Hector looked at Sean. Yeah, they'd talk. And he already had the feeling the older man wasn't going to like what he
had to say. And he was about to bring it up to get it out of the way when Mike appeared.
"Might as well tell us." Hector said. "You know Andi. She won't tell us the down and dirty details." He also had a
briefing he had to give at some point. Wekesa had been a rather high ranking person all things considered, and
Hector had killed him. That meant a paperwork nightmare for him.
"Well, at least it wasn't a lame cliche." Suzette said with a laugh. It felt good to laugh, even over something as small as
a turn of phrase. She looked at Andi. "I suppose I should apologize for my words about your Delta previously. But I
won't." She said, smiling briefly. "But I will say he might change my view on men." She laughed again. "Wonderful, isn't
it? And he's not even my man!"
Andi managed a smile and reached up a hand to catch her friend's. Giving it a squeeze.
"Thank you." She whispered. Because Suz's distrust had always worried her. Not so much for Hector and what he
meant to her. But for what that meant about the inside of Suz's heart. "I'm kind of fond of him myself."
"Ah, petite." Suz leaned down and kissed her forehead. Blinking against sudden tears while Andi's mother smiled
quietly. "Come, come." Suzette straightened up. Back to business. "It is time to get dried off and dressed again. You
must sleep and in a bed before you sleep in the water and drown."
Mike draped his hands over his knees.
"She sprained that ankle kicking one of the men that was hauling her out of the truck in the jaw. Broke it. They took
her sneakers away after that. Turns out that's fortuitous because they slit the bottoms of women’s feet to keep them
from being able to run. All three of the girls in the tent, the oldest of which is sixteen, are pretty crippled with it healing
wrong. And they're all HIV positive. Anyway, Andi not being able to do more than hobble, they left her alone." He
wasn't sugar coating it. It would have been more merciful to but if Andi started having any kind of phobias or issues or
nightmares, Mike wanted the men in her life to know what they were about. Because he didn't know that she'd tell
them. "There used to be five of the girls when Andi came in but one of them died during a miscarriage hearing gunfire
brought on and the other ended up gutted just to be an example for the others as far as I can gather. Andi couldn't
save the first one and they made her watch the second one and gave her the hands as a gift." His eyes were banked
and blank as he reported it factually. "The shaman had a thing for hands apparently. Had quite a collection. The ones
over the door of the clinic were hung to remind the doctors what happened if they didn't make Wekesa happy." He
didn't even mention what that kind of threat meant to someone that relied on their hands for their livelihood. Didn't
think he really needed to. Andi had beautiful hands. "He hung the ones so they'd brush her head every time she went
through unless she crawled. Andi wouldn't crawl. Three girls left say the first day the shaman confronted her in the
middle of the lot. Threatened to cast some mumbo jumbo over her." He paused. Realizing he wanted to smile. Instead
he looked at Andi's father. "She tackled him. Apparently took him right to the ground. That's how she got those
scratches on her cheek. Apparently said something about binding his spirits and whatnot. He promised they'd kill her
in the night." Sean, eyes open and watching the sky, simply nodded calmly. "When she didn't die the next morning, it
made everyone a bit nervous. The girls say she got a lot more respect and fear after that from the soldiers. The
shaman went bonkers but wouldn't go near her. And Wekesa starting paying more attention to her too. They say
there were four other doctors before Andi. And that Wekesa was starting to look into finding a way to secure another
when we showed up." He glanced back toward the clinic. "Those girls have gone through their own version of hell.
They were intimidated by the shame. But Wekesa still terrifies them. Death doesn't seem to have made much of a
difference in that area. They won't even talk about him directly." His hands lifted slightly. Having suddenly run out of
words as he'd dumped them all in one heave and couldn't think of anyway to close it.
"We'll take them home with us." Sean stated softly. "We're getting good at finding safe places for women where we
live." Then he stood up. "I need to walk a bit." He didn't wait for a response, just calmly headed off in a general
direction. Mike looked at Hector. Surprisingly at a loss for once.
Suzette pushed the tent flap open and came out.
"She did not lie. The ankle is the worse. I've taken blood for tests but I think it might be all right since the only broken
skin is the cheek." Blood born diseases were the real nightmare for anyone working in health care in Africa. "She's
dressed and in bed now. If you wanted to see her." She offered Hector.
Hector listened just as quietly, and was grateful that was the worst of it. He looked at Sean and was about to open his
mouth again about where Andi, in his opinion, should go, when Suzette came out. Hector was going to chase after
Sean too. But his priorities shifted.
