Warning at Eagle's Watch by Christine Bush Read Free Book Online Page B

in Scotty's chuckle as she finished pinning the soft white hair to the top of her head.
    "Yes, we're a good match, Hillary Holt."
    Mrs. Raymond arrived to announce the arrival of Dr. Newburg. He followed the black-clad housekeeper into the room and greeted Scotty with a grunt.
    "Making trouble Priscilla?"
    Mrs. Raymond exited quietly. Hillary looked at the aged physician who stood before her. His hair was sparse and ruffled, his suit a bit unkempt. Despite the morning hour, he had the distinct look of needing a good sleep, which she soon found out was very true.
    "Spent the better part of the night taking care of old Mr. Dolson down in town, Priscilla. He's taken another bad turn and I'm afraid it looks pretty bad. So don't give me any of your usual grief, woman, as I'm not in the mood to benefit by it. I've got sicker patients than you to take care of, and ones who are trying to get well. Hello, Nurse Holt," he said in an offhand way, as if he had known her for weeks.
    "This is the not-so-famous Dr. Newburg, Hillary, kindly physician to all for miles and miles around." Scotty's voice was teasing, but for once, kindly. "Overworked and underpaid, eh, Doc? And he's been driving himself to drink, trying to convince me to take part in his schemes for rehabilitating me. To which I've put up quite a resistance, to date. You'll be glad to know, Dr. Newburg, that Hillary has convinced me to go along with your plan, so I hope I won't be on your overloaded patient list for long."
    "She did?" he said in stark amazement. He turned and looked at Hillary intently. His eyes held respect and a bit of wonder. "And how did she do that?"
    "Coercion. The little snip threatened to toss me out a window."
    Dr. Newburg laughed heartily, and he looked quite a bit younger, his face momentarily relieved of the tension and tiredness that had filled it before. "I should have thought of that myself."
    He quickly went over the data that Hillary had collected in her few hours of association with her patient, and was happy to see that Priscilla was strong and steady, as well as impressed with Hillary's efficiency and accuracy.
    They left Scotty for a few moments to go down to the living room to consult about the physical therapy program that Scotty would begin.
    "By the way, Hillary," Scotty said slyly as the doctor and nurse went out the door. "If you should run into that no-good relative, Mitchell Morrison, this morning, tell him I hope he had a restful sleep last night."
    Hillary giggled. Even hidden up here in her closed room, away from the daily happenings of Eagle's Watch, while feeling depressed and unhappy and unable to cope with the drastic changes that her own life had undergone, Scotty was clever, observant, wise enough to know exactly what was going on.
    She was definitely one of a kind.
    The living room on the first floor was deserted when Hillary and Dr. Newburg sat down in two comfortable chairs to go over the facts of Priscilla Scott's case.
    Her heart condition was controlled by a daily dose of digoxin, to be given each morning, as it had been today. If the symptoms of angina pectoris were to recur, causing a definite pain in the heart region of the chest, Hillary was to administer two tablets of nitroglycerin immediately, to be dissolved under the patient's tongue. Good care and protection from stressful situations would greatly lessen any chance that these dangerous warning signs would recur.
    The therapy for recovery from the stroke was much as Hillary had expected. Since the damage done had not been too extensive, and since the initial therapy Scotty had received in the hospital had enabled her to progress to the point where she could sit up with assistance, (though far from willingly, the doctor chuckled, thinking of the headaches she had caused during her stay in the hospital), she was ready to begin an extensive exercise program.
    Her right limbs had been affected, showing that the stroke had occurred in the left sector of the brain.