Hector kept going until the children's eyelids started to fall, then he made his voice softer and softer until at last the
last child was asleep. Then he arranged all the mosquito nets around them and went and sat by Mark.
"Any sign?" Cheever asked him.
"Nope." Hector said, shaking his head. "There never is though."
"Maybe they're taking the night off."
Hector chuckled as he took his perch by one of the screened windows. "Get some sleep buddy."
Andi had gone back to the back of the tent to finish her sorting, which, not surprisingly Suzette hadn't kept up with
while she was gone, and write out the last of her reports, hum of the soldier's voice a back ground noise. Suzette,
joining her, hissed softly.
"Why's he still here?"
"Worried about militia. We've got helpless enemy soldiers in our care and he's worried they might try to take
advantage of that." Andi answered without looking up from what she was doing.
Suzette made a noise as if she was going to protest and then thought better of it. After a moment of sorting, the
smaller woman softly asked:
"Do you think they will?"
"Should hope not." Andi answered simply. An attack on the well established clinic would cause no end of problems.
The Red Cross didn't work in places where they were in blatant danger and their people could have at least a measure
of safety. An attack on the camp would possibly lead to a pull out - or at least a fall back. And the people here needed
what this place offered. They might stay despite something of that nature but even then the military would use it as an
opportunity to move in and take over. Not - Andi thought - looking up to see the tall soldier moving over to one of the
screened windows - that they hadn't already moved in. Somehow she found it harder to protest a single presence
though. Especially when he made the children laugh.
Suzette wasn't reassured but when back to her sorting anyway. After a moment, Andi's eyebrows suddenly came down
and she stopped what she was doing to cup her chin in her hand and rest her elbow on the desk again.
"You haven't flirted with him." She remarked, dark eyes on the other woman's face. Suzette, without looking up,
shrugged.
"No." She agreed. Andi thought about it a minute. Attractive, well built guy. That wasn't in immediate need of a blood
transfusion.
"Why not?" She asked. Suzette looked over at her with an elegantly arched eyebrow.
"He's cold. And dangerous. He could hurt a woman. I like his friend much more but he's wounded and I have my
principles, oi?"
"Since when have you had principles?" Andi mocked affectionately. Though it was true. Suzette might not mind bed
hopping but she kept it strictly to non-current patients. Suzette just laughed and went back to her work. Andi looked
back at the soldier hidden in the shadows next to the screen. Thoughtful for a moment before giving a shrug and going
back to her reports. She was hardly a good judge in that area compared to Suzette. But if it kept the other girl from
flirting with him...
The night went on with intermittent reminders from Suzette that she needed to sleep and her agreeing that she would
without either of them putting much effort into it. Finally, yawning, Suzette finished and gave her a goodnight kiss on
the forehead before making her way out of the clinic and toward her own tent. Andi had a cot at the back of this one
she used a good five days out of seven and would probably be using again tonight but when she finished her work
almost an hour later, she didn't simply roll out of her seat and onto the cot as immediately as she usually did. Instead
she stood up and stretched until her bones popped before collecting another bottle of water and one of the protein
bars she practically lived off of despite its less than appetizing taste.
Silent she made her way to the front of the tent, checking on her charges as she went. Content, she moved over to
where the soldier kept his watch, careful to stay out of the way.
"When does shift end?" She asked quietly as she set the food and drink down on the bench next to him.
Hector shrugged. "When my relief comes in." He said. It was an unofficial watch, for the safety of all. In this tent were
four downed Deltas, three Rangers and one healthy Delta. If one of the militia used a small strike force, should be
enough. Then again, wouldn't matter how many special operations soldiers there were when it came to RPGs.
"But I appreciate everyone not throwing a fuss about this. Once the last one is stabilized, we'll move him back to base."
He rubbed at his eyes a bit. Sure they had an infirmary on base, but one of the guys couldn't make it that far, so they
had definitely imposed their presence. "Your surgeons are better than ours though. They're all meatball surgeons over
there."
"Meatball?" Her eyebrows went up at the term, eyes amused. She'd intended to drop off the gifts and go. Because she
honestly hadn't thought he'd welcome company. He didn't seem cold. Just - tired. He'd no doubt been up even longer
than her. She gave him a quiet smile as she sat on the bench on the opposite side of the window, careful to keep from
obstructing his view or creating a silhouette. It was funny what you learned living this way.
"I'm sure Sam will let your commander hear about it tomorrow." She said, voice quiet. And sympathetic. He needed the
warning though as much as she would have preferred giving it to him later, when he was rested. "I'll tell him I asked you
to stay. Head him off at the pass, in cowboy terminology." She offered him a tired smile. After all, it was now as much
her fault as his that he was here. Despite the rules, she was worried about her charges and couldn't say that she
minded his presence. Either way, she'd rather deal with the brunt of any repercussions of it then let it pass off to
someone else. "How's your shoulder feeling?"
