LITMIR.BIZ

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      “Everything I touch turns to ashes.”

      “No.” Jessi glanced at him, then scooted closer to her daughter, reaching out to stroke her hair. “You’ve been through a lot in the past several months, but you’re not alone.”

      “I am, Mom. You have no idea. You all think I’m suffering from PTSD, because of my time in that camp, don’t you? Dr. Cordoba did. But I’m not.”

      Clint glanced at Jessi, a frown on his face. “You tried to take your life, Chelsea. Something made you think life wasn’t worth living.”

      The girl’s shoulders slumped.

      “Does this have to do with your pregnancy?”

      Two sets of female eyes settled on him in shock.

      Hell. Jessi hadn’t known?

      It was right there in Chelsea’s medical chart that her physical exam had revealed she’d given birth or had had a miscarriage at some point. He’d just assumed …

      His patient went absolutely rigid. “I want her to leave. Now.”

      “But, Chelsea …” Jessi’s voice contained a note of pleading.

      “Now.” The girl’s voice rose in volume. “Now, now. Now!”

      Jessi careened back off her chair and stumbled from the room as her daughter’s wails turned to full-fledged screams of pain. She was tearing at her hair, her food flung across the room. Clint pressed the call button for the nurse and between the two of them they were able to administer a sedative, putting an end to Chelsea’s hysterical shrieks. Her muscles finally went limp and her eyes closed. He stood staring down at her bed for a few moments, a feeling of unease settling over him as it had each time he’d met with Chelsea. There was something here. Something more than what was revealed in her records.

      And it involved that pregnancy. She’d been calm until the moment the subject had come up.

      It was time to do a little more digging. But for now he had to go out there and face Jessi. And somehow come up with something to say that wouldn’t make things worse than they already were.

      “I didn’t know.”

      Clint came toward her as she leaned against the wall twenty feet away from Chelsea’s door. Her stomach had roiled within her as the nurse had rushed into the room and the screams had died down to moans, before finally fading away to nothing. All she wanted to do was throw up, just like she had during a previous visit, but she somehow held it together this time.

      “I’m sorry, Jess.” Clint scrubbed a hand through his hair, not touching her. “I’d assumed she told you.”

      “She hasn’t told me anything. Could it have been while she was a prisoner?”

      “I’m not sure. This is the most emotion I’ve seen from her in the past week. We hit a nerve, though. So that’s a good thing.”

      “I can’t imagine what she went through.” She leaned her head against the wall and stared at the ceiling.

      Chelsea’s convoy had been ambushed during a night patrol by enemy forces disguised as police officers. The group had been held for four months. Chelsea had said they’d all been separated and interrogated, but she’d had no idea one of the prisoners had died until she and the rest of those rescued had been flown home.

      Jessi sighed and turned back to look at him. “The army debriefed her, but I was never told what she said, and I—I was afraid to press her too much. She seemed to be doing fine. Maybe that in itself was a warning sign.”

      “There was no way you could have known what she was going to do.” Clint pushed a strand of hair off her cheek.

      She wasn’t sure she could stand seeing her daughter in this much pain week after week. And a pregnancy …

      Had her daughter been raped during her captivity? The army had said there was no evidence of that, but then again Chelsea wasn’t exactly a fount of information. “I think I’m doing more harm than good by going in there with you.”

      “Let’s see how it goes for the next week, okay? Chelsea was admitted under a suicide watch. That gives you permission to make decisions regarding her health care. She could still open up.”

      “She doesn’t even want me here, Clint. You heard her.” Jessi’s head still reverberated with her daughter’s cries for her to get out.

      “That was the shock talking. She didn’t expect me to ask that particular question. At least she’s getting it out, rather than bottling it all up inside.”

      His eyes narrowed as he looked at her face. “How long’s it been since you’ve done something that hasn’t revolved around your job or Chelsea?”

      She thought for a second. “I can’t remember.”

      “The last thing she needs is for you to break down as well, which is where you’re headed if you don’t take some down time.”

      She knew he was right. She’d felt like she’d been standing on the edge of a precipice for weeks now, with no way to back away from it.

      Before she could say anything, he went on. “You said you’re off tomorrow. Why don’t you go out and do something fun? Something you enjoy?”

      “I need to spend the day here with Chelsea.”

      “No. You don’t. She’ll understand. It might not be a bad idea to give her a day to think through what just happened.”

      She hesitated. “I don’t even know what I’d do.” Chelsea might need a day to think, but the last thing Jessi wanted to do was sit at home and let her brain wander down dark paths.

      “Tell you what. I don’t have anything pressing tomorrow. Why don’t we do something together? It’s fair season. There’s probably something going on in one of the nearby counties.”

      “Oh, but I couldn’t. Chelsea—”

      “Will be fine.”

      Conflicting emotions swept through her. The possibility of spending the day with Clint dangled before her in a way that was far too attractive. “I’m not sure …”

      “Is it because I’m her doctor?”

      “Yes.” He’d given her the perfect excuse, and she grabbed at it with both hands.

      “That can be remedied.”

      Panic sizzled through her. He’d hinted once before that he might drop her daughter’s case.

      “No. I want you.”

      He paused, then shook his head and dragged his fingertips across her cheek. “Then you have to take care of yourself.”

      She nodded, unable to look away from his eyes as they locked on her face. Several emotions flicked through them, none of them decipherable.

      “I’ll try.”

      “How about I check the local schedules and see if I can find something for us to do? Something that doesn’t involve a hospital.”

      Guilt rose in her throat, but at a warning glance from him she forced it back down. “Okay.”

      He nodded and let his hand fall back to his side. “Are you going to be okay tonight?”

      Was he asking her that as a psychiatrist or as a man?

      It didn’t matter. The last thing she wanted was to jeopardize her working relationship with the one man who might be able to get through to her daughter. She needed to keep this impersonal. Professional. Even though his touch brought back a whole lot of emotions she hadn’t felt in twenty-two years.

      But she had to keep them firmly locked away. Somehow.

      “I’ll be fine. Just call if there’s any

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