last warning today. You take better care of yourself, or you're gonna kill yourself. Or we're gonna kill you."

Jarrod quit listening, but he knew what Nick was saying anyway. And he was right. "All right, Nick," Jarrod said when the sound coming his way had stopped. "Complete rest for a week, letting Silas feed me right, easing off the drinking – I'll do it all. But what the heck I would do with myself for a month after that if I'm not working – "

Nick grinned. "I got an idea about that."