Apache Heart Read online

  Apache Heart

  Chapter 1

  Thump, thump…thump, thump. Randi sighed, the sound was unmistakable, the rear tire on her new-to-her, but aging, truck had gone flat. She eased over to the side of the dusty road. That used car dealer in Albuquerque had seemed a little shady, she thought, but the price had been right on the small, red pick-up. There was some rust on the bumper, and some dings in the doors, but the motor purred when she turned the key. At least the tire had lasted for the better part of two hundred miles as she drove south and west toward mountains and the Sierra Blanca Apache Reservation.

  As Randi got out, she scanned the landscape around her. The rocky hills were slowing burning from spring green to summer brown, and most of the trees dotting the land were firs, pines, and scrubby junipers. The Sierra Blanca range rose up in the distance, snow still capping the tops of the highest peaks. One thing was sure: New Mexico sure didn’t looks like Frenchtown, New Jersey. Other than the “New,” the two places didn’t seem to have much in common. She had a feeling she was going to be missing the Delaware River, and the lush greenness of the little town with its Victorian houses and quaint cafes and boutiques.

  Her high desert exile was only for two years, she reminded herself. In exchange for her commitment to practice on the Sierra Blanca Apache Reservation, the Federal Indian Health Service program was going to forgive $40,000 of her medical school loans. And for a girl from an ordinary middle class family in Frenchtown, New Jersey, well, that was a deal she couldn’t really pass up, considering that she was starting her career over $100,000 in debt to the University of Pennsylvania.

  The spare tire was located under the truck, which seemed like a pretty stupid place to put it, but Randi crawled under the back end and managed to disengage it without getting a face-full of rubber. She scooted back out, sweating from the effort, and dragged the tire out. She found a crummy jack and a tire iron stuffed behind the passenger seat and set to trying to loosen the lug nuts before she jacked the truck up. Four of them were fairly compliant, but the fifth was proving incredible stubborn, even after she pushed on the tire iron with her foot. Wiping her forehead with the back of her hand, Randi pondered what to do next. She didn’t have any kind of roadside assistance service, and had no idea who to call in the area. The nearest place, for all she knew, was a dozen miles back in Rio Blanco.

  Looking down the road, Randi saw a truck heading toward her, a little cloud of dust trailing behind it. It was a full-size pick-up, a lot newer than hers, in a dark green that seemed to fit into the landscape. As it got closer, the truck slowed, and then came to an idle next to her. A head popped out the driver’s window.

  “I was going to ask if you need a hand, but you look like you’ve got things under control,” he said with a grin.

  Despite the big black smudge across her forehead, he could tell she was pretty: long auburn hair pulled back in a ponytail, big green eyes with a determined look. She was fairly tall, maybe 5’8”, which he liked, and while she looked athletic, she definitely had curves in the right places.

  “Actually, I’ve got four of the lug nuts loose, but the fifth one is fighting back.” She looked at the tire like it was a naughty child, her hands in fists on her hips.

  The driver of the truck pulled up ahead of her truck to get off the road, and cut the engine. Randi could see that he was digging around in his glove box, and then he hopped out. He held up a can of WD-40, “Works every time!”

  Randi smiled, “Work smarter, not harder, eh?”

  “Exactly.” He sprayed the nut, let the lubricant soak in, and then refitted the tire iron to it. He popped it with the flat of his hand, and the stubborn nut spun loose. “What, no applause?” he joked, as he looked up at her.

  Clapping her hands, Randi told him, “Well, you’ve earned your good karma points for the day.”

  He shook his head dismissively, “Not done yet.”

  Randi studied him as he jacked up the truck. He was tall and muscular, and clearly a Native American. His straight, black hair came about to his collar, he had it parted on one side, with long bangs that were pushed over and back, but his bangs kept flopping in his eyes as he worked. He had prominent cheekbones and a generous mouth and was, by anyone’s standards, extraordinarily handsome. It was his eyes and his smile though, that got her attention. There was a warmth to them that spoke to the kind of guy that might be lurking under those broad shoulders and powerful arms.

  “You know, I could take it from here,” Randi said.

