NoRegretsColeNC Read Online Free PDF

career at risk if I do otherwise, you realize.”
    “You’d
be willing to take that risk for me? All right. It’s a
deal.” He spoke quickly and stretched out a hand.
    Hattie
grasped hold of it and bit her lip. Nurses weren’t supposed to withhold
information, and they probably weren’t supposed to make deals with or bribe
their patients. If Dr. Kellerman found out, he’d probably boot her right out
onto the street. She wouldn’t be allowed to train with him any longer. She
could also bid farewell to any hope of gaining admission to a real nursing
school.
    Perhaps
it didn’t matter now. She already knew she’d never make a very good nurse. But
she did mean to see Willie Morse back on his feet again. He might never dance a
jig, but he’d be able to walk, and if it took a slightly unethical bargain to
make it happen, so be it.
     
    * * *
*
     
    Later
that week, as Hattie passed by Dr. Kellerman’s library one evening, she waved
to him through the open doorway. Following his usual routine, he’d retreated to
the reading room soon after dinner to enjoy a fine pipe and peruse a good book.
    When he
called out to her, gesturing for her to join him, she quickly complied. The
library had become her favorite place. She came there often to study. Despite
its dark-paneled walls and heavy furnishings, the room never failed to brighten
her mood. Through the thick, leather-bound volumes on its tall shelves, it
imparted knowledge, brought hope to the suffering, and always left her with an
optimistic outlook. Learning was the one thing at which she excelled.
    She
stepped into the room, letting the deep purple shadows of evening wrap around
her, not with a sense of gloom or foreboding but with a feeling of comfort and
accomplishment at day’s end.
    Only
Hattie’s day was not yet done.
    “Are
you planning to sit up with Mr. Morse tonight?” the doctor asked.
    “Yes,
sir, I am.”
    He
closed the book in his hand and set it aside. “I’m not sure it’s necessary now.
He’s making good progress. I’m pleased with how quickly he’s healing.”
    Hattie
smiled, hoping that perhaps her little agreement with the injured young man
might be a contributing factor in his recovery.
    “Are
you saying that the danger is past, sir?” She held her breath, eager for good
news.
    The
doctor, however, shook his head. “It’s a bit too soon to say for certain, but,”
he added, “I think we can be cautiously optimistic.” Hattie’s concern must have
been obvious. He spoke again, his voice losing a bit of its strait-laced
professional tone, becoming warmer and friendlier. “Don’t fret. I think he’ll
be just fine.”
    “I’m
glad to hear it, sir.”
    He
tapped the bowl of his pipe against a small pewter tray, a receptacle for
ashes. “I am surprised, though, about one thing.” He leaned slightly forward.
Deep furrows lined his broad forehead.
    “Yes?”
Her curiosity piqued, Hattie waited.
    “No
one’s come to see him.”
    “From
what I understand, sir, he hasn’t made many friends here.” She thought again of
the hateful taunts and jeers that had reached her ears when the accident first
happened. No! her heart shouted back, he was not better
off dead as some of those self-righteous old men claimed. “Oh, Benjamin Brooks
did come by earlier today, but Willie was sleeping.” Hattie brightened. “Perhaps
he’ll drop by again tomorrow,” she said in an artificially cheerful voice.
    The
physician puffed at his pipe. “Doesn’t it strike you odd, Miss Richards, that his mother hasn’t been here?”
    “She
lives in Denver,” Hattie reminded him.
    “Which is only a few hours away. There’s a regular stage service
between here and there, as well as daily mail delivery. I’d expected her to
come as soon as she got the news.”
    Hattie
froze.
    “Well,”
Dr. Kellerman continued, “I suppose it’s none of my business anyway. She’ll
probably be arriving shortly, don’t you think?” Seated in his chair, he peered
up