This, along with many other things, was another example of collateral beauty that I continued to see everywhere I looked.
I had a wild graduation party, attended by all our girls – including Annie in spirit, I’m sure. They all arrived in red lippy, polish and sexy red-soled heels. It was a sight to be seen, especially the glamourous Sammie with her luscious blonde locks. Even Abi and Joanne turned up to join the party. It was strange to say goodbye to something that had become such an all-consuming part of my life, but nothing had ever felt so good.
The day after our appointment with Suzanna, Harry came home waving an envelope in the air, his face brimming with excitement. He picked me up and danced me around the room.
“Pack your bags, babe!”
“You mean I can pack my own bags? Where’s the fun in that?”
“You might need more than lingerie this time.” He pecked me on the lips before lowering me to the ground.
I reached for the envelope.
“Nope.”
“So, you want me to pack, but you won’t tell me where I'm going.”
Harry laughed.
“Do I get clues?”
“Maybe,” he answered coyly.
“Hot or cold?”
“Really, really hot.”
“Fancy or roughing it?”
“Damn, Ave, you’re good at this.”
“Well?”
He paused as if trying to think of a way to give me a hint without giving too much away. “Maybe leave your heels at home, although …” He hesitated, leaning in for a kiss.
“Okay, might there be a brother there?”
Harry laughed heartily. “I’m sure there will be lots of brothers there, along with mothers, aunties …”
I narrowed my eyes. “How long for?”
“A month?”
“How on earth did you get four weeks off work?”
“I didn’t,” he answered, and when I cocked my head to the side, he told me to stop over-analysing and just get packing.
Two days later, Sally, Harry and I touched down on Kenyan soil and felt the beautiful African sun on our skin – I couldn’t have been happier. Seeing Cooper running towards me with tears streaming from his eyes unravelled me from the inside out.
“I told you,” he whispered.
He’d told me other things too, things I couldn’t seem to stop thinking about. I eyed Harry suspiciously, but he was too busy directing the movements of the medical supplies we’d brought with us. Cooper wrapped his arm around my back and led Sally and I to the vehicles. “We’ll meet your man back at base later.” I shot a glance over my shoulder in time to see Harry blow me a kiss and then turn back to his work.
“I knew you’d steal him,” I joked.
Coop laughed. “He was an easy mark.”
I elbowed him in the side, then slid into the back seat of the awaiting four-wheel drive, trying to ignore the armed guard in the front seat.
Coop gave Sally and me a tour around the clinic located just outside the compound ‘Kuponya’, which they called home. There were security guards with machetes and bows and arrows as well as a couple with AK-47s around the clinic, which was a frightening sight.
“It’s Africa, Riri. It’s a different world out here,” Cooper said, acknowledging I’d tensed at his side. He greeted the gun-wielding guard with a friendly slap on the back of the shoulder and a sentence in Kiswahili.
I caught the camaraderie in the guard’s eyes and smiled as I walked past.
“Karibu sana, Miss Riri.” I smiled at the use of my childhood nickname, which had only ever been used by Cooper but sounded so natural on this stranger’s lips.
“Asante sana.” I was thankful for Harry’s quick tutorial on the plane and quelled my urge to add squashed banana to the end of it like Rafiki in The Lion King.
When we’d made it back to base ninety minutes later, Libby showed Sally and me to our room. I realised pretty quickly there’d been some kind of misunderstanding.
Sally laughed. “Oh, this is going to be fun.”
I was not as amused. “Where’s Harry going to sleep, Libs?”
“He’s in the accommodation for single males.”
“But he’s not single,” I countered.
Libby smiled sweetly. “In the western sense, no. But you’re not married, and this is Africa – they’re pretty traditional around here.”
“But we—” How could I argue? When in Rome. “For the whole month?”
Libby’s face lit up. “Unless you’re planning on springing a surprise wedding on us, Ave, then yes – for the whole month. And there can’t be any sneaking around either. We’ve got standards to maintain and plenty of staff around to keep an eye on you.” She winked at Sally, then disappeared from sight while I stood there gaping.
“Close your mouth, girl. We’re in Africa. You’ll catch a fly.”
That was enough to snap me out of it.
“I don’t know if I can do a month,” I confessed while I was unpacking my bags into the drawers provided.
“Well, my friend, you should have thought about that before you made him wait as long as you did. You could have had that wedding done and dusted in Taupo if you’d just listened to me. It’s a good lesson.”
“Shut up,” I said, throwing a pillow at her head.
“Hey, watch out!” She held her hand up in warning. “This is Africa; violence is punishable by death.”
“Oh darn. I’d better not beat up on Harry when he rejects my advances to play tonsil hockey behind the clinic then.”
“There’d better not be any advances. Even though it was light-hearted, I don’t think she was kidding.” Sally tucked her empty pack under her bed. The worst part was, before she turned away, I caught her biting her lip to stifle a laugh. If I had another pillow, I would have thrown it. Instead, I moaned, sounding like an immature twat, and I didn’t care.
