A burst of adrenaline shot through Paige’s chest, giving her the extra amount of energy she needed. She was back in the ER with its hectic waiting rooms, shiny tile floors, crash carts, and equipment. Saving lives was what she’d been trained to do, and treating patients was where she felt the most in her element . . .
She caught sight of the naked bulb dangling above her, and the scene in her mind vanished. She squinted in the dull yellow light, barely enough to aid her in stabilizing one of the burn victims. Tennessee and the high-tech hospital she’d left behind three months ago were both thousands of miles away.
Here, semipermanent tents assembled with wooden poles and white plastic sheeting surrounded her, along with the constant backdrop of crying babies from the crowded waiting room of the main medical tent. Raindrops from a rare late afternoon shower pinged on the metal sheeting above her, adding to the constant noise.
The young woman in front of her moaned, snapping Paige back to reality. She had to keep her rampant emotions focused. She gave the woman an injection of morphine, wishing she could take away the discomfort. The third-degree burns caused nerve death, meaning she’d feel little in those areas. It was the second-degree burns,
where the raw nerve cells were still alive, that would cause the most pain.
Despite the severity of the explosion and its consequences, she’d still been right about the miracle. With an explosion of that magnitude, the number of victims could have been far worse. Nick had transported the three most serious burn victims to the hospital in Kingani. Four other patients, including Asim, lay hooked up to IVs, their burns already rinsed to stop the skin from cooking.
Adding the explosion to the equation had created an even more volatile situation and had forced a number of quick decisions. Local nurses with experience in dealing with cholera had already begun registering and rehydrating patients. But as fast as they were working to process and isolate the cholera victims, there still remained an unending line of patients.
Taking a deep breath, she glanced across the dirt floor, covered with more plastic sheeting, to the noisy waiting room. She’d assigned five of the nurses to work a triage among the patients in the main clinic, referring the more serious cholera cases to the isolation tent. There, the rest of the medical staff monitored the already large number of patients with IV bags to ensure none of them ran dry.
Near the door, a baby lay still in his mother’s arms, the sunken soft spots on his head signaling dehydration. Beside the boy’s tiredlooking mother, an old woman sat hunched forward, pain reflecting in her eyes. A couple of teenage girls huddled in the corner while a middle-aged man, probably dealing with tuberculosis, coughed continuously into a cloth.
She looked at her watch. Over an hour-and-a-half had passed since Nick had left, promising to return with the list of additional supplies she’d requested. But she needed him now. For some crazy reason, he’d become an anchor in the midst of a storm that was raging out of control.
A man entered the building and strode through the crowded waiting room without stopping. She squinted in the dim light and
recognized the father of the young boy she’d pulled out of the ditch. While all the victims from the explosion had been transported to the camp, family members had walked.
He stopped at the foot of the bed. “I’m looking for my son, Asim?”
Paige signaled for one of the nurses to take over for her before motioning the father to follow her toward one of the metal cots set up at the far end of the room. “You can sit down and talk to him if you’d like, though don’t expect him to respond. He’ll probably sleep a lot during the next couple days.”
Samson sat down beside his son and grasped his hand. The boy stirred, but didn’t wake. “Tell me he will live.”
Paige bit her lip, wishing she could, but it was a promise she knew she wouldn’t be able to keep. “I gave him something to help him sleep, so for now he’s doing okay. But you need to know that there is always the chance for infection to set in. And we don’t have all the resources of a hospital, nor a way to transport him right now.”
Deciding which patients to send on the plane with Nick had churned the guilt already raging inside her. She hated feeling as if she was playing God, but the situation had left her no choice. No landing lights at the camp meant that if Nick didn’t make it back before the sunset, he wouldn’t be able to return until tomorrow. Which also meant that this late in the day, transporting a second group of patients by air was no longer an option. Those left at the camp who still needed transportation were also the ones who weren’t stable enough to make the difficult three-hour trip on the pot-holed Kingani road. And after dark, the trip became even more dangerous.
Nor would she mention to his father that Asim’s malnourishment was a negative factor in his recovery. Samson was no doubt already facing his own guilt over the situation.
The man’s dark eyes pleaded with her. “You cannot let him die.” Paige shoved every ounce of courage she could find into her voice. “The God I serve is a God of miracles, and I’m praying for one for your son tonight.”
“My wife never misses a Sunday at church.” Samson dropped his gaze. “But her faith — or her God — did nothing to save her when the rebels raided our camp.”
Paige pressed her palms together. How did she respond to someone who’d just lost everything? And why did the truths of a peace that passed all understanding and God working things together for good seem suddenly hollow at the moment?
I know you’re there, Lord. Increase my faith and give this man a miracle so He can see you working in his life. “Where is your wife?”
“I don’t know.” Tears welled in the big man’s eyes as his gaze dropped to the floor. “My wife . . . my three girls . . . They all disappeared that night. You . . . you must know what they do to the women they capture . . .”
He broke off, and Paige felt the sickening reality of the situation intensify. She knew enough to realize that a high percentage of the women and girls who’d arrived here had been raped, many of them more than once. And even the safety measures put into place within the camp were not enough to completely stop the violence.
“I am so sorry. I honestly can’t imagine facing what you’re going through, but for now, you and your son should be safe. And we can pray that the rest of your family makes it here soon. I heard that there have already been several reunions of family members here.” Paige cleared her throat. Nothing she could say would change what this man was facing. Or ease the stark pain of his loss. “There is a reception center you need to go to and register yourself and your son. You’ll be given a document to prove that you’re a resident of the camp.” She studied the man’s sullen expression. He had nothing but the clothes on his back and probably hadn’t eaten much for days. “They’ll give you a food package with rice, beans, oil, and other things along with blankets and clothing if you need it.”
He started to turn away, then stopped. He motioned to her burnt arm, now medicated and wrapped with gaze. “You were injured?”
“I was burned during the second explosion, but it’s nothing.”
Samson’s eyes widened as realization struck. “When you were trying to save my son’s life — ”
“Your son’s life is what I’m worried about right now.” Paige brushed off his concern. Worrying about her own injury seemed trivial with the child’s life on the line.
“But you risked your life for him. A man in debt always dies the coward.”
Paige shook her head. “What does that mean?”
“That I am now in your debt. And no debt of mine has ever gone unpaid.”
Paige watched the broad-shouldered African step from the tent without another word. She was the one who was supposed to find answers to his problems. To bring hope to those who had lost everything. Yet she felt as if she’d done little for this man tonight. Even her attempt at spiritual encouragement had fallen flat.
She felt Asim’s forehead. No fever meant that so far they were in the clear from infection. But she also knew that everything could change in an instant.