Medicine Man

“Okay, forget the bet. I think this is big, William. If it wasn’t, one of the sergeants would be wanting to see you, not him. For some reason, you’re on the fast track, son. I think you’re going to want to get some kind of story worked out before you—”

“Copus!” someone yelled down the hall. Kate Meehan, now Doyle, had returned from her honeymoon and was in rare form.

“You’d think she’d be a in better mood,” Copus said under his breath. “Yes, ma’am!” he called, trotting off to see what she wanted.

Will continued restocking. He could hear Copus attributing his unfortunate lack of compliance to her will to circumstances beyond his control, specifically, his urgent need to find Specialist Baron on behalf of one Lieutenant Quinlan—who was not happy.

“I know all about the lieutenant’s unhappy state. Baron!” she yelled. “Leave that and go see what he wants! And stop fiddling around!”

“He lives to serve,” Copus said helpfully. “Fiddling around is not him.”

“I meant you, Copus. Get busy!”

Will tried not to smile and went on his way, more than puzzled by the summons in spite of his outward nonchalance. He took the stairs instead of the elevator, and as he passed a row of windows on the ground floor, he realized it was raining again, a soft and steady “female” rain this time, instead of the usual summer thunderstorm. He was desert-raised, and the smell of it on dry earth was already in his mind. It wouldn’t smell like that here, but it was still all he could do not to stop and simply admire it. He kept going until he reached the lion’s den.

“The lieutenant wanted to see me,” he told the only clerk he could find.

“He just left. He didn’t say when he’d be back—but I’d wait around if I was you,” he added when Will turned to go.

Will waited, watching the rain after all, amusing himself with visions of Copus having to take up the slack in his absence, however unlikely that might be.

About the time he decided to go back to the ward anyway, the lieutenant reappeared. Will could see immediately that Copus was correct in at least some of his estimation of the situation. The man was not happy. He looked as if someone had taken his harmony and drop-kicked it in front of a moving train.

“In!” he said sharply when the clerk advised him of Baron’s presence, leading the way into his office. “Close the door.”

“Sir, yes, sir,” Will said.

“Sit.”

Will sat.

The lieutenant plunked himself down behind the desk and carefully placed the stack of papers he was carrying on the desktop. “I’m not going to beat around the bush about this, Baron. We’ve had a complaint.”

Will frowned slightly, rapidly trying to review the most recent aspects of his military life. Nothing came to mind that would cause his having to go straight to the assistant principal’s office, once removed.

So he waited—one of the few military traditions which coincided with his own upbringing.

“Look. Specialist, you can not—I repeat, not—go around insinuating yourself into another man’s marriage.”

“Sir?” Will said, the unblinking state Copus admired so abruptly leaving him.

“Enough said?”

“Sir, no, sir. I don’t understand—”

“Damn it, Baron, how much plainer can I get than that? Leave the woman alone!”

“Sir, what woman, sir?”

“How many damned married women are you chasing after?”

“Sir, none, sir.”

The lieutenant gave a sharp sigh. “No? How about the one that fouled up the colonel’s best golf game to date? He got a direct complaint from one of the civilians in his golfing party. This civilian says his son’s estranged wife is getting herself tangled up with one of our own—a Specialist William Baron. That would be you. I understand there’s a child involved, and as a result, the colonel would greatly appreciate it if you got your sorry ass out of the way of a family reconciliation—especially this family. Understood?”

“Sir, I’m not in anybody’s way—”

“We’re done here. Dismissed.”

Will found Copus waiting to pounce on him the minute he exited the stairwell.

“Well?” Copus said, hurrying to keep up.

“You were right,” Will said without stopping.

“I was? Damn. What was I right about? What?”

Will didn’t answer him.

“What happened?”

“Nothing.”

“So what did you do?”

“Nothing.”

“Right. So what did you do?”

“I told you—nothing!”

But Copus wasn’t about to give up. He trotted along, waiting for the big revelation—until he suddenly stopped. “No, you didn’t!” he said loudly. “Tell me you didn’t. Did you go messing around with you know who after what I told you?”

Will kept walking.

“Okay. You’re not talking. I can respect that—and it ain’t like that little flower ain’t worth the picking—”

“I haven’t been picking flowers!” Will said, causing several of their coworkers to stop what they were doing to listen.

“Well, it don’t matter if you did or didn’t—if she’s what you got called in about, somebody’s making damn sure you know the rules of engagement, son. I told you—didn’t I tell you? You better start listening to your old Uncle Copus. So, are you going to tell her you got warned off her? Personally, I wouldn’t advise it—”

“I don’t even know her!”

“Yeah, but that didn’t keep you from stepping up to the very real possibility of tossing her ex-husband on his ass at the wedding reception, now did it? So what are you going to do? What? What?”

“I’m going to mind my own business.”

“Yeah, like that works.”

“Specialist Copus!” Kate yelled down the hall. “What did I tell you?”

“Later, son,” Copus said, drifting in the direction of where he was supposed to be. “And don’t you worry. You and me are going to figure this thing out.”

