Chapter 5

She seems to be disappointed by what he said, but she hope it doesn't show on her face. She trailed after him towards the older-model Jeep parked a few dozen yards away. She couldn't help but admire his taut ass, which looked ridiculously good in those cargo pants of his. My God! She think she lusted after this man. Fortunately, he will go away. Dean had opened the driver's door, but he hadn't made a move to get into the Jeep. Instead, he offered an awkward-looking shrug. He had a feeling that this man wasn't even nervous or embarrassed, and she fought herself to smile at him. "Thank you for giving me your time to interview you, Doc." "No problem." "And if, uhm, if I get lost here again, maybe I can come see you..." He trailed off, making it unclear whether that was a question or a statement. "Sure, I'd like that." Her only response. Their gazes collided, and there it was again, the heat and the sizzle of awareness. Her nipples promptly puckered and strained against her white cotton bra, and that spot between her legs throbbed with anticipation. Jeez. Why did she suddenly feel lust for that man? She immediately dismissed any thoughts from her brain, and she just focused on Dean, as if she had something to say. Thalia held her breath, and she just waited for the man to speak, but suddenly she couldn't read his face. And she just regretted it when he climbed into the driver's seat. "Keep up the good work, Doc." He raised his voice so she could hear him over the rumble of the engine. She swallowed another dose of disappointment. "Have a safe flight," she told him, and raised her hand in a wave. The Jeep raised a cloud of brown dust as Dean executed a U-turn and sped toward the gravel road that would lead him back to civilization. "Who is that?" Thalia turned to Elizabeth Sollano who was now heading in her direction. Liza is a Filipina nurse who is their staff member, and is also her closest staff member. "He's the journalist I'm telling you about," she said, but her focus was on the Jeep driving away. "For real, Doc? Too bad I never met that journalist. He's still hot." She sighed. "Yes." Liza's jaw dropped. "No way, Dr. Ricafort, who is very shy of a man, and suddenly interested in a man? Are you ill-loved, Doc?" She rolled her eyes, but she couldn't argue very well. Because what she said was true, it seems that no man has been interested in her since they arrived on the island. She's not like their staff can even get flirt to the men in their vicinity. She sees attractive men, such as Doc Kelvin and Doc Marc, Nadine's father who is a single dad. But Thalia just isn't the type to be linked with one of her fellow doctors. During her last placement in Africa, she witnessed two colleagues falling in love, until she also witnessed their separation. Unfortunately, with her coworkers off-limits, she didn't have many other options in terms of romance. Except for that handsome pilot who drops supplies to them every two months, that pilot is fine, as long as he's not among his colleagues. "I wish you'd just invite him to dinner, Doc." Liza added, and simply put her arms around her. With a height of five-foot-eleven, Liza's appeal is really more appealing than her who is only five-foot-five in height. Their colleagues even joked that she was a monstrous height for a woman, but the truth is, they were all really impressed by Liza's height. She can also see that Liza seems to be a better fit for Dean. Because they are both tall. Call her selfish, but the truth is she's happy that Dean and Liza didn't get along. Maybe Dean noticed her beauty more than her. "He's chasing a flight," she said as they entered the building. "Too bad, Doc. Now is your chance to have a love life." Thalia burst out laughing. "Why are you so concerned about my love life?" "Because I don't want to see you always immersed in work. I hope you can allow yourself to have fun." "I'm happy with my few months here." She neglected to mention how incredibly not fun the thought of heading home was, but because MD International demanded mandatory breaks between placements, she had no choice but to return to Georgia when her time was up. The nine-months-on, three-months-off cycle was liable to kill her. She'd joined MDI the second she'd finished her residency, and she'd been with the organization for five years now. "Anyway," she added as they headed for the small nurse's station past the waiting room, "you can have fun for both of us." She smirked. "That is, if you still have plans to seduce Doc Kelvin?" "Right," Liza declared, seeing her eyes full of mischief. "You've had a crush on Doc Kelvin for eight months. It's about time." "Exactly." Liza pulled her hair tie and let her hair hang loose. "I'll see you later, love. Sandra needs help with her vaccination." Thalia watched the nurse bounce off in her usual lively fashion. Earlier, when she told Dean that they were like family here, she wasn't really joking about that. Especially Liza who is like her sister. Doc Kelvin is like her big brother. And Doc Marc because he is a single dad, so he sees him as a father figure. Hilda, their midwife, can also be considered the most tender grandmother and never runs out of words of wisdom. Since both her father and her only sister already died, Thalia is alone in this world. She still has a mother, but they are not really close to each other. Because her mother had another family, and since then they have not spoken to each other again. "Doc Thalia, I need you here." She turned to Nasir Patil, poking his head out of an exam room. Along with Thalia, Kelvin and Marc, Nasir was the fourth physician on staff. He is an Arab doctor, and is in-charge of the young patients in Valera. "Everything is okay?" she called. "I'm attempting to take a blood sample and our patient is a tad cranky. Perhaps you could lend a hand?" She heard a loud scream from the exam room, so Thalia immediately realized that Doc Nasir was saying his patient was more than 'tad cranky'. "Sure thing," she called back. After ten minutes, she successfully drew blood from the three-year-old child. Afterwards, she went to her patients. She was happy to see some of them no longer showing symptoms of cholera. But she still cannot release them until their blood test results come. But she is confident that there will be no outbreak of this disease. *****