Cambridge, Maryland, 1954.
The old Ford coupe was going down the patched asphault road at a slow cruise, the driver looking for an adress. A young man in a tweed suit looked for house numbers, but in the rural pine woods covered land, there was none. The young man had just taken over from the old town doctor, and he was unsure of the new area. A tall fair haired young man, he was just 6 months out of his internship. Now he had hung out his shingle in the small Eastern Shore town of Cambridge.
Suddenly a man ran out from a small frame house, waving his arms. The young doctor pulled the old Ford into the gravel drive.
"Glad your here Doc, She's awfully sick. Ya gotta do sumthin ta help!" said the old man in shirt sleeves standing in the rain.
'Well first thing, sir, is to get out of the rain." the young Doc told him.
They went into the house, and the dictor followed the man back to the bedroom. A white haired old lady lay in bed, covers pulled up to her chin.
"This is my wife, Edna. She's been sick with a cold, but it's got a lot worse."
"Hello, Edna, I'm Doctor Wilkens, I've taken over for Doc Harris now." he said, introducing himself.
The old lady wheezed and told him she was happy to meet him. The doc took his stethascope and listened to the congestion in the ladys chest.
"You've got a good case of Bronchitis, Edna. I'm going to give you something for it".
The doc opened his bag and took out some pills.
"Oh, Doctor, I just can't take pills too well, they get stuck in my throat."
The young doctor remembered old Doc Harris telling him that these old country folk need a little extra in presentation.
"I'll tell you what Edna, I'm going to fix it so you don't have to swallow pills, and we're going to make you feel better at the same time. How's that?" he told her. He turned to her husband standing by anxously.
"Will you heat some water for a special tea I'm going to make Edna?"
In short order water was heated, and the young doctor made a show out of taking the pill and then reaching into his coat pocket for a knife. He pulled out a special knife that niether of the old people had seen before.
It was long and slim, and had a peculiar flat area on the bottom of the knife. It was a doctors pattern knife, often given out by drug companies, and medical supply houses. This one had light brown jigged bone handles, with an etching from a patent medicine company on the blade. Almost new, it had been given to the young doctor by the retiring Doctor Harris. The doctor took a pill and using the bottom of the knife, crushed it up into a fine powder. The husband had brought a cup of warm water, and the doctor used a flat spatula blade of the pocket knife to scoop up the yellow powder and put it in the drink. Then he asked for a bottle of whiskey. The husband brought a bottle, and the doctor poured a liberal does into the steaming mug. A good dollop of honey followed, and the doctor stirred it all up with the spatula blade of his knife.
"Now Edna, I want you to sip on this till it's all gone. Okay?"
"Why doctor, I never take strong drink, thats Harry's bottle he uses for when he can't sleep." Said Edna.
"Well Edna, I want you to think of this as medicine. The pill I crushed up will help with your broncial infection, the whiskey will partly anethisize your cough reflex, and the honey will cover up the taste of the medicine and strong drink that you're not used to. Okay?"
The old lady took the offered cup and sipped carefully, not knowing what to expect. She paused, then took another sip. Then another. A slight smile appeared on her face.
'Why, oh me, this is nice. Quite exiting with a warm feeling when it goes down. Oh yes, I think I like this. "
The young doctor smiled.
'Okay, I want you to have one every four hours, just like I made it. One pill crushed up in the drink, with the whiskey and honey. Okay" And if you want, have one in between without the pill, if you like. It should make you feel better, and I'll come by in the morning to look in on you." he patted her hand as he rose, and gave the husband some pills to be crushed up as needed in her special tea.
"Thanks Doc, you're as good as old Doctor Harris was!"
The compliment made the young doctors day, as he'd been afraid he'd not be accepted into this little community too easy.
Back at his small office, he found a message waiting for him. A man had a injury to a hand. The doctor looked at the address, and didn't recognize it at all. He went over to the diner across the road and asked where it was.
