Doctored Read Online Free Page B

Lakesh had introduced her as a mechanic, he had just accepted it at face value.  It didn’t occur to him to question her too much.  Magda had a point.  He walked across the tent to Alex and murmured to him.  The two of them got up and went over to ask the mechanic more about herself.  The conversations began to quiet as others caught on to some sort of drama about to happen and wanted to hear.
    “Excuse me,” Burton interrupted the woman’s conversation.  His French was clear and precise.
    “Yes?” she asked, flashing a smile of interest.
    “You said you were a mechanic?” he asked, not sure how else to start this conversation.
    She laughed, a hearty one at that, as though he had just told a joke that they were all sharing in.  She shook her head to the negative.  “I never said that, he did,” she answered, pointing at Lakesh.  Lakesh, understanding French, began to look alarmed.  She wound down from her laugh and smiled again.  “I am a mechanic of sorts,” she said as she got up from the bench.  Holding out her hand she said, “Allow me to introduce myself, I’m Deanna Cooper… Doctor Deanna Cooper,” she stressed.
    “From Doctors Without Borders?” he asked dumbly in return. 
    She chuckled as she nodded, almost hesitantly.  “Yes, were you expecting another doctor?”
    He smiled at the silly question.  “No, but I was expecting a man.”
    She nodded again.  “Yes, people are frequently expecting the D to stand for Dan and not Deanna.”  She was trying to let him off the hook easily, not to make a scene, but she was well aware that the tent had quieted as he confronted her.
    “But you’re so young!” he burst out, already feeling consternation at the grave mistake he had already made.
    She nodded again, the look in her eye still one of amusement.  “I know,” she agreed.  She said nothing further as she waited.  She could hear several others around her shifting in their seats as they waited for him to make some sort of a decision.
    “I wasn’t expecting someone of your expertise to…” he realized how insulting he had just been and shut his mouth.  Grabbing her still-outstretched hand, he shook it warmly.  “I am sorry for the mix-up,” he tried to apologize lamely.
    “Don’t think about it anymore,” she advised.  “Come, sit, eat,” she invited, indicating a vacant seat at their table.
    “I have several things to do,” he hedged, still feeling foolish.  “We will talk later?” he asked meaningfully.  He meant to get to the bottom of things.  This, this woman , this child was far too young to be a surgeon of some note.  He had been promised a specialist.  Doctor D. Cooper was an expert on tropical diseases and a surgeon to boot.  He had expected the doctor to arrive by plane, but they had called and said the doctor had been delayed and would be arriving in Lamish.  He had assumed that Lakesh would pick him up!  Someone, somewhere, was pulling his leg and he intended to get to the truth!
    She nodded and smiled again as he left, his face flaming.  She continued her conversation with the locals as though it had never happened.  The noise level of the tent slowly resumed.
    Magda had whispered the translation from French to English so that the two nurses would be apprised of what had just happened.  Maddie was grateful.  Her student French wouldn’t hold and she only caught a word here and there, but she hoped to improve it with practice.  She looked at the young woman across the tent thoughtfully.  The blonde was leaning on a hand, her fingertips rubbing along her brow absentmindedly, occasionally tugging at the hairs.  Maddie didn’t realize how long she stared and then blushed as the blonde suddenly looked up, directly at her.  Flashing a friendly smile, she resumed her conversation.
    Bonnie and Leida, along with Magda and Lenny, took a tour of the camp.  There were brush huts that housed some of the local relief workers.  Their various