antibiotics?”
“No. We’ve both been managing to stay pretty healthy.”
“That’s always good to hear. I saw Eli working at the Lion’s Den last night. He’s looking the best I’ve seen him in years. His time away at college must have been good for him.”
“It was very good.” Cheryl offered Katie a small smile. “Katie went to school with him, and they both graduated a few weeks ago. She’s planning to be here for, hopefully, quite some time.”
Dr. Powell gave Katie’s face a closer exam, as if checking for symptoms of a fatal crush. He must have found what he was looking for, because his diagnosis was, “Well, that’s the best news of the day. For both you and Eli.”
Katie nodded but didn’t try to offer any sort of explanation. She thought of how the conversation had gone around the table yesterday morning when she and Eli “shared” her mocha and sat with the other Rancho students. Eli carefully had dodged every question that was an attempt to corner him into clarifying how serious he and Katie were about each other. The best line he used that morning was, “We’re content to figure it out as we go.”
Katie liked that, because she did feel content. Eli was finding all kinds of clever ways to make his feelings known to her, and her heart was responding to every small gesture and message he sent. But Eli was making it clear that the relationship was theirs to explore.
Dr. Powell patted Katie’s wound with a cotton pad soaked in something that felt cold and smelled awful. She winced at the sting.
“My wife and I have a deep affection for Eli,” Dr. Powell said. “Did he tell you we happened to be here six years ago when he went through his worst bout with malaria?”
“No. I didn’t know Eli had malaria. Didn’t he take his malaria pills?”
“You can get malaria even if you’ve taken all the precautions.”
“I didn’t realize that.”
Dr. Powell finished cleaning and patching her wound and pulled down the back of Katie’s shirt. He took another look at her immunization papers and glanced at his watch. “I need to meet some folks over at Building A. I’ll let you know what I find out about the antibiotics.Great meeting you, Katie. I’m sure we’ll be seeing you a lot in the future.”
“Not if I can help it,” Katie said.
Dr. Powell and Cheryl both looked startled at her reply.
“I meant, you know, since you’re a doctor, I want to stay healthy so that I don’t have to see you often. As a patient.”
“Oh, I see. Well, I meant that I would see you around here. It’s a small community of people who come and go and use this place as a haven. I’m sure you’ll get to know a lot of wonderful folks as they pass through.”
“I look forward to that.” This time Katie didn’t try to be clever. She followed Cheryl out the door and into the rain.
It had been raining off and on for the last three days, and the walkways were slick. Cheryl held a wide umbrella over the two of them, and they walked close together back to the Lorenzos’ cottage.
“I didn’t know Eli had malaria,” Katie said. “Dr. Powell made it sound as if it was pretty bad.”
“It was. He pulled through, obviously, but it was a bad bout. Unfortunately, once you get malaria, you always have it in your system. The sweats and chills can show up years after you were first infected. The immunizations help tremendously, but they’re not a guarantee you’ll never get it.”
Katie felt sobered by this bit of information. She felt as if she had done everything she needed to protect herself from any tropical diseases, and yet she already had managed to get an infection by not properly cleaning out her small puncture wound. She knew better than to leave it untouched all night as she had, with just a couple of tissues pressed up against it. If she had ignored the same injury back at school, she could have easily gotten an infection there as well. Malaria, though, was something she hoped never to
“No. We’ve both been managing to stay pretty healthy.”
“That’s always good to hear. I saw Eli working at the Lion’s Den last night. He’s looking the best I’ve seen him in years. His time away at college must have been good for him.”
“It was very good.” Cheryl offered Katie a small smile. “Katie went to school with him, and they both graduated a few weeks ago. She’s planning to be here for, hopefully, quite some time.”
Dr. Powell gave Katie’s face a closer exam, as if checking for symptoms of a fatal crush. He must have found what he was looking for, because his diagnosis was, “Well, that’s the best news of the day. For both you and Eli.”
Katie nodded but didn’t try to offer any sort of explanation. She thought of how the conversation had gone around the table yesterday morning when she and Eli “shared” her mocha and sat with the other Rancho students. Eli carefully had dodged every question that was an attempt to corner him into clarifying how serious he and Katie were about each other. The best line he used that morning was, “We’re content to figure it out as we go.”
Katie liked that, because she did feel content. Eli was finding all kinds of clever ways to make his feelings known to her, and her heart was responding to every small gesture and message he sent. But Eli was making it clear that the relationship was theirs to explore.
Dr. Powell patted Katie’s wound with a cotton pad soaked in something that felt cold and smelled awful. She winced at the sting.
“My wife and I have a deep affection for Eli,” Dr. Powell said. “Did he tell you we happened to be here six years ago when he went through his worst bout with malaria?”
“No. I didn’t know Eli had malaria. Didn’t he take his malaria pills?”
“You can get malaria even if you’ve taken all the precautions.”
“I didn’t realize that.”
Dr. Powell finished cleaning and patching her wound and pulled down the back of Katie’s shirt. He took another look at her immunization papers and glanced at his watch. “I need to meet some folks over at Building A. I’ll let you know what I find out about the antibiotics.Great meeting you, Katie. I’m sure we’ll be seeing you a lot in the future.”
“Not if I can help it,” Katie said.
Dr. Powell and Cheryl both looked startled at her reply.
“I meant, you know, since you’re a doctor, I want to stay healthy so that I don’t have to see you often. As a patient.”
“Oh, I see. Well, I meant that I would see you around here. It’s a small community of people who come and go and use this place as a haven. I’m sure you’ll get to know a lot of wonderful folks as they pass through.”
“I look forward to that.” This time Katie didn’t try to be clever. She followed Cheryl out the door and into the rain.
It had been raining off and on for the last three days, and the walkways were slick. Cheryl held a wide umbrella over the two of them, and they walked close together back to the Lorenzos’ cottage.
“I didn’t know Eli had malaria,” Katie said. “Dr. Powell made it sound as if it was pretty bad.”
“It was. He pulled through, obviously, but it was a bad bout. Unfortunately, once you get malaria, you always have it in your system. The sweats and chills can show up years after you were first infected. The immunizations help tremendously, but they’re not a guarantee you’ll never get it.”
Katie felt sobered by this bit of information. She felt as if she had done everything she needed to protect herself from any tropical diseases, and yet she already had managed to get an infection by not properly cleaning out her small puncture wound. She knew better than to leave it untouched all night as she had, with just a couple of tissues pressed up against it. If she had ignored the same injury back at school, she could have easily gotten an infection there as well. Malaria, though, was something she hoped never to
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