Frontier Medicine - Part 22 - The Passing
Some comedy and some sadness. I pretty much love Lena!
It was like a beautiful train wreck. Kara just couldn't look away. Alex was chortling to herself as Lena arrived at Joseph's table and indignantly exclaimed. "Joseph, I should have known!"
The man frowned and looked at his companion, whose face was stony. "I'm sorry, who are you?"
"Who am I?" Lena replied. "WHO AM I? I'm only the woman you've been courting for the past three months." She pointed a finger at the woman seated at the table. "Who is that?!"
"This is Miss Mary Courtney…"
"Another one of your floozies! You promised me there weren't any more of them. You promised me you'd leave your wife for me!"
"Keep your voice down, Madam," Joseph said, looking furtively around. There were a lot of eyes on him now.
"HOW DARE YOU!" Lena exclaimed.
"Joseph," Miss Courtney ventured. "What is going on here? You told me that there was no one else but me."
"THERE ISN'T," the man exclaimed.
"Then who is this woman?"
"I'm Jane Jackson," Lena said. "And I'm sick to death of this man's lying and cheating." She wiggled a finger at Miss Courtney. "If I were you, I'd get as far away from him as possible. He cheated on his fiancée with her sister, whom he married, then cheated on her with me and now he cheating on me with you." Kara stifled a laugh as great big crocodile tears flowed down her friend's cheeks.
"Thank you for warning me, Miss Jackson," Miss Courtney said with a dignified sniff as she got to her feet. "Do not contact me again, Joseph," she added, then turned and swept out of the room, leaving the man's mouth flapping like a tuna.
"I don't…"
Lena wagged an admonishing finger at him and then leaned in closer. "Shirley and Kara send their regards," she said and then, leaving him stunned, crossed the room to take her seat with her friends.
"Oh my Lord, Lena…" Kara said, admiration shining on her face.
"Your soon to be ex-brother-in-law is now very single," Lena stated with a grin.
"Want a job?" Alex said. "Cattle would most certainly listen to you."
Lena laughed lightly. "As tempting as that is, Alex, I think I'm better suited to science."
"I can't WAIT to tell Shirley what just happened," Kara laughed.
"And because there's no one in our circle called Jane Jackson, he'll likely never find me again," the dark-haired woman added.
"Thank you," the doctor said with an affectionate smile. "You've made my day."
"Pshaw," Lena replied. "Picking out your wedding dress will be the best thing about this day. Right, Alex?"
"Sure will," the rancher nodded with a big grin and after they'd finished their lunch, they left for the bridal stores where Lena just knew they'd find the perfect dress.
Xx
Kara was in bed when Alex knocked lightly and stuck her head in the door. "Can I come in?"
"Of course," the doctor replied with a big smile. "You ok, Sweetheart?"
"Yeah," Alex smiled. "Just a little tired. Today was a really good day."
"It was," Kara agreed. "I just wish I could end it in your arms."
"I know," the rancher nodded. "But it wouldn't be proper here since we ain't married."
"Yet," the doctor reminded.
Alex crossed to the bed and took a seat on the edge, reaching over to smooth her lover's hair back from her forehead. "Lord, the look on Shirley's face when you told her about what Lena did. I thought she was goin' to swaller her own tongue from laughin'"
"It seems that Zorel women like to see justice being served," Kara smirked. "One way or another. You know, I should introduce Shirley and Lena. I think they'd be friends and it would be good for Shirley to have an ally when we go back to Rocky Road."
Alex nodded, her eyes closing slowly. Kara sensed the change of mood and captured the rancher's hand, lifting it and bringing it to her lips. "What's bothering you, Love?"
"Just plain old insecurity," Alex replied, lifting her eyes and meeting Kara's squarely. "When I look at everythin' here, I wonder why in hell you'd want to leave all this for a small, old, dusty town like Rocky Road."
"There's more than one reason actually," Kara replied, holding eye contact with her lover and squeezing her hand. "Firstly, I could never open my own practice here and be successful. People are too prejudiced against female doctors. That said, secondly, I don't want to just be a lady of the house, which would be expected of me here. Hosting luncheons and parties and the like. That's just not me."
Alex hummed her agreement.
"Thirdly, I've made a life for myself, Alex. A life I love, with someone I adore and with a wonderful family who I know will always have my back. And lastly, I've worked too damned hard just to turn around and leave my clinic behind, even if you agreed to stay here with me… which I would NEVER ask you to do."