  “I know.” He hummed a little as he pulled off the flat. Randi rolled the spare over to him and he grabbed it with one effortless move and positioned it in seconds. “Thanks.” He made short work of hand tightening the lug nuts as Randi handed them to him one by one, and in another moment, the jack was lowered and he tightened the nuts with the tire iron until everything met with his satisfaction. He stood up and dusted himself off.

  “Thanks. Really, you and your WD-40 saved the day.”

  “No problem. Uh, you know you have a big smudge…” he gestured to his own forehead.

  Randi started rubbing at it, which only served to spread it further. He started to chuckle a little, and then took a clean bandana from the back pocket of his jeans. “Here, try this.” But when she kept missing the main spot, he took the bandana out of her hand. “May I?”

  Nodding her assent, he gently held her face by the chin with one hand, and scrubbed at the black marks with the other. “You headed up to the hospital?” he asked.

  “Yeah, how’d you know?”

  “Not much other reason to be on this road if you don’t live up this way. You a nurse?”

  “Doctor.”

  He let her go and folded up the bandana with a bemused smile. “You’re Dr. Randy Green?”

  “Yep, Randi—with an ‘I.’ How do you know who I am? ”

  He indicated himself with a thumb, “Local paramedic, part-time forest fire fighter, and my mom sits on the tribal council.” He flashed a wry smile, “Not much going on around here escapes this Indian, no m’am.”

  Randi laughed, “You got a name? Or do I just yell “Paramedic” when you’re wheeling someone into the ER?”

  “Lee Yahnaki.”

  “Well Lee Yahnaki, I think I owe you coffee or a beer or dinner or something for being my knight in shining armor.”

  “I just might be interested in the something,” he said a little suggestively.

  Randi could feel her stomach tingle with butterflies. She hadn’t even officially started her job and she was already flirting with someone she’d see regularly at work—probably not the smartest of ideas. “Okay, I better get going. Dr. Cody is going to wonder what happened to me.”

  “See you around, Doc. And you better get a couple of new tires. The roads around here are tough on them.”

  “Yeah, thanks again, Lee. See you soon.”

  They both got back in their respective trucks and headed off in opposite directions.

  The small hospital was only a couple of more miles up the road. There were twenty cars in the parking lot, but it certainly wasn’t what she was used to thinking of as a hospital. She’d done her training in a world-class medical center with more than eight hundred beds. Her new place of employment had thirteen beds for medical treatment; surgical cases were referred out to bigger area hospitals. She would be doing primarily out patient treatment, and working with the Field Health program.

  Inside, Randi looked around, trying to figure out where to go. A round faced, middle-aged, woman in pink scrubs with a stethoscope around her neck saw her looking baffled, and came over. “Hi. Can I help you find something?”

  “Hi—yeah, I’m Randi Green, I’m supposed to be meeting Dr. Cody, but I had a flat tire, and I’m a little late.” S
he looked at her dirty clothes and laughed, “And a little disheveled.”

  “Dr. Green! Welcome, yeah, we’re expecting you. I’m Lozen Pinto, I’m a nurse practitioner and midwife.”

  “Wow, that’s great.” She extended her hand, “Please call me Randi, I’m not a very formal person.” Randi lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, “And I don’t think I’ve entirely gotten used to the idea that I’m a real doctor. But don’t tell anyone.”

  Lozen laughed. “Your secret is safe. Come on, this way.”

  Randi could tell Lozen was used to moving at a clip, her long braid bounced on her back as she walked. She felt herself starting to relax, so far, so good. She’d met two people and they both seemed incredibly nice. Maybe New Mexico wasn’t going to feel so foreign after all.

  Lozen ushered Randi into the medical director’s office. Dr. Cody was thumbing through a reference book, and looked up as Lozen tapped at the open door. “Oh hello.”

  “Dr. Cody, this is Dr. Green, she had a little tire changing excitement on the way here this morning.”

  “Sorry that I’m late.” Randi once again extended her hand for a handshake, but Dr. Cody was still absorbed in the book in his hands, and didn’t notice.

  “Have a seat Dr. Green. That’s all for now, Lozen. I’m sure that you’re needed in the prenatal clinic.”

  Randi gave Lozen a little wave as the nurse departed.

