Olibasi took the sachets from his hands. “I’ll do my best to persuade her. I’m sure I can find somewhere for them to sleep. Do you want to see him again?”
Evan nodded. “Every day for the next few days. We need to see if he starts to improve.” He handed the little boy back to his mother.
Olibasi slid her arm around the woman’s shoulder and led her outside. Evan picked up a file and started to scribble some notes. It didn’t matter that they were there to administer the polio vaccine. It didn’t matter that they really shouldn’t get involved in all the general medical problems of the villagers.
What mattered most was building rapport with these people. Building an element of trust. There was enough miscommunication about the polio vaccine already. How else could a woman in an outlying village know about vaccine-associated polio paralysis?
It was the age-old problem. Nothing spread quicker than a bad news story.
If word had got out that the polio vaccination had caused that child’s illness it would be a disaster. It didn’t matter that it had nothing to do with it. It was what the villagers believed that mattered. And Evan could only do his best to try and contain the situation and get the little boy on the road to recovery.
“You did good.”
He jumped. Violet was standing in the doorway, her figure silhouetted against the ebbing sun.
He stood up and walked over to her. “You were listening?”
She gave him a little smile. “I was coming to see you. When I saw you were consulting with a patient I decided to wait. It was nice getting to see you play doctor.”
He folded his arms and leaned against the doorjamb. “Play doctor. That’s what it feels like.” His eyes fixed out on the setting sun in front of them. “I understand why we’re here—I really do. And I understand the rationale about not getting caught up in other issues. Not to lose sight of our task.” He flung up his hands in exasperation.
“But how can we realistically do that? The polio work has to come hand in hand with the welfare of these people. I can’t ignore malnutrition—even if I don’t have the right tools to prevent it. I can’t ignore malaria—even if I have to beg another agency for mosquito nets. And I can’t ignore the sanitation problems. Because they are connected to everything else.” He shook his head. “But I feel like there will never be enough supplies or equipment to do the job we really need to do.”
He looked down at Violet. She was watching him carefully and he knew instantly that she understood. She understood his frustration about all the things that were outside their control. She understood that he was going to spend the rest of the night worrying about that little boy and whether he would make it through till morning.
And he didn’t need to say any more. Because Violet just moved. And it happened naturally.
She shifted her feet and leaned against him, making it seem like the most natural thing in the world to rest his arm around her shoulder.
She rested her head against his chest. Could she hear the beating of his heart?
Her voice was quiet. “The things we can’t control will always be the hardest. Particularly when we can’t even understand some of them.”
There was something else. Something he hadn’t heard before.
For the first time he felt as if he’d picked away at one of Violet’s unending layers. She wasn’t just talking about here and their situation. Yes, it was part of it, but she was also talking about something else.
It was so calm, so peaceful right now. And he didn’t want to destroy this. He didn’t want to destroy this moment. It would be so easy to ask her if something was bothering her. It would be so easy to pry. But he didn’t want to take a chisel and chip away at her layers. He didn’t want to back her into a corner. He had to let her unpeel her layers herself.
Maybe he’d never reach the center of Violet Connelly. But it might be nice to wait around and see.
He chose his words carefully. “Maybe we’re not meant to understand everything, Violet. Maybe we’re not here to change the world. Maybe we’re just meant to learn how to live through it.”
She gave a quiet murmur and lifted her hand and placed it on his chest.
And the two of them stood, watching the sun set over the wide landscape in front of them.
CHAPTER SIX
THE MEETING ROOM was crowded. Evan’s meticulous planning for the polio campaign was going well. The huge map on the wall and the corresponding graph with the number of vaccines delivered was impressive by anybody’s standards.
But it wasn’t good enough for Evan. And Violet wasn’t surprised.
He clapped his hands together to draw the chattering crowd to attention. “Thanks for coming, everyone. I wanted to look at a few ways we can improve the total uptake of the polio vaccine and give added protection to the people of Natumba.”
He pointed to a certain area on the map on the wall. “There are a few villages where there is a high rate of refusal.” He nodded to one of the community volunteers. “I’ve arranged a series of meetings between the volunteers, ourselves and some of the village elders. We need to work in partnership with these people if we want to make any lasting improvements.”
