by Rinyu, Beth
I automatically ripped open one of the antiseptic pads that was on the table and began cleaning the wound on his arm. He looked at me as if he was taken a little off guard by my abrupt reaction but didn’t resist. Once I was comfortable that it was thoroughly clean I applied a compression bandage tightly around it to reduce any pain and swelling.
“Thanks,” he said graciously. I smiled acknowledging his gratitude.
Tricia and James’ bickering broke the awkward silence. “C’mon James, we’re going to die of starvation waiting for you,” Tricia said.
James seemed to be paying her no mind and quickly came walking over to where Julian and I were standing rolling his eyes. “Kat, please make her stop complaining,” he joked.
“Dr. Kiron, this is James,” I said, still trying to get accustomed to calling him Julian.
“Nice to meet you,” Julian said, extending his hand.
“You too, Dr. Kiron,” James said.
“Please call me Julian,” he responded as he looked over at me as if to remind me as well.
Julian possessed such an allure. Besides being stunningly good-looking, there was something about his personality that attracted me like a magnet.
Tricia’s grin was a mile wide as she looked at me then Julian. “What happened to your arm?” she asked noticing the bandage.
“Just a spider bite, it’s fine, Kat took care of it.”
“Oh,” Tricia said raising her eyebrows at me. I looked away trying to ignore her.
James invited Julian to have dinner with us. Julian explained that he couldn’t. He just came back to get some supplies and needed to head over to one of the other villages, which was an hour away, to tend to some patients. I was a little disappointed at first but then my head starting winning the latest battle over my heart and I knew that it was probably for the best.
“Wow, that’s a long drive to be going alone in the dark,” Tricia said to Julian as she looked at me.
“Nah, I do it all the time; I’m used to it,” he said, brushing her off.
“But still I bet a little company wouldn’t hurt?” she continued. I shook my head and gave her a dirty look, knowing where she was going with this.
Julian looked from the cabinet that he was taking supplies from and asked Tricia, “Why, are you volunteering to come?”
“Umm, no, I mean not me, but maybe Kat would like to join you.” If looks could kill, Tricia would have been dead by the expression on my face.
Julian closed the cabinet door, double checking everything on his list. I was hoping that he wasn’t going to take her seriously. “Did you want to go, Kat?” he asked.
I was always bad with answering questions when on the spot. I was especially bad when I had two beautiful blue eyes looking at me. “Um, sure,” I blurted out.
“Okay, I’m leaving in about five minutes, after I load all this up,” he said, grabbing boxes of equipment that he had taken out of the cabinet. James gave him a hand carrying the stuff. I waited until they were well out of earshot before I let Tricia have it.
“Tricia, what is wrong with you!” I said in a loud whisper.
“Why?” she chuckled.
“For one, I am starving and two, I’m tired!” I answered.
She walked over to her bag that was sitting on the table and took out a power bar. “Here, this is probably better than anything you would eat in that cafeteria anyway. It’s my last one.” She sounded like she was doing an honorable thing by giving it to me.
I snatched it out of her hand and took a big bite. “Mmm, it’s so good,” I said, rubbing in the fact that I was eating her last power bar. Tricia and I broke into laughter. I quickly retreated, letting her know that I was still not pleased with her.
“Oh Kat, where is your sense of adventure?” she asked as my smile disappeared.
“It’s in bed, where I should be going in a couple of hours; not to another depressing village, for God knows how long with some guy that I hardly even know.”
“So, you get to know him. You wanted help getting over Jake didn’t you?” Tricia raised her eyebrows.
“Yes, I want to get over Jake on my own, not by getting involved with some guy who’s just like him!”
“Why do you think that?” Tricia asked
“Oh please Tricia, look at him, he’s only thirty two-years-old and already a very successful doctor and need I state the obvious – totally gorgeous!”
“Well, he certainly doesn’t seem full of himself,” Tricia said.
“Yeah, well you didn’t have dinner with him last night, he actually came out and told me that he doesn’t have relationships with women he only -”
Tricia signaled for me to be quiet as she heard the door opening, only to find James entering. “Oh, it’s just you,” she replied.
“Oh sorry, who did you expect?” James asked sarcastically.
I sat and watched in amusement as Tricia and James bantered back and forth. I was just as guilty as Tricia. I was the one who was always trying to get her to see James as more than just a friend. But I had a valid reason for my persistence: she and James made the perfect couple. I, on the other hand, had nothing at all in common with Julian beside the fact that we were both doctors. He wasn’t satisfied with just being “a doctor;” he wanted to be the best at what he did. I was perfectly fine with being Dr. Kat, Community Pediatrician.
”Are you ready?” Julian asked as he came back in to grab the last of his supplies.
I gathered up my belongings as Tricia stopped her chattering with James for a brief second.
“Bye Kat, have fun,” she said with a full faced grin. My only response to her was a shake of my head. James was clueless, looking at the two of us like we were speaking some foreign language.
