Desperate Escape. Lisa Harris

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СКАЧАТЬ was always so proud of you.” Grant dropped the rag he’d been using into the bucket of soapy water they’d been using to clean up. “He talked about you all the time. His little sister studying to become a doctor.”

      Her smile lit up her face this time. “I like to think he would have been proud of my coming here as well. My parents weren’t too happy about my decision, though. I was supposed to marry Ben, join some swanky family practice and spend the rest of my life working nine-to-five and having their grandbabies. And while there’s nothing wrong with that, it wasn’t enough for me.”

      He watched her wash her hands and then motion to one of the women to get more boiled water while she grabbed bags of salt and sugar for the rehydration mix.

      “Can you hand me those cups?” she asked him. “With no Google available out here, thankfully I have the measurements memorized.”

      He watched her work, jumping in to assist when she asked. He couldn’t help but see the irony in the fact that her skills as a doctor had saved her. And yet as soon as the epidemic was controlled, there was a good chance they would kill her.

      “I guess this wasn’t what you imagined when you signed up with Doctors International,” he said.

      “Being kidnapped? Not exactly.” She let out a soft laugh as she started mixing up the drink for her patients. “Though the past few months haven’t been without challenges, either. Most of the time, I’ve been working up north, in a small rural hospital. Every day, I see the same thing over and over in the maternity ward. It’s stifling inside. There are rusty ceiling fans, but no electricity. In the US, one in just over two thousand women will die giving birth. Here, it’s one in less than twenty. Most don’t even consider going to a clinic. And even if they do, most—especially those in the rural areas—can’t make it to the hospital.”

      He knew the issues she faced on a daily basis. Diesel generators were the primary source of electricity in the capital, and that lack of infrastructure spread throughout the entire country. There was one functioning hospital and even there equipment was limited. Most of the country’s health facilities had no electricity. Generators came to life during surgery, but there wasn’t enough fuel to run them continuously for refrigeration to store blood donations or for incubators for babies born too soon.

      “But that’s not the entire picture,” she continued. “I see the smile of the children when I go out into the villages to teach preventative care, and the love the mothers have for their babies. Old men sit on mats outside thatched roofs, playing with their grandchildren, while chickens and goats run around. It’s a completely different world than the one I grew up in. But when I sit down and talk to the women about their pregnancy, or the babies they’ve lost and the children they’re trying to provide for, I realize just how similar we really are.”

      “I’ve discovered the same thing everywhere I’ve lived. Most of the differences pale when you start working together to make things better.”

      “I wish my parents could understand that. I’ve tried to share with them why I needed to come...and why I still want to be here.” She stopped and looked up at him. “But I haven’t asked you about them, because I know they can’t be taking this well. Do you think they’re going to be okay?”

      Her unspoken question hovered between them.

      Were they going to be okay if she didn’t make it home alive?

      “They’re scared,” he said. “They will do anything to get you back. Because they’ve already lost one son, and they don’t want to lose you as well.”

      She nodded. “I watched their reaction to losing Darren. I never meant to put them through something like that again.”

      “You’re not going to, because we’re going to find a way out of this.”

      He watched her continue to work, realizing that she was different from most of the women he knew. Most were happy with the dream of a white picket fence and a husband. Problem was, he’d never be able to give someone those things. And so far had never found anyone who was willing to break that mold with him. Maddie, though, was clearly different.

      Maybe when all of this was over...when life went back to as close to normal as possible, he’d consider finding a way to get to know his best friend’s little sister...

      She glanced at a couple of the armed guards as they walked by. “As soon as we’re done here, I need to talk to you about something. Privately.”

      “About?” Her statement brought him back to reality.

      Her hand moved to the locket hanging around her neck. “Information connected to what’s going on here.”

      * * *

      An hour later, Maddie walked toward the fire, fighting the exhaustion coursing through her body. Her head throbbed and her legs felt like jelly. But it wasn’t just the physical fatigue she was dealing with. The emotional strain of the past few days was taking its toll.

      She’d finished making up the rehydration mix and checked on each of the patients she’d been treating. While antibiotics would have shortened the duration of the symptoms, ensuring each person was rehydrated was what mattered most. “Are you done?” he asked.

      “For the moment.” She tugged on the end of her ponytail as she sat down beside him on the fallen tree stump being used as a bench. She’d always seen him as a hero, saving the world alongside her brother. And now, all these years later, that was exactly what he was. The hero who’d flown all the way across the Atlantic to save her. While keeping his promise to her brother.

      She caught his profile in the firelight and felt a flurry of emotion pass through her that she didn’t know how to identify. She’d always seen him as strong and capable of anything, with those bright blue eyes and a hint of stubble across his chin. She’d also known firsthand the risks he took every day to save the lives of others.

      What she couldn’t remember was having more than a handful of one-on-one conversations with him over the years. And those talks had always been more awkward exchanges, at least for her, because she’d had a crush on him and hadn’t wanted anyone to know. Especially Grant or her brother. Darren had always seen her as the little sister he had to keep safe from the world. Even when she’d been all grown up and in medical school. And she’d always imagined Grant saw her in the same way. So she’d made herself forget about him. Until today.

      “Are you hungry?”

      She looked up at Grant’s question, realizing one of the women was standing in front of her with dinner.

      “I’m sorry.”

      The woman handed her a bowl of stew. She thanked her, but her appetite had long since vanished. She tried to eat a few bites, but only to keep up her strength.

      “How’s Ana?” Antonio asked from the other side of Grant.

      “I’ll have to watch her carefully, but the rehydration drink already seems to be helping and her fever’s gone down some.”

      “That’s good news,” Grant said.

      “Yes, it is. I just wish I could treat her properly.”

      Grant pulled out a zippered canvas tote from the backpack he’d been carrying. “One of the СКАЧАТЬ