Read May: Daughters of the Sea #2 for Free Online Page B

higher on her pillows and leaned forward. “Doctor Holmes.” She nearly spat out the two words. “I’ll have you know that I know a thing or two about medical matters, too. This medicine treats the cause. Not just the symptom.” She paused to let the power of this information andher knowledge sink in. “And I for one like to get to the cause and not merely the symptoms,” she said smugly.
    “Mrs. Plum, I do not dispute you, but in these days of modern medicine, it is possible to treat both.”
    But Hepzibah Plum had closed her ears to the doctor. “May!” she barked. “Fetch the chamber pot with my night urine. You’ll see the crystals, Doctor Holmes.”
    May felt herself redden to the very roots of every hair on her head. She could not believe her mother was doing this, asking her to bring in the night pail to show someone else, even if that someone was a doctor. Hepzibah spent several minutes every morning examining her urine, but this was too much.
    She decided to lie. “I’m sorry, Mother, but I already threw it out.”
    “You what?”
    May might as well have said that she had thrown out the family silver had there been any.
    “Well, Mother, there was so much going on here last night, what with the rescue and all. And thenthis morning I had to fix up a comfortable place for Pa since you felt there was not room here.”
    “Of course there wasn’t room in this bed—not for two failing people,” she muttered with barely concealed resentment.
    Dr. Holmes’s mouth settled into a grim line. May could almost feel the dislike flowing between the doctor and her mother. Hepzibah was not used to doctors like this. Old Doc Fletcher, who had died before Christmas, had been a master at humoring her mother. He used to marvel at Zeeba’s descriptions of her condition, her thoughts about treatment. This doctor, although polite, was clearly less than impressed with her lengthy and detailed disquisitions on her various ailments. “My suggestion for some fresh air and exercise is based on evidence, Mrs. Plum, that mild physical activity can actually reduce the inflammation in the joints.”
    “You think walking on these will help them?” Hepzibah stuck one foot out from under the blankets to reveal an inflamed and knobby big toe that seemed rather like an accusatory eye glaring out from thebedclothes. “Talk to my toe, Doctor Holmes,” Zeeba snarled. “See how it fails to preserve any sense of balance for me when I walk or stand for more than a few minutes.”
    “Perhaps if your daughter helped. Walked arm in arm with you a bit.”
    “Her! May? May’s got her hands full as it is running the light and taking care of me and now her father with his so-called hip problem. You think she has time to waltz me around this island?” She paused.
    “Yes, yes … I see the problem.” For the first time Dr. Holmes seemed to have lost some of his composure. He ran his hands through his thinning hair, which was turning gray at the temples. He was always referred to as the “new young doctor,” but May realized that was in comparison to Dr. Fletcher, who was almost ninety when he died. Dr. Holmes must be close to fifty. He was not what one would ever call a handsome man, but there was something very appealing about his manner that made up for what might constitute any flaws in his physicalappearance. His nose did seem a bit long, and his eyes drooped somewhat at the corners. His ears were rather large, and yet all of these features came together in a pleasing manner.
    “Well, I’m glad you do!” Hepzibah said in a calmer voice. “I have complications. I have for a lifetime. And with them come other complications. Why, I doubt May’ll be able to go back to school this month.”
    “Mother, I’ve been out for three weeks because of weather.”
    She shot May a dark look. “Well, your father should’ve thought about that before he —” But before she could finish the doctor broke in.
    “Yes, Mrs. Plum, of course.