"Oh jeez, that's the Rankin clan. hey maybe ya better take a gun wi' ya doc. Theys some rough old cobbs out there in the marsh."
"They called for a doctor, and I have to go. Just tell me how to get there!"
The doctor drove the old Ford according to the directions, and found himself on a dirt road, going into the piney woods by the marsh. He came to a cabin, and got out, and while walking up to the door, a tall young woman stepped out. Under most situations she would have been attention getting, but here in the wooded marsh, she was arresting. Long tawney brown hair fell down her back, and the cut off jeans and snug t-shirt did little to conceal a lithe but very nice figure. When he got up to the front porch of the cabin, vivid green eyes looked him over while a slight smile played on her lips.
"Hi there, you must be the new doc in town." she said, "I'
m Lizy Rankin. Come on in, my pa's got a problem"
Inside, a tall lean man sat at a kitchen table, dinking whiskey from a pint bottle. His left hand was bandaged, with a bit of blood seeping through.
"What happened?" asked the Doctor.
"Workin on a project out in the wood shop, and got a big damm splinter through my hand. I got some of it, but a part broke off and I cain't git it out. I need ya to cut it ut for me Doc."
The doctor unwrapped the hand and shook his head.
"I need to get you to a surgery Mr. Rankin. Thats too deep for kitchen table work."
"No sir, ain't goin to no hospital. Ya do it right here and now!"
The tall man was partly drunk, but had a dangerous look in his eye, and wouldn't take no for an answer. The doctor laid out his instuments. Using a pair of forcips, he looked into the wound and saw the stub of the wood still embeded.
"I need a third hand here. Lizzy, take this and hold it open while I try to grab it."
With Lizzy holding the would open, and Matt Rankin cussing a blue streak, the doctor tried to pull, but the splinter was still hung up. He looked in his bag, but there was no scalple as he'd not thought he'd be doing surgery in the field. He spoke to the girl.
Lizzy, reach in my coat pocket over there, and open up that knife and run some alcohol over the blade and hand it to me.
She did as the doctor asked, and Matt Rankin swore some more.
"Ya operating on my hand with yer jackknife? Well ya may be a decent saw bones after all." he said, then yelled and let fly a stream of blue curses and the doctor cut down around the splinter. Finally it was out, and the hand bandaged. The doc gave Lizzy instructions on how to change the bandages, and Matt took a long pull on the bottle of whiskey.
'What do I owe ya, sawbones" asked Matt Rankin.
The doctor wasn't sure he liked being called a sawbones, but under the circumstances, he let it pass. He carefully wiped some blood off the blade of his doctors knife.
"I usually get 8 dollars for a house call, but for field surgery I charge 10 bucks even" he said in an even tone of voice.
"Ten dollars for sumthin done with a jackknife?" Matt Rankin exploded.
"No, 10 dollars for knowing what to cut and not cut with that jackknife, so you'll have a hand a month from now!" the doctor told him.
Suddenly Matt laughed, and the young doctor knew he been been tested by this man.
"Pay the man, LIzzy. My wallet's over on the counter."
Lizzy escorted the doctor to the door, and out on the front porch. She stood close to the young doctor, almost against him.
"So, Doc, How about I stop by and you give me a real good exam, huh?"
The doctor was swept by the smell of her perfume, and the sight of her nipples poking through the thin material of her T-shirt didn't help. A small trickle of sweat ran down his back.
"Miss Rankin, I am a married man. A very happily married man. I think it would be best to keep any relationship on a doctor-patient level."
"Heck doc, most of the men who come to Tinkers are married men. That ain't never stopped nuthin!" she told him with a playful smile.
The doctor made good his escape and later at home after dinner with his wife, he took his knife and wiped down the blade with a sponge.
"Was it an interesting day dear?" his wife asked. "You must have have used your new knife if it needs cleaning."
"Yes, well, I made strong drink for an old lady and cut on a man's hand with it later on. "
He told his wife about his day, as he stropped his knife on the back of a belt, but didn't mention Lizzy Rankin. Somethings are best left unsaid.
