"Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress and working together is success."

~Henry Ford

Chapter Ten

Lyleton was a small town, but larger than El Pano. Christy looked around as they pulled up the road through town. She couldn't see where the clinic building was, and was surprised when Jeb pulled up in front of a nondescript building right at the edge of town.

"Here we are," Jeb announced. He set the brake on the wagon and hopped down.

Neil had put his papers away in his bag, and stepped down off the wagon bench.

"Maybelle, can I help you down?" he asked gently.

Maybelle climbed off Christy's lap and allowed Neil to lower her to ground. Donkin did the same. Christy picked up her bag, curious if he would lift her down, too. Shockingly, he did.

"You don't weigh any more than Donkin here," he whispered in her ear. He winked before his face turned serious again, and he grabbed his bags.

Jeb helped the others down and then, together, they walked into the building. She wondered why there wasn't even a sign on the door explaining what work was done inside. The building could use a nice new coat of paint and maybe if it had some pretty boxes for flowers, it would be an inviting office. She smiled to herself. Here she was trying to brighten up Neil's office! Who knew if she would even be invited back to the office?

She held the children's hands, and the three of them followed Neil, who politely held the door open for them. She really did not want to be near Walter, especially after the wink and blue eye comment. She badly wanted to touch Neil, or even to speak with him, privately. She had come to share her time with him today, but it seemed his mind was focused elsewhere. Is that why Alice said Neil was not a good husband to Margaret? Did he not give her enough attention? Christy certainly felt slighted today. Maybe the ride home would be better, after he had seen his patients, and satisfied his requirements, and could return to what he thought of himself, a simple country doctor.

"Miss Huddleston," Neil said, could you please go ahead and settle the children there on those chairs in the corner? I will introduce you to Gertie and Dr. Wilson and Dr. Greene."

She nodded, and did what he asked her to do. "Donkin and Maybelle, can you sit quietly while I help Dr. MacNeill?"

They nodded.

She bent down to meet their eyes. "Donkin, I brought a book you might like to look at. Do you think you could read some of it to Maybelle?" She pulled a thick nursery rhyme book from her bag. "There are all sorts of stories inside here. Maybelle, can you pick a story for your brother to read you?"

"Yes 'um." She nodded.

"Alright. I will be back shortly." Christy smiled at them and, standing straight again, she turned back toward Neil standing at the reception desk.

A well-dressed gray haired, bespectacled woman had joined him.

"This is Mrs. Gertrude McGee. Gertie this is Miss Christy Huddleston. She is here to help you and help especially with the two children." He pointed to the Jones children.

Christy turned at the sound of the main door opening, as more people began to enter. The people that came with them in Jeb's wagon were already seated in the waiting room, but there were plenty of seats available to accommodate the newcomers.

"Gertie, Lawrence did not meet us at El Pano, and the children will need new files." Neil glanced at the newcomers and smiled, tipping his head to each in greeting. He turned back to Gertie. "I thought Miss Huddleston would help you make the files. I would like her to know what you do here."

"You planning on replacing me, Doc?" Gertie asked, eyebrows raised.

He chuckled. "No one can replace you, Gertie." He looked down at Christy then, with a tender look in his eyes. "But, I do enjoy Miss Huddleston's company and hope she will continue to come along with me. She is very good with people and has a special way with chidren."

Finally, a more personal comment.

"I see," Gertie stated with a smile.

"Are the other two doctors here?" Neil asked.

"Yes, they are in the back office, looking at the files for today," Gertie answered, nodding toward the hallway. "I'll start checking in the people, and Miss Huddleston can help after you introduce her to your colleagues."

Neil waved for Christy to precede him down the narrow hallway. She did not know where to go, so she walked slowly, looking over her shoulder at him, questioningly. There were closed doors all along the corridor.

"Are these examination rooms?" she asked.

"Yes," he answered. "The lab is the last door on the right, and the office we three share is the last door on the left."

"So that is where we are going?" she asked. "Last on the left?"

"Yes."

She counted five doors on each side of the hallway. Eight exam rooms and two work spaces. That seemed to be a rather large clinic for only two doctors.

