Doctored (3 page)

They arrived in the camp and were immediately surrounded by other relief workers.  The Red Cross sign was prevalent on the buildings as well as the supplies they had brought with them.  UNICEF and other organizations contributed to this ragtag collection of helpers.  There were two full-time doctors, no nurses, and many assistants.  Most of the assistants were black Africans whose tribes had been decimated by disease and war in this part of the continent.  Trying to fight back against the diseases was the reason that Maddie and Leida were here.  Trying to get the population back on its feet and feed itself was Harlan and others’ jobs.

“Hi, I’m Richard Burton, not to be confused with the famous Richard Burton, but
Doctor
Burton and I run this little outpost of iniquity,” he introduced himself with a self-deprecating smile.  He was a tall, spare man, balding, with glasses and a French accent.

“I’m so happy you are both here,” he said to Maddie and Leida.  “We’ve been in need of nurses for months.  I hope you will help train our assistants as your time is valuable and they learn fast.”

“What happened to the other nurses you had?” Leida asked as she grabbed a box of supplies that Lakesh handed down, still sporting that jovial smile accentuating the startling contrast between his white teeth and black skin.

Doctor Burton looked uncomfortable.  “You might as well know…they were killed in a small skirmish east of here.  They were both male nurses and helping some of the villagers.”  He was reluctant to tell them any more so he quickly changed the subject.  “This is Alex Whitley,” he indicated another man who came up to grab a box.  “He is in charge of the day to day,” he explained.  “Which one of you is Thomas?” he asked, using the American connotation of the name.

“I am Thomas,” he said frostily, correcting the pronunciation to Toe-mass. 

“Oh, excuse me,” Burton said with a smile.  “You will report to Alex there,” he nodded towards another man as he took a box, then indicated the two women should follow him.

“Who do I report to?” Harlan asked as he took two boxes, showing off his bulging muscles.

“And who are you?” Burton asked, his French accent more pronounced.

“I’m Harlan Baker, I’m a farmer,” he said proudly.

“Oh, I didn’t know they had sent you.  I was hoping you were Doctor Cooper,” he said, almost insultingly.  Recovering, he quickly added, “You’ll meet one of the locals who will show you their farming techniques.”

“Aren’t I here to show them farming?” he asked, confirming his earlier conversations with the others.

“I’m sure you will learn from them as they learn from you,” Burton replied confidently.  He showed them where to store the supplies, some of the assistants quickly opening the boxes to see what they had received and then putting them away.  Maddie found herself helping.  She couldn’t speak the language, neither could Leida, but they were having fun pantomiming with the assistants who smiled effusively as they showed the two of them where things went.

It was late when the two women were shown where they would be bunking.  It was a large military style tent with a wood floor, six cots, and thick beams holding up the canvas.  “You are here,” one of the locals said in broken English, indicating two of the unused cots.  There was a third, but it had a backpack on it.  The others were obviously in use since the mattresses on them were made with sheets and blankets.

Maddie thanked the woman who had shown them to their tent and looked around.  “Wow,” she said as she realized how sparse it was.

“You weren’t expecting a five-star hotel, were you?” Leida teased.

Maddie laughed and shook her head.  “Nope, I expected to rough it.”

“Bugger that for a game of soldiers.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“Rather you than me,” she interpreted for her, laughing at the difference in English.  It was the same language, but with so many different phrases.

“Is that an Australian colloquialism?” Maddie asked in laughter.

“British actually, but it certainly is rather colorful isn’t it?”

“Oh, it’s very colorful here, don’t you think?” Maddie said wonderingly, looking forward to her work and more of the wonders she had already seen.

“Just look out for things that crawl and slither,” another voice said from the tent flap doorway.  The two nurses turned.  A redhead stood there in khaki shorts and combat boots, her socks going halfway up her legs.  Her shirt was ripped at the sleeves and sweat stains formed a V down the front and sides.  “Hi.  I’m Lenora, Lenny for short,” she said as she came into the tent.  “I’m one of the school teachers,” she explained.