“You, my friend, need to act virtuous. For the whole month,” Sally added for good measure, and we both cracked up at the thought. That was going to be a push.
Harry appeared when we were just about to say grace for dinner. Knowing how filthy I’d been, he’d obviously found time to have a quick shower and discover our sleeping arrangements. I was fascinated to hear what he had to say on the issue.
He walked over, gave me a chaste peck on the cheek and then moved over to where the men were standing. Libby pursed her lips when Cooper wrapped his arm around her shoulder enthusiastically and looked me straight in the eye. Why was this so damn funny? I looked over at Harry when I heard him clear his throat and caught him give a warning glance to Cooper. Good, at least he was on my side.
It was four days until I had five minutes alone with Harry. By alone, I mean I followed him into the clinic’s drug room and locked the door behind me when no one was watching.
“Hey babe,” he said.
“This is killing me.” I walked forward to steal a kiss. “We could’ve stayed somewhere else or pretended we were married.”
Harry raised his brows, refusing to dignify my suggestion with a response.
“Argh, I know.” I placed my palms on his stubbled cheeks and rested my forehead on his. “I miss you.”
“We’ve done a month plenty of times, babe, no sweat.”
“Not when I’ve been well,” I argued, pulling away.
“Well then, hot stuff, welcome to my club.” He pressed a kiss to my nose, picked up his supplies and unlocked and walked out the door, leaving me to consider the truth of his words.
It’s just a month. I can do this.
I heard a clatter and my name on Libby’s lips, and I was back in the game. Life and death, Avery. Life and death.
Another week passed and Harry had spent more time away from the clinic than in it. I couldn’t complain; I’d been so exhausted by long emotional days working alongside Libby and Sally at the clinic and sorting out the new supplies that had arrived, I’d barely had the time or energy to miss him.
It was n
early midnight when I slipped out of my filthy clothes to have my first shower in two days. I was halfway through when I heard the door creak open. I turned the faucet off, reaching out to pull my towel in and wrap it around me, before I braved opening the curtain. I’d forgotten to lock the door and was more than aware it could have been anyone including one of the night guards.
I peeked out to find Harry leaning against the vanity, and a wave of relief washed over me. I walked over to him brazenly and pressed my lips to his. “Hey, babe.”
He tucked his hands around the back of my neck, twisting my soft curls around his fingers. “Hey, yourself.”
I touched my fingertips to his face, now adorned with a soft covering of dark hair. He hadn’t shaved since we’d arrived.
“Africa suits you,” I admitted, then tried to suck the words back in, but they wouldn’t budge – they hung in the air between us taunting me. I felt my brow crease before I had the good sense to hide it.
“It’s alright, Ave.” Harry grabbed my towel and tugged me against him. “I love this, but I also love our life back home. Short regular trips work for me.”
“Good.” I inhaled his intoxicating scent. Dirt and sweat had never smelled so good.
“So, you missed me, huh?” He rubbed both hands down my arms; my skin prickled with the memory of his caress.
“You been somewhere?” I teased. He’d been gone three days, working a big case in the city with Coop. He wasn’t kidding when he said he hadn’t needed to get time off work. This was no romantic holiday, that’s for sure. The separate bedrooms and eagle eyes made sure of that.
“How did surgery go?”
“Good. I’ve got two more booked for next week.”
“Of course you do,” I answered dreamily.
“You don’t mind?” he asked.
I knew if I’d been the type to say ‘yes, damn it! How dare you go and save children instead of spending every waking moment with me,’ we would never have worked.
“It makes it easier actually.” I lifted the rim of his T-shirt and trailed my fingers up his lower back.
He shivered. “How so?”
“Well, indecent behaviour is dealt with a lot more severely here, so it’s probably best if you keep well away.”
Harry turned us around, then stepped back towards the exit. “Is that so?”
“Mm-hmm.” I followed him until his body was firmly pressed against the bathroom door, then reached up to untuck my towel. “There’s no one around now. How about you join me in the shower?”
Harry’s hands whipped up to mine. “You trying to tempt me, Avery Bishop?”
“Who me? I wouldn’t dare … is it working?”
Harry smiled, without releasing my towel. “Name one example of it not working.”
“You’re resisting my charms quite well, right now.”
“I made a promise that I intend on keeping.”
“What would that be?”
“That I would honour tradition and culture and keep my hands off you.”
“Who made you promise that?”
Harry pressed my hands to his lips, then slid to the side and opened the door, just enough to slip out unnoticed. Before he pulled the door closed, he leant back in to whisper, “Your brother. Sweet dreams, baby.”
I locked the door, shucked my towel and stepped back into the shower. Damn Cooper.
51
When Sally and I wandered to work early the next morning, the compound was bustling with activity. The guards and other workers were facilitating the arrival of two new containers, and Libby was frantically organising equipment and supplies into travel packs.
“What’s going on this morning?” I asked, beginning my morning tasks.
