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“Civil means polite conversation.”
That got him a glare, but Charlie didn’t flinch or retreat.
Will dropped his gaze first back to his menu. “I liked Thailand, particularly where I was. The people were friendly, and the scenery was beautiful. The village was rustic, but everything was always so green. It was nice to be away from everything. To forget…”
What he meant was that it was nice to forget about Charlie and the completely different life they had together in Paris. Charlie couldn’t blame him. He and his team had been moved to London a short time after they separated, and Charlie had been grateful for the change in scenery. He hadn’t wanted to see all the places he’d visited with Will. His heart had needed to stop expecting Will to show up around every street corner and peer out the window of every shop.
“Is this what you’ve been doing since your residency was completed? Traveling and volunteering?”
Will grunted. “I was with Médecins Sans Frontières for the first few years, working here and there in Asia and Africa. I made friends with several other doctors, who took on volunteer work and side jobs outside of the organization, but in similar regions in need. That’s how I ended up here in Buenos Aires.”
He paused in his story when a server approached to take their order. Will spoke with a practiced ease, as if he’d been coming to the restaurant regularly, or maybe it was just one of his favorite things to get.
When Will finished, both Will and the server regarded Charlie expectantly. Of course, he’d not even opened the menu yet.
“Can you order for me? I don’t have a lot of experience with Thai food.”
Will looked surprised for a moment but quickly turned his attention to the menu. Within less than a minute, he ordered several things and handed their menus over to the server with a smile. “I got you three things of varying degrees of spiciness.”
“I like spicy things,” Charlie replied with a grin.
Will offered up a skeptical smirk. “Yes, well, there is American spicy, and then there’s Thai spicy. We’ll see how you do.”
“What’s your favorite place you’ve been?”
Will shrugged, his eyes drifting to the glass of water that sat in front of him. “Probably Thailand. The food is good, and I like the pace of life there in the village. There’s no great sense of urgency like there was in Paris.” He winced a little as if he hadn’t meant to mention the place by name.
“Have you been back to the States in the past few years?” Charlie inquired.
“For short visits, nothing more. My family keeps bugging me to return and actually stay, but…”
“But what?” Charlie rested his forearms on the table and leaned forward. Will was reclining in his chair, one hand idly holding the sweating glass with two fingers and turning it.
There was a long pause before Will snorted as if laughing at some thought that crossed his mind. “I joined Médecins Sans Frontières because I wanted to forget about you. I’d always heard that it was some of the hardest work I’d ever do. The areas were dangerous, supplies were always low, and the variety of problems you’d encounter would be vast. I thought I’d be too busy with patients and just surviving, that I’d not have any time to think about you.”
It was on the tip of Charlie’s tongue to ask if it worked, but he really didn’t want to know. He didn’t want Will in pain, but he also didn’t want to have been forgotten.
“Most of the time, I didn’t think about you. There was only the work and bone-grinding exhaustion. But after the first couple of years, I started to love it.” Will glanced at him and smiled. “I love the travel. I love waking up in new places and meeting all the new people. I love learning about their culture and experiencing new things. It also doesn’t hurt that I feel like I’m having a real impact on a village or a group of people. Back in the States, I’m one of thousands of doctors, lost in a crowd. I’d probably spend more time fighting with insurance companies than I would spend helping people.”
“So, you plan to keep doing this for a while?”
Will grunted. “At least for a few more years. I’m not ever going to be rich this way, but I’ll be happy and that’s enough for me.”
Warmth swelled in Charlie’s chest, embracing his heart and putting a lump in his throat. He wanted to pull Will into his lap and hold this treasure, but he couldn’t. Instead, he cleared his throat and held on to his smile as he said, “The world needs you, Doc Will.”
Will snorted. “Doc Will. Why do you and the guys call me that? Wouldn’t it be easier to just call me Doc?”