I stepped outside for the first time since early morning. It must have just finished raining as the raindrops still dripped from the trees overhead. Even though it was hot and muggy it still felt refreshing after being inside all day. Julian was loading his last box into a black Jeep and talking to one of the villagers who spoke very good English. They finished up their conversation as the man looked over at me.
“Nwanyi Marama,” he said to Julian.
“Yes, very,” Julian replied.
I felt a bit uncomfortable and at the same time curious as to what the man had said to him. I tried repeating the word over and over in my head to make a mental note and look it up when I got a chance. It was of no use; it was totally out of my head within seconds.
I got into the Jeep and put my seat belt on, “you know that’s really kind of rude?” I said as Julian got in.
“What?” he asked clueless.
“If you have something to say about me, then you should at least have the common courtesy to say it in a language that I understand.”
A smile stretched across his face and he began to laugh. “Only if I was saying something bad and trust me it wasn’t bad.” He raised his eyebrows at me. Why did he have to be so handsome?
I was feeling as if all of a sudden I had a second wind. Maybe Tricia was right and a change of scenery would help break up the momentum of this humdrum place. The sun was setting in the distance. It was almost as beautiful as the ones at home. But nothing could compare to a Cape May sunset. The sky would light up in vibrant shades of pink and peach as the sun slowly disappeared into the bay signaling the end of another day. Just thinking about it made me smile.
The ride to the village was long and bumpy. This time Julian did all the talking, pointing out different areas of interest along the way. It all looked the same to me but he swore that certain areas in the thick of the trees were beautiful waterfalls. I decided that I would take his word for it. I wasn’t going to take a chance of getting eaten by a wild animal. He found it very humorous when I expressed that opinion to him.
“What’s so funny? This is Africa, right? You know, lions, gorillas?” I asked being totally serious.
“No, you are absolutely right, you’re just funny,” he said. “You
better watch out, the monkeys have been known to jump down from the trees onto your head,” he said, trying to sound serious. He began laughing even when I looked up through the open top of the jeep and instinctively covered my head.
“Not funny,” I said unable to hide my smile. So how many patients will you be seeing tonight?” I asked, trying to get a gauge on what time we would be back.
“Two; a seven-year-old and a ten-year-old; they’re brothers,” he replied.
“Oh, what type of cancer do they have?” I hoped that I could handle seeing this.
“Brain tumors,” he said regretfully.
“Both of them?” I asked, shocked at the coincidence of two brothers contracting a brain tumor.
Julian then explained to me about the recent cancer outbreaks that had been affecting children in this region of Africa. He said that there was research being done to find out if it was an environmental issue. I was a little bit embarrassed when he started laughing. “Did you not hear a word in my speech the other day?”
“Well, you know it was hot and crowded in there and I was worried about Akin,” I rambled on.
“R-i-g-h-t-…” he said as he smiled as if he wasn’t buying it.
“What? I was!” I smiled back.
It was just starting to get dark when we arrived at the village. This one seemed much more primitive than the one we were working at. There were no regular buildings at all, just huts, and not nicely constructed like the ones in the other village. It looked as if the first heavy rain or wind would destroy them. The medical facility was a large tent, and the villagers didn’t seem as friendly either. Julian grabbed some boxes from the back. One of the villagers came running over, grabbing the rest. This hospital was set up similar to the other but didn’t have nearly as many beds. They only had three nurses on staff and two other doctors.
I followed Julian as he walked over to two little boys. I assumed these were his patients. It was heartwarming to see a huge smile appear on the older boy’s face as soon as he saw Julian.
“Dr. Julian,” he said in broken English.
“Hey Rapula, how are you feeling today?” He gave the boy a high five.
He shook his head signaling that he was not well.
“Well, I bought this pretty lady with me today to make you feel better. This is Dr. Vallia,” he said, introducing me to the little boy.
“You can call me Dr. Kat,” I said, smiling at him.
I took both of the boys’ vital stats for Julian as he prepared to administer them chemo. I was amazed how he took the boys’ minds off what was going on by talking to them and telling them jokes. They apparently understood English pretty well, laughing at every punch line. Seeing the connection that he had with these two boys was astonishing. He sat with them for another hour longer, ensuring they didn’t have any negative effects from the chemo. Rapula pulled out a deck of UNO cards from the side of his bed. Julian indicated to me that he taught them how to play.
Tau, the younger boy, looked at me and then his older brother. “Dr. Kat, play?” he asked in his best effort at English.
“Sure,” I said enthusiastically. “But I have to warn you, I’m awesome at this game!”
Rapula dealt the cards. To my surprise, I was really having a good time. I finally expressed my excitement after finally winning the fourth round.
“I think she cheated,” Julian joked to the boys.
Their laughter was contagious. My heart melted upon seeing how they were not letting cancer break their spirits. I knew that Julian had a lot to do with it as well. He truly had a gift. Tonight with these two boys, I had just witnessed why he was such a great doctor.
Chapter 6
“You were really great with them,” I commended Julian on the ride home.
“Thanks,” he said.
