Page 3

Amory shakes her head. “Mom,” she complains.

“I’m just telling the truth,” Kara says. “If I weren’t here to help you, you’d probably starve to death.”

“I would not,” Amory says, shaking her head. She knows she’s not a good cook, but she’s thirty-five. She can take care of herself, for crying out loud.

“What do you think I do when you’re not here?” she asks her mom.

“Starve,” Kara says.

Amory scoffs but gives up on arguing. “Whatever, let’s just make supper.”

“So you don’t starve,” Kara insists, and Amory groans.

“I can cook,” Amory states.

“Without catching the stove on fire?” Kara asks.

Amory groans. “It was one time, and I was a teenager,” she says, “I’ve gotten better.”

“Mmm,” Kara hums, looking in the sink. She pulls out a pot, holding it up to Amory so that she can see the bottom of it. “Well, from the looks of things, you still burn everything.”

“Mom,” Amory protests, swatting the pot away from her face. Amory pouts.

“I’m just saying,” Kara says, but then looks at her daughter’s pout and gives her a hug. “You know I just worry about you,” she says.

“Yeah,” Amory says, hugging her mom back.

“And promise me that you’ll take care of yourself while you’re gone.”

“I will, Mom,” Amory says, “I promise.”

“Good,” Kara says. “Now let’s make supper.”

2

BLAKE

Dr. Blake Gold is exhausted on her feet. She has spent the last six hours at work, rushing from room to room to help various patients. She wants nothing more than to go home and sleep, but she knows that she can’t. She still has two more hours left in the workday and a certain someone waiting for her to finish working so that they can go home together.

She also still has to pack before her flight tomorrow. She has barely started yet, and she suspects that she won’t be getting any sleep tonight. But, she supposes, she can always sleep on the plane. It is a long flight, after all.

Dr. Gold walks into another patient’s room for yet another consultation. Fortunately, this one is easy. The patient is a seven-year-old boy displaying classic flu symptoms and all it takes is a test to confirm the diagnosis. Dr. Gold prays that the flu doesn’t start going around their town. It might be the middle of summer and out of the typical sick season, but stranger things have happened.

She makes her way out of the room when she’s stopped by a nurse calling her name.

“Doctor Gold,” the nurse, Hannah, says, “How are you doing?”

Blake stops and looks at Hannah. “Good.”

“Are you excited for your trip?” Hannah asks. “Zambia, right? That’s exciting.”

“Oh yeah,” Blake says, “I’m super excited.”

“Are you nervous?” she asks.

“No, it’s not my first trip out of the country.”

“Oh yeah,” Hannah says, “I heard from a couple of the other nurses that you’ve done trips with Doctors Without Borders a few times over the years. That’s so cool.”