“That’s not why you came to Argentina, to get to know me. And maybe you’re here because of that crossroad you’ve come to. But this is a drastic change from your life, as well as a drastic change from the way you practice medicine. There’s nothing here that’s easy. Not even the village path.”
“Maybe I’m looking for drastic and difficult.”
“I’m not buying it. What you’re telling me may be partial reasons, but in total I’m not buying it.”
“You don’t have to. As long as you let me work here, we’ll both get what we need. Why complicate it with anything else?”
He shrugged. “Guess we don’t have to, do we?” Taking a few steps closer, he bent and picked up her backpack. “Look, it’s getting late. I have a couple of patients I want to check on before I grab a of couple hours’ sleep, so we need to hurry this along.” Then he slid his arm around her waist, clearly for support rather than anything else. “Lean on me and we’ll be back at the hospital in a few minutes.”
“I’m sorry, Ben. Normally, I have more stamina than this. I really didn’t expect to get this tired as I haven’t done much of anything for a while now.”
“Nothing to be sorry about.”
That was all he said. For the rest of the way back they walked in silence. She was glad for the assistance. Snuggling into his side maybe a bit more than she needed to as they walked, she was glad the assistance was coming from Ben.
CHAPTER FOUR
“MY BROTHER thought I should look in on you, and I wanted to meet you… considering what I’ve heard.” Amanda sat a tray of coffee and pastries on the nightstand next to Shanna’s bed. “I’m Amanda Kenner, by the way. Part-owner of the hospital and resident pediatrician. And impressed as all get-out that you followed Ben from Italy to Argentina.”
“What time is it?” Shanna responded groggily, pushing herself part way to a sitting position. Last night was a blur. Ben had helped her back to the hospital, then she’d practically fallen through the door to her room, and right this moment she didn’t have any recollection of tumbling into bed or anything else past the door. Yet here she was, dressed in yesterday’s clothes, stretched out in bed and feeling rested. And her only concession to undressing was that her boots and socks were off. Had Ben done that? Had he actually removed them for her?
“It’s a little after noon. I’d thought about waking you for breakfast earlier because you missed supper last night, but Ben said you needed sleep more than you needed food, so I waited as long as I could. The thing is, if you’re going to volunteer here, I really need you on the work schedule for this afternoon. Normally, we like to give our volunteers a couple of days to acclimatize, but we’re in a pinch.”
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