“I’ve finished my rotation. I’m heading home, remember?” she asked curiously. She’d talked of nothing else.
“Oh, I thought you might sign on again for a spell,” she covered. She had known, but when she had heard, she had worried more that Maddie might be going soon too. After all, the two women had arrived at the same time. So far, she hadn’t worked up the nerve to even ask her. Her own rotation had been extended more than once, but no one had commented on it.
“Wonder if we can manage to get me some time off too so I can come and wish you goodbye,” Maddie asked, innocently. Her glance over at Deanna spoke volumes.
“Maybe,” Leida answered.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“I’m going to miss you, Leida. You be sure to write me back in the States,” Maddie hugged her as they stood in front of the station.
“I’m going to miss you too. This has been quite the adventure,” she assured her.
“I’m surprised you aren’t signing on for more,” Deanna teased as she too got a hug.
“Ah, remember, I was at the other camp. I’ve done my duty. I kinda want to see what I can do back home now,” she answered, her Australian accent never sounding more clear. She would travel by train from the port to one of the major airport hubs. She wasn’t going to take one of the smaller planes, although that would have been more efficient. There had been a crash a couple weeks ago, so she altered her plans.
It worked out well for Maddie and Deanna as they could spend the night in Lamish and head back the next day and no one would be the wiser.
“Ms. Cooper?” a voice called and Deanna looked up in surprise.
“I’m Doctor Cooper,” she corrected, a habit of a lifetime. After all, no one believed someone that looked as young as she did was a doctor.
“Message for you, ma’am,” the porter told her with a pull on his cap and a not-so-subtle hand held out for a tip.
Deanna gave him a tip and opened the unsealed message. It was from Doctor Burton, asking her to stay an extra day to pick up two replacements that were coming out to the camp. He must have radioed it in after they left the camp.
“What is it?” Maddie asked, worried. She was always so sure that something bad came with a message like that. She was sure they were expected to come back to the camp immediately.
“Apparently we are getting a nurse and someone else, it doesn’t say, but Doctor Burton asks that we stay an extra day to wait for their arrival,” she explained with a meaningful look meant only for Maddie.
Maddie tried not to show the absolute joy on her face at this news. They had an extra night in town together.
“They didn’t waste any time replacing me, did they?” Leida asked with a hint of self-mockery. They had known for a while that her time was up and she wasn’t continuing on.
“Now, you know you are irreplaceable,” Deanna teased.
“Well, not to Doctor Burton,” she pointed out realistically. “That man is positively on a witch-hunt,” she warned, knowing Deanna would catch the meaning.
“Yes, he is, isn’t he?” she answered sardonically. Just then the whistle sounded and Deanna caught up her bag and handed it to Leida as she mounted the steps.
“Goodbye, goodbye,” she called as she waved.
“Don’t forget to write,” Maddie reminded her.
They waited a moment for the train to pull out of the station and for Leida to be out of sight before turning and walking back to the Rover.
“Now, what would you like to do for the rest of the afternoon?” Deanna asked teasingly.
“Well, I could use a shower. Maybe we should go check in at the hotel?” Maddie answered in the same tone.
“And then what?”
“I’m sure we will think of something to while away the hours.”
They barely made it through the door of their hotel room, shutting it firmly behind them, dropping their bags and falling into each other’s arms, tearing at their clothes in their haste to get naked.
Maddie was finally able to go down on Deanna, something she had wished she had done the first time they were together. She had fantasized about it ever since. Knowing the extreme pleasure Deanna had given her this way, she wanted to return the favor. The results were even better than she had hoped, giving her confidence to make love to Deanna repeatedly through the night. Neither one of them got much sleep that night, but neither of them really minded. The time they waited to be together like this again had been spent experimenting, wishing, and dreaming…Now they could fulfill those dreams and make them a reality.
Much to Maddie’s surprise, Deanna managed to make love to her in the shower, nearly drowning as she kneeled and took Maddie’s sex in her mouth, making her cum. Maddie hadn’t thought it possible, and she was thrilled to realize there was so much more she could learn from this incredible woman. “I love you,” she screamed as she was in the throes.
Deanna smiled, her lips still busy as she heard her girlfriend’s cry.
* * * * *
“Why do you do that?” Maddie asked Deanna as she saw her once again absentmindedly playing with her eyebrows and eyelashes. Occasionally, one would come out and she’d bring it to the tip of her lip as she poked it and feathered it across the skin there.
“Do what?” Deanna asked, surprised, dropping whatever she had been holding and sitting up.
“You pull at your eyebrows, sometimes your eyelashes,” Maddie pointed out, explaining further the things she had observed.
Deanna sighed wearily. She shook her head. “It’s a nervous disorder. I try to keep it under control, but frequently I don’t even know I’m doing it,” she explained. “It’s call Trichotillomania or trichotillosis. It’s a hair-pulling disorder.”
“You can’t stop it?”
“I try, and most of the time I’m successful, but I don’t know I’m doing it half the time.”
“It’s not contagious is it?” she teased, knowing a nervous disorder wasn’t contagious.
