Too Close to Home: A Scarecrow and Mrs. King Continuing Story - Book 2

Chapter 28

Saturday, Day 12

Amanda's Hospital Room, Early Morning

At the sound of a knock on the door, Lee stood and turned to see Dr. Pfaf poking his head inside. "Can I come it?"

"Sure." Amanda placed her glass of milk on the bed-tray and offered him a welcoming smile.

Dr. Pfaf grinned and turned to Lee. "Good morning, Scarecrow."

"Dr. Pfaf." Reaching out to shake the man's hand, Lee gestured to the seat on the other side of Amanda's bed.

"It's good to see you sitting up and smiling, Amanda." Accepting the offer, Dr. Pfaf sat next to her and beamed his approval.

"Thank you." Amanda relaxed against her pillows. "I'm feeling much better. So...do you think I can get out of here yet?"

"What..." Dr. Pfaf looked at the mushy-looking breakfast left sitting on a plate on her tray and somehow managed to keep a straight face. "...they're not feeding you well enough?"

Scowling at the offending plate, Amanda picked up a fork and rearranged the food around. "No, quite frankly they're not." She put the fork down.

Laughing, Dr. Pfaf patted her hand and perused the chart he'd brought in with him. "Well, your blood pressure is down, so that's good." He closed the file and beamed his approval. "And the baby's vitals seem fine. Dr. Kelford said the sonogram looked good..." Quickly, he opened the file and glanced back down at the chart "...Ah, good thing I looked. It says here you don't want to know the gender of your baby." His eyes twinkled. "I almost gave it away."

"So, I can go?"

Amused by her hopeful look, Dr. Pfaf chuckled. "Yes, you can go..." Just as a smile began breaking over Lee's face, he held up a warning finger. "But...we need to have a little talk. Have a seat, Scarecrow."

The smile disappeared, replaced by a worried frown. "What's up, Doc?"

Dr. Pfaf scowled. "Seriously? Do you know how many times I've heard that one?"

Lee sat back in his chair and held his hands up in surrender. "Honestly, I didn't even think about it that way." He rubbed his head almost viciously with both hands. "There's way too much going on for me to crack a joke. So, what's going on?"

Dr. Pfaf turned toward Amanda and reached for her hand. "Amanda, I'm very concerned about the PTSD."

The serious look in his eyes made her catch her breath. "Okay...so, what does that mean?"

"It means that if you keep going through crisis after crisis, trauma after trauma, your nervous system will never have a chance to recover." His concerned gaze locked with hers. "Yes, that can be dangerous for the baby. But more than that, it could do damage to you in the long-term. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Amanda zeroed in on a snag in her blanket and picked at it. "Probably."

His eyebrows raised nearly to his hairline. "Probably?" Almost imperceptibly, he shook his head and leaned back in his chair. "Alright, fine. I'll spell it out for you. I want you off the streets, Amanda. Working in your office is fine, but I want you off the field for at least six months."

Amanda's jaw dropped to her chin. "Six months!"

Lee's eyes slid closed in a silent prayer of thanks. Finally, someone else was telling her to stay safe.

"Six months, Amanda." Dr. Pfaf's face was stern. "And I want you in my office three times a week."

"Dr. Pfaf..."