“Donna, where are the patients?” I asked after a moment.
She turned in her chair. “Everyone canceled.”
I blinked twice. “What?”
“No one wants to be treated by you or him,” she replied coldly. “I'm only here for the paycheck.”
I looked out again at the empty room and my heart sank. This was not good for Jacob's contract with Dr. Taggert. This was not good for either of us.
The phone rang and Donna picked it up.
“Riversville Doctor Office,” she said, her voice warm and kind. It was a stark contrast to the cold tone she used with me. “Yes. Dr. Matthews is the only doctor in. Dr. Taggert will be in tomorrow. I'll make sure to book you with him.” She paused. “Yes, I'll make sure Hannah isn't the one to get you. I'll bring you to your room myself. Thanks for the appointment.”
I swallowed the growing lump in my throat. This wasn't fair. We didn't do anything wrong.
I fled to my office, hating the swirling emotions in the pit of my stomach. How was I going to fix this? I didn't know what to do. Granted, sleeping with my boss was not the best idea, but it didn't deserve this level of outrage from the community.
There was a soft knock on my open door and I turned to see Jacob leaning in my doorway. I loved the way he did that. It was nonchalant and cool. He was so much cooler than I was.
“I hear we have no patients today,” he said.
I nodded. “I'm sorry.”
“Hey, you didn't tell the patients not to come.”
“I need to talk to you about something. Something important.” My hand hovered over my stomach, my thoughts on the tiny life growing in my belly. I needed to tell him sooner rather than later. If he lost the clinic, I would also lose my job. This child needed parents with jobs and a means to support it.
“Sure.” Jacob frowned. “Go for it.”
I could see Donna leaning back in her chair, eavesdropping on our conversation.
“Not here,” I said softly. I motioned my head toward the desk.
He looked over and sighed. Donna's chair clunked down. “Can it wait until tonight?”
I nodded. I honestly still had months before anyone would even be able to tell. A few hours wouldn't hurt anything. I couldn't get more pregnant in the next eight hours.
He gave me a soft smile before pushing off the door frame and heading back to this office. I sighed and stared at my computer screen again.
It was going to be a long day.
Chapter 25
We had exactly three patients all day. One was an out-of-towner that sprained her ankle, one of the local farmers that didn't care who saw him as long as he got his hand fixed up, and Emily Markins and her baby.
Little baby Dominic was growing in leaps and bounds. He knew how to smile and I loved him immediately. Emily told us that there wasn't anyone else she wanted him to be seen by. She didn't care about the drama.
“There are a lot of people in town that don't care,” she told us after the exam. “The patients will come back. We all know and trust you both. I can't believe people are being this shallow.”
It made me feel a little bit better. I knew we were still the best healthcare providers for fifty miles, but I also knew that this was going to take some time to blow over. I just wished the blowing would go a little bit faster.
Donna left without saying goodbye. We just heard the door chime and then her car drive off. Dr. Matthews and I finished up the last few things and then he locked up. I stepped outside to find my car had been egged.
It stunk. The heat and humidity had baked the eggs into my car. I stared at it for a moment. I'd never had anyone egg my car before. I wanted to cry, but I didn't want whoever did it to see that they got to me.
“Come on over to my place and we'll get that cleaned up,” Jacob said. He wrapped his arm around me and gave me a gentle hug.
“Do you have food?” I asked, hiking my purse up on my shoulder.