Deanna smiled ruefully. “I’m lucky. I don’t eat the hairs,” she pointed out, explaining that some sufferers of the nervous order did that, even ending up with hairballs. She sighed again. “I do wish I’d stop it though. Sometimes I end up with no eyelashes or holes in my eyebrows.”
“It’s that bad?”
“It’s a compulsion, usually brought on by nerves.”
“When did you start?”
“When I went to high school. Being nine and in high school was very stressful,” she confessed. “I started with my eyelashes, then moved on to my eyebrows. At least I don’t pull my hair,” she indicated the mop on her head that had been bleached a bit more by the hot African sun, the roots still quite dark. “Some even pull nose hairs,” she grinned and wrinkled her nose at the thought. “Or even,” she leaned down and tugged the pubic hairs between them.
“Ouch,” Maddie said reflexively. She had wondered about that, but having it confirmed was a bit odd. “Must be a bit embarrassing now and then.”
Deanna nodded. “Yeah, and as a doctor, I should know better. Having holes in my eyebrows is embarrassing.” She looked ashamed.
“Is there anything I can do?” she asked softly.
Shrugging, she answered, “Just let me know when I’m doing it. Not obvious or anything, so I’m not embarrassed, but if you could grab my hand maybe?”
Maddie imagined holding down Deanna’s hand, those amazing hands that gave her so much pleasure and could handle a scalpel as an extension of those magical fingers.... “I’ll do what I can,” she promised. “Isn’t there anything a doctor can do?”
“It’s hard to treat. It’s chronic and,” she shrugged, “a behavior disorder...it’s mental.” She soon changed the subject as it obviously made her uncomfortable.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Two days later they were sated, and still hadn’t had enough of the other. They were young, enjoying themselves, learning each other in ways that were intimate to lovers around the world.
“I c
an’t believe I can derive so much pleasure from a woman,” Maddie had stupidly remarked.
“What?” Deanna asked, feeling curiously hurt over her statement.
“I mean, I love what you do to me, to my body, but I had never thought a woman could please me like a man.”
“But it’s not like a man...” Deanna began, only to be interrupted.
“No, it’s not, it’s better,” she was assured and then Maddie kissed her, trying to soothe away the hurt she heard in the young doctor’s voice. “I love you,” she added quietly.
Deanna pulled back at the words. It was the first time Maddie had ever said them when not in the throes. Deanna had said them many times in her head, but she wouldn’t say them until Maddie did. Something had told her that if she did, Maddie might pull away. She looked back and forth between the redhead’s green eyes, looking deeply to see if she was sure, if she was teasing, if....
Maddie nodded, knowing Deanna’s indecision and sorry for it. “I do love you, you know?” she asked softly.
Deanna smiled, then rather than answer, she leaned back in for a kiss. That led to other amusing pursuits—touching her lover in intimate ways that told her physically rather than verbally how much she loved her in return.
* * * * *
“It’s your fault we’re late,” Deanna assured Maddie as they hurried through the train station.
“My fault? You were the one that wanted to try...” Maddie began in response, but stopped as she realized they were in a public place and anyone could hear them.
Deanna smirked, knowing she had gotten Maddie’s goat and loving it. She saw Maddie begin to blush and laughed. Redheads did not blush well.
“Oh, you…” Maddie admonished as they came through the doors to the platform and began to look for the two people they were to pick up.
They weren’t hard to spot. They looked out of place standing there and gawking at the colorful people that stood on the platform waiting for a train or for people getting off of them. The different African modes of dress were exotic to say the least, but after months of seeing them, the doctor and nurse were used to them.
“Hello. Are you going to Mamadu?” Deanna asked by way of introduction. They were the only white people on the platform and it was kind of obvious they were out of their element.
“Yes. Were you sent to pick us up?” the woman asked, holding out her hand. “I’m Kimberly Applewood,” she stated as she shook Deanna’s hand.
“Deanna,” she responded to the woman, wondering at her profession. Was she a nurse or a volunteer? She knew they weren’t expecting any more doctors and was sorry for that, but at the same time, not sorry in the least because it meant they needed her and she could stay on.
“I’m Shawn Jackson,” the man introduced himself. “Aren’t you Doctor Kearn…” he began, only to be interrupted by Deanna.
“Cooper, I’m Doctor Deanna Cooper,” she said meaningfully.
“Ah, yes, my mistake,” he apologized. “I saw you in Bambini,” he explained. “Someone pointed you out.”
“Yes, I was there for a while,” she said dismissively, her eyes ablaze in warning and anger.
“Is this all you have?” Maddie asked, not to be excluded.
“This is Maddie. Maddie MacGregor. She is a nurse at the clinic,” Deanna introduced her, feeling ashamed that in her anger, she had forgotten she was there for an instant.
“Shawn Jackson,” he introduced himself again to shake Maddie’s hand.
“Kimberly Applewood,” another hand was held out to be shaken. “Yes, this is all we brought. I was told to pack lightly,” she explained her lack of baggage.
“That’s a good idea out here,” Maddie confided. “What do you do?” she asked as she began to walk with the woman who had scooped up her bag.
“I’m a nurse. This is my second rotation,” she assured her, to establish that she wasn’t a newbie.
“How about you?” Deanna asked Shawn.