"Yeah I do." He said and went into the tent where Andi was in the bed, her mother brushing her hair, sitting behind
her in the bed. Janette smiled upon seeing his tall form fill the doorway and head over to Andi's bed, sitting down on
the bed in front of her.
"See, a little bath, and the world starts to look right again." Janette said. "It’s a secret all women know. Men, bah, they
settle for showers." ‘
"Showers are quicker." Hector said.
"Mum?" Andi asked softly and her mother finished the stroke and kissed her daughter's temple as she stood up.
"It's all right, bebe." She murmured with a soft smile. "I'm going to go look after your father for a moment, right?" She
brushed the same soft kiss to Hector's temple. "You too, bebe." She whispered against him. "It's all right now."
Andi didn't even wait for her mother to exit the tent. Just immediately crawled over and into Hector's lap, tucking both
her legs up against his side and winding her arms tightly around him. And there was less desperation and more
simple need in the touch this time. But her body tucked just as tightly into his as before.
Hector watched as Janette left the tent and carefully moved so his back was against a tent pole, never shifting her
from his lap. "I need a vacation." He said with a chuckle, leaning his head on hers for a moment. He should suggest it
to her of all people first, right? Then he'd flip a mental coin over which parent to tackle next. "Remember my evil
neighbor? Want to come bother him with me?"
"Tonight?" She asked automatically before opening her eyes so that the lashes whispered against his throat and
raising eyes she couldn't see much more than his jaw with. Then she blinked as what he was asking caught up with
her and went very still in his arms.
"You mean next." She whispered. "Instead of going home with Mum and Da. You mean me going home with you."
"Yeah, that's exactly what I mean." He said, he could only see the very top of her head, but he could feel her in his
arms, how still she was, and really wished he had Swanson's gift of talking people into things as easily as the fair
Delta did. "I think it would be a good idea, for the both of us. But if you'd rather go to Zaire, well, I hope they don't
mind a house guest."
"I don't want you to leave." Her voice was very small and a bit muffled.
"Didn't say I was leaving you." He clarified, holding her a bit tighter. "Just making suggestions on where we should go.
Because we both need vacations from work, and frankly, I'm too tired to go off on a real vacation, like back packing
through the Himalayas or something. So that leaves me bunking up in Zaire or you going to the States." And he was
completely worn out. He could only imagine how she felt.
She blinked several times rather rapidly against him and her lashes brushed liquid against his skin at least once as
she managed a sharp inhale.
"I don't know." She managed quietly. "I didn't even think - I haven't thought - " She hadn't thought past getting this far.
This was important and immediate and all she'd been willing to think about. Everything after...
"Is it - ?" But she didn't even know what to ask. Safe? Quiet? Peaceful? It certainly wouldn't be familiar. And there
wouldn't be elephants. And what about Mum and Da? They were so hurt. She couldn't just abandon them. But - just
Hector. All to herself... What about his family? She didn't want to meet his family. At least everyone in the tribe didn't
realize she wasn't normal.
But they didn't have a piano in Zaire...
She shut her eyes. Knowing she was no help but not able to make a decision this tired. She had so many wants and
didn't wants in her head right now. And only one was important and it wasn't helping answer the question.
"I'm sorry. As long as I'm with you, I'm where I want to be. Please? I know you'll stay but promise it again? Please?"
"I'm staying with you." He assured her.
Africa was familiar to her, it was her home. He understood that. It was vaguely familiar to him. But right now, it was
tainted for the both of them. He knew that too. But he didn't want to rip her away if she'd rather stay in Zaire. He
couldn't do that to her. No matter how peaceful and quiet he knew his house in the States was. A sleepy
neighborhood, with weeping willow trees and indoor plumbing that always had hot water.
His family wouldn't be much of a problem. his doors had locks. He could take the phone off the hook.
But he'd go where she wanted.
"Anywhere you want, we'll go. Except the Himalayas. I'm holding fast to that one."
"I love you." Her hands shifted around to the front of his shirt and she gave it a light tug. Leaning back. They were on
a bed after all and she couldn't believe either of them was still managing coherent sentences. She touched his chin
very, very lightly with her lips. Offered his quiet smile. "I do."
"Would you play the piano for me? If we went?"
"I'd even take requests." He said with relieved exhale. Now, of course, he had to break it to her parents, let them get
over their reaction to it before seeing her again. They were two adults, they had the option to go where they wanted,
right?
"I said 'if.'" She reminded him softly with a quiet smile. She wasn't good at making life changing decisions when she
was tired. She'd let the camp fill up with soldiers last time she'd done something like that. And this time there were a
lot more people hurt. A lot more people that needed her to be here for them.
But she already knew where she was going to go. His relieved exhale had decided it for her.