The Exception to the Rule (11 page)

“Are you sure you are going to be okay?” Charles asked as they were readying themselves to leave.

“Yes,” I mouthed as he reluctantly walked out the door.

I propped my pillows up against the back of the bed, taking another torturous sip of water. I began to fumble through the pages of the magazine, unable to fight my heavy eyes. I finally gave in, falling into a deep sleep. I awoke feeling somewhat better. My headache was gone, but unfortunately the pain in my throat was not. I was soaking wet from the fever breaking and was starting to get the chills. I decided to jump in the shower. The warm water felt good as I let it envelope my skin. I broke free from my shower coma and dried off when I began to feel a little queasy from the sulfur smell of the water. I was going through my dresser to grab something to wear. I was down to my last pair of shorts, jogging my memory that I had clothes in the washer. I quickly threw on the only two articles of clothing left in my drawer. I slowly made my way to the laundry room and threw everything into the dryer.

 I hurried out of the room and smiled when I saw Julian as I turned the corner.  Then I remembered that Charles had put him in charge of babysitting me for the day.

“Kat, what are you doing out of bed?” he asked.

“I had to put my clothes…” 

He signaled for me to stop straining my voice. “You’re doing laundry?” he asked with a surprised tone. “You were just passed out a half hour ago.”

I was shocked and at the same time embarrassed. He had seen me sleeping, drenched in sweat. What if I was snoring? Not exactly a glamorous moment that you would want anyone to witness. Especially not a drop-dead gorgeous guy that you found yourself compellingly attracted to. 

“Are you hungry?” he asked. 

I was a little hungry but the idea of swallowing anything put an end to that thought. I shook my head yes but then motioned to my throat, letting him know that I would rather live with the hunger then the pain of swallowing.

“I’ll get you something that you can eat,” he said, understanding my poor attempt at sign language perfectly well. “Now get back in bed, I’ll bring it back to you,” he said in a dismissing tone.

I went back to my room and fixed the blankets on my bed. I sat with my back up against the wall reading my magazine trying very hard to not look sick when I heard a light knock on the door.

“Come in,” I said, pretty loudly for what little voice I had left. 

Julian entered the room with a bowl in his hand and a smile on his face. He sat down on the edge of the bed handing me the bowl. To my delight it was two large scoops of chocolate ice cream. 

“I figured I would have you all covered,” he said. “You have the coldness for your throat and you get your chocolate fix at the same time,” he added.

I smiled with gratitude. The cold ice cream felt heavenly going down my throat. I could immediately feel it putting out the fire that had been raging all morning long. I slowly finished my ice cream while I listened to Julian talk. He began telling me about what he had been up to the past couple of weeks when he had been virtually non-existent. He explained to me there had been four more kids diagnosed with cancer in that other village. It was now becoming clear that it was what they had suspected all along, something environmental. He gave me an update on Rapula and Tau, telling me about some hurdles they had encountered. I listened intently as I was very interested in their progress. I knew how much these boys meant to Julian as well. I was enthralled in his conversation. He was providing the best medicine for me, just by his mere presence. He took a break from talking to look down at his watch.

“I’ve been talking so much, I didn’t even realize it was time for your next dose of antibiotic,” he said.

This was a complete role reversal for us. Normally I was the one who couldn’t stop talking. Since I didn’t have a voice, I had no choice but to listen, and I really liked it. He stopped his chatter briefly to hand me my bottle of water and an antibiotic, insisting that I take two more aspirin as well. 

“What is going to happen to these children once you leave?” I asked.

“They will have another team of oncologists come over,” he said.

“When are you leaving?” I asked as my voice started to sound clearer.

“February.” 

