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‘But out here in the middle of nowhere, not everyone has access to healthcare and so immunisation rates are lower?’ he guessed.
‘Plus, so many people are displaced.’ She nodded, loving the way he took an interest because she did. As though it mattered to him because it mattered to her. ‘They have enough trouble finding clean water, food and building new shelter for themselves. And they have their traditional healers—some of whom are actually very good at what they do, and some are completely ineffective. Either way, western-influenced health education is very much a low priority for them.’
‘What about vaccine drives? Education drives?’
She was beginning to see what Lukas relished the most. A project. A goal. It gave him purpose.
Just like being out here had always made her feel as if she had value.
She couldn’t help wondering if it was tied to the way his mother had worshipped his biological father, despite him abandoning her and Lukas. Just as her self-worth had been damaged the day her parents had refused to side with her over what had happened with the Rockman boy—she didn’t even like to think of him by name.
They’d valued money and connections over her well-being. It had taken her years to get over that, and this place had helped.
As had Lukas, though that made no sense.
‘Obviously we educate people.’ She nodded softly, pushing the confused thoughts from her head. ‘Multiple charities, not just HOP, have worked together with the government for years, on huge public awareness and vaccine drives. And we are making ground. But it’s an ongoing issue. And money only goes so far, you know. We aren’t all billionaires.’
She stopped, horrified, waiting for him to say something.
He didn’t speak.
‘I wasn’t asking for more money,’ she choked out, hating how she’d let things get awkward between them.
‘I know.’
‘I didn’t mean...’
‘I know.’ He silenced her. ‘It’s been a long few days. I suggest we get some sleep and regroup tomorrow.’
Sleep? How was she supposed to sleep whilst lying in a bed next to Lukas? Not least because all she wanted to do was be close to him, touch him, be touched by him. Just like the other night.
And he didn’t want any of that.
‘I think sleep is a good idea,’ she lied as brightly as she could. ‘I’ll get changed in the shower block.’
‘No, you stay here. I’ll cha
nge over there. I want to check tomorrow’s schedule with one of the guys I met this afternoon, anyway. You may well be asleep by the time I get back.’
‘Great.’ Another lie. ‘Well, see you in the morning, Lukas. Goodnight.’
CHAPTER TEN
DESPITE FEARING THAT she would never be able to sleep with Lukas next to her—his back to hers—Oti woke up the following morning having had one of the most peaceful nights she’d experienced in a while.
The early-morning sounds of camp floated around the tukul, but the sound she found her ears straining for was Lukas.
Nothing.
Rolling gingerly onto her back, she turned her head to his side of the bed, only to find that he’d gone. Her stomach lurched, though she told herself not to be so dramatic. Lukas was a notoriously early riser; just because he wasn’t here didn’t mean he was trying to avoid her.
Stretching out her hand, she checked his side of the bed, to find that it was cold. He’d clearly left some time ago.
To avoid her?
It was a question she couldn’t possibly answer, and yet she felt she already knew.
Slipping out of the mosquito nets and throwing on fresh shorts and a T-shirt, Oti slipped into the ablution hut to shower. It was nothing like the glorious, hot power shower that she’d enjoyed back home—back at Lukas’s home—but it felt familiar and somehow comforting. From the low-pressure, tepid trickle that rolled briefly over her body to dodging the bats above her head, it was everything she’d grown accustomed to over the past four years.
