AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“She did that entirely on her own.”
I didn’t get it. Was he already going to Lebanon even though he wasn’t finished with his residency? I wondered if he’d followed her.
“Why are you telling me this now?” I asked.
“Honestly, it was so unimportant, it never occurred to me to tell you. I had zero idea that she’d still have an axe to grind.”
This new information had thrown me. I was nervous enough about everything without having to deal with a jealous ex. I wasn’t sure what I needed to do or say.
Then I remembered how I had gotten through the past six years. One foot in front of the other. Thanks to Flynn, I had found a direction for my life that went beyond compulsive buying of underpants and working in a car wash. If he said it didn’t mean anything, then it didn’t mean anything.
“I’ll deal with it,” I said, yawning. “I’m tired and hungry. Is there hope for me?”
He chuckled, hugging me. “I think the only solution to being alone on these trips is that we have to get married.”
I barked out a laugh. You’d marry me so we could sleep together? That’s quite a commitment.”
“I love you, Bella.” He looked around to make sure we were alone and kissed me.
“I love you, too, Flynn.”
That night we ate in his room, keeping the door open, just in case. Soft music playing somewhere outside floated in through the window. He took my hand and kissed it with a look of burning desire I’d grown accustomed to. A wave of desire came over me that was so strong I would have gladly performed acts of perversion right on the holy floors of the Delaparte Guest House.
“At least we’ll be busy the rest of the trip,” he said, letting go of my hand.
“I’m ready to go to jail,” I whispered, making him laugh.
But he was right. It was time to go to bed. I was exhausted, but I did not know whether I’d be able to sleep in a strange bed.
The call to prayer woke me at 3:40. It was so beautiful; I listened to it and then fell right back to sleep. It came again at 5:23, and I stayed up with that. A tray with strong black coffee and something that would become my favorite breakfast, manakish, which was flatbread with roasted eggplant spread over it.
At six o’clock, I got a text from Flynn.I saw your light on under your door. We’ll leave at six thirty if you’re ready. Meet me in front? Miss you and can’t wait to work with you today.
This would be my first exposure to a living patient. Flynn told me Krista had arranged for an experienced nurse to double scrub with me until I felt confident enough to assist on my own. I didn’t question him further about how much he had told Krista about my inexperience. The old ego rose, along with a little embarrassment. And a moment of regret when I thought of how cocky it was of me to think I could be of any use with no experience.
But Krista and my mentor, an older woman named Adela, praised me for being courageous and emphasized how desperate they were for another pair of hands.
“The actual surgery is a small part of what we do,” Krista explained. “After the patients go through the post-anesthesia recovery department, they are sometimes too fragile to return to the orphanage or to their homes, which are usually in the camps. So we’ve set up a rehabilitation center where they can stay up to a week post-surgery. We’re nearly to capacity.
“With Flynn doing surgeries fourteen hours a day, seven days a week, we’ll have to discharge some of the older, more stable patients. It’s the young children Flynn treats that worry me. They need specialized care. I really want to keep them in rehab longer. We need another unit just for their care.”
She spoke passionately. I hoped we’d talk more so I could find out what had motivated her to come to Lebanon, and how Flynn had ended up doing trips to the same facility.
The fulfilling day surpassed anything I could have ever imagined. Despite my inexperience, I fit in with the team in Flynn’s operating room. They made me feel like I was one of them. I learned that speed and efficiency were crucial.
My mentor taught me that morning how to set up the Mayo stand with the essentials Flynn would use, and then I could work off the back table for anything extra he wanted. He had taught me the names of the basic instruments he used and the more intricate ones as he got further into the surgery.
Turnover time was key to efficiency, so I usually had my instruments soaking and the table cleaned up before the patient was off the table.
The circulating nurse went to the recovery room with the patient, while someone from the sterilization room would fetch my table, and I’d stay behind helping housekeeping clean and reorganize the room. Once that was done, I’d change my mask and set the room up for the next case. By the time the nurse returned with an anesthesia team member and the next patient, I’d already have all the sterile supplies open and would scrub at the sink to gown and glove and set up my table.
By the end of the first day, Adela said I was ready to work alone. After the first week, I had learned to love the rhythm of the operating room. The circulating nurse acted as the patients’ advocate, so my responsibilities focused on keeping them safe with the things that I could control, making sure all the instrumentation and equipment I provided was sterile and in good condition.
At first, I tried not to look at the patients when they came into the room. It was easier for me to not see their injuries or deformities. I realize how lame that sounds, but it was really better for them. At first.
Once they were under anesthesia and the prep was done, I’d help Flynn drape the patient’s face, keeping only the area that was to be operated on exposed. But with some patients, their entire face needed to be prepped. Anesthesia and the circulating nurse would apply special eye ointments and gauze dressings to protect their eyes, and the face was there for Flynn to do what he had to do.
After the first few days, I wanted to see the patients and often waved to them as they entered the room. I’d be covered already, head to toe in sterile paper, wearing a mask over my face and protective eyewear, my hair covered in a cap. And they always smiled at me as I stood off to the side with my table of sterile instruments.
