Doctored (10 page)

“What did the frat boys have to say?” Leida asked with a grin to cheer up Deanna.  She was rewarded by the doctor with a small smile.

“They need to grow up,” she answered, taking a bite of the bread she was tearing apart.

“Boys will be boys,” she responded as she dug into the food.  They had recently gotten a shipment with plenty of canned fruit and she relished the change.  “You have to try this,” she advised as she pointed out the offerings to Deanna.

“Boys may be boys, but that is no excuse for these supposed men,” she answered angrily.  She looked at the fruit, decided it did look good, and got up to get herself some.  Her tray was still fairly full and she didn’t realize anyone was behind her.  Much to her mortification, she bumped into Maddie with the tray and it poured the contents down the redhead’s front.  “Oh, I am
so
sorry,” she said apologetically.

“Oh man, I just managed to get a shower after all this mud,” Maddie said mournfully in response as she looked down, horrified at the mess on her clothes.

“Looks like you are going to need another,” Leida answered as she tried unsuccessfully not to laugh.

“And I will gladly pour it for you,” Deanna promised.  “I am very sorry,” she repeated, looking genuinely contrite.

Leida’s laughter got a glare and then Maddie realized it really was an accident and laughed herself.  “I guess dinner is on me this time,” she teased.

That drew a laugh out of the blonde.  “I’ll pay your cleaning bill,” she offered.  They all chuckled.  They were fortunate that some of the locals, for a small fee, washed their clothing for them.  They did a good job too.  “Let me help you clean that up,” she offered, but as her napkin came up Maddie took it from her, suddenly flushing in embarrassment.

“I got it.”  She wouldn’t let Deanna help and shooed her away.

Deanna went to fill her tray again, this time with foods she knew she would eat including the delicious-looking fruit that Leida had on her own tray.  By the time she returned to her spot, Maddie was sitting down eating her own food and chatting with Leida.  Magda had joined them as well as Alex, and they were all discussing supplies and when the next truck would be due.

* * * * *

“What were you thinking?” Deanna hissed at Lenny.  They were in the classroom talking, the only private place they had been able to find in the days since the two women had disappeared together.

“I was thinking I wanted to be alone with Emmanulla.  We didn’t see the storm coming on and when we did, we thought we could make it back!” she defended herself hotly.

“You almost got caught,” she warned, keeping her voice low.  One never knew who spoke what language or was listening.  They couldn’t walk out in the village as it was too muddy.

“I know and I’m sorry.  I hope Emmanulla didn’t get into too much trouble with her father.”

“Do you think he knows?  Do you think he disapproves?”

“He wants to marry her off,” she said bitterly.  “Emmanulla doesn’t like any of the men her father has found for her.”

“He’s got to be suspicious!”

Lenny nodded miserably.  “I’ve made a real mess of this.  Maybe we should go away, but how am I going to get her back to the States?  It takes years to get a passport here!”

“You can’t possibly take her back to the States.  They won’t let her in and what are you going to say?  She’s your student?  She’s a little old for that!  Your servant?  They won’t let her in!”

“I know,” she moaned, “but what am I going to do?  I love her!”

“Dammit, you shouldn’t have fallen in love with her!”

“I know, I know!” she repeated.

“Shit!” Deanna ejaculated under her breath, still whispering.  It wasn’t a good situation and she felt bad for her friend, but there was nothing they could do.  If they were exposed, they would both be disgraced: Emmanulla would be married off to the first man that her father could find, and Lenny would be shipped back to Canada.  Lenny would never be allowed another post like this.  If she was exposed as a homosexual, they would label her as unfit.  If they heard it was with the chief’s daughter she would be labeled as the perpetrator on that ‘innocent’ child.  Deanna had another thought.  “You didn’t...” she began.

Lenny looked up.  “We’ve...well, you know...” she began, whispering louder.

“Shhh,” Deanna warned.  “No, I don’t know.  Spell it out.”

“I didn’t do anything she didn’t want to do,” she defended herself.

“Oh shit, did you take her virginity?” Deanna asked, horrified at the possible consequences.

“No, there are other things you can do for pleasure,” Lenny blushed.  “Oh, God!  What am I going to do?” she started to cry into her hands.

Deanna went to take her friend in her arms, but hearing a noise outside she hesitated and decided not to.  “You are going to have to stop seeing her,” she advised.

“No!  I love her!” she protested, looking up, her eyes awash in her grief.

CHAPTER NINE

“So these guys are lugging in my supplies on their backs and on donkeys, and I didn’t realize why I was tied up to the donkey.  You know, led by a rope?”  Deanna was regaling them with stories of her travels and they all smiled appreciatively at her description.  “It was as I slipped off the narrow trail face first into the mud and started sliding down the steep slope, hitting tropical plants with my unmentionables, that I realized…that rope that kept me from falling down the mountainside.  That was a good idea!”

They all started laughing, nearly choking on the beers they were sharing.  “Oh, my gawd, Deanna!  Did that really happen?” Magda wiped the tears away from the corner of her eye as she smiled at the story.

Deanna nodded.  “Yeah, I’ve been to some pretty funky places.  But you know what?  It’s one of the greatest things about what I do, seeing the sights.  When they hauled my ass back up with that taut rope, I looked at that donkey and the phrase ‘kiss my ass’ had a whole new meaning.”

They all collapsed into laughter again at her imagery.

Nights like this made the women close.  Using a combination of English and French, they regaled each other with stories about their lives.  It wasn’t often they were all there at the same time, but it was nice when they were able to share like that.

The rainy season provided plenty of time for introspection.  No one wanted to be caught away from camp, not after Lenny had disappeared.  She was quieter since she had been found, watchful.  She still talked occasionally with Emmanulla, but they were unable to walk out together anymore.  It seemed to be creating a tension.  The others noticed their friend’s agitation and came up with their own conclusions as to why she was like that.  Although Deanna knew the real reason, the others could only speculate.

