Here and There…This and That…Now and Then
CHAPTER 2
"Good morning, Father" MaKayla Donovan said as she joined her father at the breakfast table, "it looks like it will be a wet one out there today."
"MaKayla, I hope that means you will not be going out to Ashford Hills today?" He asked as he looked at her over his paper.
"Of course, I am Father. The townspeople count on me showing up on the third Saturday of every month."
"Could you at least take someone with you, the weather is terrible?" He asked her.
"I will be fine," she said as she took her first sip of coffee and a bite of her croissant. "Anything interesting in the paper this morning?" She queried.
"Actually, the young man who is running against that crook Balfour will be doing a rally in Ashford Hills today. Perhaps, if the clinic isn't too busy you could attend." He said to her with a gleam in his eye.
MaKayla gave him a smirk, "Father, you know I despise politics and politicians even more. They all make promises they have no intention of keeping." She said matter-of-factly.
"This man is not a politician; he only entered the race after Cummingham dropped out. No one else was willing to step up to run against Balfour. I am happy that he decided to give it a shot. He has never held political office before."
"He must want something, no one enters the political arena without wanting something." She said sincerely.
"He's hoping to keep Balfour from destroying the valley communities, he is from a small town, in the western part of Alberta called Hope Valley. Although he was born in Montreal. I have actually done business with his father, an honest businessman. He's a graduate of Cambridge. I believe he graduated in 1910 the same year as your brother. I wonder if Andrew knew him? His name is Lucas Bouchard, do you recall if Andrew ever spoke of him?" He asked her.
"No, I can't say that I do." MaKayla gave a soft laugh. "Andrew was always trying to keep me away from his friends to avoid any of them from falling in love me. He needn't have worried, as you know I was not looking to find a husband, much to mother's and your chagrin." She looked at him with a telling grin. "Well, Father I have to be going, I'll be home late, so don't wait up. If the opportunity presents itself, I will try to go to the rally. Perhaps I could find out if he and Andrew were indeed friends at Cambridge." She told him.
"I hope you do; then you can tell me for yourself what you think of him. Be safe my dear," her father said.
As MaKayla headed out to Ashford Hills, she was glad that the rain had slowed down. It was slow going as the torrential rains had turned the roads into one big mud puddle. As she drove, she thought to herself, I wonder if this Lucas Bouchard has any intention of doing anything about the road conditions on the outskirts of Capital City. He bloody well needs to make this a priority. If she was able to attend the rally, she thought perhaps she would bring it up. She then laughed at herself as she knew she had no intention of attending any political rally.
The closer she got to Ashford Hills, the harder the rain was coming down and the muddier the roads became. "What a mess," MaKayla said to Susan as she entered the clinic, "the roads are terrible." Susan looked over at Dr. Donovan as she entered the clinic, she was sopping wet.
"Oh Dr. Donovan, come and warm up by the fire and dry off." MaKayla took off her wet coat and set it on the chair by the fire, and leaned towards the fire to warm her hands.
Susan brought her a piping hot cup of coffee. "Thank you, Susan, I could use this. Do we have any appointments scheduled for today?"
"Yes, a couple. Mrs. O'Hara should be here in 15 minutes to start the day." Susan told her.
MaKayla laughed, "I always enjoy Mrs. O'Hara's visits. I brought a refill of the medicine I gave her last month so that will perfect."
Exactly 15 minutes later, Mrs. O'Hara entered the clinic. "Good morning, Dr. Donovan. Glad the rain didn't keep you away." The older woman said pleasantly.
"Good morning, glad the rain didn't keep you away either. Come and sit on the examination table for me. How are you feeling today? Any new symptoms or problems?"
"No, dear. Ever since you started me on that medicine, I have been feeling much better." MaKayla proceeded to listen to her heart and lungs, took her blood pressure. All were looking and sounding good.
"That is wonderful Mrs. O'Hara. I brought you a new supply of medicine today," as she handed her the drug container. "Continue to take one tablet with your breakfast every morning."
"Of course, dear. So are you going to the political rally later this afternoon? There is a new young man running for governor you know. I hear he is very handsome." She said and winked at the doctor. "The rally is supposed to be in the town square but with all this rain, I don't know." She said worried.
"Mrs. O'Hara, I didn't know you followed politics." MaKayla asked her with surprise.
