LITMIR.BIZ

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      ELLIE stirred in her bed the next morning, awakening slowly as the sun crept over the windowsill to invade her room. She hadn’t slept so well in such a long time; she’d almost forgotten what it was like. Events of the past few years had disturbed her wakeful time as well as her sleeping time. Maybe fresh air and the quiet Maine woods had helped. A lovely breeze had stirred the pines surrounding the infirmary most of the night, bringing with it the lonesome call of the loons that she loved. The soothing sounds must have lulled her into a state of bliss.

      Living in a large city for so long had numbed her senses to what nature had to offer. Cement and skyscrapers and bright lights, and the never-ending roster of critically ill patients, had taken the place of activities she had once enjoyed, and she mourned that loss. Work, and the lengthy illness of her father, had just about worn her out, the breakup with her fiancé only compounding her exhaustion. Mourning had unfortunately become a way of life and one she was determined to shake off during the summer. She knew she would. She just had to figure out how to get started.

      The framed photo on the table beside her bed had been taken when her father had been happy and healthy and that’s how she wanted to remember him. Memories of his illness had finally begun to fade.

      After a quick glance at the clock beside the photo, she bolted upright, panicked. She was late! Tearing off her sleep shirt and quickly dragging on shorts and a T-shirt, she raced out the door, then came to a halt.

      Mark sat quietly with about ten kids who waited in a semi-organized line for their morning meds.

      “Why didn’t you wake me?” she whispered and patted her short, rumpled hair into place, supposing she looked like a porcupine with it sticking out all over.

      “No worries. I’ve got things under control.” He gave her a quick assessing glance and his eyes warmed, lingering on her longer than they had yesterday. The flush of heat that rushed through her wasn’t entirely from embarrassment. Though she had said she wasn’t going to be interested in men during the summer, Mark was intriguing her from the get-go.

      “I’m supposed to pull the charts, and the meds, and have things ready before clinic. You didn’t need to take clinic this morning. I should have done it.” Her heart raced uncomfortably in her chest. This was her job, and the first day here she was already behind.

      “Ellie, calm down.” Mark handed a camper two pills in a paper medicine cup and a small glass of water. “Down the hatch, buddy.” The camper dutifully swallowed the medicine. “Why don’t you wake up and get something to eat? It’s not a crisis that I take the morning clinic. You can have the one after lunch and the evening one if that will make you feel better. There are a few kids with allergy shots that are due, so you can set them up for the lunch clinic.” He gave her a quick glance and adjusted the baseball cap on his head. So far she’d never seen him without it. If he was anything like her brothers, they had to have a favorite team cap on almost before they got out of bed.

      “Thank you. I’ll do that.” Face burning, she headed to the bathroom and closed the door. She splashed cold water on her face, combed her hair and glanced in the mirror over the small ceramic sink. Already, on the first day of camp, she’d succeeded in embarrassing herself in front of the physician and a number of the kids. Determined not to let this setback get the better of her, she pulled herself together. One little problem shouldn’t ruin, or set the tone for, the rest of her day. Think positive. Think positive. Wasn’t that what she told her patients all the time? Maybe she ought to listen to her own words of advice. If it worked for her patients, it ought to work for her, right? She’d simply make it up to Mark somehow. She’d find a way. Opening the door to the shared bathroom, she re-entered the front, feeling a little better.

      “Bear is the man you want to see at the lodge. He said he’d put a few things back for you if you’re hungry.”

      “I can wait. Why don’t I take over here?” she said, but as she looked for more campers, she saw that the line had dwindled down to just a few. Mark had handled the task without her help, and no one looked as if they were distressed, so she relaxed a little more. Positive thoughts. Positive energy. If she kept telling herself that, she’d really believe in it one day, wouldn’t she?

      “Seriously, Ellie. Go ahead and get something to eat. I’m good for a while.” He winked at her. “After this I think I might take a run around the camp, get my exercise for the day.”

      “Yes, Doctor,” she said and, with a frown, turned to the door, but paused as she felt a hand on her arm. Turning back, she glanced at him. They were going to be working together for the entire summer, so she should make a better attempt to be friends. Making friends with a handsome man was always a good thing.

      “Ellie, my name is Mark, not Doctor. Can you just call me Mark? Please?” he asked and paused, then removed his hand.

      “I can do that,” she said, then nodded and liked the sound of his name rolling around in her head. “Where I work not too many physicians like being addressed by their first names, so it’s just habit.”

      “A good habit to break, if you ask me. We’re all on the same team, right? And if Bear has any of those Boston cream doughnuts left, snag me one for later, will you?” He smiled and the effect made her hold his gaze a second or two longer than she normally would have. Though thin, he was a handsome man. Intense, but handsome.

      “Sure.” The tension in her flashed away as his vibrant energy seemed to move into her. Energy she seemed to need right now, but didn’t know how to find.

      “Maybe two if he has them.”

      That made her laugh and the sensation was warm in her chest. Laughter had been bountiful in her home as she’d grown up, and she realized now that it was somehow missing in her life. She’d become too serious and that was something she’d never wanted to be. “I’ll see what he has. You might have to do an extra lap around the camp to work it off though.” The man had a sweet tooth. She’d have to remember that. He was too thin by far, so if she could grab him a doughnut now and then, she’d do it. He’d been nothing but nice to her, so she could do something nice back. Perhaps her payback to him could come in the form of confiscated pastries now and then.

      The lodge, a great lumbering building made of rough-hewn timber, was the hub of the compound, and she reached the front porch in minutes. The screen door squeaked as she opened and closed it, and she entered the cool interior to find the place empty. Last night, they had stuffed nearly three hundred people in here, and the din had been overwhelming. Now, every foot-step echoed off the log walls. Just as she entered the lodge, a crashing clatter of pans and shattering of glass made her jump. Loud cursing and yelling followed, and she hurried over to the galley.

      “Hello? Is everything okay?” She gasped as the biggest, brawniest bearded man she’d ever seen turned to face her, anger blazing in his deep-set brown eyes.

      “No, dammit! I’m burned half to death.” He held his right hand under the water in the sink and continued to grumble. A thin man covered by a white apron hovered a few feet away, his hands nearly choking the handle of a broom.

      “I’m Ellie, the nurse. We haven’t met yet.”

      “I’m Bear, the chief fried cook.” He shook his head and continued to mutter under his breath.

      “Why don’t I look at your injury? Are you hurt anywhere else?”

      “No, thanks. I’ll be fine.”

      Now, she remembered something Vicki had said, that Bear took a while to warm up to people. “Vicki Walker said you make a great clam chowder,” she said, hoping to distract him a little.

      “She did, did she?” Bear cast her another glance. “We’ll be missing her around here this year.”

      “She and Sam and their little girl will be up for a visit or two during the summer, so you’ll get to see her.”

      Nodding at that, Bear turned to face her more fully, though he kept his hand and forearm under the running water. “Think you got anything in the infirmary

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