The next day was a living hell. There was no longer any doubt in her mind that there was something deadly stalking the people of the village, and she knew damned well how little they could do about it. At the moment, the spread of the disease was controlled, but that still meant that it was active in their small population.
Four people had died, and three more were struck with the illness, and though fast medical intervention could slow the stages of the disease, they had found nothing, as of yet, that could stop it in its tracks.
Stephanie and her staff worked tirelessly to make progress. Stephanie wanted more than anything to be comforting her patients, to try to help them with this terrible affliction, but she knew that that was not her place. Leave that to Jessica, who looked startlingly hollow-eyed this morning, or one of the other young doctors. She herself needed to be taking notes, ruling out treatment courses and of course making sure that up to date dispatches still reached the capitol and the WHO. If worse came to worse, and they lost everyone in the region, that information might be vital for those farther afield to make sense of it all.
Stephanie worked with the charts and the results and the data tables until she thought that her eyes were going to cross. She only ate when someone appeared from the mess tent with a bowl of soup and a small sandwich. By the time she looked up from her work, it was dark, and she could hear the night noise of the camp start up.
For a moment, she closed her eyes and listened to the sound of the camp. It was more subdued as people talked about the situation they were in, and again, Stephanie wanted to go out to them. For just a few minutes, she wanted to be a face in the crowd, and not the one on whom this all depended.
She knew that was impossible though... at least it was here in camp.
Noah had been in the back of her mind all day. If she just closed her eyes, she could imagine his hands on her shoulders, pushing her back against the tree until she was pinioned. She could remember the way he loomed over her, and how he had bent his head down to press his lips against hers. In her memory, he flamed as bright as the sun.
If she were smart, more importantly, if she were wise, Stephanie knew that she wouldn't go back into jungle. She would stay in her tent, and she would get whatever restless sleep she could manage before the next day came. That was part of the problem, Stephanie supposed. The next day always came. There would always be another day when she was called upon to be the arbiter of life and death, and no matter what happened, it would never, ever end.
Sometimes, it was enough to drive her crazy.
Before Stephanie knew what she was doing, she was walking away from camp. More than that, she was walking quietly and stealthily. When she might have crossed paths with another medic or a villager, she stayed very still. She didn't think that she was hiding, exactly, but there was a part of her that knew very well what she was doing. She wanted to make sure that no one distracted her from her meeting.
It was downright dangerous. She still knew nothing about the stranger, no matter how much her body insisted otherwise. She had no idea who he truly was. He could have been a mercenary or a spy. It was common enough in this remote location. He could have been playing a long game, getting her away from camp for a human trafficking operation. It had been known to happen.
Stephanie had always thought that her mind was very clever when it came to considering all the angles. Others called her paranoid, but for her own part, she liked to think that she was merely cautious. She barely recognized herself right now. She was being reckless. It was as if the wild Tanzanian night had touched her with its own savage, untamed heartbeat.
Stephanie found her way to the tree quickly and without being seen. Once there, she looked around, and when she saw no one about, she felt herself deflate. Wrapping her arms around her body, she stood with her back to the tree. The night was coming on fast, and the sky above was shading to black.
Oh god, what the hell is wrong with me, she thought desperately. What kind of fool am I? I am too goddamn old to be chasing around in the jungle after... after what? A fling? Some of that schoolgirl romance crap they feed us?"
Nevertheless, she waited. Soon enough, it became clear that she was alone in the woods. She did her best to ignore the pain deep inside her, the tight band around her chest. So she had been stood up. So what? It was bad enough that she was out here. If she had the smarts they gave her credit for, she would be grateful that there was no one here to keep her from getting back to the camp.
Stephanie started back, and then to her shock, a dark shadow dropped down on the path in front of her. For a single wild moment, she thought she saw the silhouette of a lion on the path, but then it straightened and she realized it was none other than Noah.
"I am sorry I was a little late," he said with a charming smile. "My friend needed my help with something. Were you getting ready to leave already?"
For some reason, his deep and rumbling voice made her heart beat a little faster. She turned her face away, blushing a little.
"I'm not a woman who waits around for men," she said stiffly. "I've... I've got far too much to do to play games."