The intense rain made the drive back even longer. The rain pelted the canvas top on the Jeep, sounding more like golf balls than raindrops. I kept up the conversation just enough, but I didn’t want to distract him too much from driving. The narrow dirt roads were totally dark. I was thoroughly impressed with how well he was handling driving in these conditions. I finally began to banter on some more when I noticed the rain letting up.
“So do you think they’ll be okay?” I asked.
“It’s hard to tell right now. If the tumors could be shrunk to a reasonable size and then removed, they have a great chance.”
“Well, that’s sounds pretty hopeful,” I said positively.
Julian looked at me with doubt in his eyes. “It would be hopeful if there was someone here to perform the surgery.”
“Oh,” I said, losing my optimism. “Doesn’t seeing all of this cancer make you scared to have kids some day?”
“No,” he answered quickly. “I don’t plan on having any.”
He explained to me that he was the type of person that likes to give one hundred percent to whatever he does. He knew with the demands of his career that he would never be able to give that to a family. He didn’t want to feel any guilt over doing his job. I admired him for firmly knowing what he wanted out of life and not letting anything stand in his way. He was totally committed to his career. I certainly loved my job too, but I wouldn’t let it interfere with having a family someday. Did that make me less of a doctor for feeling that way? Seeing how passionate he was about his career made me second guess a lot of my thinking.
“Wow, well that’s great that you have a plan in place,” I said.
“Yup, I’m going to die a lonely old man,” he joked. “What about you Kat, you don’t have a plan?” he asked, sounding more serious.
“Not really,” I said. “I know that I want to have kids someday. For right now, I’m pretty much happy with where I am with my life.” I felt a little inadequate saying that to someone who was always striving to be more.
“So, there you go,” he said. “You know what you want from your life someday. You have a plan too.”
“Well, I guess you can say that. It’s certainly not as grandiose as yours, but I suppose I do,” I answered with a little doubt in my voice. The thought of me having a plan sounded a little ridiculous to myself. Half of the time I couldn’t even figure out what to wear to work in the morning. Forget planning out the rest of my life.
“What are you talking about? Being a mom is the most important job in the world,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to have kids; it’s just not for me,” he added.
I opened up and told him about my recent breakup with Jake and how I could relate somewhat to what he had said about not having time for relationships.
“Nothing justifies cheating,” he said earnestly. “If he was unhappy with the way things were going then he should have confronted you about it or just broken up with you.”
I was a little surprised by that statement. I just assumed that he wouldn’t have a problem with being unfaithful, given his attitude about relationships. I could tell that he was speaking from experience. I decided to come right out and ask him. He told me that he had been dating a girl all through medical school. To his surprise she was cheating on him with his best friend, while he was away doing his fellowship.
“Geez, that’s horrible,” I said, feeling instant anger toward the girl who broke his heart.
“So, I guess he’s not your best friend anymore,” I asked, already knowing the answer. If I hadn’t already, I could tell by the expression on his face.
He went on to re-confirm that he hadn’t been in a serious relationship since. He said that it was for the best so that he could stay committed and focused on his work. Still, I wondered if his past experience had something to do with his whole attitude on relationships.
The rain had completely stopped by the time we got back. Julian parked the Jeep in front of the medical building and we walked up the hill together. I hadn’t the slightest clue of the time as I looked down at my watch. I was shocked to see that it was almost 2 a.m. Julian seemed unfazed when I told him the time, leading me to belie
ve that getting very little sleep was a normal occurrence to him.
We finally entered the quiet building. Julian’s room was down the opposite hall to mine.
“Well, thanks for the company,” he said.
“Anytime; it was fun,” I said.
“Good night, Kat.”
“Good night,” I replied, turning the corner heading toward my room.
* * * * *
I forced myself out of bed. I hit the snooze button several times on my alarm but could no longer ignore it. Tricia was already up and gone. She and James had left extra early to go to one of the other villages. She must have been super quiet or I must have been in a deep sleep. I never heard her get up and get dressed. I slowly dragged myself to the bathroom. I looked in the mirror at the dark circles and puffiness under my eyes. Attractive, I said to myself. I hoped that a nice long shower would wake me up. To my dismay, it did absolutely nothing. I hurriedly dressed looking at the clock, with just enough time to head to the cafeteria and get some much needed breakfast. I was in the hallway locking the door when I heard a recognizable voice.
“There you are,” Charles said as he exited his room.
“Are you headed for breakfast?” I asked, happy to have a familiar face to eat with.
“Well I was going to skip breakfast today, but since you talked me into it, what the heck,” he said.
The cafeteria was packed. We finally managed to find two seats together at one of the bigger tables. I was so hungry and planned on eating whatever they had to offer. That was until I saw that the eggs looked half cooked. I decided to go with the oatmeal and some fruit instead. Charles followed my lead and grabbed the same thing.
“So what’s going on, Kat? I feel like I haven’t gotten a chance to catch up with you in a while,” Charles said.
I began to tell Charles about the exciting day that I had had yesterday helping Julian with his patients.
“He really is an amazing doctor,” I said.
Charles looked over his coffee up at me. I knew that look; it was the same one that my dad would give me when he disapproved of something. Sometimes the similarities between the two of them scared me.
