Free Doctored by K'Anne Meinel

few nights later when the rush of their daily work was over.
    “I’d like that,” Maddie said from where she was reading a book on her cot.  She quickly smacked her boots together upside down and put them on, tying up the laces.
    “Today wasn’t so bad was it?” Deanna asked as they walked along the path toward the river.
    “No, not really.  Not that much different than any other day,” the shorter redhead added.
    “Getting bored with it all?”
    “No, I find it fascinating.  I wish I could learn the languages,” she lamented.  Maddie held Deanna in awe.  She was picking up words very quickly and could, in a way, speak with the locals.  She wasn’t completely accurate, but she already knew enough that they were pleased to help her.
    They chatted easily, as friends were apt to do.  A little gossip, a little teasing, and a lot of fun as they walked along before the sun set completely and they had to be back in camp.
    Maddie liked that Deanna challenged her way of thinking.  They were of a similar age, but Deanna had done so much more, had a head start in life, and very definite ideas of where she was going.  She loved working with these people, found it challenging, and was looking forward to her next assignment.  “I got stuck in the Amazon four more months than they planned because of a typo on some paperwork; they lost me!” she explained in one of her stories, telling about how much she learned by having that extra time with the tribe she had been working with.  “They were fascinating people!”
    “Weren’t you scared that you would never get out?”
    She shrugged philosophically.  “I was willing to stay another year if I had to.  I think I may go back someday.  There was so much to learn from them.  There is so much to learn in a tropical rain forest, and so much to learn from the locals.  They know so much, but they have to trust you before they will impart it.”  She smiled in remembrance of other times, pleasant, happy times that she had actually enjoyed.
    “Someday you might get married and have to settle down,” Maddie teased, knowing her friend wasn’t there yet, might never be there.  She was young and smart and adventurous.  It was amazing to see the dynamo that was Doctor Cooper.
    “I don’t think that will ever happen,” Deanna said sadly.
    Maddie wondered at the sad note in her voice.  “Did you have someone back home?”
    “Once I thought I did, but it didn’t work out,” she explained without giving particulars.
    “Well, we have all loved and lost,” she answered philosophically and then felt like an ass for saying it.
    Deanna laughed instead.  “Yeah, I guess we have to date a few before we find our one.”
    “I’ll find my Prince Charming,” Maddie assured her.
    “No thanks.”
    “What!  You don’t want a Prince Charming?” the teasing was back.
    “Oh, hell no.  He would probably leave you in that castle.  Maybe up in one of those turrets, scrubbing the floor for his lazy ass,” she elaborated and they both started laughing at the image she created.
    “But he could ride in on his noble steed and sweep me off my feet,” she countered.
    “Or, as he is sweeping you up, his horse sidesteps and you end up in the mud.”
    They both laughed harder at the imagery and the sarcasm that Deanna shared.  It was silly and fun. 
    “Oh, gawd.  My side is aching,” Maddie leaned over slightly as she tried to get her breath back.
    “You okay?” Deanna gasped, also trying to get enough oxygen into her lungs from laughing so hard.  She put her hand on Maddie’s lower back to comfort her.
    “You are hilarious,” she added as she slowly straightened up and Deanna’s hand fell off her.  “You don’t want to ever get married?”
    “Oh, I’d like to, but it’s frowned on,” she confided and then thought perhaps she should have kept that to herself.  She glanced at Maddie who was looking at her with questions in her eyes.
    “Your family