When they reached the end of the hall, he placed a gentle hand on the back of her waist, and rapped on the door before opening it. Two men sat across from each other at a table, files opened, with papers strewn about. They looked up as she and Neil entered. Like Neil, they too were wearing suits. One, Dr. Wilson, she assumed was older than Neil, perhaps forty, and the other man, Dr. Greene looked fresh out of medical school, likely not yet thirty.

"Finally here, I see?" Dr. Wilson chided with a smile. He stood up and gave Neil a handshake, and looked for at Christy before turning to the other man. "This is Leon Greene."

Dr. Greene stood up and shook Neil's hand as well. Neil placed his hand back where it had been on her waist, and drew her next to him, in what she supposed was a rather possessive gesture. She liked it though, and was glad to be at his side.

"I have brought along Miss Christy Huddleston. She teaches at the mission school at Cutter Gap. I thought with the two young patients today she could be helpful."

"We can use all the help we can get." Dr. Wilson held out his hand to her with a smile. "Welcome, Miss Huddleston."

"Thank you. I am happy to help with whatever I can," she answered.

She then shook Dr. Greene's hand before turning to look back up at Neil for direction.

"Hand me your coat and I'll hang it up in here with mine," he said.

She removed her coat and handed it to him, making certain her gloves were stuck in the pockets.

"Why don't you go back and help Gertie get the patients settled in?" he suggested, as he hung up their coats. He rubbed is hands together. "She can sort of direct you where she needs you. When Ted looks at the children, he'll want you to sit with them, and I would like you to help me when I visit with some of the Trachoma patients."

Christy nodded with a smile. "I can do that."

He smiled tenderly at her. "I know you can, or I wouldn't have dragged you along." He winked at her.

She left the room even more puzzled by his moods. Hopefully the doctors would help relieve him of some of his nervousness. That's what Jeb had said, that he gets nervous. She was anxious to ask why. Neil probably wouldn't tell her, just as he had swiftly avoided all the other close personal questions she had asked before his leaving for Raven Gap earlier that week.

She stopped at the reception area and said, "Miss Gertie, I guess I am all yours."

"Oh! I thought the doctors would have talked with you longer. Alrighty, then. I have checked in everyone here. They are all repeat patients, except for the two children. Will you want to watch me start a file for them? That way if you come back another time you can help me with that?"

Christy nodded. "Certainly."

"Here are two blank files, let's go sit by them, shall we?"

Christy followed Gertie over to where Donkin was still reading to his sister. Christy sat next to the boy, and Maybelle quickly crawled on her lap.

"I think she likes you," Gertie said. "Let's start with the pretty little girl, shall we? What is your name, child?"

"Maybelle Lynn Rae Jones."

"That's a beautiful name for a beautiful little girl."

Maybelle smiled shyly and tucked her head under Christy's chin.

"I can see why MacNeil brought you with him, Miss Christy. You obviously have a way with children." Gertie said. She gently tickled Maybelle's side and the girl smiled.

"Dr. MacNeill did have their mother sign some paperwork," Christy said. "He must have it with him in his bag."

Gertie nodded. "I'm glad he remembered this time." Gertie finished with birthdate and name of parents and when it came to an address, Christy was reminded of her first day taking roll at the school.

"You could probably just put Low Gap and I'm sure the mailman will get it to them," Christy said.

"Do you know why you are here?" Gertie asked Maybelle softly.

"My eye don't move right and I got a spot."

"A spot?"

"A cataract," Christy said. "On her left eye, and Dr. MacNeill called the lazy eye an amblyopia."

"Well, Miss Huddleston, look at you getting all the terminology down already! I say you're a keeper." Gertie laughed and made a note of what Dr. Wilson would be looking for.

She repeated the same questions for Donkin and soon they were both registered and only had to wait their turn.

"Do you think you could do that in the future?" Gertie asked.

"Yes, I do," Christy answered. It was straightforward enough.

"Well, good. We might still have a couple new patients come in today, and if we do, you can set up the charts." Gertie stood. "Now here is the fun part. We pick two people for each doctor and settle them in to their examination rooms. Dr. Greene, I understand, will be following after both of the men, so I won't set him up by himself. Maybe next time." She waved for Christy to join her. "Come see how we do it."

Gertie called four people, who stood as she said their name.