He chuckled. "I'll be sure to be there for that show down then." He said. "Col Jones thinks the sun ought to rise and set
on a Delta schedule. And he doesn't like doctors. He really doesn't like doctors." Some people were just like that. Much
like most of the doctors here didn't like soldiers, no matter what the soldiers sacrificed to keep them safe.
He rolled his shoulder a bit at her mention of it. "Eh, its okay. Had worse." And he chuckled again at the expression on
her face. "Nah, not here in my adult life. Stepped on a rusty nail when I was nine. Then proceeded to fall down and
break my arm." He shook his head, laughing at that memory. Easy to laugh at it now.
"Question is, is Sam going to let me have it?" He asked with a grin
"I'm hoping you'll be long gone and sleeping by the time Sam realizes what's going on." Andi commented. She'd meant
it about taking the brunt of the fall out over this. The military would have themselves a precedent now to place soldiers
here whenever they had wounded in the clinic. And then they would want to secure the camp in case they needed to
use it for their wounded. And start a spiral that would just get messier as it went.
Sam on the other hand would fight anything even resembling troop presence. Fight it because of the spiral the military
might try to implement and fight it because he saw any troop presence at all as proof that their clinic and its peaceful
mission, were failing.
Andi, caught somewhere in the middle, just wanted to heal people and have them safe while they recovered. Sam she
might be able to sweet talk a bit simply because he respected her and they were friends. And the fact that he couldn't
very well fire her. So it made sense for her to take responsibility for Hector being here.
"Amazing how such a little thing can grow so large." She murmured before shaking her head. Making another call
despite knowing better. "Bring your men here whenever you need to." She told the man across from her. "Its safer at
your own base but if you need us, we're closer sometimes and we're not 'meatballs'." Her lips twisted upward. "I did say
that properly, didn't I?"
"Yes you did." He said with a smile. "Meatball, American term I guess. Means doctors who just slap the bodies on the
gurney like slabs of meat, do their jobs, then go on to the next one. Good to have in the field...but if I'm ever hurt..." He
shrugged broad shoulders at that.
"So when can we move them? Don't want to see someone get in trouble just for doing their jobs." After all, the Red
Cross was committed to helping anyone that came into the clinic, whether they were armed or not. Of course they
preferred unarmed.
"I'll check tomorrow." She told him. She'd only finished her own reports tonight. Tomorrow she'd dig out everyone
elses' and check those. "Mark should be alright to move easily. I'll send anyone else back with him that can." She
looked over at the sleeping inhabitants of the tent. Knowing already that at least one of the men brought in this
evening shouldn't be moved for several days. Possibly could be. But shouldn't be.
"I'd rather have someone stay and take a bit of a bruise for it then let them go and worry." She tapped the bottle of
water she'd left for him and gave it a light push toward him. Her face shifted at the thought of assembly line surgeries.
Bothered by the thought. "I don't like worrying and I do it far too well." She told him with a crooked smile. "So come
when you need to no matter what happens this time." She touched the top of his hand to make the point and then let it
go.
"Was that the worse of it then? Nails through your feet and a broken arm?"
"We all move together." He said firmly. "The able ones might go back to base for report and food, but we stick together
in this chalk." He said, and he'd stick to that whether she liked it or not. If they didn't want to have their camp crawling
with Deltas, then they'd just have to discharge them. Though crawling was a loosely used word. Not all of them could
right now.
"But yeah, that's the worst of it. Guess I'm just lucky." He said. Bullets had grazed him, he'd been rained down with
shrapnel, and thrown back from blasts, but no serious injuries.
"I didn't mean I was throwing you out." She told him softly. Knowing the soldier/Red Cross worker relationship was -
difficult. At best. She found working with them difficult herself sometimes. But this wasn't about that. It was about sick,
hurt people that she was going to see get better. And she didn't want him to think it wasn't exactly that. Healing came
first in her priorities. Everything else, including rules and her superiors' opinions on the appropriateness of her actions
came a far second. "I meant I didn't honestly think the men that could leave would want to stay. And I didn't think your
commander would simply let them lounge around here when they could be out on missions and whatnot." She met his
eyes. "Everyone inside this tent is my charge. And I don't like releasing anyone before they should be. I just didn't think
the clinic would be the stop over of choice if your chalk had a choice." She shook her head. "I'm not throwing you out."
"Of course my superior would rather we were out doing what we were trained to do." Hector agreed. "But that's not the
way a chalk works. You can't just throw them into a new one when one is short staffed. Not temporarily like this would
be. Interrupts the flow. The guys in there, they know my next move before I make it, and vice versa. We've got a
rhythm. And when you do what we do, you don't want to mess that up." She gave him a pointed look toward the water
bottle, and he drank some with a chuckle.
"So that's why I'm here, and my superior understands that. Who knows? Maybe Sam will. I hear it’s the same way with
an OR team."
