Small Town Doctor by Marissa Dobson

long hours studying and then his internship had changed his tastes. Coffee had become a lifeline and the only way he could start a day. Without at least a cup, if not more, his brain refused to come out of the fog and focus.
    He pulled open the refrigerator door, taking in the contents, before deciding to make French toast. It was an easy dish Jes had taught him when he was still in medical school. At least he knew he couldn’t screw up French toast while his thoughts were on other things. Or at least on one woman—Ella.
    * * *
    “Morning darling.” Ella smiled at the sight of her daughter curled up in the middle of the full bed, the blankets pulled around her waist.
    “Can I get up?”
    “In a bit, Doctor Macis needs to take out your IV first.” She same to sit next to her daughter. “You’re looking better. How do you feel?”
    “Okay, my chest still hurts.” As if to emphasize that, Abbi’s small body shook with a coughing fit.
    “You know Mommy loves you, right?”
    “Yeah.” Abbi leaned back against the pillows and brought her light brown teddy that had been Ella’s when she was a child to sit on her lap. “What’s wrong? Are you in trouble with Ryan again?”
    “No.” She smirked, thinking of the last fight she had with Ryan before Abbi got sick. Like all the others it was about them living out in the woods and what it was doing to her daughter. Ryan’s words haunted her: How will she handle the first day of school if she’s never even been into town? “Do you ever wish you had someone else to play with?”
    “Like a little sister? Will you give me one?”
    “No, sweetie, we’ve talked about this.” They had been through this a few times over the last few weeks, ever since the bedtime story that had a baby sister in it. Now all Abbi wanted was a sister. That was something Ella couldn’t give her without a man, and that was most likely never going to happen. “I was thinking more like a friend.”
    “I don’t know, they might try to take Mr. Bear from me. Or break my toys. Though it might be fun to play hide and seek with someone else.”
    “It is sweetie, it is.” Ella wasn’t happy about this sudden revelation her reclusiveness was denying Abbi a lot of what she’d experienced as a child. With a deep breath to calm her rolling stomach, she decided it was time to at least try for her daughter’s sake. “Doctor Macis needs to go into town for more medication for you, and he asked us to ride with him. Would you like that?”
    Her little head bobbed up and down in excitement. “Can Mr. Bear go with us?”
    “I don’t see why not. You stay in bed and play with him while I help the doctor with breakfast then we’ll take your IV out and get ready.” She stood up and took a look around Abbi’s room. If it wasn’t for the few toys, mostly dolls and stuffed animal scattered around the room, no one would know it was a child’s room. The walls were a warm gray, event he full size bed was bland with a quilt that her grandmother made years ago. Nothing like that room Ella had as a child.
    She turned on her heels and escaped the room before she cried in front of him. I’m screwing up raising my baby girl. Damn it, what’s wrong with me?
    As she came back into the living room, James turned to look at her, a suspicious glint in his eye. “You okay? You look pale, you’re not coming down with something, are you?”
    She averted her eyes, then let out the words she could no longer hold in. “For years I’ve kept on my rose-colored glasses…” She scoffed. “I never truly understood the consequences for my actions.” Leaning against the back of the sofa, she watched him, waiting for his response. “Shit, this revelation sucks.”
    “Sometimes we have to have an eye-opening experience in order to live the life that we were meant to have.” He flipped the French toast before continuing. “Take me for example. I lived for my work in Denver, and that’s what made me a partner in the