Little Footsteps

The doctor:

Dr. Rush arrived early that afternoon, more than they had anticipated. The same car who took Paula took him there, but the driver was different. The driver was apparently new. Paula watched him from the window. He was a sturdy man with a long beard and dark eyes like two tunnels. When he stopped the car he gave the house a strange look as if he was afraid of it. He didn't get out of the car and didn't open the car door to the doctor.

Paula felt a chill and instinctively looked behind her. She was alone in the lobby, there was nothing and no one there, but the panic Paula had felt hours before, made her to be still nervous. She remembered when the bathroom door handle stopped moving... she had heard her aunt's voice approaching. Then she opened the door and noticed that there was no one. Her aunt was climbing the stairs to the far side, and then Paula closed the door. So Paula took a quick bath because she didn't want to stay there for long.

The doctor was a middle-aged man, tall, very thin and with a dark mustache. As the doctor had white hair, Paula and her hospital companions always wondered if he dyed his mustache. Paula remembered smiling the day Flavia dared to comment on that near the doctor. He had blushed like a child, while the other women tried not to laugh. However, he had not lost his usual serenity, nor had he uttered a single word. They all had to admit that he was not an attractive man ... If only he were more sympathetic.

The man arrived at the Parker's house wearing a dark suit. The doctor's jacket and his briefcase were hanging on his arm. His entire outfit was perfectly clean and ironed, not even a fluff perched on his broad shoulders. His appearance reflected the obsessive perfection he applied to all aspects of his life. He was a single man and his job was his obsession.

When he got out of the car he complains when he noticed that his shoes were full of dirt. Paula smiled, wondering if he was drowning in his suit because of the hot weather.

"Does he already arrived?" Mrs. Parker asked from the kitchen. Her voice sounded anxious.

She and her husband were sitting, waiting while their niece wandered around the hall.

"Yes," Paula said.

"Damn and pompous doctor". Paula heard her uncle complain. His wife, embarrassed, rebuked him to shut up.

The bell rang and then Paula opened the door, inviting the man to come in. She was surprised to see that the driver didn't get out of the car. The heat at that time was intense, but she shrugged and closed the door when the doctor entered the house.

The doctor entered the kitchen and introduced himself with his usual serenity, adopting an attitude of superiority that caused the Parkers to be slightly intimidated in his presence.

"Well, Paula. Can you sit next to me? Yes! There," the man said as he indicated a chair to the girl, as if they were both in a hospital office, then he also sat in his chair, of course after checking that there was no dust on top of it.

There was a long silence, the man watched them all.

"How was the trip?" asked Mrs. Parker kindly.

"Oh very hot!" said the man who hadn't even taken off his jacket.

Paula watched the sweat run down the man's forehead.

"Do you want?" asked Mrs. Parker but the doctor interrupted her.

"No, thanks, I never take off my jacket when I'm working," the doctor said, forcing a smile.

"No, I wasn't going to ask you that. I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to drink something," the woman said, puzzled.

"Oh no! No, thanks," said Dr. Rush, watching the whole kitchen. Maybe he thought the cups and glasses might be dirty. Paula also thought that maybe the doctor thought they could poison him.