She’d always been my biggest cheerleader, and I couldn’t have been more grateful. Her support and enthusiasm made up for the ego crush earlier that morning, and by the time I finished my lunch and the phone call, I returned to the clinic in much higher spirits.
I did my best to ignore Jake as he interacted with patients. He looked both yummy and untouchable in his jeans and dark blue Henley. He was so different around the patients that I hardly recognized him. Something inside of me ached whenever I saw him say something to a kid that made them laugh or smile or when one of the patients would shake his hand or hug him and thank him. The realization that he was so at ease with people actually hurt more than I wanted to admit.
Because he never looked at me like he did them.
I’d thought maybe he was closed off from everyone, but clearly, he had friends in Xander and Bennett. And seeing him interact with patients proved he was capable of being a nice guy.
So why couldn’t he be a nice guy with me?
Why didn’t he want to be my friend?
I could have gotten over the attraction thing.
Okay, maybe not gotten over it, but I could have dealt with it. But he hadn’t even given me a chance to prove that I was a good person. He’d dismissed me from the moment he’d met me.
The dreaded insecurity was back, and I shook my head violently. “Nope, not going there,” I mumbled under my breath.
“You say something, honey?” Becky asked as she said her goodbyes to a patient who was leaving the clinic.
“What? Oh, um, no,” I said, stumbling over my own words. But I couldn’t stop myself from letting my eyes stray back to Jake, who was squatting in front of a little girl in the play area. “He’s really good, huh?” I asked before I could consider what I was saying. “I mean, um—”
“He is,” Becky cut in with a patient smile. She glanced at Jake as she said, “Such a shame.”
“What is?” I asked.
“That he can’t practice medicine for real.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. “He sees patients here, doesn’t he?”
“No. Just helps out with the simple stuff,” Becky said. She eyed me for a moment, then took my arm and pulled me toward the far corner of the room where there weren’t any patients waiting their turn to be seen. “I know you like him.”
“What? No, I don’t—”
Becky put up her hand. “Which is why I know you’ll keep this to yourself. Jake doesn’t have a legal license to practice medicine.”
“What? He’s not a doctor?”
“He is,” Becky said. “There’s no doubt that he is. See, about two months ago there was this really bad accident outside town–some tourists ran their car off the road. Doc Sharma was driving by on his way home from Denver. Paramedics hadn’t even arrived yet. He stopped to help. The cops told him there was already a doctor on the scene. The car had gone over an embankment and the driver was hurt pretty bad. Jake was working on him–he’d been driving by too. Doc said Jake saved the guy’s life. I’m not sure what he did, but when the paramedics rolled up and asked which of them, Doc or Jake, treated the guy, Jake told them it was Doc before Doc could even answer.”
My eyes automatically went to Jake and he looked at me at that exact moment. I felt a shiver run up my spine.
“Why would he do that?” I asked before forcing myself to look at Becky again.
“Not sure. Could be he lost his license–you know, had it taken away. There could be a whole host of reasons why. He wouldn’t tell Doc when they ran into each other here in town a few days later. Doc is looking to retire soon and needs someone to take over the practice. He keeps hoping Jake will go through the proper channels to get his license squared away, but Jake won’t talk about why he doesn’t practice anymore. Anyway, Doc could get in real trouble for letting Jake see patients. I mean, Doc always does the actual prescribing and ordering and stuff, but still, they’d both be in trouble if anyone found out. The patients think he’s just some kind of medical assistant.”
“So why do it?” I asked.
“Because Doc needs the help. Family doctors are in short supply in rural areas like this. If he didn’t have Jake helping him, a lot of patients wouldn’t get seen. Doc loves this town and the patients… he’d never turn anyone away.”
I had no doubt about that. The man was unfailingly generous. He’d complimented me on my work several times today already and thanked me practically every time he saw me.
“As for Jake,” Becky continued, “I think he needs it just as much as Doc does. I’ve seen him around town and stuff and he’s always polite and such, but here,” –she nodded in Jake’s direction– “he’s different.”