"I'd stay," the rancher said quietly. "If you needed me to."
"You'd be unhappy here, Alex, I know you would, and I love you too much to ever put you through that. So, we're going to stay a while, let my mother plan the wedding with Shirley, get married and when all that's done, we're going home to have a wedding with our family, friends and horses."
"You want Ares and Darwin there?" Alex asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Of course. They're as much a part of the family as anyone else." Kara leaned up and kissed her lover gently on the lips. "I love you."
"And I love you," the rancher replied, nuzzling their noses together. "Now I'd better go before your father brings up the shotgun."
Xx
In was almost four in the morning when a sharp knock pulled Kara out of a strange dream about a gopher reading a newspaper.
"Kara, are you awake?"
"Come in, Papa," the doctor said, drawing the blanket to her chest as her door swung open. "What is it?"
"It's your mother," Jon said, his voice quivering. "She's taken a turn for the worse."
Kara immediately got out of bed and grabbed her medical bag. "Have you called for Doctor Brown?"
Jon shook his head. "She only wants you, Doctor Zorel."
The doctor swallowed, putting aside the emotion of her father's use of her formal title for later. "Wake Alex please. I may need her to help."
While Jon went to get the rancher, Kara went quickly to her mother's room and pushed the door open. A shell of the vibrant, annoying woman she'd loved all her life lay in the bed, her breathing shallow and raspy.
"Kara," she said with a faint smile. "I'm not doing so well."
"Where's the pain, Mama?" the doctor asked, pressing her palm to the woman's forehead and then listening to her heart with her stethoscope. The beats were slow and irregular.
The door opened quietly as Jon and Alex slipped inside. Kara met her lover's eyes and shook her head a little. Then she looked at her father. "Call Reverend Parker. And get Shirley and the boys here as soon as possible."
"I know it's my time," Cecilia said in barely a whisper. "I don't even feel any pain. I feel the light of the Lord inside me and it's beautiful. I feel at peace, Karabells."
Tears rose in the doctor's eyes and she shook her head. "I don't want you to go, Mama," she said, her voice cracking. "I need you."
"No, Baby," the older woman replied. "You haven't needed me for a long time and I'm so so proud of you."
The sounds of voices outside the window broke the stillness and running footsteps told Kara that her brothers had arrived from their rented rooms up the street. Shirley was with them, along with her daughter.
"Thank you, Mama," Kara replied, ignoring the noise. "I love you so much. You gave me the drive and confidence to become the woman I am." She placed a lingering kiss on her mother's forehead and then backed up to let her siblings take their places around the bed. She wasn't surprised when Alex's arms closed around her waist from behind in silent support.
The family stayed with Cecilia, talking in hushed voices and exchanging stories which brought a smile to her face. Then the Reverend arrived to whisper quiet prayers of absolution. Halfway through, Cecilia's breathing evened out and she passed away quietly and peacefully.
There was a peaceful silence in the room for a long moment but then Kara stepped forward and pressed her stethoscope against her mother's chest, listening carefully. Then she slowly pulled back and swallowed hard. "Time of death, seven oh four am," she said hoarsely. "I'm sorry." She turned and pressed herself close to her lover. "She's gone."
Xx
"But why didn't you call me?" Doctor Brown's raised voice pulled Kara and Alex from a restless sleep. The rancher looked over at the clock to see it was just after noon. "I might have been able to do something to save her."
"My daughter was here," Jon replied. "Her mother asked for her. Just her. We all knew there was nothing to be done."
"But she's not a real doctor," Brown replied with a snort. "Women do NOT have the mental capacity to be…"
"THAT'S ENOUGH!"
Kara's roar echoed through the house and stunned everyone, including Doctor Brown, who stood there with his mouth hanging open. She slowly made her way down the stairs, still dressed in her nightgown, her eyes flashing with anger as other family members looked on.
"You pathetic, judging, pea-brained, DINOSAUR! Get out of this house before I have you THROWN out!"
"You can't speak to me like that," the older doctor spluttered, looking to Jon, who remained stone-faced.
"I can and I just DID," Kara yelled, her temper snapping completely. "You have five seconds to walk your ASS out that door."
Across the hallway, Shirley stifled a giggle and the Brown scowled at her. "Don't look at me. I'm with my sister," she said. "I'd advise you to leave now before she sets her very strong, very protective friend on you."
