A memory of her going down on him in the greenhouse at Amundsen-Scott flashed into his mind, making his jeans uncomfortably tight. The woman knew how to use her tongue. That was for damned sure.
Eyes on the road, bro.
He turned on the sound system and synced it with his phone, while she tore into another Snickers. “Are you going to eat the whole bag?”
He’d never understood the mystical connection between women and chocolate.
She glared at him, chocolate on her lower lip, her mouth full. “Are you judging?”
“Hell, no. After what you’ve been through, eat all the chocolate you want.”
“That’s what I’m thinking.”
He was glad she was recovering her smart mouth. That was one of the things about her he’d enjoyed the most. “Is hip-hop okay?”
She nodded, licking the chocolate off her lip.
Fuck.
With Drake dropping beats, Malik headed west, making his way toward the A124, his cock half hard. He needed to get his mind off sex and stay sharp. He couldn’t afford to be distracted with fraternity mafia assholes hunting for them.
You wanted to get to know her better. Now is your chance.
There were a lot of miles between here and Parakou.
“I want to hear what you’ve been doing these past nine months. How was life here before this shit happened?”
* * *
Her chocolate craving temporarily satisfied,Kristi did her best to recap nine months of nursing without boring Malik to tears. Giving vaccines. Prenatal screenings. Setting and splinting broken bones. Assisting with emergency surgeries. STI screenings. Treating infections. Handing out mosquito nets. Catching babies.
“We had a laboring mom who tried to reach our mobile medical unit, but she started to deliver on a rutted dirt road that passed through the village. I grabbed some gloves and a towel and ran out there. She squatted down and pushed out the first baby, a little boy, and then I realized there was another.”
“Wow. Twins?”
“I only had one towel, so I took off my lab jacket, caught the second baby, and wrapped him in that. By then, some men had come with a litter. They carried her and the babies, still attached to their umbilical cords, the rest of the way to the unit.”
She couldn’t help but smile at the memory. “It’s funny, but I had to come all the way to Nigeria to do the kind of nursing I love.”
“What do you mean?”
“At home, nursing is as much about hospital policy, insurance companies, and lawyers as it is patient care. This patient needs that test, but insurance won’t cover it. That homeless woman has nowhere to go, but the hospital orders you to discharge her anyway. I’d be in the middle of setting up an IV on someone in serious pain, and the finance people would walk in and ask for money.”
“Shit. Yeah, we’ve got problems.”
“The bureaucracy wears nurses down. You can’t necessarily give your patients the attention and care they deserve. But here, there’s none of that. There are limited resources, and so many people live far from adequate healthcare. Few of the hospitals here are up to what I consider modern standards of care. But every day was about using my skills and the available resources to save lives and stop suffering. I made a difference every day. That’s what I wanted to do when I became a nurse.”
“That’s amazing. I mean it, Kristi. Your parents must be so proud. They’re doctors, right?”
She was impressed that he’d remembered. “My father is a neurologist, and my mother is a pediatrician. When I showed an interest in medicine, they expected me to become a physician. But I’d spent enough time in hospitals as their daughter to see that nurses, not doctors, do most of the patient care.”
“And that’s what you wanted to do.”
“Yes.” She remembered her parents’ dismay when she’d applied to the nursing program instead of pre-med. “I think they were disappointed at first. They tried to talk me into med school, but when I gave them my reasons, they came around.”
“You’re a damned good nurse. I’ve seen you in action, remember?”
“When Thor was shot.” She remembered. “Working here in Nigeria is the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. I loved every moment of it, even on the hard days. I’m going to miss it so much.”