“Well, thanks to your lovely fiancé, we’ve got two medical teams arriving this morning. They’ve been in orientation for two days in the city and are ready to get down to business as soon as they arrive.”
“How many are there?” Sally asked
“There are nine in the medical crew. We’ve got midwives, nurses, surgeons, the lot.”
I glanced around the clinic. “We’re not all going to be based here, are we?”
“No, Ave,” she laughed. “They’ll be based in local villages around the province – some even further afield. For the first week, we’ll see them when they need to gather more supplies or bring patients in for more urgent medical care.”
“What about the containers? More medical supplies?” I asked.
“No, they’re filled with construction materials and a deconstructed shed we’ll use for our new orphanage and pre-school teaching rooms.” Libby turned around to face me, and my eyes filled with tears.
“What? Libs – are you serious?”
“Sure am, sis. We got our licence six months ago, and it’s been all go since then.”
I leapt forwards and wrapped her in my arms, filled with gratitude that the dream she and Cooper had put down on paper seven years ago was finally in motion. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“We wanted it to be a surprise, especially once Harry told us his plans.”
I wasn’t the only one who felt like a burden of impossibility had been lifted. A current of joy washed over me for this new reality where dreams were realised. I couldn’t help reflecting on my reluctance to allow the two men in my life to meet out of fear that this would happen. All they had achieved and how happy Libby and Cooper were to have Harry on board with their vision were more examples of collateral beauty – now my eyes had been opened, I couldn’t feel anything but gratitude.
We finished organising the supplies and opened the clinic on time, welcoming a steady stream of patients.
Late morning, I swaddled a delicious newborn then lifted her into my arms and whispered hope against her divinely soft skin.
Libby cleared her throat at the open doorway of the nursery before entering. “She suits you.”
I didn’t miss the wistful look in her eye. I pressed a light kiss to baby Makena’s face, then lowered her to the bassinet. She stirred in her sleep as if protesting the absence of my warmth. I laid my hand on her chest and breathed in the sight of her responding to my touch.
“There’s nothing quite like it, is there?” Libby said, moving to my side.
“There really isn’t. I couldn’t understand how you could keep doing this, surrounded by so much loss and pain,” I whispered. “But I do now.”
She linked her arm in mine. “You have to feel it to understand it, Ave.” She motioned around the room. “The miracles we witness here overwhelm the tragedy we endure.”
“And praise the Lord Almighty for you,” Glory, one of the Kenyan nurses, called out from beside a new mother. “All these babies and their mothers would be dying without you.”
“And you, mwanamke mzuri.”
The nurse placed her palm on her heart and bowed her head towards Libby.
“What did you just say?” I whispered.
“It’s not a perfect translation. In English, it would be the same as me calling her a beautiful lady, speaking to her character, rather than her appearance. In Kiswahili, it literally means she’s a woman with a beautiful heart. Both things are true.”
“That’s lovely. Can you say it again?” I asked.
“Mwanamke mzuri.”
I whispered it under my breath, over and over again, while Libby wandered through the clinic, engaging with both patients and nurses.
“Time for lunch,” she said, returning to my side.
“That sounds perfect, mwanamke mzuri.”
“Right back at you, sis. You’re a natural.”
I laughed.
Libby locked the clinic and chatted to the guards in Kiswahili before one of them walked us into the compound and pulled the large gate closed behind us.
“Do you go anywhere without the guards?” I asked.
“Not outside the base. We’ve had too many close calls. If something happens to us, all these people will be left without medical care. It�
��s not worth the risk.”
I shook my head. “You two are amazing.”
“We’re passionate about our calling, this ministry and these people. That’s no different from what you do, Ave. You save lives too. It might look different, but lives are lives.”
I wrapped my arm around hers. “My life is not in danger just walking to work, Libs. It is different.”
“We can’t compare lives or influence or worth, Ave. All lives are valued equally. In the natural, yes, we save more lives, and we sacrifice a lot to do it, but one of the lives you save could go on to rid the world of an infectious disease, or be a visionary, or an innovator that creates something that transforms the world as we know it. One of the mothers you work with could end up raising one of these people. It’s impossible to know the impact of our existence, but every single one of us will leave a mark. It’s our job to make it count.”
“How the heck did you come to be so wise?”
Libby shrugged. “Riding the tightrope between life and death on a daily basis has a way of rewiring you to value both the frailty and the value of every single life.”
Her words resonated with me. “I get that.”
“I know you do, hun.”
We walked the rest of the way in silence and found seats next to Sally. Halfway through lunch, Libby mentioned she’d have to head back to the clinic to prepare for the medical teams who were arriving in the next hour.
“Do you need us to come too?” Sally asked.
“No. I thought I’d put you two to work on another project this afternoon.”
“Of course. What is it?”
“Kuponya’s first wedding. We’ve got four days to transform this place into the venue of their dreams.”
“How did that come about?” I asked.
“We’re always looking for business opportunities to raise money for the ministry, but this one was a gift from heaven.”
“How so?”
Then She Roars Page 24