Every word out of Mabel’s mouth ratcheted up her anxiety. “I’m sorry, what? I looked over the financials for this place. It looked like it supported itself.”
“Oh, Doc was never any good with reports and such.”
“Someone is.” Those accounting records had looked real. They hadn’t shown much of a profit, but she hadn’t intended to get rich. She had intended to keep the place going without the use of baked goods. “I don’t think this is legal.”
“Now, see, there you go. You can’t keep thinking that way or people are going to see you as uppity.”
“I’m uppity because I got ripped off? I sunk a lot of money into this place.” Almost everything she had.
“It’s about more than money, though, right?” Mabel asked. “It’s about helping the public and being part of this beautiful community. Honestly, most of these people can’t actually afford our services. I’ll talk to Hallie’s momma, because they’ve actually got insurance. Her husband works on the rigs. We really can’t afford to lose that group. They’re having babies all the time. Men who’ve been on an oil rig for months think a lot about their wives and getting home to them. Not so much about contraception, if you know what I mean.”
She was fairly certain she didn’t know a thing.
The door opened again and a woman with long brown hair walked in, cradling her arm.
Mabel sighed and ran around the reception desk. “What happened this time, Carrie? I swear you being out there on your own scares the heck out of me. Come on in.”
Carrie gave her a weak smile. “I’m clumsy. I was feeding the chickens and I fell. I thought it was only strained but it was hurting this morning and I could barely make breakfast.”
Lila stepped around the desk, too. “Can I take a look at it?”
“Is Doc here?” Carrie asked.
She was going to kill that man and then no one would ask about him again. “He retired. My name is Lila Daley. I’m a nurse practitioner. That means I can do almost everything a doctor can do except I didn’t sit through medical school. I learned on the job, not in a classroom. My last job was at a major hospital in the ER and I was excellent at it. I’d like to take a look at your arm and maybe get an X-ray to see if we need to set it.”
Carrie’s eyes widened slightly and a ghost of a smile flashed on her face. “It sounds like you know what you’re doing. It hurts a lot.”
Finally, someone who needed her. “Let’s take a look.”
Mabel was smiling as she led Carrie back.* * *• • •
Forty minutes later, Lila was fairly certain what she was dealing with. She put the X-ray on the lighted display so her patient could see what was happening. Had happened. Likely would happen again. “What you’re looking at is a small hairline fracture in your radius, Carrie. It’s not serious. I’m not going to need to set it. We’ll put it in a sling you’ll need to wear for a week or so. It will heal on its own if you let it rest.”
A relieved sigh went through her. “That’s good news. I’ll be way more careful from now on.”
Lila wasn’t sure carefulness was Carrie’s problem. “Was it a bad fall?”
That relief she’d seen briefly fled and Carrie was back to looking worried, though it was obvious she didn’t want Lila to know that. “Not bad. I tripped on a rock and hit the ground. Like I said, I didn’t think it was bad until this morning.”
There were a few things that didn’t ring true about her story, but she knew from experience that she had to tread carefully. “It’s almost four now. How far out do you live?”
“Pretty far. We have to come by boat. We’re on an island out in the bayou. It’s my husband’s family property.”
“I wish you’d come in earlier. I could have saved you some pain. Ice therapy works well if you get it on there fast enough,” Lila explained.
The younger woman nodded. “I’ll remember that. I waited until Bobby was coming into town. It doesn’t make sense to make two trips.”
Yes, that’s what she’d thought. “Your health is important.”
“I’m all right,” Carrie insisted.
Lila gestured to the X-ray. “Do you see those wispy lines on the X-ray? Those are healed fractures. I counted five of them.”
“I’m real clumsy.”
“Is your husband hurting you?”
Carrie slipped off the table, landing on her feet.
She was going to lose her if she pushed too hard. Lila picked up her clipboard. “Sorry, I have to ask. Actually, I have to ask if anyone is hurting you. It’s that kind of injury.”
She nodded. “Yeah, of course. No. It happened how I said it happened.”
Lila gave her what she hoped was a reassuring smile and checked the box on the form. “Of course. I’m also supposed to inform you that if for any reason you’re in fear of anyone in your home, you can talk to your healthcare provider about help. Not that you need it. They make us say a lot of things to be in compliance.”