"Well, normally I don't, but when Harvey and I found out what that crook Governor Balfour was up too. Trying to ruin all those small towns in the valley. Well, it made us so mad. We need someone who cares about the little folks not just the bigger cities." She told her fiercely.
"I hope if this Mr. Bouchard wins, he will follow through on that promise to help the little folks," MaKayla told her. "Please be careful out there. With all this rain, we wouldn't want you falling and getting hurt. I will see you next month. Enjoy the rally." She told her with a smile.
"I certainly will," she smiled back at the young doctor. "You really should come and meet him if you can." As Mrs. O'Hara opened the door to leave, in came Thomas Smith with his son Billy.
"Hi Dr. Donovan. Billy was slicing up an apple this morning and cut his hand. I figured since you were here today, I should have you look at it" The father told the doctor anxiously.
"Oh, my goodness, Billy. Come over here and let me have a look." It was obvious that Billy had been crying but was trying to be a big boy now.
"I know I wasn't supposed to touch the knife," the 6-year-old told her. "But I wanted to cut up an apple so I could give some to my pony." The little boy said through his tears.
MaKayla examined his hand, "Glad I was here today, this wound could use some stitches. It's OK Billy, I am going to make it all better, don't worry, you either dad." MaKayla smiled at the young boy and gave a reassuring nod to his father.
While MaKayla worked on Billy's hand, Mr. Smith started to make conversation. "So, are you going to attend the political rally by this new comer for the governor's race?"
MaKayla looked up at Billy's father with a smirk, "Tell me Mr. Smith, why do you think I should attend this rally? So far, I've been told he's young, handsome and that Balfour is a crook. What can you add?" She asked with raised eye brows.
Mr. Smith looked down sheepishly, "Sorry. I'm just excited to have someone new enter the race. It's always the same old stodgy politicians. This man seems like he really cares about what happens to us here in the small towns not just the big cities. His ideas are somewhat progressive, but I like that. I just figured you being a woman doctor and all, that you would appreciate someone who actually seems to respect women and what they have to offer." MaKayla smiled at that. Mr. Smith had given the best answer yet today on the virtues of the new gubernatorial candidate.
Three more patients came in with varying ailments, all of which MaKayla and Susan were able to take care of in short order. All of whom also gave their thoughts on the new candidate for governor.
"Dr. Donovan," Susan said hesitantly, "if things stay slow, do you think I could take some time to go to the rally later this afternoon?" McKayla looked at her nurse in disbelief and started to laugh.
"Susan, not you too." McKayla said as Susan smiled shyly.
"It's just that my sister lives in Hope Valley, and well, she has told me a lot about Mr. Bouchard. My sister said he is so handsome but it's more than that," she said excitedly.
"He owns the saloon there and once a month he has movie night. He doesn't charge anyone to see the movie and he serves popcorn and drinks for free. Plus, Sharon says he puts on all these community dinners and everyone is invited. He also donated a building for a town library, donating most of the books himself. When the oil company, where he was just a minority owner ran into problems due to mismanagement by the majority owner, Lucas stepped in and paid everyone's salary. He used his own money until he could find a way to fix the problem. Sharon's husband was working there at the time and they were so grateful to him. He really needs to win because if he doesn't my sister and her husband will lose their small farm if all the water is diverted like Balfour wants to do." She paused for a moment, "And I feel bad for him."
"Why would you feel bad for him?" Makayla asked.
"Well, according to my sister, Lucas was engaged to the town's school teacher, a widow with a young son. They were supposed to be married in a few weeks. When he left to try to unseat Balfour, the school teacher suddenly broke off their engagement." She told her.
"Does your sister know why she broke off the engagement?" Despite herself McKayla was very interested in the answer.
"Sharon doesn't really know of course, but there are a lot rumors going around the town. One is that, Lucas wanted grander things and she didn't want to leave Hope Valley to live in Capital City if he won. So, he ended it. Other people believe that it was Mrs. Thornton, not Lucas that ended the engagement because she developed feelings for the Mountie in town." She said this last part in a whisper.
"How would anyone in town know that she has feelings for the Mountie?" McKayla asked confused.
Susan moved her chair closer to McKayla afraid that anyone coming in might hear her. "Sharon said she has been seen around town with the Mountie, she even saw her with him herself and she said they looked like more than friends."
"Now, Susan this is all just gossip, no one knows what happened but the two of them." She said forcefully.
