I Like Ice Cream in My Coffee

Chapter 1

Dr. Joe Young strutted into the small hospital room to check on his patient, his boots clicking on the tile floor. He was a tall, good looking man, showing confidence in his western attire with a hint of modern style.

The patient had mysteriously been found lying in the front doorway of the tiny hospital when the nurse came to work three chilly October mornings ago. She had been sleeping ever since, with a minor bump on the right side of her head. The doctor had examined her and taken some blood, but the lab results were good and the x-rays clean.

The doctor’s face wore concern as he made his way over to the patient and checked her pulse, repeating the words, “Miss, can you hear me?” He thought she must be able to, while bending over her and pulling her eyelids to check her pupils. “Can you open your eyes? It’s time for you to wake up.”

Nurse Nora stood on the other side of the bed, watching and producing pity sighs for the woman no one had identified. She scrutinized the doctor and unknown woman worried since finding her, fretting, as she was still sleeping. 

Joe and Nora were the only two employees of the small hospital. In a small town like Pineville, they only dealt with an occasional broken bone or a virus of some sort.  Anything more serious went to San Angelo thirty miles away. They had delivered a baby or two in an emergency, but with the population at 3,286 - now seven - not much happened around here.

If not for the generosity of a philanthropist who grew up here in the 1940s and later hit it big with the technology boom, the hospital would probably have been closed a few years back. Seeing as they mostly gave out antibiotics to people with colds or immunizations to the children, they hardly had enough business to keep the doors open on their own. The people of Pineville were lucky to have this tiny hospital.

Pineville General, as it was named, was located on the corner of the downtown area, where it was easily accessible to all the natives. It occupied about 2,500 square feet with mostly blue walls and blue tiled flooring, producing a very calm and soothing feeling.      

Joe’s office was at the end of the only corridor in the building, past the only two patient rooms available, which were usually empty. Nora occupied the front entrance where she had a desk behind the counter and where everyone checked in. They were open from 8:00 to 6:00, but, of course, anyone could call in a crisis.

The strange woman had a bump on her head but nothing else, so they kept her here.  Now Joe was thinking he should have had an ambulance from San Angelo come for her in the beginning, maybe the first day she didn’t wake up. There was no medical reason for her to be in this semi-comatose state. Maybe he overlooked something?

It would be highly unlikely for Joe to be unable to diagnose something. Not only was he a great medical doctor, he was also the medicine man of the Apache tribe, here and in the surrounding area. He had instincts for healing and had practiced medicine of some kind nearly his entire 36 years.

Being a medicine man really didn’t mean as much nowadays, but it was an honor to be named by the members.

He was one of the few quarter-blooded Apache left in the immediate area, or so his parents insisted. His father and grandfather had both been the tribe’s medicine men and taught Joe all they knew about natural healing herbs and health rituals; however, Joe's skill for healing and knowing was truly an inborn gift. He could have made a successful career in medicine in the city, having many offers, but Joe was obligated to the people of Pineville. Even the money San Angelo Mercy offered, where he did his internship for general practice, was insignificant.

Nora was close to turning sixty and a grandmotherly sort with salt and pepper hair and a few extra pounds around her waist. Her personality was a bit theatrical. Aware of her own tendency to be a bit overly dramatic, finding this woman had tested her ability to keep her wits about her in an emergency. The idea that she should remain calm entered her mind and quickly fleeted as she ran screaming down Main Street to the jail for Sheriff John and Doctor Joe to help her get this woman out of the doorway. 

 “Help! Someone help! Sheriff!” 

John, the town’s sheriff, came running from the café where he was eating breakfast. “What the hell, Nora? Are you okay? What’s going on?”

Joe was also just finishing breakfast at the café with John. He ran too, thinking Nora had surely lost her mind. “What happened? Calm down, Nora, and tell me what happened.” He held on to her arm with concern and tried to understand the random words coming out of her mouth, John watching attentively and Nora holding her side.

“A woman! Oh, thank God you’re both here.” Out of breath, she pointed to the door of the hospital. Both men saw the body and headed that way, Nora trying to keep up.