Chapter 14
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“B RUTAL DAY,” LUCIANA said as they moved back to their housing area the following evening. The women needed to clean up before dinner, and Avery was both sweaty and exhausted. At least they had real showers here. Some onsite locations relied on little more than a field shower or bucket of water.
This was lavish in comparison.
“It was rough. I’m hungry and exhausted, but that’s the very least of my troubles right now. Some of those kids....” Avery shook her head. They’d treated a young teenage girl who’d been raped sometime along her journey north. She was in rough shape, and Avery had to practically push Dr. Walters out of the tent so they could examine her. Avery understood why many of the women were fearful of men after what they’d endured. Unfortunately, both doctors here were male, which had posed a problem in some instances. While the men were perfectly capable physicians, the patients sometimes preferred a woman to examine them—if they allowed anyone to see them at all.
“At least we are here to provide care,” Luciana said matter-of-factly. “If we were not, they’d be in even worse shape. Some might not survive. That is the brutal reality of the jungle.”
Avery’s stomach churned, and she sank down into the wooden chair at her small desk. “How do you deal with it?” she asked her roommate. “I’ve been here a month, and I thought I was prepared—” She cut off.
Luciana eyed her sadly. “There is no way to prepare for this. You’ll help who you can and then eventually go back to the U.S. There will always be more migrants coming, more horror. You have to focus on who you did help, not who you didn’t.”
“That’s tough for me to do,” Avery admitted.
“Si. But you must, both for your own well-being as well as that of the patients you treat.”
Avery studied her a moment. Luciana was around her age, only two years older. The age gap seemed bigger, somehow, because of the life her roommate had led. They were both compassionate nurses, devoted to treating others, and skilled in their profession, but Avery’s reality was a far cry from the women she worked with daily.
A knock on their bedroom door had Luciana crossing the room to open it. She spoke with two of the other nurses, making plans for them to all meet for a meal in thirty minutes.
“Ada and Isabella,” she said as she returned. Luciana ruffled through her pile of clothes, pulling out some clean items. Avery had to hustle along and get ready herself, but she wanted to fire up her laptop first and check her email before dashing off to the shower.
Avery smiled as she scanned over her new emails. There was one from a nurse friend back in California, one from her parents, but that’s not where her eyes immediately went. There were not one but two messages from Ryan, and her heart fluttered.
She eagerly clicked on the first email he’d sent her early that morning.
Hey there baby. I’m heading to PT but wanted to shoot you a quick message in case you check this before work. Went on a solo hike to our waterfall yesterday, but it wasn’t the same without you there. Miss you. xoxo Ryan
There was a longer note, too, sent later this evening. She really had worked long hours today if Ryan was home before her. The SEAL team trained hard, but the brutal realities of life here meant she had little down time. There was never enough staff to help the steady stream of patients.
She scanned over his message quickly, devouring every word. Avery flushed as he recounted all the ways that he missed her, especially when he said he missed her in his bed.
She missed that, too. The closeness. The comfort. The feel of his big body moving over hers and filling her, giving her exactly what she so desperately needed.
Avery almost wished she’d slept with him sooner. That one brief weekend together where they’d finally admitted and acted on their feelings hadn’t been enough. Avery had quickly realized what she’d been missing out on all those months. But the time had allowed them to grow closer, to develop a solid friendship that formed the basis of their new relationship. And once they’d crossed that line?
Her pulse pounded.
Those memories kept her up some nights—Ryan’s big hands on her body, his kisses, the way they’d made love. She hoped against hope that she could take some time off around the holidays and fly to Hawaii to meet him. While they were allotted some personal days, their day-to-day schedule was hectic. Harried. The nursing staff would be fine if she left, but Avery would feel guilty flying off to a tropical paradise while everyone else continued the hard work here.
“Dr. Walters seemed even more annoyed than usual today,” Luciana commented as she took off her shoes. “He was snippy to me all day long.”
“Oh, he was,” Avery agreed. “He wasn’t happy when he brought me another coffee this morning and I told him it was rude to ignore you.”
Luciana laughed. “No, Mr. American Doctor did not like that. He’d rather order us around to do his bidding but ignore the fact that we’re his colleagues.” Avery didn’t disagree. The man was dismissive and downright rude to the other staff, clearly favoring Avery.