"I know but Sharon sometimes waits tables at the saloon for extra money and she said the way that Lucas talked about Mrs. Thornton there was no way he would have ended their engagement. He was very much in love, she heard him say once that Mrs. Thornton was his soulmate." She told her with a hint of sadness.
MaKayla could not believe that she was listening to all this, she hated gossip almost as much as she hated politics. Why would the school teacher break her engagement to a man as wonderful as Susan just described? But she had to admit, she was now very intrigued by the mysterious Lucas Bouchard. Maybe if there were no patients, she would attend the rally after all to see the man for herself.
A little after 1:30, Mrs. Thompson came in with her son Bobby. She was frantic and Bobby was crying. "Mrs. Thompson, hello, what's wrong?" MaKayla asked concerned.
"I don't know, Bobby has been complaining of a stomach ache since yesterday, and now he is sick to his stomach and has a fever." The young mother said frantically
"Hi Bobby," MaKayla smiled at the little boy, "come over here with me and let me take a look." MaKayla helped him up on to the exam table and started to palpated his abdominal area. When she pressed on the lower left quadrant the boy let out a piercing scream. "Bobby, did that hurt where I just touched?" The little boy with tears in his eyes shook his head.
"No, it hurts on the other side." He told her.
"Ok Bobby, let's try something else, bend your right knee for me." When the little boy had done this, McKayla then moved his bent knee to the left and right. "Bobby did that hurt anywhere?" The little boy was crying again, and nodded his head yes. MaKayla pressed gently on his right lower quadrant, "is this where it hurts? Bobby nodded again. "Ok Bobby one more thing. You're going to stand up on your tippy toes just like I'm doing and then we're going to come down hard on our feet, like this. Can you do that for me?" Bobby sniffed but with MaKayla's help got off the exam table and did as he was asked. The young boy yelled out again.
"Ok sweetie did that hurt over here?" pointing to his right lower quadrant. The little boy nodded yes. "Susan, please help Bobby back up on the table. Mrs. Thompson, let's go over here and talk." She told the young mother.
"Mrs. Thompson, it looks like Bobby has acute appendicitis. His appendix needs to be removed right away."
"Can you do that here?" The woman asked frantically.
"I don't have all the proper equipment here; it would be best to take him to the hospital in Capital City." She told her.
"I can't go to Capital City; I have the other children and we don't have money for a hospital." She said through her tears.
"Don't worry about any of that right now. I will take Bobby myself. If I don't remove Bobby's appendix very soon, he could die." MaKayla did not want to scare the woman but she needed her to understand the urgency of the situation. "I will call you tonight after the operation is over and tomorrow, Susan can drive you to Capital City to see Bobby." MaKayla turned to Susan, "you can do that right?" The other woman nodded in agreement.
MaKayla packed up her medical bag with supplies, got extra blankets and a pillow to try to make Bobby comfortable in the car. She also brought along a bucket in case Bobby felt sick to his stomach again.
"Don't worry Mrs. Thompson, once I get Bobby to the hospital and take out that appendix everything will be fine. I will call you as soon as I can." Mrs. Thompson hugged her son and then the three women helped Bobby get settled as comfortably as possible in the front seat of the car.
The roads were a mess even more so than this morning, and travel was slow. MaKayla wanted to hurry but knew with these road conditions she couldn't go much faster. She just hoped that they would get to the hospital in time. She felt that Bobby's appendix could burst at any time and it was a race against the clock. She was starting to doubt herself and thought perhaps she should have just performed the surgery at the clinic. It wouldn't be ideal but heaven knows she had operated in worse conditions. It did no good to second guess herself now, she was determined to make it to the hospital in time.
They had driven about 15 miles when Bobby said, "Doctor Donovan, I feel like I have to throw up again." MaKayla looked over at the sick child, his face flushed with fever.
"Ok Bobby, let me just pull over a little bit and get the bucket." McKayla pulled to the side of the road and gave the little boy the bucket. "If you feel sick just throw up in here, don't worry about making a mess. OK?" The little boy looked over at her with the saddest eyes.
MaKayla put the car back in gear but her wheels were just spinning in the mud and they were going nowhere. "No, no, no. This can't be happening." She said to no one in particular.
MaKayla got out of the car and looked around, her tires were deep in mud. MaKayla then looked skyward, "Ok Lord, I need a little help here if you don't mind. I need to get Bobby to the hospital." She walked around to the driver's side and got back into the car.
