Doctored (19 page)

“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.

That day, Deanna was called to the village to deliver not one, but two babies.  It was a successful delivery for both mothers and she was in a good mood as she returned to the clinic.

* * * * *

Shawn had been assigned to the men’s tent.  He fit in well with all the doctors as well as the nurses.  He got along well with the volunteers and seemed to actually try to learn the local dialect, which endeared him to the villagers.  He could frequently be found down in the village taking lessons.

Deanna found him there one evening when she was called to attend to a cat.  As a doctor, the villagers felt she could be a good veterinarian as well as a witch doctor.

“I’m sorry.  I tried to attend to it myself, but there was nothing that they would let me do, or rather that Hamishish would let me do,” Shawn told her apologetically.

“Don’t worry about it, I enjoy these different calls,” she laughed it off.  She wasn’t laughing too much when she realized it was a very pregnant caracal that someone had brought to the village.  “Is this a pet?” she asked Hamishish, alarmed.

“No, but pelt worth lots.  Children want kits,” she said bluntly and watched expectantly.

“Someone watch those teeth, wouldja?” Deanna asked nervously.

Shawn grinned and sat down on the head, keeping the wild cat down.  She was pretty far gone though and unable to fight, which was a good thing Deanna thought when she got a good look at the claws on it.

Deanna examined her patient quickly and efficiently.  There were at least two kittens in there and they were still active.  She looked at the mother cat knowing that there wasn’t anything she could do for her—she had been shot and was fading fast.  Without hesitating, Deanna performed a cesarean section on the cat, popping out two healthy and active kits.

The chief reached for them and handed them to one of his wives, who began to wipe at them with a towel.  The gaspy mews of the newborn kits were barely heard.  A bottle was procured, the type that the clinic had been trying to give out to pregnant mothers with AIDS, and they attempted to give formula, meant for human babies, to the newborn kits.

Deanna watched and then shrugged.  It wasn’t her concern.  The kits sure were cute, but she watched as the mother died before her.  There was a grunt behind her and an interpreter explained, “You cut as well as our best hunter.”  Deanna smiled, knowing they meant it as a compliment that she hadn’t ruined the valuable pelt.  Her job here was done and she took her leave, Shawn walking alongside her.

“Now you can’t say you would find that variety in the emergency rooms of America,” he laughed pointing backwards with his thumb at the hut they had just left.

“No,” Deanna laughed with him.  “Definitely a variety out here.”

“You think those kits will survive?” he asked wonderingly.

She shrugged.  “They can only try.  I’m surprised that the tribe will try though, they barely have enough to eat themselves.  Maybe they will turn the kits into hunters.”

“That would be so cool,” Shawn enthused.

Deanna loved his enthusiasm, it was so positive and non-destructive.  She definitely felt he was an asset to the clinic.  She saw Kimberly eyeing them as they returned, walking together.  She supposed she would be the subject of her gossipy tongue tomorrow for being seen with the male nurse.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Deanna found herself called upon for the kittens more than once.  They weren’t strong without a healthy dose of mother’s milk and were foundering.  One day Maddie went along with her and suggested that another cat or something be found to nurse the little cats.  Amazingly, one of the villagers had a lactating dog so they tried her.  The bitch, an amiable thing, immediately sensed how helpless the kittens were and her mothering instincts took over.  She began to nuzzle them and lick them, pulling them close to find her teats with her half-grown pups nearby.  The pups sniffed the new additions and she growled to warn them.  All the human adults looking on got a good smile from that.  It was a satisfactory beginning to the tale.

“Wasn’t that beautiful?” Maddie enthused, totally enamored of the kittens that looked so cute.

“Those babies are going to grow up very large!” Deanna warned, reminding her of the wild ones they had seen in the past.

“But they are so cute now,” she said in a girlish voice.  “I love babies!”

“Yeah, but babies grow up,” the blonde laughed at her girlfriend, wishing she could easily put her arm around her as they walked back towards the clinic.

“Don’t you like babies?” she asked playfully.  She had seen Deanna deliver several and saw how kind and sweet she was to the children.  She’d get down on their level and despite the language barrier, either through an interpreter or through pantomime, she’d make the children laugh in delight.  Her balloons were always a big hit.  Nothing was sweeter than the sound of children’s laughter.

“Of course I do, I just don’t want any of my own!” she said emphatically, still laughing at her girlfriend’s enthusiasm over the kittens.

Maddie stopped and looked at the young doctor.  “Are you serious?” she asked calmly, the laughter fading from her voice.

Deanna nodded.  “With all this,” her hand encompassed the clinic, the village, and all of Africa.  “Why would I want to bring another life into it?”

“To have one of your own, to pass on your genes, to pass on what you know?”

“I can do that by teaching,” she answered reasonably, not understanding why Maddie was so still.  This was an odd conversation to be having.

“You really don’t want children of your own?  You are one of the most brilliant women I have ever met, you could pass on those genes to children.  They would be so lucky to have you as their mother.”

“I know I’m an anomaly.  Look at my sister, she didn’t get this
brilliant
,” she made quote marks in the air, “gene at all, and yet she’s smart in her own way.  There is no guarantee if I had a child that it would inherit my genes.”

“So you don’t ever want children of your own?”

Deanna shook her head realizing that Maddie was making some sort of point.  She followed, wondering what was going on as Maddie turned to walk the rest of the way back to their tent.  “Do you want children?” it suddenly occurred to her to ask.

“Of course.  Don’t all Irish families want big families?  Lots of kids?” she asked sarcastically, clearly hurt.

“Hey,” Deanna stopped her from going into the tent, her hand on the redhead’s shoulder.  “Did I say something to piss you off?”

Maddie shrugged off the hand as she entered the tent, coming face to face with Kimberly.

“You two go on a walk?” she asked, her voice held a hint of innuendo.  She saw the anger on Maddie’s face and her own lit up in wonderment and curiosity.  “Are you okay?” she asked right away.

Deanna wanted to tell the woman to mind her own business, but knew that antagonizing a gossip was not necessarily a good thing.  She let Maddie go and went to her own bed to change her clothes and get ready for bed.

Kimberly wasn’t done and tried to engage Maddie in conversation.  “So this Lenny, she was a...” her voice lowered in a conspiratorial whisper, “
homosexual
?”