"Ah, but believe me, I am not playing games," Noah said, and there was something in his voice that made her believe him. "I am telling the truth, and once again I offer my apologies."
He didn't rush over his lateness or try to smooth it over. He simply tendered his apology and waited to see if she would accept it. For some reason, that made her feel oddly forgiving, and she nodded.
"All right, apology accepted," she said, and in the last bit of light from the sky, she saw him grin, his teeth straight and sharp.
"Good," he said. "I don't think I would like it very much if you were angry with me."
"I... I don't want to be angry with you," she responded, because it was true. God, she was so tired of being angry, so tired of having to be in charge of everything. With Noah, however, shedding thoughts of her responsibilities proved to be simple.
"Then will you take my hand?" he asked, and hesitant, she placed her small hand in his large one.
The moment she touched him, Stephanie was aware again of the energy that flowed between them. It was hot, like the flow of magma beneath the earth, pregnant with a kind of passion that Stephanie dared not name.
"You can feel it too, then," Noah said, pleased, and he led her into the jungle.
They walked in silence for a short while, and though Stephanie was enjoying the walk under the cooling trees, she broke the silence.
"What is it?" she asked, her voice tense and almost afraid. "What is it that I can feel?"
Noah chuckled, squeezing her hand a little. It occurred to her how large his hand was, and how hard. She could feel callouses along his palms and on his fingers. A Texas girl, she recognized them as callouses from handling reins and handling guns. Who was this man?
"I would think that there are many names for it, probably as many names as there are cultures in the world, but I would simply call it a connection. There is something in you that calls to me, and vice versa. It says that we recognize each other, that we crave each other."
Stephanie whimpered a little at the word 'crave' but she stifled it quickly. She could feel a part of her agree whole-heartedly with his assessment. She could feel the truth in his words the moment he spoke them.
"That's not a rational answer, though," Stephanie forced herself to say. "That's... that's pheromones, or some primitive attraction, like realizing we are from different gene pools and will have stronger children because of it. It's not a real thing..."
Noah shot her an amused look.
"Spoken like a true woman of science," he said. "However, one of my good friends is a scientist of sorts. He would tell you that the first thing a scientist does is admit that there are some things that cannot be explained."
"True enough," Stephanie returned, "but that doesn't mean we simply agree to believe what ancient fire eaters and thunder worshipers said. If we did, we'd... we'd still be running around in the desert eating raw meat and having virgin sacrifices."
"I don't think I've ever had a great deal of use for virgins myself," Noah said mildly. "When I have my choice, I tend to prefer a mature woman, one who knows what she likes and knows how to get it."
Stephanie found herself blushing at his soft words. Was it possible she saw him glance in her direction when he said them, that a pink tongue tip flickered out to wet his lips? Surely not.
She followed him into the forest, and it took her a while before she realized that they were no longer on a path that she recognized.
"Where... where are we?" she asked, her voice trembling a little. Noah turned to her, a challenging expression on his face.
"What's the matter, Stephanie? Losing your nerve?"
There was something warm under the taunting, but Stephanie put up her chin at his words. She had graduated at the top of her class from medical school, and she hadn't fought her way to her current position by not being bold.
"I just need to know if this is a place I would need to shoot you for taking me," Stephanie responded coolly, and Noah burst into a rolling laugh. The sound was loud and booming, but somehow it blended in with the noise of the jungle. There was something about this man that told her that he belonged in wild places.
"You know, I believe you would have the guts to shoot me," he said, and there was an admiring note in his voice. "And no, you're not going to shoot me for this. Just a little farther. I promise you'll be pleased."
Stephanie sighed, but the truth was that there was a flutter of excitement in her belly that she hadn't enjoyed for quite some time. The only surprises in her line of work were bad ones or worse ones. The idea of a pleasant surprise made her ache suddenly. There had been so little joy in her life these last few years. Was the tide about to change?
The path that they were on sloped up so subtly that she never noticed it. In the dark, she might have been afraid of twisting an ankle or getting an injury even more dire. However, Noah helped her over the rough terrain, guiding her around stones and unevenness in the ground while barely seeming to miss a beat.