  Without looking at her, Dr. Cody simply said, “Do you know anything about Southwestern Athabaskan genetic diseases?”

  Randi had never even heard of the term before, let alone know anything about treating it. “No, I’m sorry, it’s not something I’m familiar with…”

  He snapped the book shut, and gave her a steely look, “So did you bother to do any research about what you might encounter out here?”

  This wasn’t exactly the welcome Randi was expecting; she felt a little defensive. “Yes—yes, I did. I boned up on tick fevers, hanta virus, plague, rabies, even brucellosis because of the wildlife and livestock.”

  “So maybe you won’t be another useless northeasterner using our community to get out from under your student loans.” His face was an unemotional blank.

  Either Dr. Cody was having a terrible day, or this guy was a total ass, Randi thought. “Dr. Cody, I can assure you that I intend to give every patient the best care that I can provide. I even did some specialized work in endocrinology to prepare because I know diabetes is a big issue here.”

  The doctor raised his eyebrows and nodded as he sat down, “That’s good.” He fidgeted in his chair. “Southwestern Athabaskan genetic diseases are four rare diseases that only affect Apaches and Navajos. All of them are pretty catastrophic, but fortunately, not common,” he said by way of explanation. “There’s no reason you would have ever heard of them if you weren’t a genetic specialist.”

  “Has a case presented?” Randi asked.

  “Yeah, I think so. Lozen delivered a baby last week, but things were going downhill, so he was taken to Albuquerque by ambulance last night.” Dr. Cody rubbed his eyes. “I’m sorry Dr. Green, I’m clearly overtired and the outlook for this child is not very good.”

  “I know, babies and children—it’s hard to keep their problems from getting under your skin.” Randi was starting to think maybe Dr. Cody wasn’t a total jerk.

  “We’ve got some crappy coffee in our break room, would you like a cup?”

  “How could I refuse? You make it sound so enticing!” Randi smiled, and Dr. Cody offered a faint smile back.

  As he poured their coffee, Randi had a chance to look her new boss over. He was slim, a runner’s build, she thought, and he looked like he was probably mixed race. His hair was dark brown, thick, and cut short in a spiky mop, and he had grey eyes. The cheekbones said there was definitely some Native American in his heritage, but his complexion was too light, the nose not quite right; still, the overall effect was rather attractive. Randi guessed he was about ten years older than her, maybe thirty-six or thirty-seven.

  “You take anything in your coffee?” Dr. Cody inquired.

  “If it’s truly crappy, then a splash of milk if you have it.”

  He held up a little plastic creamer cup, “One Mini-moo or two?” Randi held up two fingers. They sat down.

  “I’ve seen your resume, I know you went to a good medical school and finished at the top of your class. Tell me a little about you, though, and why you wanted to come out here.” He sipped at his coffee.

  “I’d be lying if I told you the loan relief wasn’t a huge incentive, but you know, I’ve spent my whole life east of the Mississippi. I’m from a little town on the New Jersey-Pennsylvania border, went to school in Philly, and the idea of working some place that really needs a doctor has its appeal. I liked the idea of getting a lot of diverse experience, so I applied to Indian Health Services, and this is what shook out. I imagine I could have just as easily ended up in Alaska or Idaho or some other state. So it’s a little bit luck of the draw.”

  He nodded, his face relaxing. “If you don’t mind working hard, then you are going to get a lot of experience.”

  “What about you, how’d you end up here?”

  Dr. Cody scratched his head. “I grew up in Rio Blanco and I went to med school in Albuquerque. My dad, from what I’ve been told, was a white guy who worked for a winter on the ski patrol at Sierra Blanco. He impregnated my mom, and disappeared back to the East Coast and left her to raise me alone. She’s mostly Apache with a little Mexican thrown in, so, anyway, here I am.” He coughed a little nervously, “That was probably more information than you wanted.”

  “Why don’t you give me an overview of what I need to do to get oriented?” Randi said helpfully.

  He seemed relieved to turn the conversation back to work. “Lozen finishes the prenatal clinic at three. She’s our most senior nurse, and frankly, she’s the pillar of the hospital. She can give you a tour, and introduce you to the staff. There are two internists and a pediatrician. We have five other RNs and some LPNs. There’s a nutritionist, a pharmacist, a small lab that can handle anything that’s not exotic, and a radiology tech. All in all, they’re a pretty talented group of folks.”

