The Courage to Love Her Army Doc Read Free Page A

getting here.
    Her pulse skittered faster as the ramshackle buildings with their corrugated-iron roofs came into view. This was as far from her humdrum life as she could get and a definite two-fingered salute to her ex.
    â€˜Can I refuse to take part in this kava thing?’ She’d used up her quota of bravery already. Drinking unknown substances with strangers was the sort of thing that could make her the subject of one of those ‘disappearances unsolved’ programmes.
    Her idea of living dangerously was putting an extra spoonful of sugar in her cuppa at bedtime, not imbibing a local brew of origin unknown to her. It wasn’t that she’d heard anything but good things about these people, she was just scared of all this newness . This would’ve been so much easier if Peter was here with her instead of the scowling Joe.
    â€˜You have free will, of course you can refuse. It would, however, show a distinct lack of respect for your hosts.’
    That would be a no, then. It was going to be difficult enough fitting in here, without incurring the wrath of the community from the get-go.
    Trust and respect were vital components between a doctor and her patients. It had taken her a long time to gain both from her colleagues and the locals when she’d first joined the GP practice at home. Only years of hard work, building her reputation, had moved her from being last option to first choice for her patients.
    With only two weeks to re-create that success here she’d have to take every opportunity available to ingratiate herself. Even if she was breaking out in a cold sweat at what that meant she could be walking into.
    They passed a white building, larger than the rest, which her tour guide informed her was the village school. Although lessons were surely over for the day, the children were congregated on the patch of green surrounding it, playing ball games. There was a chorus of ‘ Bula! ’ as the youngsters waved in their direction.
    Unfortunately, one boy by the volleyball net was too distracted by their arrival to see the ball coming straight for him. The loud smack as it connected full in his face even made Emily flinch. As the child crumpled to the ground, for a split second she wondered if there was some sort of protocol she should follow as she hadn’t been officially introduced. Common sense quickly overrode her worry and she dropped her bags to run to him. It was only when she was battling through the throng of children to reach him that she realised Joe had followed too. They knelt on either side of the boy, who was thankfully still conscious but clearly winded.
    â€˜If you could just stay still for us, sweetheart, we want to give you a check over. That was quite a hit you took there.’ She couldn’t see any blood or bruising as yet but she wanted him to stay flat until they’d given him a quick examination.
    â€˜Hi, Joni. This is Emily, the new doctor. You know, Pastor Peter’s sister?’ Joe made the introduction she’d omitted to do herself, and was already checking the boy’s pupils with a small torch he’d retrieved from one of his pockets.
    She’d bet her life he had a Swiss Army knife and a compass somewhere in those cargo shorts too. He was the type of guy who was always prepared, like a rugged, muscly Boy Scout. The only survival essentials she carried were make-up, teabags and chocolate biscuits, none of which were particularly useful at present. The few medical supplies she had with her were packed somewhere in her abandoned luggage.
    Life as an island doctor certainly wasn’t going to run to the office hours she was used to. She was going to be permanently on call and if she didn’t come equipped, deferring to her army medic colleague was going to become the norm. That feeling of inadequacy could defeat the purpose of her personal journey here if she didn’t get with the programme. This trip was primarily to bring