She honestly hadn't expected an entire team to move into her infirmary. But it certainly sounded, with the least bit of
encouragement, that that was exactly what they might do. And Sam, veteran of more than his fair share of fights over
just something like that, would be quick to jump into the fray. She rubbed absently between her brows. She was a
doctor, not a diplomat.
"If we have to keep someone . . . even for a few days . . . what exactly does your team intend to do?" She'd gone out
on quite the limb for him already and knew she'd face the repercussions when Sam found out tomorrow. She'd stand
by her assertion that the safety of her charges was the most important thing even if it meant a soldier keeping watch.
But too much of that would make them seem prejudiced. And they'd lose all their standing with the very people they
were here to help. Not to mention, once the troopers were gone, be seen as even more of a target then before since
they'd given up their neutrality. She looked back up at him; worried she was too tired to be making decisions like this.
"At least as well as you know."
"We'll stay here." He said with a shrug. "Look, we'll change into civvies, we know how to blend into the background."
That was one of their main skills, and he'd done it. Blending into a marketplace, even an African marketplace to where
he was indistinguishable from anyone else. "Pending any serious situation that needs our attention, that's the plan for
now."
He shook his head, wishing Clancy had been able to make it the extra half hour to the base.
She looked at him and, even in the moonlight and shadow, though he'd be hard to miss in a crowd. It was true they did
have Americans on their team so the accent wouldn't be a problem but . . . shoulders like that . . . and as tall as he was
. . . she let out a quiet sigh and rubbed a slim hand over her thin face, shutting her eyes for a moment. Feeling as if
she'd made a mistake somewhere and was now like the little Dutch boy with his finger in the dike trying to hold back a
river. No. Scratch that. She felt like a cartoon character who had to keep plugging holes in the dam with various
humorous body parts. At least the Dutch boy had managed to save his city. The cartoon character usually just got
washed away. And she would if this caused the Red Cross any problems.
"Bugger that." She muttered to herself. She could always find another organization that needed a good doctor. She let
her hand drop and looked back at him.
"I have no idea what Sam will say to that." Actually she did but she didn't know what he'd be able to stop and what the
military would push through. Tonight she was too tired to try to solve it all on her own. "But there are cots in the back of
the tent and it’s usually stays cool back there longer during the day. You're welcome to use one when your relief
arrives." Since he had to easily be as tired as she was and the trip back to the American base was a bit of a distance.
And he hadn't touched the protein bar so she picked it up and handed it to him now pointedly. Well aware that he
probably burned calories at an alarming rate. "If you or anyone else who comes to trade watches with you would like,
you're free to help yourself to our breakfast in the morning too." She managed a brief smile. "It’s not barbecue but it’s
usually nutritious and we try to make enough of it." She stood up to make use of one of those cots now but paused to
look down at him.
"Do things always become so complicated when you show up?" she asked with an equal mix of humor and honest
curiosity.
He chuckled as he took the bar, getting the point. "No, not usually." He promised her. "Usually we're sent in to
uncomplicate things. Go get some sleep doc, all is secure for the night." Breakfast he was okay on. They ate massive
amounts of food at once, because sometimes you didn't know when you were going to eat, or sleep, again.
Case in point, before this little stop over, it had been a couple of days since he'd eaten. But he was used to that, and
to sleeping maybe once every three days when on assignment.
But the beautiful doctor looked overwhelmed by all that had been brought to her door step, and he felt a little bad
about that. "We'll come in civvies, no visible weapons. I promise. If anyone asks, I'm an accountant, I push paper and
nothing else." He'd radio in later for civvies to be brought over. And he'd play the accountant. Who did nothing more
than crunch numbers. Who also knew how to...well, let's not go there. Looked like she'd have enough problems
sleeping as is. "All this sunshine and I have had yet to work on my tan anyway."
"You don't look like an accountant." She laughed softly. At least not the stodgy, horn rimmed glasses, neck-tied kind
her mind provided her with when she thought the word. Of course, that said, any organization like the Red Cross was
bound to need a slightly tougher breed that were used to traveling to strange places. Why shouldn't an accountant
have a chest like a brick wall?
"Just remember the children know who you really are." She reminded him. Though the civilian clothing did reassure her
somewhat. She knew there were people that watched the encampment and reported everything back to the local
warlords. Strangely enough, having him sit watch in the darkness also reassured her.
"Good night, Sergeant Garrett." She gave him a soft smile. "When you finally do sleep, may your dreams be pleasant."
"Night Doc." Hector said. "Hoping your dreams are of the peaceful sort." He watched her move through the darkened
tent to the back where the cots were, and after he couldn't see her any more he turned his attention back to the
darkened world outside the tent, eventually watching the sun rise, and a couple of men (radioed earlier) biking toward
camp in civilian clothes. He grinned and headed outside, where he was given his own pack.