Christy set Maybelle back to the seat next to Donkin. With a huge smile, she said, "I will be back in just a few minutes and then maybe we can start coloring?"

Christy followed behind Gertie, impressed by the older woman's energy and enthusiasm. The secretary put Dr. Wilson's patients on the right and Neil's on the left. Outside of each room was a hanging holder for files to be placed inside, which Christy did.

Walking back to the reception desk, Gertie said, "Now as each of the patients are finished, they will come back to me, and make a follow-up appointment. Some come every time we have the clinic, some, every three months, some just once a year, depending on what the doctor is trying to fix." Gertie lifted a calendar. "I keep it all here in this book."

"What is this building used for when the eye clinic is not here?" Christy asked.

"Oh, we have other specialists that come here. You know? Ear doctors, throat doctors, heart doctors. I'm not sure how the eye clinic got Saturdays, but it seems to work best for Dr. Wilson, I suppose. He has a busy practice in Knoxville, and has been trying to get MacNeil to come work with him for years."

That was not a huge surprise for Christy. Neil was a very good doctor. He had mentioned spending time at a specialty hospital in Baltimore so it would make sense Dr. Wilson would want him to work with him on a daily basis.

"Do you help with the other clinics, too?" Christy asked Gertie.

"Oh, no dear. My husband only lets me work with these doctors. I was here from when they started, and I hope to stay on as long as I can."

"I think they are fortunate to have your help." Christy smiled. "I'll be with the children if you need me?"

"More likely the doctors will. Sometimes they ask me to take notes and hold lights for them and such. They'll call out of they need one of us."

Christy nodded and went to the children. There was a small table in the middle of the room with some newspapers and journals on it. "Do you think I could move this, Gertie, so they can draw?"

"I don't see why not," Gertie answered.

Christy picked up the papers and journals and offered them to the patients waiting, happy they were all scooped up. Walter Truman stood and quickly moved the table for her, and then sat next to Donkin.

"Thank you, Reverend," she said, forcing a smile.

She really did not want him near her. He gave her a rather uncomfortable feeling. She did not think he would do anything inappropriate, but she surely did not want to lead him to believe she had any interest in knowing him better.

She settled both children around the table and pulled sketchpads for each in front of them. She pulled out her colors and opened the tin. "Now we just have to decide what we want to make! Donkin, do you have a favorite animal?"

"My dog, I reckon," he said.

"Well, go ahead and draw your dog in a place you would find him."

"She be a girl dog."

Christy laughed. "Well, wherever you would find her. Does she like to lay on your porch, or in the grass? Just think about what you want her to look like and start drawing." She patted him on the back. "Maybelle, what do you want to draw?"

"Can I draw Mary?"

"Mary? Is that one of your sisters?"

"No, ma'am. You know? Jesus' Ma."

"Oh! Yes, of course you can. I bet she will be beautiful."

"What you gonna draw?" Donkin asked Christy.

She really wanted to sketch how Neil looked today all dressed up in his handsome suit, but that would be saved for another day. "Maybe a waterfall. There is a beautiful one near where I live in Cutter Gap."

"How long have you been there, Miss Huddleston?" Walter asked.

"Oh, two months now," her answer was politely given, but slightly clipped.

Neil entered the waiting room, a bit surprised to see Christy speaking with Walter Truman. It had not quite slid passed him on the ride to Lyleton from El Pano how interested the minister was in Christy. Neil had tried to focus on his paperwork and not the irrational jealousy coursing through his veins, but he had become possessive of her, and there was no way to avoid it. He was falling hard and fast and the hell if he was going to let someone ease their way in between them. Grantland had been the first obstacle, now another minister wanted to weasel his way in.

"Miss Huddleston?" Neil called out to her. "Might you give me a moment?"

"Of course. You two keep working now," she told the children. "I'll start on something when I get back from helping Dr. MacNeill."

She smiled at him the whole time she walked to him. He led her down the hall to the last door on the right, to the laboratory. He opened the door and allowed her to go ahead of him and followed her inside, leaning back against it to close it.

She turned to face him, frowning. "Neil? What's the matter?"