“Hey, I bet we can walk to the river in ten minutes and back, before the next rain shower,” Deanna challenged Maddie.

Maddie laughed.  “That’s only because the river is so far over its banks we don’t dare get any closer.”

“That’s why I said ten minutes,” she repeated dryly.  They shared a smile.

“Sure, I’ll go.  I’m starting to get cabin fever.”  They started walking through the camp as they bantered.

“Why cabin fever?”

“Well, I go from our tent, to the food tent, to the clinic, and if I’m lucky I get a shower in there at some point.”

“Yeah, I feel wet all the time and slightly muddy,” she agreed.  Then she grinned as she realized something and then proceeded to share, “You do get time in the latrine too?  You can’t discount that.”

“Of course I get time in the latrine,” she sputtered in laughter at the incongruity of that.  “You’re silly.”

“Of course I am, that’s why they adore me,” she spread out her hands indicating the children that would have followed them if their parents hadn’t been calling them in for the evening.  The rain clouds were already boiling up over the plains.

“They adore you because you tease them and give them balloons.  That was really clever of you to bring in such a supply.”

“Yeah, I realized our technology and advances meant nothing if you couldn’t relate to them on simple things.”

“Why do you always gather up the popped ones so carefully?”

“I don’t want that rubber getting into the environment.  It doesn’t break down and recycle,” she explained.

Maddie nodded.  “That makes sense.”

They chatted as they made their way to the roiling and dangerous river’s edge.  Seeing it in person was impressive.  It carried away massive amounts of water.  “This is gonna piss off Harlan,” Deanna commented wryly.

“Yeah, but it should bring a lot of mud down from those,” she indicated the hills that the water drained off from.

“Won’t that make a mess?” she commented.

“And bring nutrients to the soil.”

“Yeah,” she agreed.  She hadn’t been thinking of that.  “That’s probably why the jungles get so rich with all that mulch and greenery.”

“So this desert isn’t to your liking?” she asked, curious about her friend.

“Oh, each has its pluses and minuses.  I love where I am at the moment.  I’m sure they are getting antsy to have me go soon,” she confided.

“I’ll miss you when you go.”

Deanna looked at Maddie and smiled.  Glancing at the clouds rolling in, she unconsciously turned them to walk back to the village.  “I’ll miss you too, but we can be lifelong friends can’t we?”

“Absolutely!” she assured her.

“What are you going to do when your tour here is over?”

“Probably go back to the States and settle down in a hospital.  I like the hustle and bustle here at the clinic.  I can imagine some of it will translate and yet some of it will be so different.”

“You don’t have someone waiting for you back home?”

Maddie looked up at the taller woman and shook her head.  “No, I wanted to see something of the world, so I didn’t allow anyone to get that close.  Besides, I wasn’t ready.  How about you?”

“Well, there was someone once.  They didn’t understand why I wanted to see these places.”  She gestured once again towards the village and smiled at a child shyly peeking out of her hut at them.  “I can do more here than I could in the States, and I learn so much.”

“You already know so much,” Maddie said in awe.  She really enjoyed working with her.

“Yes, but it can be lonely when you don’t have someone.”

“I hear you.”

“So, what happened?” she asked, curious.

“With what?” Deanna asked, confused.  Her mind had moved on to something else already as she looked up at the clinic, thinking about patients.

“Your
someone
,” she smiled at how absentminded the blonde could be.  She knew she was probably already working out some problem that had come up recently.

Deanna glanced over at the smaller but sturdier redhead and invited her to sit on the clinic steps.  Not many people were out and about as they took shelter in anticipation of the expected showers rolling in.  It was a fine spot to watch the clouds as they brought the rain.  As they sat down she asked, “Do you really want to know?”

“Of course I want to know.  Hell, we all talk about everything here,” Maddie gestured to their tent and the campfire circle where the women spent time swapping stories, sometimes personal stuff that they would take to their graves.  It was a nice bonding moment for them all.

Deanna considered for a moment, wondering if she should share or not.  Shrugging internally, she figured, why the hell not?  “It was when I was an intern.  I fell for someone unexpectedly.  She wasn’t my first, but I did fall hard.  She taught me a lot,” she smiled nostalgically.

“She?” Maddie caught on quick.  Her eyebrows rose in surprise.

Deanna nodded, staring intently into the redhead’s eyes.  “Yes,
she
,” she said quietly.

“Oh, so you’re...?” she wasn’t sure quite how to finish that question.

“Gay?” Deanna supplied her with the word.

Maddie nodded and then quickly asked, “Or were you experimenting?”  She figured that made a whole lot more sense for the intelligent, young woman. 

“Yeah, I think I am,” she answered philosophically.  “I mean, I enjoy men.  I like them.  They look good, like a sculpture or a work of art, but, they don’t
do
anything for me.  I haven’t been attracted to them sexually since I started practicing kissing one in college.”

“Did you go all the way with him?”

“Oh no, that wouldn’t have been allowed,” she laughed as she watched the lightning streak across the darkening sky.  It was going to be a pretty dramatic storm from what they were seeing.  “I was in my early teens and he was seventeen, a freshman at college.”

Maddie had forgotten that this woman, this accomplished woman who was of a similar age to her own, had graduated college at fourteen.  She shook her head.  “So you’ve never actually been with a man sexually?”

Deanna shook her head.  “I may have kissed a couple, heavy petting even, but no sex.  None.  Heck, I wasn’t even brave enough to sleep with a woman until I was nineteen,” she confided with a grin.  “She was special.  She was a good first.”  The grin turned to a nostalgic smile.