Excerpt
Doc Gillespie
Great Falls, Montana
It had been two very long days since Joel had been thrown from
the big buckskin gelding and his ankle wasn’t feeling any
better. Maybe it was getting worse. He had spent most of yesterday
hopelessly hobbling around the house. Not being able to ride
was driving him nuts. Or maybe he was nuts already and not
being able to ride was making him nuttier. It was now ridiculous
and even impossible to think that he could ride. Harry had eventually
come to the house at noon yesterday to make sure that Joel
was okay. Hobbling over to the screen door, Joel explained the
events of his wild ride on the buckskin to Harry. Without as
much as one word of a reply, the old man simply shook his head
and made his way back to the barn.
For Joel, it was a good thing that it was his left ankle that was
injured; at least he could still use his right foot on the gas pedal.
And that is what he was doing this morning. Joel was approaching
the outskirts of Great Falls in search of some medical attention
that could hopefully accelerate the healing process. The
severe pain was nearly killing him and he had to get out of the
house before he started drinking.
The sign above the medical clinic in the strip mall on the outskirts
of town proclaimed, “Dr. Michael Gillespie. Walk-ins Welcome.”
The receptionist was unlocking and opening the front
door of the clinic as he pulled into the nearly empty parking lot.
Hobbling into the clinic, he approached the front desk and asked
to see the doctor.
Manolis Aligizakis 