“I’m Maddie, and that is Leida,” she said with smile as she shook Lenny’s outstretched hand.

“Oh, you’re American,” she said with a returned smile.  “I’m Canadian,” she explained her own accent.

“I’m an Aussie,” Leida shook the Canadian’s hand as well.  Her accent gave her away. 

“Wow, we have all corners of the globe taken care of,” Lenny joked.  “I’m here to escort you two to the chow tent.”

“I didn’t know I was hungry until just this moment,” Leida complained good-naturedly.

“Ah, the food isn’t much, but there is plenty of it.”

“I would love a shower at some point,” Maddie sighed as she pulled the sticky shirt away from her sweating body.

“Now that is an interesting topic.”  Lenny explained that they got each other, or one of the locals who hung about, to pour water in a pan that filtered down and gave them a shower.  It wasn’t much, but they could get clean.

“How often do you shower?” Maddie asked.  She’d known it was going to be rough before she joined up.  It was a combined effort coming to these camps where the Peace Corps, the Red Cross, and UNICEF, as well as other charities and organizations like Doctors Without Borders or Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) helped out.  This area of Africa had, up until a few years previously, been a battle zone.  Now it was considered relatively safe.

“A couple of times a week.  Don’t worry, you’ll get one,” she assured the new nurse.  She smiled.  She’d already heard that they had dug in and started working immediately and that impressed people more than their cleanliness.  They’d adjust.  She showed them to the tent that housed their meals.  Long tables consisting of plywood or planks made up the tables.  The food was hot…it wasn’t tasty, but it was filling.  The fruit mixed in with some of it was different than either of the women had tasted before, but at least their empty stomachs were filled.  They both saw Harlan momentarily as he talked earnestly to someone on some subject and they met others they would be working with.

“No one has seen Doctor Cooper yet?” one of the other women asked Doctor Burton when he came by to greet them.  She worked in the clinic keeping the beds clean.  She wasn’t a nurse or a medical person, but she was a hearty volunteer or relief worker and enjoyed what help she could give these people.  She was from Switzerland, or so she said. 

“Nope, I haven’t seen him although we did get a bonus today.  Some mechanic drove in,” he indicated with his head the blonde/brunette they had seen on their drive in to Mamadu.  She was talking animatedly with a couple of the locals, in French.  She wasn’t completely clean, but she looked even younger than they had thought earlier.

“Were you expecting a mechanic?” the Swiss woman, Magda, asked.

“Nope, but she’s welcome,” he assured her.

Magda immediately became suspicious as she looked at the woman across the tent who was obviously enjoying herself as she talked rapidly.  Her hands were gesturing.  The grease was gone, but still lined her fingernails.  “You don’t think it odd that a mechanic, which we desperately need, shows up?  Especially a female one?”

Looking thoughtful, Burton glanced at the woman he had so readily let into their inner circle.  When Lakesh had introduced her as a mechanic, he had just accepted it at face value.  It didn’t occur to him to question her too much.  Magda had a point.  He walked across the tent to Alex and murmured to him.  The two of them got up and went over to ask the mechanic more about herself.  The conversations began to quiet as others caught on to some sort of drama about to happen and wanted to hear.

“Excuse me,” Burton interrupted the woman’s conversation.  His French was clear and precise.

“Yes?” she asked, flashing a smile of interest.

“You said you were a mechanic?” he asked, not sure how else to start this conversation.

She laughed, a hearty one at that, as though he had just told a joke that they were all sharing in.  She shook her head to the negative.  “I never said that, he did,” she answered, pointing at Lakesh.  Lakesh, understanding French, began to look alarmed.  She wound down from her laugh and smiled again.  “I am a mechanic of sorts,” she said as she got up from the bench.  Holding out her hand she said, “Allow me to introduce myself, I’m Deanna Cooper…
Doctor
Deanna Cooper,” she stressed.