He held out his hand and she immediately took it. "Thank you for coming today." He kissed her hand. "The other doctors were teasing me about the way I was looking at you. I am afraid my feelings for you must be pretty obvious."

She grinned and walked closer. She placed her hand on his waist. "Is that a bad thing?"

"No." He caressed the side of her face. "In fact, Ted said that if his wife looked at him the way you looked at me, he would probably never leave the house."

She giggled. "You said my eyes are expressive," she reminded him.

"Will you eat lunch with me today? The café will bring it about noon. Wait for me? The patients that are still here will be fed, too. I thought we could take the children to the park to eat. It looks like it's going to end up to be a pretty Spring day."

"I will wait for you." She stood on tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "I think the park is an excellent idea."

"Now, I did want a minute alone with you, but I also wanted to show you the slides of the man I am about to examine. Would you come in the room and take notes for me? Gertie does sometimes, but I would rather spend the time with you."

"Of course, I will." She squeezed his hand. "I'll do whatever I can to help you out today."

Still holding her hand, he pulled her to one of the microscopes on a long counter. "Have you ever looked in one of these?"

She nodded. "I had a semester of chemistry and a semester of human biology."

"You did?" he asked. "And blood still bothers you?"

"I did not say I enjoyed them." She laughed. "It's not so much the blood, but the worry about the patient's condition. I worry about having a part in whether the person lives. Like Burl. I trusted you knew what you were doing, but I didn't want to disappoint you."

"You could not disappoint me." He pulled her close, and then stepped away, to adjust the knobs on the microscope, and then had her look inside the hole. "Can you see? You can adjust it if you need it clearer."

She did, just slightly. "What am I looking at?"

"Trachoma," he answered. "Or at least the germs that cause the condition."

"All those small blobs are germs?" She looked up from the microscope at him.

"Infected cells. I am going to take a sample from the man's eyes today and see if my treatment is improving the lids, and has removed some of the lesions."

"That's incredible." Her eyes were wide. She was not faking an interest, she really was. "How have you been treating him?"

"So far, with a salve concoction." He chuckled. "If you want the deep details, I can tell you, but it's a salve that he rubs on his eyes daily. You can watch me mix up a new batch today if he needs more."

"Trying to make me like science, aren't you?" she teased with a smile.

"I think you might be a little interested?"

"I am." She shook her head. "It's amazing to me what you are able to do to help people, here and even at home with such limited resources."

She just called Cutter Gap home. Did she even realize that? "I am doing my best with what I have. Do you not do that at the school every day as well?"

"I suppose, yes." She shrugged. "This is a little more important. You are helping people keep their vision."

"And you are teaching little people to read. And Fairlight. And Opal! I believe, Miss Huddleston, both our occupations have value. So, are you ready to go meet Zebulon Wilkes?" He placed his hand on the back on her waist and they left the room. "I'll go in first." He grabbed the chart from the wall outside the exam room, and handed it to her, along with a pencil from his lab coat. "I'll tell you what to write, alright?"

She nodded and followed him inside.

"Zebulon!" Neil held out his hand and shook the patient's hand. "How are you feeling?"

"Good, Doc! Your treatments seem to be helping."

Neil nodded, hoping the man was right. "This is Miss Huddleston."

"Miss Huddleston?" Zeb asked. "Aren't those your youngin's out there?"

She chuckled. "No."

"I was thinking you'd been an awful young gal to have those children.

"Their mother couldn't attend the appointment with them, and I asked Miss Huddleston to help with them," Neil answered. "She teaches at the mission school in Cutter Gap."

"Ah, well, that makes sense, I reckon," Zeb nodded, and studied Christy closer. "You were doing a fine job with those youngins'. Never would have knowed you weren't their mama."

Neil grinned at her and winked. "I knew she would. Now then, I am going to look at your eyes and see if there has been changes and then take another swab to compare under the microscope to last month's sample."

"Whatever you say Doc."

Neil went through his normal examination. She had positioned herself out of his way, at a small counter. He would stop occasionally and tell Christy what to write in the chart. She never questioned him, but just wrote as he spoke. He would be interested to see how she spelled certain medical terms.