In the time it took for her to assess what the issue was outside, Bobby had vomited. MaKayla stepped outside the car again to dispose of the contents of the bucket. At least the rain was good for something MaKayla thought sarcastically to herself. Once she took care of that task, she stepped back inside the car and desperately tried to think of a solution to her current problem.
It was 2:30 p.m. and Lucas knew there was no way he was going to make it to Ashford Hills in time for the start of the rally. Edwin would have his head. Unfortunately, he stayed longer than he should have at St. Mary's and this rain was making the roads tough to navigate, slowing him down considerably. He was going to talk to Edwin about making roadway improvements one of his objectives if he should by some miracle win this election. As he came around a bend in the road, he saw a car sitting off the side of the road and a woman was waving him down. Lucas stopped and the woman came running over to his side of the car.
"Thank goodness, you're the first car that has come by since I've been sitting here. I'm stuck in the mud and I have a little boy in the car that I need to get to Capital City hospital immediately." The woman told Lucas anxiously. Lucas got out of his car and went over to see how badly she was stuck.
He took a look at the situation; she was really stuck. He was hoping with a little luck he would be able to push her out of the rut. "Ok," he said, "put the car in gear. I'm going to push the car from behind, don't give it too much gas, just do it gently." He told the woman.
MaKayla did as he asked but despite numerous attempts the car was not budging. The end result, Lucas was covered in mud and the car was still stuck. He walked over to the driver's side, "unfortunately, you're really stuck, I'm going to turn my car around and then we can move your son into my car and I'll drive you both to the hospital." He told her.
Lucas went back to his car and attempted to turn it around, as luck would have it Lucas's car was now also stuck. Lucas put his head down on the steering wheel, this was not good, he thought to himself. Lucas sat back up and went over to the woman in the other car.
"Well, we are both stuck now," he said forlornly as he looked over at the sick child in the front seat. "What is wrong with your son?" he inquired.
MaKayla stared at him, 'Hmm, he's not my son. I'm a doctor and this boy has appendicitis. I was taking him to the hospital in Capital City. I may just have to operate right here in this car." As she said those words, she couldn't even imagine how that was possible.
Lucas looked at her incredulously, "Listen there is a cabin that I passed about 200 yards from here. A cabin is better than a car, I would think. I will carry the boy and you bring whatever supplies you have."
Lucas walked around to the other side of the car and got his first good look at the little boy. As the child stared at him, Lucas couldn't help but think how much he looked like Jack, with his blonde hair and blue eyes. "Hi, he said softly to the boy, "my name is Lucas. What's yours?"
"Bobby" he said barely above a whisper, "my stomach hurts."
"I know. The doctor is going to make it better. This rain has made it hard to drive, so we are going to go to a cabin just down the road. You're a lucky little boy," he said with a smile. "You get a piggy back ride to the cabin. I'm going to turn around and you can climb onto my back. Hold on as tight as you can. OK?" The little boy nodded. Lucas took off his jacket and had the boy put his arms in the sleeves, this would keep him somewhat dry. "OK, Bobby, you ready?" The little boy nodded again. MaKayla was now by Lucas's side with her medical bag, blankets and a pillow.
Thankfully the rain had slowed down to a drizzle while they traveled to the cabin. Walking was difficult but the trio made it to the cabin in 10 minutes. MaKayla knocked on the door but no one answered. She tried the doorknob next and luckily it was not locked.
As they entered the sparsely furnished cabin, consisting of a table and one rocking chair. Lucas put Bobby down on the only chair in the room. "How are you doing Bobby?" Lucas asked gently. The boy's flushed face looked back at him with his blue eyes glassy with pain.
"My stomach hurts a lot," he said as he started to tear up.
"Don't worry the doctor is going to make you feel better real soon." Lucas tried to sound convincing but he felt nothing of the kind. He was worried for the little boy and felt helpless in this situation. Lucas had seen chopped wood on the porch, at least he could get a fire started. He turned to MaKayla, "I'm going to try and find some dry wood on the porch and start a fire."
MaKayla nodded at him. "Thank You." She then assessed everything in her medical bag and with a little luck she felt she could perform the operation successfully right here in this cabin. She would need the man's help but so far, he seemed like a nice enough gentleman and she was sure that he would be willing to help.