"How the hell are you doing this?" Stephanie finally asked as he guided her around a nearly invisible root across their path. Once she was over it, she could see how heavy it was. If she had tripped over it, she might have gone flying.
Noah hesitated for a moment, and when he answered, there was something smooth and practiced about it.
"I have camped out here off and on for some years," he said." I know this area very well."
"No one can know it that well," she retorted, but she let it go. The truth was that she was too curious now to stop, no matter what red flags were waved in front of her.
Stephanie was simply following Noah, not expecting anything sudden, but then all at once, they stepped out from between the trees. Stephanie gasped, her hands flying up to her face.
"Oh, my god, it's beautiful," she whispered.
They hadn't climbed so very far, but it made a difference. From the medical tents and the village, the stars were very bright, but the artificial lights could blot out most of the details. They had climbed up onto one of the hills nearby, and though she could clearly make out the village a short distance away, she was far more enthralled by the sky that arched above her.
This far from the world, she could see the Milky Way, a broad band of white across the deep blue. The moon was rising, and she saw it as a broad golden coin, that might be flipped from hand to hand. She could hear the lonely cry of a bird from the forest below, and spontaneously, she turned around to throw her arms around Noah.
He staggered a little in surprise, but then his arms came around her.
"It seemed like something you needed," he said. "You are a human doctor surrounded all your days with the living and the dying. I thought perhaps you might wish to come out here, where we can touch the eternal."
"The eternal," she murmured, gazing up at the thousands of stars. Some of them she could see, but others faded away in the soft glow of stars beyond. Some of those stars might be long dead after sending their light into the cosmos, but still their light had traveled a universe away to shine on her.
"They are not forever," Noah said, looping his arms comfortable around her from behind, "but they are the closest that we can come, I think."
"Very poetic," she said with a smile.
He sat down on the ground with his back to a large stone planted in the ground. She came closer when he gestured her close, aware that there was a slight wariness in her expression. She was not sure that she altogether trusted this man yet, but she knew she wanted to. The people who knew her would have been shocked, but it was true. This man-made trust a prize somehow.
"Come here and sit on my lap," he said, patting a thigh for emphasis. "The ground is uncomfortable, and you will like this better."
Stephanie reminded herself again that she had not known this man for very long at all, but in this strange place and time, it felt as if everything was permitted. She stepped closer, and gingerly, she lowered herself down on his lap.
She might have sat there stiffly, but Noah snorted.
"I think we're past that, don't you?" he asked.
She started to ask what he meant, but then his powerful arms went around her and pulled her snug against his chest. In this position, he seemed enormous, supporting her weight as if she was nothing more than a rabbit or a bird. When she started to protest that she was far too heavy for that, he only chuckled.
"Shush, and look up," he said.
With a soft sigh, she leaned against him and gazed up at the stars.
"Sometimes I come out here and think," Noah said softly. "This is Africa, where the vibrant beat of life began, and sometimes, I think I can feel the echo of that creation magic here, just a little bit of it, still lingering in the sweet air."
There was a cadence to his speech that lulled her. She could feel the rumble of his chest as he spoke as much as she could hear the sound of his words. She wasn't sure why, but there was something in her that knew that he did not speak like this often, if at all. Whether he knew it or not, he was giving her a gift, and she felt strangely blessed.
"And sometimes, it humbles me, and sometimes, it makes me wild. I want to run and shout over the plains, hunt and fight. There is something primal about this place that calls me, that always has. I have wandered all over the world, and though there is great beauty out there, I believe I will always return to Tanzania."
"All my life I've felt rootless," Stephanie said, her voice barely more than a whisper. "I was born in Texas, I went to school, I did my residency in Florida, and then I started bouncing around with the WHO. We have a mission to help where we can, to try and prevent the spread of disaster..."
"Is it enough?" Noah asked her, and her breath caught, because it was a question that she asked herself frequently. She was doing good work, but was she truly fulfilled? Some days, it felt as if she was barely maintaining an even keel, barely holding back the chaos of disease.
"I want it to be," she murmured, and she was shocked by how small her voice sounded.
