Category : Books-Fiction

Sub Category : Romance

Ella's POV

I giggled as I left the humvee garage, hand in hand, with Sergea--I mean--Gabe. I didn't know about him, but I felt completely giddy. I felt butterflies in my stomach and I was almost angry at myself for being so girly. He smiled at me, "You want coffee?"

"I told you, the caffeine will keep us up forever."

He rolled his eyes, "Water then?"

I nodded, "I'm always down for water."

"Come, then," he began to pull me towards the kitchen before smugly chuckling. "If you don't want the caffeine to keep you up all night, I'm sure I could find something else to keep you up all night." 

I smacked his shoulder, scoffinng, "Pervert."

"You didn't say no," he teased. "Plus, should I remind you who the actual pervert is?"

I scoffed as he held the to the kitchen open for me, letting me in. I flicked the lights on and walked over to the table, pulling two chairs out and placing them in the middle of the room, facing each other. Gabe raised an eyebrow at me, "What's with the setup?" He handed me a tin cup filled with water.

I thought for a moment, "I would like to say that it's...comfier?" I laughed. "I have no idea, honestly, I just thought this would be more fun." I pulled pulled my knees up to sit Indian style on the chair. "So how was your day?"

"It was great," he smiled. "It was kind of rough this morning. Finding out the smuggler is a doctor and all--"

My eyes widened. A doctor was the smuggler? That's not possible. That couldn't be true. "A doctor? You've got to be mistaken."

He shook his head, "The kid kept screaming "he was a doctor" in Swahili. We think he meant that a doctor told him to do that."

"Do you mean a doctor from the MT? Or a native doctor who volunteers here? A military doctor?" My mind was whirring. What if I was close to the smuggler? What if it was Madeline or Brandon? What would I do if one of my friends were a traitor to the country?

Gabe must have noticed me panicking because he reached forward and smoothed my hair back, "Hey, El, it's fine. Don't worry too much about it. I'm sure it isn't someone from the MT--"

The lights flickered once before blacking out. I glanced up at the ceiling where the light was, "Did the power just go out?"

"It happens a lot," Gabe began to pull a box of matches from his utility belt. "The generator isn't very stable out here. Hey, there should be a candle behind you--on the counter--will you grab it?"

I nodded and reached behind me, grabbing what felt like a candle. I handed the candle to Gabe as he lit a match. He glanced at the object in my hand deadpanned, "That's a salt shaker."

I flushed and reached back and felt around for a candle wick. I grabbed what I was positive was a candle and handed it to Gabe. "Ella. It's a dildo."

"Jesus Christ, what?" I sputtered as Gabe burst out laughing. I smacked his head several time, shouting, "Don't mess with me like that you jerk!"

He laughed and covered his head, "Ella, stop! I've got to light the candle!"

I stopped and hopped back on my seat, pouting.

He smiled and lit the candle, setting it behind me. Wiggling his eyebrows, he added, "I set the mood."

I groaned and he laughed harder.

~oOo~

I smiled and handed the child a bowl of stew, sitting down on his bed. He looked up at me with his big, round eyes, guilt swimming in them. I felt a pang of pity in my chest. This boy was seven years old and was taken advantage of by a doctor. He didn't know any better; how could he? He said that he was an orphan, his parents weren't there to teach him.

I sat beside the boy and rubbed his back, comfortingly, "It's okay, love. I know you didn't mean it."

I helped him eat and told him about trivial things--although I knew he could not understand. He looked content just being near me and listening. As I told him about my little sister, the door opened. Dr. Kamau entered, and nodded a head at me in greeting. He said hello to the boy in Swahili before properly greeting me, "Hello, Nurse Anderson." He spoke with a thick accent, and at times was difficult to understand.

"Hi, Dr. Kamau. Can I help you?" I smiled at him through my mask.

He nodded and came closer to the boy, "I just wanted to check on Amani," he gestured to the patient. He asked Amani several questions in Swahili while I quietly excused myself. 

I exited the quarantine room and pulled off my protective gown, stepping into the general meeting area. I smiled as I saw Brandon, Whitney, Madeline, and Keith huddled together, chattering excitedly. I snuck up behind Whitney and listened in, hoping to scare her.

"I'm telling you, they're a thing!" Brandon insisted. "Keith, you might as well pay up your ten dollars now!"

"Who?" I asked, genuinely curious. Whitney shrieked and turned around, her face flushed. I laughed at her expression: fear mixed with embarrassment and...guilt? Brandon looked around uncomfortably as Madeline examined her suddenly interesting nails. Keith was chuckling nervously, fiddling with his watch. "...who were you talking about?" I was growing more and more suspicious.

"Talking?" Whitney responded quickly. "We weren't talking. We were--conversing!"

"Yes!" Madeline cut in. "We were conversing about...parrots! They have parrots. In Puerto Rico!"

Brandon nodded, nervously, "We were conversing about parrots in Puerto Rico and betting on your relationship with Sergeant Whit!"

"Dammit, Brandon!" Whitney exclaimed. "We were so close to getting away with it!"

"'We were conversing' how does that make any sense?" 

"At least I didn't give everything away!"

"Why were you betting on my relationship?"

"We're grown adults! We shouldn't be arguing like this!"

"This is making us look really unprofessional!"

Gabe, Private Morgan, and Captain Cooper were standing at the end of the hall, watching as the MT argued over trivial things. Gabe snorted, "Bunch of idiots."

"If they're idiots, you must me mentally challenged," Captain Cooper blankly stated.

Gabe gulped, choking back tears, "That really hurt my feelings, sir."

Captain Cooper began trying to pull Gabe into a hug, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that."

Gabe began trying to push Captain Cooper away, "Dude, that's weird."

Private Morgan rolled her eyes, "Dumb and Dumber."