 It made me happy to know that he would be here the whole time that I was. He explained to me that once he got done here, he would be going back to the hospital in Chicago for a few months. Then he would be heading to Germany for a year to study under one of the most renowned pediatric oncologists in the world. I was so impressed with his determination. I knew that one day he would surpass that German doctor. He would be the one that other doctors would go to study under. I knew that Charles was exactly right with his observation. Julian was not relationship material. As much as I wanted to see it differently, he was just way too absorbed in his career. This was a great thing for him, but not for someone who was finding themselves more attracted to him with each passing day. I sat with my back propped up against the wall hugging my knees as he sat next to me, once again feeling a little more inadequate. The only thing that I was looking forward to in February was going home to see my dad and see the ocean, not travel across it to further my career. I painfully realized the stark differences in the two of us. He still had a way of making that so hard to see. He never acted as if he were better than anyone else, never judging anyone else’s life choices. I was beginning to realize that I was dead wrong in my initial assessment of him–—. Over the past few months of spending time with him, he was slowly breaking down the wall that he had up around him and I was beginning to see a totally different person –- he wasn’t like Jake at all. I was even able to understand his take on relationships better. He clearly had his heart broken before and didn’t want that to happen again, something that I could relate to very well. 

“Thank you,” I said in a barely audible tone.

“For what?” he asked. 

I wanted to tell him, for taking care of me, for keeping me company and preventing me from going completely insane locked up in this depressing room. But I knew that my strained voice wouldn’t let me get the words out.

“Thank you,” he said. I looked at him puzzled. “For making me slow down a little today,” he continued. He explained that he had a harrowing week coming up. He was trying to get Rapula and Tau ready for surgery, along with all of the other recent cases that had been added to his workload. He had planned on taking today to just check in on his few patients that he had here and then taking it easy but relaxing wasn’t an easy thing for him to do. If it hadn’t been for me getting sick and him keeping me company, then he would probably have ended up working another twelve-hour day. 

 “How are you feeling?” He touched my forehead with his cool hand, making sure the fever didn’t come back.

“Much better,” I said with my scratchy voice.

“Good,” he said, smiling.

We sat for a few seconds in silence just staring in each other’s eyes. His beautiful eyes accented by his long dark lashes put me in a trance. I had never felt so at ease with anyone as I did with him right now.

“I just hope you don’t get sick, being stuck in a little room with me all day,” I whispered, finally breaking the silence.

“I don’t get sick,” he boasted as I looked at him in disbelief.

“I don’t,” he defended himself, able to read the look on my face. “Probably has to do with all the chemo and radiation I’m around, it suck’s the sickness right out of me,” he joked. I began to laugh, thinking maybe there just happened to be some truth to that theory. 

My laughter was broken when I heard the doorknob turning and the door flinging open, revealing Tricia holding my laundry bag of clean clothes. 

“Oh my goodness, how big was the train that ran you over?” she asked, looking directly at me.

“Thank you,” I whispered sarcastically.

All of a sudden she realized Julian sitting next to me. “What happened?” she asked with total concern in her voice.

Julian got up and explained to her that I had strep. He gave her direction as to when I had to take my antibiotics and aspirin again, once more making me feel like a child. I knew what time I had to take my medicine and was quite capable of doing it myself.

“Geez, I leave for the day and you fall apart,” Tricia joked.

Julian laughed. “Well, you’re in good hands now. I’ve got to get going and do my final check-in on those patients. Feel better Kat,” he said, heading to the door. 

Outside of the day that we had spent at the waterfall this had strangely been one of the best days ever, even with a raging fever and a burning throat. I still wouldn’t trade it for anything. I was beginning to find that spending time with Julian, getting to know more about him in any capacity was a great day - sick or not.

“Thanks for taking care of my girl,” Tricia said to Julian as she closed the door behind her. 

 She had a mega-sized grin as she sat down next to me. “You get the gorgeous doctor that makes house calls and I get the obnoxious one that can’t even bring me back soup,” she said as we both began to laugh hysterically. I looked down at my bag of laundry that Tricia had brought back. I wondered how she knew that I had stuff in the dryer. I pointed to it. Tricia knew exactly what I was trying to say without even talking.

“Kat, it’s Sunday, which means laundry day and you always forget your stuff in the dryer! So I decided to check for you on my way by the laundry room,” she explained.