“I’m a nurse too, but I’m on my third rotation. I can’t seem to get enough of these places,” he laughed at himself as he tried to figure them out, the dynamics of new people.
“Doctor Cooper, Doctor Cooper,” a voice called singsong as they approached the Rover.
Deanna turned at the voice and saw a line of men, boys really, carrying boxes. “Yes?” she asked, confused. She hadn’t been expecting anything. She saw on the sides of the boxes stamped very clearly, “Pharmaceuticals,” the other name on each of the boxes had been smudged out, deliberately, she thought and wondered at that.
“These came for you on the train,” the man told her. He knew her from the many trips she had made into town. He also remembered that she tipped well.
“Ah, I wonder if we are going to have enough room,” she mused as she looked at the amount of supplies and the lot of them.
They managed, with the help of the carriers. They stacked many of the boxes up on top of the Rover and tied it all down. It looked ungainly and like it might fall down in an instant. The back of the Rover was also filled. The passengers in the back seat, Kimberly and Shawn, had their bags on their knees, with boxes on the seat between them. Deanna tipped the man and each of the carriers. This was not normal, but she knew if she didn’t pay each of them, the leader might not pay the boys for their hard work and the boxes had been heavy.
“Did you order all this?” Maddie asked as she looked at the height of the load above the Rover. It looked very unsteady.
Deanna shrugged. “I wonder how much of this Lakesh would have brought to camp if I hadn’t been here to pick it up?” she asked meaningfully and Maddie nodded.
They carefully turned the Rover around through the throngs of people and Kimberly remarked as she fanned her face, “It’s rather crowded here, isn’t it?”
“That’s because Lamish is a port. With the ships that come in and the train, it gets pretty busy,” Deanna explained as she drove cautiously.
As they made their way out of town and prepared for the long drive, Deanna took on the role of guide—she explained what they were seeing and how far they had to go. Maddie looked on regretfully, hating that these outsiders had cut into her time alone with Deanna. She tried to be pleasant to the two nurses, knowing they were needed desperately, but she still resented that they were here when she could have had the entire ride back to Mamadu alone with Deanna. Deanna didn’t seem to mind. She entertained their new arrivals with stories the entire ride back.
* * * * *
“You brought more in that one shipment than we’ve been able to get in here in months,” Doctor Wilson told her in awe of the amount of supplies he saw taken off her Rover.
“Well I didn’t expect it, and I’m sure that had Lakesh arranged it he wouldn’t have told us about it. I think it’s time you replaced him,” Deanna advised.
He nodded reluctantly. She was right. It had been going on too long and too much had disappeared. To run the clinic effectively, he needed those supplies. He’d had to replace one of their guards just the other day because he caught him going in the supply hut to take things that he knew would sell well on the black market.
“Who do I know that I can trust?” he asked, exasperated.
“Ask Hamishish for someone from the village. She can make it a matter of honor,” she advised.
Nodding thoughtfully, he smiled. “You’re right. Good idea.”
* * * * *
Kimberly was assigned to Leida’s old and barely cold cot. She fit in the rhythm of Mamadu effortlessly, proving she had done this before. She was, however, a gossip. Ferreting out the most salacious news that she could find, she frequently could be found wide-eyed either sharing something she had learned or having some past indiscretions shared with her by others of her ilk.
“What is up with that?” Deanna asked Maddie one day as she saw Kimberly avidly talking with one of the volunteers.
“She found out about Lenny,” Maddie said dryly in a disgusted sounding voice.
“Shit,”
Deanna muttered under her breath as she administered a shot. “That’s it,” she said kindly to the beautiful African woman who rubbed her arm. “You come and see me for that, okay?” she further asked, pointing at the woman’s distended belly. Her interpreter laughed as she translated.
“What? What’s so funny?” Deanna asked. It wouldn’t be the first time she was the butt of some joke between her interpreter and a patient.
“You said that to her the last time she was here,” her interpreter explained.
“I did?” she asked in surprise, looking at the patient again and not recalling her at all.
“Last year,” it was explained.
Deanna realized how long she had really been here; she knew it had been too long. Doctors Without Borders only stayed a few months and she hoped that no one had noticed. She did, however, wish to get to know Maddie better and see if this could work out to being a relationship. She smiled at the patient and assured her she would be happy to help her. She turned to the next patient and was unhappy that she had to work with Kimberly on this one.
Working quickly, she saw that there was a bacterial fungus on the skin of this man. After asking many questions, she determined that she would have to ask Hamishish for some input on this one.
“Can’t we just put an ointment on it for eczema?” Kimberly asked her.
“Are you questioning my professional opinion?” Deanna countered, looking at the woman. She didn’t like her on principle. She sensed the woman didn’t think her too competent, due entirely to her age.
“I just thought…” she began, but Deanna dismissed whatever explanation she had been about to make.
Waving her hand dismissively she interrupted with, “When you are here longer, you will understand that including the local witch doctor is not only wise, but prudent. She not only knows the people she sometimes has a local cure that we in the west would be wise to learn from.” She could see that Kimberly wanted to argue with her, but wisely kept her mouth shut.
Doctored Page 14