“The missing box yesterday was strange,” Avery said. “Isabella thought a supply box was gone from their tent, too.”
“Si. It is a problem, but I don’t think it’s the nursing staff. Someone else has been rummaging through our supplies.”
“The cabinets are supposed to be locked,” Avery mused. “They have been each morning we’ve arrived, but someone could be getting there sooner. If it was an outsider, someone not on staff, they’d have to break into the lockers.”
“Agreed. It is someone involved in Doctors Without Borders.”
“Dr. Walters denies there’s an issue. The strange thing is, there wasn’t anything great in those cabinets anyway, just basic medical supplies. Drugs and medications are locked up elsewhere, and those are all accounted for.”
“We should keep an eye on Mr. American Doctor,” Luciana said. “I don’t like him.”
Avery nodded, mulling that over. He’d been vetted and hired in the same manner she had, but it did feel like something was going on. Avery wondered if anything had gone missing before his arrival. She’d have to question the other nurses about it at dinner. At the moment, she needed to clean up and get ready for the meal.
***
A VERY’S FINGERS FLEW over the keyboard of her laptop later that night. She’d sent Ryan a quick note earlier but promised a lengthier message after she’d eaten.
“You look happy,” Luciana gently teased her. “I always know when you have an email from your man.”
Avery smiled at her roommate. “I miss him. We were long distance before, but this is different. With our busy schedule and cell reception being so terrible, we can’t just call or text when we want. It’s hard not being able to talk every day. Oh my gosh, look at this picture he sent!” she said with a laugh.
Ryan had emailed her a picture of him completely covered in wet sand, a huge grin on his face. He’d clearly crawled through something in training and was a hot mess—emphasis on the hot part, she thought as she flushed. He had sunglasses on in the photo, but she could imagine the gleam in his eye.
“Muy caliente!” Luciana said. “Very nice indeed. I can see why you miss him,” she joked. “And you were long distance? No, no,” she gently chided. “If I had a man like that, I’d move closer in an instant,” she teased.
Avery’s smile grew wider. “That’s the plan after my stint here in South America. We were both interested in each other but friends first.”
“And then he couldn’t keep his hands off you,” Luciana teased.
“Well, he tried,” Avery said with a laugh. “Ryan’s actually friends with my older brother.”
Luciana laughed. “He must really like you then. Usually, men don’t date their friend’s sister unless they’re serious about her. Or looking for a fight,” she joked.
“There was no fight,” Avery protested, amused at Luciana’s line of thought. As she mulled it over, however, she realized that it made sense. A guy wouldn’t risk pissing off his good buddy if the woman he was chasing after wasn’t worth it. Ryan wasn’t the type of man to consider a woman a conquest, either. He’d always been protective of her, even before their relationship had moved to the next level on her last trip.
“Well good,” Luciana said firmly. “I’m glad you’re happy. You should show that picture to Dr. Walters,” she added with a laugh. “Maybe then he’d stop paying you special attention.”
Avery snorted. “He’d love seeing a picture of my boyfriend, wouldn’t he? But no, I don’t want to piss him off since we still have to work together for eleven more months.”
“You miss your Ryan though,” Luciana said knowingly, before moving across the room to gather up some things, readying for tomorrow. Her long, dark hair swung behind her, and Avery watched as she sorted through her clothes for a moment before turning back to her laptop.
Her Ryan.
Avery liked that thought. And while eleven months felt like forever some days, she knew plenty of couples dealt with long distance relationships during deployments. It was ironic that Ryan was the servicemember, yet she was the one gone for a year. His job as a Navy SEAL didn’t usually require lengthy deployments like other members of the military faced, but that could change. She’d just have to hope the time flew by quickly so she could get to the next phase of her life—taking a chance on moving to Hawaii and seeing what could really bloom between them.
Smiling, she finished typing a flirty email. She was in a good mood tonight. Just seeing Ryan’s picture had brightened her spirits. Maybe she’d take a quick picture tomorrow to send to him. She’d have to seriously look into taking some leave at her halfway point in this job, too. It was amazing how six months ago, she’d been single in California. Her life was on an entirely different trajectory now.