"Alright, I see improvement, Zeb, just like you thought." Neil nodded. "Now, I'm going to take the sample and go compare it." Neil pulled out fresh slides and equipment and collected the sample he needed. He collected from both eyes and set the slides on a metal tray, so he would remember which was which. "Sit tight. We'll be right back."

Christy followed him back into the lab. He showed her how to label the slides, and then put one under the microscope. There had been quite a change since Zeb was here the month before. The second slide was the same.

"Well?" Christy asked. He could see how anxious she was.

"Someday, I will have to work on your patience." He grinned.

"But, not today, Neil. I can't even read your expression, you horrible man. Tell me!"

He grinned. "It's working."

Her face lit up and she rushed into his arms. "How wonderful! I am so proud of you, and happy for Mr. Wilkes."

He hugged her tightly and then moved back. "Take a look."

She did. But looked confused when she met his eyes. "How could so many cells disappear in such a short time?"

"The active ingredient I am using seems to kill the germs quickly and so far, has kept them at bay. I am hoping they will be even half of this the next time and then I might try to scrape away the small bumps on the inside of the lids."

"Does that hurt?" She frowned.

"I will numb it, but I have been able to remove them and keep them away."

He saw her bite her lip.

"What?" he asked.

"Just thinking. Nothing important. This is wonderful."

"I think so, too." He smiled. "I am going to go tell him. Take his chart to Gertie and have her set him up for April."

"I will." She walked past him to the door.

"Hey," he called out.

She turned back to him with a bright smile.

"I'm not sure if I can put into words how much having you here with me means to me."

She nodded. "It's probably the same way I feel being here with you, having you share this part of your life with me. I am honored, truly." She smiled again and then left the room.

He was not sure he deserved her, but the more time he spent with her, the more he wanted her to be in his life, for the rest of his life. With her, there was no pretending, no acting. She was what she seemed to be. He was comfortable with her, he trusted her, although sometimes she probed deeper than he was willing to discuss. But, he realized, he liked that she cared enough to ask such deep questions about him, that she wanted to know all of him; what he thought, what he felt. She was without a doubt his closest friend. He and Jeb had always been close, but he had already shared things with Christy he could never admit to Jeb. Men didn't talk about feelings and emotional things, but it just came naturally to do that with her.

He left the slides next to the microscope and continued on to see another six patients local to Lyleton. Christy helped with notes for two of the patients, and then Ted Wilson decided it was time to look at the children. Neil made sure to tell Christy to take descriptive notes so that he could follow-up with the children the next time he was in Low Gap.

Jeb came at lunchtime with the food from the café. The waiting room was thinning out and as he looked around, there was only one local patient to see, and then the folks who had come with them in the wagon. Some days he would not get out of the clinic until almost six o'clock, but today it would be closer to three, if he had to make a guess. Everyone took a break at noon.

The children were wearing their new fancy eye patches, and as soon as Christy saw everyone else settled with their meals, she had the children come and pick up sandwiches that they liked, an orange, and a bottle of milk for each of them. He grabbed the same, and then the four of them went outside into the sunshine. He had told the doctors he would be eating with Christy and the children. He took their teasing well. He had known Ted since medical school, and knew what Neil had been dragged through with Margaret.

Maybelle took Christy's hand and Donkin walked close to her, between her and Neil.

"How far is the park?" Donkin asked.

"It's just up the road." Neil pointed. "Just ahead over there."

It was not far, and fortunately there was a bench where the children could sit next to them and eat.

"You like my patch, Doc?" Maybelle asked. Her little legs were swinging on the edge of the bench.

"I do. You will be so happy to have your eye work better."

She nodded as she chewed her sandwich.

"Donkin you get some spectacles, don't you?" Neil asked.

"Yes 'um. Dr. Wilson said I can't see so good so them spectacles will help."

"You will be able to see better, too, in just a few months," he told them. "I'm very proud of both of you. You have listened very well to Miss Christy. Your Ma and Pa will be happy with you, too."

"I was right pleased the doc didn't have to poke real much," Donkin said. "Maybelle and I thought it might hurt but nothing did." He shrugged.

"Miss Gertie was real nice, too," Maybelle said. "When Miss Christy was helping ya, she came and sat with us for a bit."

"So, when I come back next time, will you come with me?" Neil asked them.

"Is Miss Christy coming?" Maybelle asked.

