Dancing with the Devil

Chapter Forty-Six

Chapter Forty-Six

Ance was pacing the porch when Irish finally arrived with the doctor. The doctor didn't appear much older than Ance. He had a limp, a clean shaven face watery gray eyes. "What the hell took you so long?" Ance growled. "This don't look like any doctor I've ever seen. Do you know anything about medicine?" 

The doctor switched the leather satchel he carried to his other hand and sighed. "I hear that quite often so let me say that your originality is lacking. I'm thirty-four years old, sir, and I've been practicing medicine to some degree or another since I was six, since my father was a doctor as was his a doctor before him. Now if you'll stop with your rude questioning, which I'm sure is simply due to the worry and fear that you frontier types aren't good at expressing, I'd be obliged to be shown to the patient's room so I can examine her." 

Ance simply stood there dumbfounded a moment. Had this skinny, limping, weak-eyed, baby faced, puny man just insulted him? Hell he'd used so many damn words that Ance was having trouble stringing them all together and figuring that out. 

Irish laughed lightly. "Ya were at least right about the rude part, doctor, though ya were wrong about what caused it. Birth caused our Ansel to be a bit of a cactus." 

"No one asked you, Irish," Ance growled. "Now let's get inside. It took you long enough to get here and she's in pain." 

Ance stomped across the porch and heard the doctor and Irish following behind him. He led them up the stairs and into Audrey's room. She was laying on the bed and seemed sound asleep. Ance worried... what if she had a concussion and that was the reason for her drowsiness?

He went to the bedside and stooped low to kiss her brow. "Wake up, whiskey lady. The doc is here." 

Much to Ance's relief, Audrey's eyelids fluttered open and her brown eyes were clear as she gazed up at him. "Is Penelope still okay?" 

"I'll go sit with her while the doc checks you out, okay?" Ance suggested. 

"Okay." 

Ance turned to the doctor. "You better be real gentle with her and make sure she ain't hurt no worse than I figure. I already know she's got some broke ribs and her face is a mess. Make sure that bastard didn't do anything worse." 

"I am a doctor, sir." he sniffed indignantly. "That's what I do." 

Ance growled and strode back out of the room with Irish behind him. "The sheriff is on his way here, Ansel. He had to take care of something else but then he was going to come and get the body." 

"Good," Ance grumbled. "The sooner that rotting son of a bitch is out of here, the better off we'll all be." Then Ance frowned. "He didn't recognize you, did he?" 

"Shite no," Irish shook his head. "I had the good doc go and fetch him. I know better than to go showin' my face 'round members of law enforcement. They don't take too kindly to seein' me for some reason or another."

"Yeah," Ance snorted. "I wonder. Well you better just keep your head down while the sheriff is here. I don't need you getting arrested from the ranch. If I have to bust you out of jail right here then that could make things rough for Audrey here at the ranch."

Irish stepped in front of Ance just before he could open Penelope's door. "What do you want, Irish?" Ance demanded with annoyance. "I need to see to Penny." 

"Are ya just the dotin' father and...husband these days? I take it that Audrey agree to keep your ring?" 

Ance sighed. "Yeah, you nosy bastard, she did. Of course she might be suffering side effects of a head injury so once that clears she might be singing a different tune."