Lucas entered the cabin with the wood and luckily there were matches on the hearth which made getting the fire started so much easier. Once he had it at a full roar, he turned to MaKayla. "Now what?"
MaKayla smiled at him, "We operate. You're not squeamish or anything when it comes to blood and other bodily fluids, are you?" Despite the seriousness of the situation MaKayla let out a chuckle as the young man in front of her looked at her in horror. Lucas quickly regained his composure.
"Whatever you need doc. I'm ready." He told her with a tremulous smile.
"OK, good. First," she said to him, "let's bring this table closer to the fire. We'll put a blanket down and have Bobby lay on the table. Then please look around and hopefully this cabin has some candles and candle holders. Bring whatever you find over here." She told him.
Once the table was moved, Lucas lifted the boy and put him on the table. MaKayla leaned down and spoke softly to the young boy. "Bobby, I am going to put something over your nose and mouth and it will make you go to sleep. Then I am going to take out that nasty appendix of yours so you will start to feel better." She brushed the little boy's wet hair away from his eyes. "You are being so brave and I know that your parents would be so proud of you. You trust me, right?" Bobby gave a slight smile and nodded.
MaKayla returned his smile with a big reassuring one. MaKayla then placed a wire basket that had gauze in it and used a bottle dropper to put several drops of chloroform on to the gauze. Within five minutes Bobby was unconscious.
MaKayla breathed deeply then started lighting the candles with Lucas's help. "I will need as much light as possible on the surgical field." She told him.
Once the candles were lit, she took a big bottle of whiskey out of her medical bag. She handed it to Lucas, "pour this over your hands, we need to keep things as sterile as possible." MaKayla then did the same. "You know, I never asked you your name. I'm MaKayla Donovan, Dr. MaKayla Donovan."
"Dr. Donovan, it is a pleasure to meet you. Lucas Bouchard at your service." MaKayla did a double take. This was the gubernatorial candidate that she had heard about all day. She gave a slight laugh, but there was no time to give any thought to who this man was just now, she would store that away to think about later.
"Ok Lucas," she gave him a bright reassuring smile. "I am going to make an incision right here," pointing to the lower right quadrant on Bobby's abdomen. "The one instrument I wish I had would be a retractor, that would hold the skin open so I can get at the appendix. In this case you are going to act as the retractor. You need to keep the edges of the incision open for me. There will be some bleeding, so you also have to try to soak up as much blood as possible with this gauze. I need you to keep the surgical field as clean as possible so I can get in and out quickly. I know I'm asking a lot but I have faith you can do it. Any questions?"
Lucas could think of a ton of questions, but knew there wasn't the time for that. He swallowed hard and said "Ok, doc let's do this." MaKayla gave him a nod and silently said of prayer.
MaKayla worked quickly, luckily with a child there were no adhesions or fatty tissue in the way and she was able to locate the appendix quickly. Lucas kept the edges of the incision open the best he could while attempting to cleared away any excess blood, luckily the wound did not bleed as much as he was afraid it might. The offending organ was out and MaKayla then focused on her internal stitches, making sure she had tied off any bleeders securely. Everything looked good.
"OK Lucas you can stop being a human retractor now," she said to him with a smile.
She then sutured the outer wound, poured some alcohol over it and placed a clean gauze bandage over the incision. The entire operation took 45 minutes. MaKayla then listened to Bobby's heart, and took his blood pressure.
They both stepped back and breathed a sigh of relief. Lucas looked at her with trepidation. "Everything look good?" He asked.
MaKayla smiled. "Yes, his vital signs are good. Any immediate danger is over. We performed the operation quickly, hopefully he will not get an infection. Once we can get him to the hospital, I will have access to Dakin solution if he needs it, but right now I am pretty happy. I couldn't have done it without your help. Thank you, Lucas, you were an excellent assistant for your first time."
Lucas laughed, "hopefully my first and last time. We still have the problem of getting out of here and getting Bobby to Capital City. Luckily, I was on my way to a rally and when I don't show up, I will be missed. People should come looking for me. With this weather through, not sure how long before anyone will be able to come looking. How long will Bobby be unconscious?" He asked curiously.
"Each person is different, but I would say he should start to come around in an hour or so. I don't have any pain medication with me but hopefully the pain and discomfort will be much better than how he felt before I removed his infected appendix. Thankfully we got to it before it burst, but it was close." She told him.