Noah didn't laugh at her. instead, he ran one enormous hand up and down her back, massaging her gently.
"You save lives," he rumbled. "You are doing something worthwhile, but some people would prefer to be happy."
"There are some who would say that one person giving up their happiness would be worth hundreds getting to live," she retorted, and Noah turned her around in his lap so that he could meet her eyes.
"Perhaps they should ask the person giving up their happiness what they think about that," he said with a glint of humor in his eye, and she couldn't really argue with that.
"Can I tell you a story" he asked, and slightly mystified, she nodded.
He dragged her close into his arms, and then he pointed up at the sky.
"If you follow that pointing tree branch up, you are going to see a cluster of four stars. Follow the uppermost star straight up, and you'll see a pair of bright white stars, very close to one another. Do you see them?"
It took Stephanie only a moment before she located the stars he was talking about. They were a bright pair in the sky full of bright stars, but once she saw them, they could not be missed. They were so close they were nearly one.
"The local people have a legend about those two stars. I heard it many years ago, and it has always stayed with me. It must have stayed with them as well, because I was told that this story goes back thousands of years.
"Once, there was a beautiful young woman by the name Kiya. She was a great king's daughter, and the rivers of the land were given over to her keeping. Because her magic was so strong, she made the rivers run deep and fast, and so the land prospered."
"There's always a but," Stephanie said darkly, and Noah chuckled.
"Of course there was. She was powerful and beautiful, yet her father and her people worried because she had no man. There was no one who could match such a woman, and it would have been a shame to marry her to a man who did not deserve her."
"Ah, the old 'too good for them all' dilemma," Stephanie said. Noah nodded.
"More or less. She didn't mind so much. She had her work, and she had her family. She might have been without a husband all her life, and she supposed that that would not be so bad. However, and here's that but you were thinking about, one day she was walking along her favorite river, following it far north into the mountains.
"When she was walking amidst the gray peaks, she met a man unlike any she had ever seen before. His skin was the flat black of obsidian where hers was a deep brown, and where her hair hung to her waist in a thousand delicate braids, his hair was shaved altogether. Moreover, she could tell that this man was powerful, and she asked him who he was.
"He made himself known to her as the master of the mountains, who occasionally made the mountains dance for his amusement, which is where we get earthquakes from. He was the one who reached up to gather moonlight and to sprinkle it on top of the mountains all white and cold. His name was Dak, and she had never seen anyone so beautiful.
"As will happen, the two powerful people fell in love, and soon enough the entire world knew it. The mountains danced so that even the plains shook. The rivers ran so fast that they overflowed their banks. I suppose you can guess what they were doing," Noah added with a small laugh, squeezing her a little more tightly in his arms. Stephanie would not have considered herself very shy about much, but something about the way that Noah said that made her blush to the roots of her hair.
"Of course, their people became angry with what they were doing, but they could not stop. The passion had taken them so powerfully that they could do nothing but love one another. Finally, they were seized. They had done so much damage because of their passion that they were exiled. They were thrown up to the sky, sitting in front of their own fires and never to touch again. Those stars, that's where they sit to this day."
"Oh, how terrible," Stephanie said, resisting the urge to hide her face in Noah's shoulder. She hated the idea of the two lovers being separated like that, never to touch, never to feel each other again, even if they had made the rivers flood and the mountains dance."
Noah rubbed her back comfortingly, as if she was a child distressed by a frightening dream.
"Well, the thing about fires is that they go out," he continued. "As long as the fires burn, Dak and Kiya must sit gazing upon one another. But the ancient people quickly realized that those stars are not always visible. These days, we know that something revolves across earth's sky to break up our line of sight for those particular stars. I looked it up once. So, on days when their fires are out, Kiya and Dak are together again. Those days, this area is prone to floods and to earthquakes or so it is said, and you know the lovers are together again."
Stephanie was silent a long time, and when she spoke again, she sighed a little.
"Is it strange that I hope that it was worth it?" she asked. "I know that earthquakes and floods kill people, destroy the land. But for a passion like that... what would a passion like that be?"
"It must be a very grand thing indeed," Noah said, and he laid a gentle kiss on her forehead.