Violet heard the mutterings around her. Lots of attempts had been made in the past to try and increase the uptake of polio in these villages but Evan’s persistence might pay off. He’d spent time in these villages in the past few weeks, taking time to get to know the elders and some of the health issues facing the inhabitants. He was slowly but surely gaining their trust and that had to help.
He pointed to another area on the map. “We still haven’t made much headway mapping the Fulani nomadic routes. Most of the Fulani people haven’t been vaccinated and they have a high rate of individuals affected by polio. It’s always difficult to try and target a group of people who are constantly on the move. But we’ve had some news that they are about to arrive in our local area and we want to be ready.”
He nodded to one of the Healthy World Federation members of staff in the room. “Dr. Brasi will be leading the team this week that will be attempting to make contact with the Fulani people and vaccinate them.”
Violet smiled. It all made sense. Evan was being methodical and consistent in his approaches. The number of people vaccinated was rising every day. Surely they would meet the targets they had been given?
“And finally...” He paused, his eyes meeting Violet’s for a second. She felt her heart flutter a little. They hadn’t been alone together since that night when they’d watched the sunset. Once the sky had darkened he’d given her hand a little squeeze and walked her to her room.
Her heart had sunk a little when she’d realized he wasn’t going to attempt to kiss her. Then she’d lain awake wondering why she wanted him to kiss her. Nothing made sense to her anymore. Her head kept telling her she wasn’t ready for any of that kind of thing, but her body was reacting differently.
He gave her a little smile. “One of the areas we need to improve on is new births. Newborns need to be tracked and immunized through the midwife service scheme, with oral polio vaccine being placed in delivery rooms to ensure administration of a dose at birth. We need to strengthen links with traditional birth attendants and traditional leaders.” He paused for a moment. “And I’m going to ask Dr. Connelly to lead on this.”
What?
Her smile froze in place. Why hadn’t he talked to her about this beforehand? He gave her a little nod and continued talking, totally unaware of what he’d just unleashed.
Violet couldn’t move. Her brain was mush. Her heartbeat was quickening in her chest—and not in a good way. She felt sick.
He had no idea. He had no idea at all at what he was asking of her.
But, then, how could he? Because she hadn’t told him what had happened to her. He couldn’t possibly know that the last
time she’d been in a delivery room had been the worst day of her life.
The day she had welcomed her daughter into the world and then bid her farewell.
How on earth could she cope with being in that environment every day?
She took a deep breath.
She was a doctor. This was her job. She had wanted to come here—she wanted to move on.
It had been three years, and a birthing room here would be nothing like a delivery room back home. How could it evoke the same memories and experiences?
All she was being asked to do was set up links with local midwives and birth attendants. She wasn’t being asked to be in the delivery rooms.
But that thought didn’t stop her thudding heart. She wasn’t stupid. She’d done her research before she’d arrived in Nigeria.
The stillbirth rate in Nigeria was one of the highest in the world, with half occurring while the woman was in labor. It was inevitable that she would come across one at some point in the three months that she was here.
Evan was still talking. And people were listening. He was captivating his audience with his enthusiasm and passion for the tasks ahead. Heads were nodding all around them and people were shouting out suggestions and ideas.
Would she be able to face the challenges ahead with the same enthusiasm and passion?
Her eyes fixed on her hands. It was easier than looking at Evan. Most of her nails were broken and her skin was starting to tan lightly in spite of the sunblock she was constantly applying. Back home she’d had her nails manicured every month. But the truth was she didn’t even miss it.
While the lifestyle out here was tough—no hot running showers, no wide array of facilities, no hair salons, no easy transport—the experience she was gaining was far outweighing the negatives. Even working with Evan wasn’t as bad as she’d feared.
Why had she wanted to get away from him so badly? Was it really because of the issues with her brother? Or was it the fact that she didn’t want to face up to how she felt about him?
Whatever it was, she didn’t have brain space for it right now. Getting through the work with the midwives would be a tough enough challenge.
And one that would take up all her emotional energy and spirit.