Chapter 1
CHAPTER ONE
Dr. Paul McCormick was tired. He had been treating patients in the refugee camp for twelve hours straight.He needed a break.He sat down on a box crate and wiped his forehead.At 52 years of age working in the refugee camp was beginning to take its toll on him.His brown hair had turned almost completely grey, what little hair he had left.It had begun to thin drastically.
Elena walked up behind him and put her arms around him and kissed him on the neck.“What is my busy husband doing sitting down?” she asked with a smile.
“I’ve treated 120 patients today, Elena,” he replied.“I need to rest.”
“Let’s go to our tent,” she said, “and I will make you some dinner and put you to bed.”
“But what about the line of people still outside the clinic?” he asked with a frown on his face.
“They will just have to come back tomorrow, Paul.You are only one man.You are not God,” she replied sternly.
He wanted to believe she was right.But when he looked out the tent and saw the faces of the little children who were sick with dysentery from the bad water they were drinking, he knew he could not rest until he had given them some medicine, along with some hope.
Paul had been at the refugee camp in Turkey for eighteen months now, and the refugees just kept coming.He constantly asked for Doctors Without Borders to send him some help, but help was hard to find.They would occasionally send him a new medical student who had designs on saving the world.But most of them did not last more than a couple of months.
The refugee camp was a hard life.He probably would not have lasted so long himself if he had not met his beautiful wife, Elena.She was sent to the camp by the International Rescue Committee to bring supplies and help organize the camp.She had been there almost as long as Paul had.She was only scheduled to stay for six months, but the chemistry between she and Paul was strong and after a few weeks she knew she had met the man she would love for the rest of her life.
Elena was born in the United States to a Syrian family.Her family had left Syria many years ago because they wanted a better life for their children, and they knew they could find it in the United States.Elena and her brother had both attended the university in New York City.Her brother had become an engineer, but Elena just wanted to help people.She dropped out of school before getting her degree and went to work for the IRC.
Paul reflected back on the day Elena had arrived at the camp.When she got off of the bus, he had mistaken her for a refugee.He thought she must have come from a wealthy family in Syria because her clothes were of good quality and she had a shine to her hair and a complexion and teeth which looked as if they had been well cared for.Most of the refugees which came to the camp had not had a good life and their clothing reflected it, as did their teeth.
Elena noticed Paul staring at her as she walked away from the bus.She walked up to him and asked him where the administration building could be found.He told her that all refugees had to report in to the guards at the gate.She spoke to him in perfect English and told him she was not a refugee, she was a worker.Paul blushed and pointed her to the admin tent.
The next day Paul walked over to the admin tent on purpose to see if she really was a worker.He wanted to have one more look at that beautiful face with those large brown eyes, long, dark and shiny brown hair, and a very shapely body.He estimated her to be around 40 years of age, and quickly looked to see if she was wearing a wedding ring.He saw nothing on her hands.She ignored him as he walked in.He handed her a bouquet of hand-picked wild flowers, which were mostly weeds.
“I would like to apologize for mistaking you for a refugee yesterday,” he said.
“Don’t worry about it,” she said coolly.“I am Syrian so it was an honest mistake.”She gave him a half smile, which encouraged him to continue the conversation.
“These are for you,” he said, handing her the flowers.
“I’m sorry but I am allergic.”
“Oh, no problem. I will dispose of them right away,” he said as he hurried out the tent to a garbage container.Returning to the admin tent, he approached her.“Would you like to join me for lunch in the mess tent?” he asked her timidly.
“I’m sorry but I am very busy today,” she said as she turned and walked away.
Paul walked out of the tent dejected.
One of the other women who Elena was working with turned to her and said, “Did Dr. McCormick just ask you to have lunch with him?”
“Oh, is he a doctor?” Elena asked.
“Yes, the best doctor we have ever had here,” her co-worker replied.“And he keeps to himself.Several of the other women here have tried to engage him in conversation or invite him to their tent but he has always refused.And he invited you to lunch and you turned him down?”
“I am here to work, not to play,” Elena said as she bent her head over the desk and began working.Secretly she wondered if she had made a serious mistake.But she certainly did not want to appear too eager.He was a very nice looking man with his slim build and bright blue eyes.After her husband had divorced her for a younger woman, she had not been interested in meeting other men.But it had been three years now, so maybe she should try to be nicer to the doctor.
The next day she made an excuse to go to the clinic to check on their supplies.Paul looked up and smiled when he saw her enter.“I’m sorry to bother you, doctor,” she said, “but I need to know how your supply level is,” she said with more warmth than she had used yesterday.
“If you don’t mind waiting while I finish with this patient, I will be happy to do an audit of the supplies with you,” he said with a smile.
That evening they had dinner together and did not miss a meal without each other since then.When her six month tour was over, Paul proposed to her and she accepted.The IRC agreed to allow her to remain at the camp with her husband until he returned to the states.