The old Ford coupe was going down the patched asphault road at a slow cruise, the driver looking for an adress. A young man in a tweed suit looked for house numbers, but in the rural pine woods covered land, there was none. The young man had just taken over from the old town doctor, and he was unsure of the new area. A tall fair haired young man, he was just 6 months out of his internship. Now he had hung out his shingle in the small Eastern Shore town of Cambridge.
Suddenly a man ran out from a small frame house, waving his arms. The young doctor pulled the old Ford into the gravel drive.
"Glad your here Doc, She's awfully sick. Ya gotta do sumthin ta help!" said the old man in shirt sleeves standing in the rain.
'Well first thing, sir, is to get out of the rain." the young Doc told him.
They went into the house, and the dictor followed the man back to the bedroom. A white haired old lady lay in bed, covers pulled up to her chin.
"This is my wife, Edna. She's been sick with a cold, but it's got a lot worse."
"Hello, Edna, I'm Doctor Wilkens, I've taken over for Doc Harris now." he said, introducing himself.
The old lady wheezed and told him she was happy to meet him. The doc took his stethascope and listened to the congestion in the ladys chest.
"You've got a good case of Bronchitis, Edna. I'm going to give you something for it".
The doc opened his bag and took out some pills.
"Oh, Doctor, I just can't take pills too well, they get stuck in my throat."
The young doctor remembered old Doc Harris telling him that these old country folk need a little extra in presentation.
"I'll tell you what Edna, I'm going to fix it so you don't have to swallow pills, and we're going to make you feel better at the same time. How's that?" he told her. He turned to her husband standing by anxously.
"Will you heat some water for a special tea I'm going to make Edna?"
In short order water was heated, and the young doctor made a show out of taking the pill and then reaching into his coat pocket for a knife. He pulled out a special knife that niether of the old people had seen before.
It was long and slim, and had a peculiar flat area on the bottom of the knife. It was a doctors pattern knife, often given out by drug companies, and medical supply houses. This one had light brown jigged bone handles, with an etching from a patent medicine company on the blade. Almost new, it had been given to the young doctor by the retiring Doctor Harris. The doctor took a pill and using the bottom of the knife, crushed it up into a fine powder. The husband had brought a cup of warm water, and the doctor used a flat spatula blade of the pocket knife to scoop up the yellow powder and put it in the drink. Then he asked for a bottle of whiskey. The husband brought a bottle, and the doctor poured a liberal does into the steaming mug. A good dollop of honey followed, and the doctor stirred it all up with the spatula blade of his knife.
"Now Edna, I want you to sip on this till it's all gone. Okay?"
"Why doctor, I never take strong drink, thats Harry's bottle he uses for when he can't sleep." Said Edna.
"Well Edna, I want you to think of this as medicine. The pill I crushed up will help with your broncial infection, the whiskey will partly anethisize your cough reflex, and the honey will cover up the taste of the medicine and strong drink that you're not used to. Okay?"
The old lady took the offered cup and sipped carefully, not knowing what to expect. She paused, then took another sip. Then another. A slight smile appeared on her face.
'Why, oh me, this is nice. Quite exiting with a warm feeling when it goes down. Oh yes, I think I like this. "
The young doctor smiled.
'Okay, I want you to have one every four hours, just like I made it. One pill crushed up in the drink, with the whiskey and honey. Okay" And if you want, have one in between without the pill, if you like. It should make you feel better, and I'll come by in the morning to look in on you." he patted her hand as he rose, and gave the husband some pills to be crushed up as needed in her special tea.
"Thanks Doc, you're as good as old Doctor Harris was!"
The compliment made the young doctors day, as he'd been afraid he'd not be accepted into this little community too easy.
Back at his small office, he found a message waiting for him. A man had a injury to a hand. The doctor looked at the address, and didn't recognize it at all. He went over to the diner across the road and asked where it was.
"Oh jeez, that's the Rankin clan. hey maybe ya better take a gun wi' ya doc. Theys some rough old cobbs out there in the marsh."
