Ozark Nurse by Fern Shepard

Mother, please stop it."
    But Caroline was determined to have her say out. "Even if he hasn't spoken of any deeper feelings for you, I'm sure he must be doing a little thinking. And
you
had better do a little serious thinking, too, my child. It would be a mighty nice thing for you if you were to marry a successful man who could give you some of the luxuries of life."
    She added with a deep sigh: "It would be nice for all of us."
    More sound effects from Bobby's spoon. "I want a lion that talks! I'm gonna ask Mr. Fine to give me one."
    That was somehow the last straw. "Bobby wants! Carol wants! Jerry wants! You all want something, and I'm elected to get it for you!"
    She threw down her napkin, hurled her soup spoon at the table, was trembling as she pushed back her chair and got up.
    "It's all I ever hear! Give me this, get me that. Now good old Nora is supposed to latch onto a rich patient and marry him if possible, so as to cushion life for all of you."
    She grabbed for breath. "Who do you think I am—Santa Claus?"
    During the small shocked silence that followed, she came to her senses. Deeply ashamed of her outburst, she said quietly: "I'm sorry. I've been through a terrible day. I am deeply upset about a lot of things, and I took it out on you. Please forgive me."
     

Chapter 10
    Nora went back up to her room, suddenly shivering with cold and from the hours of emotional tension, which had reached the breaking point at the table. She would, she decided, go straight to bed, take a couple of sleeping tablets, and hope that by tomorrow she would feel more like a normal human being.
    Sadly she pulled off the pink sweater which she had put on to please Paul. Crazily she wished she could fly to some far away place where she need never see Paul again, never hear his name mentioned. Would he miss her? Would he care? Probably not.
    The phone rang.
    Paul? Her heart jumped. Maybe he was calling to say he would be there after all.
    But it was Andrew Fine's voice she heard, and it was Andrew Fine who said that he had heard the story of the shooting, and that he could not sleep until he made sure she was all right.
    His voice was warm and filled with concern, and for some silly reason tears sprang to her eyes. It was good to know that somebody cared about her and wanted to hear her voice, to know that she was well and safe, before he slept.
    He asked again if she was all right. Was there anything he could do, such as loaning her some money to take a trip? After a terrific shock, sometimes a little vacation was a good thing.
    Little vacation?
    What she needed was a rest and vacation from her troubled mind; not a trip to some vacation spot where her thoughts would be part of the baggage she took, along with her clothes and toilet articles.
    She thanked Andy for calling, thanked him for his thoughtfulness, and said there was really nothing he could do to help her. "I'm doing just fine," she said brightly.
    "How about your friend, the doctor? He okay? I'm told one of the bullets actually hit him."
    She was silent, grinding her teeth before she burst out: "He's been hit, all right, twice."
    "Twice? But I was told there were only two bullets, and one went wild."
    "Once by Ben Sackett's bullet," Nora said, and added savagely: "and once by a redhead." Obviously she had lost all control over her tongue.
    "I see." He said it gently, as if he really did see and understand the emotional hurt that lay behind those bitter words.
    "What about the marriage you spoke of?" he asked after a moment. "Is that still in the cards?"
    "That was never in the cards," she said in a small voice. "That was just a silly idea in my head, and my head isn't working very well these days."
    She was about to hang up when he said: "Wait. I want to remind you of what I said today, girl. I'm your friend." He spoke again of wishing to help her. He had little else to do, lying there on his back, so he thought about her a great deal of the time. She did so much to make others