“What are you doing?”

Arley glanced at her third-oldest sister. There was just enough emphasis on the word what for her to realize that Kate didn’t mean the cardboard box Arley was packing in preparation for the move from the current apartment she couldn’t afford to the one Kate’s new husband had just vacated in the upstairs of Mrs. Bee’s big Victorian house. The Meehans had grown up next door to Mrs. Bee, and Arley felt fortunate that Mrs. Bee wanted her and Scottie as tenants. Arley was very afraid suddenly that Kate was about to rain on her parade.

“Maybe you better tell me,” Arley said.

“Will Baron is a nice guy, Arley.”

“Will Baron?” Arley said in surprise. “What about Will?”

“You’ve put him in a bad situation.”

“What are you talking about? I haven’t seen him since your wedding reception.”

“Where he had some kind of altercation with Scott—”

“That wasn’t my fault! Grace is the one who invited him. Maybe you ought to take whatever this is up with her. And you owe Will Baron big-time, by the way. Your reception could have turned into one big John Wayne movie bar fight, if it wasn’t for him.”

“Never mind that. I understand Will got called in,” Kate said.

“Kate, I don’t know what that means.”

“It means he had to go see his lieutenant, where it was apparently suggested that he not associate with you.”

“What? Are you kidding me? Since when does the army care if I talk to one of their medics for fifteen minutes—tops?”

“I don’t know the details, but I imagine the McGowans had something to do with it.”

“What McGowans?”

“You know what McGowans.”

“I don’t know any McGowans with that kind of clout. Who told you all this—Will?”

“No. I heard it through the grapevine.”

Great, Arley thought. Two sisters who speak in song lyrics.

“So it might not be true,” she said, and Kate raised an eyebrow.

“Okay. Say it is true. You’re telling me that some officer called Will in and told him not to have anything to do with me.”

“I don’t think he actually got lit up—”

“Oh, good,” Arley said, completely mystified as to what that phrase meant, too.

“I imagine it was more a…suggestion,” Kate said pointedly. “With these military types, sometimes it’s hard to tell.”

“Let me guess. The two can pretty much be the same thing.”

“Pretty much.”

“Kate, I am not going to believe the United States Army is run by the McGowan family. What are they going to do to Will if he talks to me again—put him in the brig?”

“That’s the navy. But either way, public image is a lot more important to the military than it used to be. Believe me, an enlisted person’s life is much less aggravating if his or her superior officers are happy and aren’t made to look bad on the golf course.”

“The golf course?” Arley said incredulously, and Kate shrugged.

“Will hasn’t done anything except talk to me at the reception and keep Scott from trying to drag me outside when I didn’t want to go. Oh, and last summer he gave Scottie a piece of turquoise for his rock collection. Now what is the problem with that?”

“I told you,” Kate said. “Public image is a big deal, and who knows what spin the McGowans put on it. The alienation of affection law is still on the books in this state, you know.”

“Well, this is just great. Did anybody happen to remember the divorce is final? Nobody is telling me who I can and can’t talk to. Not the McGowans—and not the U.S. Army. And not anybody else, either!” she added.

“This isn’t about you so much,” Kate said in that quiet way she had when she was right and she knew it. “Will Baron shouldn’t have to suffer the fallout because of your bad marriage, especially when he’s just minding his own business.”

“Well, gee, thanks, Kate. I really needed somebody to point that out. I’m already feeling like a big enough loser—and now I’m taking down the innocent bystanders.”

“Arley, I just want you to get the big picture here.”

“I got it! I have to get in touch with him.”

“Who?”

“Will!”

“Did you hear what I just said?”

“Did you hear what I just said? I need to explain—to apologize.”

“I don’t think he’d want you to. I’m just telling you about this so you’ll be forewarned. The McGowans have their connections, and they’re not afraid to use them.”

“Yeah, well, thanks for that, too. Hopefully, I can get forewarned every time I’m feeling the least bit good about things. And I know all about the McGowan ‘connections.’ It didn’t matter to them one bit that Scott had sleazy women stashed all over town! All that mattered was that I looked the other way so their ‘connections’ wouldn’t be forced to witness an ugly divorce!”

“Hey! This is not my fault!”

“I know that! You’re just…the only one here.”

Kate smiled and gave her a quick hug. “I’ve got to go. I’m glad you’re moving almost home again. It’ll be nice having you and Scottie at Mrs. Bee’s.”

“Does Grace know about this thing with Will?”

“No-o-o-o,” Kate assured her. She gave her a peck on the cheek and left.

Arley stood staring at the cardboard box she’d been packing. She could try calling the hospital. She could leave a message for Will to call her. That would be easy enough. Or…

It occurred to her as her initial aggravation subsided that she was so used to the McGowan way, she wasn’t really all that surprised. They had their prejudices, not the least of which was their disdain for all things military, despite owing a good deal of their fortune to the proximity and spending power of the United States Army. But, for once, Arley decided she wasn’t going to act impulsively. She was going to think about her options, the possible repercussions, and the advantages of being sensible.

Or not.

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