"They called for a doctor, and I have to go. Just tell me how to get there!"
The doctor drove the old Ford according to the directions, and found himself on a dirt road, going into the piney woods by the marsh. He came to a cabin, and got out, and while walking up to the door, a tall young woman stepped out. Under most situations she would have been attention getting, but here in the wooded marsh, she was arresting. Long tawney brown hair fell down her back, and the cut off jeans and snug t-shirt did little to conceal a lithe but very nice figure. When he got up to the front porch of the cabin, vivid green eyes looked him over while a slight smile played on her lips.
"Hi there, you must be the new doc in town." she said, "I'
m Lizy Rankin. Come on in, my pa's got a problem"
Inside, a tall lean man sat at a kitchen table, dinking whiskey from a pint bottle. His left hand was bandaged, with a bit of blood seeping through.
"What happened?" asked the Doctor.
"Workin on a project out in the wood shop, and got a big damm splinter through my hand. I got some of it, but a part broke off and I cain't git it out. I need ya to cut it ut for me Doc."
The doctor unwrapped the hand and shook his head.
"I need to get you to a surgery Mr. Rankin. Thats too deep for kitchen table work."
"No sir, ain't goin to no hospital. Ya do it right here and now!"
The tall man was partly drunk, but had a dangerous look in his eye, and wouldn't take no for an answer. The doctor laid out his instuments. Using a pair of forcips, he looked into the wound and saw the stub of the wood still embeded.
"I need a third hand here. Lizzy, take this and hold it open while I try to grab it."
With Lizzy holding the would open, and Matt Rankin cussing a blue streak, the doctor tried to pull, but the splinter was still hung up. He looked in his bag, but there was no scalple as he'd not thought he'd be doing surgery in the field. He spoke to the girl.
Lizzy, reach in my coat pocket over there, and open up that knife and run some alcohol over the blade and hand it to me.
She did as the doctor asked, and Matt Rankin swore some more.
"Ya operating on my hand with yer jackknife? Well ya may be a decent saw bones after all." he said, then yelled and let fly a stream of blue curses and the doctor cut down around the splinter. Finally it was out, and the hand bandaged. The doc gave Lizzy instructions on how to change the bandages, and Matt took a long pull on the bottle of whiskey.
'What do I owe ya, sawbones" asked Matt Rankin.
The doctor wasn't sure he liked being called a sawbones, but under the circumstances, he let it pass. He carefully wiped some blood off the blade of his doctors knife.
"I usually get 8 dollars for a house call, but for field surgery I charge 10 bucks even" he said in an even tone of voice.
"Ten dollars for sumthin done with a jackknife?" Matt Rankin exploded.
"No, 10 dollars for knowing what to cut and not cut with that jackknife, so you'll have a hand a month from now!" the doctor told him.
Suddenly Matt laughed, and the young doctor knew he been been tested by this man.
"Pay the man, LIzzy. My wallet's over on the counter."
Lizzy escorted the doctor to the door, and out on the front porch. She stood close to the young doctor, almost against him.
"So, Doc, How about I stop by and you give me a real good exam, huh?"
The doctor was swept by the smell of her perfume, and the sight of her nipples poking through the thin material of her T-shirt didn't help. A small trickle of sweat ran down his back.
"Miss Rankin, I am a married man. A very happily married man. I think it would be best to keep any relationship on a doctor-patient level."
"Heck doc, most of the men who come to Tinkers are married men. That ain't never stopped nuthin!" she told him with a playful smile.
The doctor made good his escape and later at home after dinner with his wife, he took his knife and wiped down the blade with a sponge.
"Was it an interesting day dear?" his wife asked. "You must have have used your new knife if it needs cleaning."
"Yes, well, I made strong drink for an old lady and cut on a man's hand with it later on. "
He told his wife about his day, as he stropped his knife on the back of a belt, but didn't mention Lizzy Rankin. Somethings are best left unsaid.
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