I smiled; she was right. I was always guilty of leaving my laundry in the dryer. I was so thankful that today of all days Tricia was so on cue with that. 

“So why was Doctor Handsome taking care of you today?” she asked.

I explained to her in the best voice that I could about what had transpired in the morning.

“Well, he certainly didn’t seem like he was forced into doing it. In fact, by the way you two were laughing when I walked in, I’d say he was rather enjoying it,” she said, raising her eyebrows.

She touched my forehead as she looked at her watch. “Time for more medicine,” she said. “You should be in your pajamas,” she demanded. She dug through my laundry bag, handing me a pair of pajamas. I didn’t argue with her as I began undressing and putting them on.

She picked up my empty bowl of ice cream. “Is this all you’ve eaten all day?” 

I nodded, trying to explain that I hadn’t had much of an appetite. She wasn’t going to have any part of it. 

“I’m going to get you some soup and you are going to eat it all,” she demanded. “Do you want anything else?”

I shook my head no, and smiled knowing that there would be no arguing with her. I watched her walk out the door. It suddenly dawned on me that I hadn’t made my weekly phone call to my dad. I quickly dismissed the thought, realizing that I wouldn’t be able to say much anyway without a voice. I decided I would wait until tomorrow hoping I would be able to talk somewhat better. I thought about how if I were home my dad would have been doting on me nonstop like he always did when I was sick. I was grateful to have Charles here filling that role. Even though I was annoyed at first when he had asked Julian to look after me, I was glad that he did. I leaned my head back against the wall laughing to myself. I would be feeling better in no time, now that Dr. Tricia was on duty. She was a sweetheart but at the same time she had toughness to her when it came to her patients. Unfortunately for me I had become one of them, like it or not.

Chapter 10

I sat up at the sound of my alarm and immediately began talking to myself. My voice had come back with just a little hoarseness.

 Tricia exited the bathroom, just getting out of the shower. “I got my voice back,” I said as it still cracked a little.

“I really think you should take one more day to rest up,” Tricia advised in her doctor-like tone.

“I’m fine; I will go crazy if I have to spend any more time in this room,” I answered, letting her know that I relinquished myself as her patient. 

“Okay,” she said in defeat. “But you’re eating something before you take those antibiotics,” she added, getting one last order in.

I had agreed to meet Tricia in the cafeteria. I was feeling much better once I got up and moved around. I even looked much better compared to yesterday. My suntan glow had reappeared. As I walked out the door, I was pleasantly surprised to see Julian first thing as I walked out the door. He was loading up medical supplies along with James to take to the other village. 

 “Well you look like a whole new person today,” Julian said as he walked over to me.

“I guess that’s a good thing, compared to what I looked like yesterday,” I said, proud of my almost back-to-normal voice.

“You looked fine Kat - Nwanyi Marama,” he said, loading up more supplies. I knew that I had heard that phrase before and then thought back to the first day that Julian and I had gone to the other village. It was the same word that the man had said to Julian referring to me. I was amazed that I actually did make a mental note of it.

“What did you just say?” I asked.

“Nwanyi Marama,” he repeated. “Beautiful woman,” he said smiling.

 I was still a little perplexed until he finally clarified, “you are a beautiful woman,” this time in a more serious tone. 

“Well now that I have my voice back and I can say it, thank you for taking such good care of me yesterday and keeping me company.” 

“No problem; I told you that yesterday, it was fun.” He took my hand and gazed into my eyes. My knees were just about going weak, when we were interrupted yet again by James, who was clearing his throat loudly to announce his presence. This time instead of being annoyed by him I just smiled. 

 “Sorry to interrupt, but we have got to get going, Julian,” he said, almost sounding sincere.

“Okay, I’ll be right there,” he said as James walked over to the Jeep to wait for him.

 Julian told me that he would be working round the clock to try to get a handle on these new cases. I heard a little optimism in his voice at the mention of Rapula and Tau’s names. I wished him luck as he softly but playfully kissed my forehead.