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"Holy shit, you need a shower," Austin said.
"I love you too, Oz," I responded.
Hugo laughed. "Don't worry, you're not bad at all. You even look well-rested. Good trip?"
"Yes, it was amazing. There's a lot to go over, but for now, I'm just really glad to be home."
Logan chimed in. "Well, it goes without saying that we couldn't be happier that you're home, but I'm saying it, anyway." Everyone laughed.
"I'm glad that all our worry was about nothing," Seth added. "We heard of a car bombing at the outskirts of the city, but otherwise sounds like it was pretty tame."
"Honestly, Karen and I were oblivious to the outside world. We were holed up in the hospital, doing surgery, prep and just work, work, work. If we weren't working, we were sleeping."
Hugo grabbed my suitcase. "Well, let's not talk here and get you home so that you can rest up a bit. We just wanted to welcome you back."
I took them all in. My bros.
"Thanks, guys. It means a lot."
As we piled into the van they rented to put in my bags and hold all of them, I told them about the patients, the surgeries, the scarf, the sculpture. They couldn't believe the stories I had.
"That magic scarf story is unbelievable." Logan shook his head. "I don't know whether I could have held it together knowing that you were really close to possible danger."
"I know. It was all surreal. And keeping busy was the key. I didn't have time to worry. I just did my job and pushed through."
"Commendable. Absolutely." Hugo slapped me on the back.
"But talking about just doing my job. I realized that we aren't following the "teach a man to fish" parable. We are just going in, solving all their problems, and not teaching the locals how to do things. And they're thirsty for it. There was so much interest that we had to turn people away because it was getting to the point where things were dangerous. There were just too many people around. But it taught me that we need to plan for educational moments. Set up some livestreams. Record everything so they can learn."
All the boys were nodding.
Austin said, "You're absolutely fucking right, Dom. That's the missing key. Do you think that means we need to extend our mission weeks into mission two-weeks?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. I know the week went by very fast, but I don't know how everyone feels about being away for two weeks. Something we should discuss."
Austin looked thoughtful. "Maybe this is something Serena can help us with. She can maybe suggest some ways we can structure the learning while still doing as many procedures as we can. Maybe it means doing some online information sharing to a broader extent before we go."
"Fuck, man, that's a great idea. We already started an educational arm to include Serena's impact on kids during our missions, so maybe we should just have a chat with her about that. Would you ask her?"
Austin nodded. "Of course. Can't wait. She's loving the planning she's doing now, and this could be the next step."
"It's a little bit of a step out for her, but let's just hire someone to assist her if she needs it. And maybe she's not interested because she has her plate full and we can just hire someone to take it over. We have the cash, boys!" Logan added. We all laughed.
"We do, indeed."
Just then, we pulled up in front of my place.
"Well, thanks for picking me up, guys. It's great to see you."
"Rest up," Seth called out. "Let us know when you're ready to rumble."
"Yes. If you need a few days off, just take them. Rachel can rearrange your patients." Hugo always thought ahead.
They helped me carry my bags into my house. We did a round of bro-hugs and they all called out their goodbyes.
"See you guys." I closed the door and off they went.
Looking around my apartment, it was good to be home. I turned on the kitchen light and grabbed a glass of water.