Christy shook her head. "I cannot come next time," she told them. "I will be visiting my parents. Dr. MacNeill will take good care of you. You know Mr. Spencer now, too."

"Who will sit with us?" Maybelle asked.

"Miss Gertie will," Christy told her. "It won't hurt next time, either."

"Alright." Maybelle sighed.

When the children were finished eating, Neil told them they could play on the swings and slide for fifteen minutes. The sooner they were back at the office, the sooner they could be headed back home. He rested his arm across the back of the bench and squeezed Christy's shoulder.

"Will you come back another time?"

She smiled at him. "Do you mean it? I would love to."

"I'm glad. I wasn't certain if you would like it or not. I can be a very long day sometimes. I was thinking earlier of the first few time Ted and I met here. We ended up staying overnight and seeing more patients on Sunday." He laughed, remembering how confusing it all was early on. "We found Gertie, and somehow she straightened us out. We don't get as many people now, because we have trained doctors in the area what to look for earlier."

"Is there a doctor here in Lyleton?" she asked.

"No." He rubbed Christy's shoulder and smiled when she scooted closer to him. "The doctor from El Pano covers this area."

"Tell me how Raven Gap was," she said. "We haven't had a chance to talk since you left."

He sighed. "Overall, it was a quiet trip. Two sick babies. One had thrush, the other just was very weak."

"Will they make it?" she whispered.

"Yes, they should both be fine. Thrush clears up with medicine and the weak baby needs more milk than his mama makes, but there is a fix for that, too." He smiled wryly. "This is the reason I wish I had more time to help new mothers with their babies, or teach young women before they even have babies."

"You cover so much area, Neil, it would be hard for you to help all the new mothers."

"Maybe." He shrugged. "I could hold a women's clinic like the eye clinic once a month in each of the areas I go. Raven Gap, Low Gap, Cataleechee, Big Lick Springs and anywhere in between. I would need Alice, though. You can imagine many men in the mountains won't take kindly to a male doctor touching their women." He laughed. "That's why the midwives do the work and call me in only on emergencies."

"You would take Alice because of her nursing training?" Christy asked.

"Yes." He swallowed back the rest of his milk and set it next to him on the bench. "She's delivered a lot more babies than I have. The women are familiar with her helping with female issues."

She smiled up at him. "When I told you I had a list of things I would love to change or add to the area, a maternity clinic was one of them. I just can't believe how many babies there are, Neil. There are seventy children at the school now, in five years, there could be a hundred."

He nodded. "I don't know if a clinic would have saved the McHone baby, but somehow, if people would listen, and we could overcome and move on from some superstitions, I think my people might be healthier. You were right when you said there is much to overcome, Christy. Perhaps as someone looking in from the outside, you can see it more clearly than we have. Maybe you coming here has reminded me of my purpose here."

"Me?" she asked.

"Sweetheart, you have a light inside of you that glows. That light is speaking to my heart, reminding me of the man I once was, before an ugly cynicism set in. Once I was full of hope, knew that I could make a difference here, but somewhere along the way, that light dimmed in myself. You have reignited the passion I had for helping others."

She flushed. "How have I done that?"

"Your love, Christy. You love everyone. You give of yourself, selflessly. You work harder than I do," he chuckled. "Combining efforts, I think you and I could do great things in these mountains for my people."

"Really, Neil?" Her beautiful eyes widened.

"Really! You know I never lie to you." He stretched out his legs and watched the children play. "Will you write out that list you have of your ideas for changes?"

Her eyes widened again and she smiled. "You truly want to see it?"

"Sure, I do. I can't say I want much to do with the work of the mission, but I would like to see your ideas for changes."

"Thank you." She squeezed his hand, but when she tried to pull away, he hung onto it. "I appreciate you being interested in my ideas. Nothing is directly connected to the mission, but when I talked with David about some of them, he just teased me and laughed." She shook her head. "He may be older than I am but he acts so childish sometimes."

"We better get back."

He didn't like her talking about David, reminding him how close the two of them were. He stood and stretched. He held out her hand and pulled her up from the bench. She giggled, and called out to the children who came running back. She picked up the garbage from their lunch and soon they were walking back to the clinic.