"She means me," Alex said as she came down the stairs to stand behind Kara, who was still vibrating with fury. The rancher was dressed in her pants and shirt with her braces hanging down along her hips. "And it'd be my pleasure."
Slowly and calmly, Jon went to the door and opened it. "You heard DOCTOR Zorel," he said. "Please leave this house. I do not appreciate you insulting my daughter. Especially when she's just lost her mother."
For a moment, Brown actually had the decency to look remorseful. He picked up his bag and nodded before heading out the door. Jon slammed it shut behind him. "Asshole," Kara muttered, causing a few eyebrows to hike.
"What's an asshole?" Rachel asked her mother.
"Something that only Aunt Kara is allowed to say," Shirley replied, earning a small smile from her still-furious sister. "Come on, Baby, back to bed." She kissed Kara on the forehead as she passed her. "I love you."
"Love you too," Kara replied. Then she turned and leaned against Alex. "I need a drink."
The rancher nodded. "Maybe some more sleep instead?"
The doctor nodded. "As long as you stay with me?"
"Always."
Xx
"Are you sure about this, Sweetheart?" Alex took Kara's hand and lifted it to brush her lips over her knuckles.
"Yes, I'm sure," Kara replied. "There's no longer a reason for having our wedding in New York. My family can travel just fine. I'd really like us to get married in Rocky Road... if that's what you want too?"
"Let's go home then," the rancher said with a smile. "I've been missing the cows."
"Funny, so have I," the doctor chuckled. "Mama's funeral is the day after tomorrow. Let's go home this Saturday. We can wire my family when the arrangements are made."
"We'll have to figure out somewhere for them to stay," Alex said with a shrug.
"Weeellllll," Kara said with a grin. "I've been thinking about that. We talked about building our own home somewhere on the ranch. Why don't we push forward with that?"
"Well, sure," Alex replied. "But that'll take months."
"We'll get everyone's help. Like a barn raising, only it'll be a house raising. And you know George will help."
"True." The rancher wrapped her arms around her love and nuzzled her neck. Their height difference put Kara's neck in exactly the right spot and she placed little kisses on it, loving the sigh that issued from the doctor's lips.
Alex let her hands wander slowly, not pushing, but instead offering comfort. She knew how much Kara was hurting after her mother's death. She understood it acutely in fact.
But it was Kara who made the first move toward the bed. She nudged her lover back with her hips until the backs of Alex's legs hit the mattress and she sat down abruptly, her hands still resting on the doctor's hips as she smiled up at her.
Kara straddled Alex's thighs and sat in her lap, facing her as they shared slow, passionate kisses and tangling her fingers into the rancher's dark hair. Then she pulled back a little and slowly opened the buttons of Alex's shirt, revealing smooth, tanned skin which she immediately explored with her lips and tongue.
Alex's heartrate shot up and she slipped her hands under Kara's nightgown to run her hands up her thighs, savoring the heat she found at the apex of them. Kara was bare under her sleepwear and its looseness allowed Alex to move her hands up over the doctor's belly and to her breasts, which rose and fell with her elevated breathing.
Kara wrapped one arm around Alex's neck and pushed her chest into the rancher's hands, savoring the bolts of pleasure that shot straight to her clitoris. Alex closed her eyes and breathed out slowly, wanting more than anything to slip inside her lover but not wanting to push too fast.
But it was as if Kara was reading her mind. "Inside, Love," she said, breathily. "Please..."
"Anything for you," the rancher said and she moved her hand lower, smiling as Kara shifted to make room for her. She slid two fingers inside and then gasped as Kara's teeth closed on the apex of her neck and shoulder, her eyes closed. They held still for a long moment, just savoring each other and then the doctor began to move, slowly lifting and lowering herself as Alex curled her fingers gently.
The rancher was surprised to feel tears fall on her skin and cradled her lover's body as close as she could. "Are you ok?" she whispered. Kara nodded against her neck. "Do you want me to stop?" A headshake this time made her smile and then she closed her eyes as the blonde picked up her pace a little.
Being here with Kara, feeling her lover like this, was about as close to heaven on Earth that Alex thought she could get and when Kara clenched around her fingers and groaned quietly through her orgasm, she realized that there was nowhere else on Earth she'd rather be...
KNOCK KNOCK.
"Aunt Kara? It's me, Rachel. Are you awake?"
Alex sighed as Kara giggled uncontrollably. "Fuck."