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“Come on,” he et off around 6, not sure about you?”
“Same” I smile, as ork our ways back over the dunes
Puerto Rico is our first deployh just a couple of weeks ago The devastation it left behind is heartbreaking, as is the plight ofhere with Russ, doing everything we can to save the lives of the people ere injured in the hurricane, or by debris falling afterward, or fro after that… it’s where we’re supposed to be Hoe’re ether
“Do you ever think this is what your dream was about?” I ask quietly, and then thumb over my shoulder toward the beautiful, sad, e me on a beach all alone with you…”
He chuckles “Don’t be silly I told you That beach had ater, none of this Atlantic Ocean surf” His arht “Soh I promise”
I smile up at him, so broad it makes my eyes crinkle I love when he talks like that When he reminds me that we have our whole lives ahead of us
We reach the main road One end of it is set up with makeshift cabins for us, the crew here to help The other end holds the big white s Doctors Without Borders didn’t exactly pan out, at least not yet—it turns out they have a crazy long wait list But Russ and I are both on it, together And I think in thethe next best option
When we reach the medical tent compound, which in and of itself almost looks and operates like a miniature hospital, sprawled between tents instead of in fancy office building wings on the Upper West Side, Russ gives my ass one last hard slap
I laugh and reach over to try and slap his back, but he’s already out of reach, waving over his shoulder at ht,” he calls before he ducks into the far tent, the one ht red Sharpie
As if I could forget
Still shakinga little, I duck intofor the patients in recovery after surgery The nurse whose shift is ending as I duck inside takes one look at eration
“Let uess,” she says, her smile only a little bit rueful “That sexy older man of yours woke you up with a little breakfast in bed… or, wait, no” She squints closer at low”
I snort and waved her off “Oh, please” But I can’t really deny it, either Before my walk and Russ’s shower time, we did enjoy ourselves a bit…
“Girl, you really have life figured out,” she insists, still chuckling and shaking her head, even as she passes her chart over to h the patients list
The rest of the day passes in a pleasant, if hectic, blur We have a pretty daood day today, actually We don’t lose anybody, which is always a good sign And two of our patients who have been flat on their backs ever since the hurricane first hit, due to the severity of the injuries they sustained when their house collapsed over their heads, are finally able to take their first wobbling steps toward freedom
It’s days like today that re here And that, noht in the middle of your life You never knohat the future holds, either So you can’t afford to just wait around for life to get on the sae as you, or for your dreams to finally be within easy reach
If you wait for your dreao out and catch them yourself Which is exactly what I came to Puerto Rico to do, and exactly what I’ve been able to learn how to do since I arrived With Russ at my side, we can accomplish any dream we set our minds to
By the end of the day, I’ from head to toe, but I’m happy, too Even happier when I wash et to step into the warh with relief, stickingfor a moment in the marvels ofcold water, not the drinkable kind either, and our showers can only last a ht now I have five whole minutes, which feels luxurious