“From Doctors Without Borders?” he asked dumbly in return. 

She chuckled as she nodded, almost hesitantly.  “Yes, were you expecting another doctor?”

He smiled at the silly question.  “No, but I was expecting a man.”

She nodded again.  “Yes, people are frequently expecting the D to stand for Dan and not Deanna.”  She was trying to let him off the hook easily, not to make a scene, but she was well aware that the tent had quieted as he confronted her.

“But you’re so young!” he burst out, already feeling consternation at the grave mistake he had already made.

She nodded again, the look in her eye still one of amusement.  “I know,” she agreed.  She said nothing further as she waited.  She could hear several others around her shifting in their seats as they waited for him to make some sort of a decision.

“I wasn’t expecting someone of your expertise to…” he realized how insulting he had just been and shut his mouth.  Grabbing her still-outstretched hand, he shook it warmly.  “I am sorry for the mix-up,” he tried to apologize lamely.

“Don’t think about it anymore,” she advised.  “Come, sit, eat,” she invited, indicating a vacant seat at their table.

“I have several things to do,” he hedged, still feeling foolish.  “We will talk later?” he asked meaningfully.  He meant to get to the bottom of things.  This, this
woman
, this
child
was far too young to be a surgeon of some note.  He had been promised a specialist.  Doctor D. Cooper was an expert on tropical diseases and a surgeon to boot.  He had expected the doctor to arrive by plane, but they had called and said the doctor had been delayed and would be arriving in Lamish.  He had assumed that Lakesh would pick
him
up!  Someone, somewhere, was pulling his leg and he intended to get to the truth!

She nodded and smiled again as he left, his face flaming.  She continued her conversation with the locals as though it had never happened.  The noise level of the tent slowly resumed.

Magda had whispered the translation from French to English so that the two nurses would be apprised of what had just happened.  Maddie was grateful.  Her student French wouldn’t hold and she only caught a word here and there, but she hoped to improve it with practice.  She looked at the young woman across the tent thoughtfully.  The blonde was leaning on a hand, her fingertips rubbing along her brow absentmindedly, occasionally tugging at the hairs.  Maddie didn’t realize how long she stared and then blushed as the blonde suddenly looked up, directly at her.  Flashing a friendly smile, she resumed her conversation.

Bonnie and Leida, along with Magda and Lenny, took a tour of the camp.  There were brush huts that housed some of the local relief workers.  Their various nationalities were a dizzying array of tribes from the African countries.  So many were now homeless due to the wars in this part of the world.  Mamadu was in what was now a relatively safe area after years of conflict between the various nations. 

Some of the sturdier buildings housed the makeshift hospital, the school, and a meeting place of sorts.  The village elders used it for meetings and in a pinch it could be used as an outreach of the hospital.  They had been fortunate that only twice in the ten years since Mamadu came to be had they had to use it. 

“Don’t drink any water that has not been filtered,” Magda advised.

“And don’t sit down without looking first,” Lenny added.

“Why is that?” Maddie asked.

It was Leida who answered instead of the other two who had been in country longer.  “Snakes and bugs,” she answered the second statement first.  “I assume the water has been tainted somehow?”

“With all the mining and war, they have poisoned the water for human consumption.  You’ll get a case of dysentery that could kill you if you aren’t careful,” Magda answered.

Maddie had known that.  The classes she had attended back in the States had prepared her for coming to Africa.  She had been given shots, education, and a crash course in some medical training beyond her normal nursing duties.  Being here, seeing it first-hand, was a lot different.  She looked out at the countryside, seeing the beauty and wondering at the ugliness she had heard about including possible war, soldiers, and bandits.  The locals she had met had all been pleasant and friendly and she felt comfortable around them.

“How big a snake are we talking here?” she asked to make a joke.