  “Sounds like you’ve got the bases covered.”

  “We try. Anything surgical or critical we stabilize and then send them on to the regional medical center. Minor traumas we handle here—stitches, broken bones, snake bite, that sort of thing.”

  “Somebody better show me where the anti-venom is then!” Randi found that she was warming up to Dr. Cody. She didn’t think that their rocky start was personal. He seemed like he cared. “Dr. Cody…” Randi hesitated, but thought she should just be blunt, “Is there anything I should know about being a white girl working on a reservation?”

  “If you’re respectful and do your job, people for the most part will accept you just fine. There may be things that puzzle you from time to time, but if you don’t understand something, ask Lozen or myself. We’ll try our best to explain.”

  “Thanks, I appreciate that. One other thing…I’m more likely to answer if you call me Randi instead of Dr. Green.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” He pushed back from the little table. “And feel free to call me Elan.”

  Randi wandered down to the prenatal clinic to observe what was going on. She realized she probably didn’t look like much of a doctor in her dirty slacks and blouse, so she took a chair in the empty waiting room. A door to one of the examining rooms opened, and Lozen had her hand on the shoulder of a young woman maybe eight months pregnant, but the concerning thing was her black eye. Lozen patted her and sent her on her way, and then motioned to Randi.

  “Domestic violence?” Randi asked.

  Lozen shook her head up and down gravely, “Yeah, you know, Indians and firewater. It’s a bad mix.” The nurse unwrapped her stethoscope from her neck and slipped it in her pocket. “Dr. Cody sent you to me for a tour, didn’t he?” She smiled. “I’m kind of the Welcome Wa
gon around here.” They walked down the main hallway, and Lozen pointed out the lab and radiology and introduced her to the techs.

  “Tell me about Dr. Cody, he’s kind of a hard one to read,” Randi said as they headed toward the pharmacy.

  “Yeah, no kidding. That one runs hot and cold. But he’s an excellent doctor, and he does a good job of keeping this place afloat. I try to forgive his quirks.”

  Randi wasn’t sure how curious she could be without seeming like she was just sticking her nose in other people’s business, but she realized, there was something about Elan that she found incredibly appealing. She laughed and asked casually, “Any quirks that I should be warned about?”

  “Oh, I don’t know, he’s moody, I guess. Probably nothing that couldn’t be fixed with a little less work and a little more fun in his life. I don’t think he’s had a date in the last five years.”

  “Maybe he’s…” Randi hesitated, afraid to veer into out and out gossip.

  “Gay?” Lozen laughed, “No, I don’t think so. He seemed pretty serious about one gal for a while, but she ran off with a cowboy from Montana. I imagine she got tired of the moods.”

  ###

  Randi punched in the GPS coordinates she’d been given, and rolled out of the hospital parking lot. She was renting a cabin at the edge of the reservation, and was anxious to get settled in, and maybe make a grocery run into town.

  The cabin was on a mountainside, and it had beautiful views. It was tiny, only a bedroom, kitchen, bath and living room, but it had the advantage of being fully furnished, and there was a woodstove and a deck with a picnic table. She found the key lockbox, punched in the code, and let herself in. Looking around with a satisfied eye, it hit her that this was going to be home for the next two years. In the living room, she found a few boxes of basic necessities that she’d shipped ahead: kitchen stuff, sheets and towels, winter clothes, and a couple of boxes of books. She went back to the truck and dragged in a couple of giant suitcases.

  She rummaged through the cupboards and then made a shopping list of all the mundane things she needed: garbage bags, toilet paper, laundry detergent, food staples. Then she made up the bed, stacked towels in the bathroom, and unpacked her kitchen necessities. Books went on a shelf in the living room, laptop on the kitchen table, and suddenly it started to look a little more like a home. Looking at her watch, she decided she had time to run into town and hit up the grocery store despite the fact that it had been a very full day. The good news was that it was Friday, and she had the weekend to get herself oriented before starting work bright and early on Monday. Her task for Saturday would be investing in some new tires.