‘Help? You’re fobbing me off big-time, Tom. It seems some people have the right to a vision while others of us don’t.’ She glared at him.
‘Look, people come here on holiday and are confronted by what they see and they want to help. But life here wears most people down and they leave. Why start something you won’t finish? I’m just trying to save you frustration and time.’
She started to pace. ‘You’re amazing. You know nothing about me and yet you’ve leapt to myriad conclusions. What gives you that right?’
Her words niggled, their grain of truth butting up against his self-righteous stance. ‘I’ve seen too many people trying to save Vietnam. It doesn’t need saving. It needs long-term commitment.’
She spun back to face him, staring him down. ‘And you’ve made that commitment?’
He thought of his parents, both known and unknown. Of the pain and loss so many had endured. ‘Yes, I have.’
‘But you’ll deny me that same opportunity.’
He shrugged, his discomfort about this conversation increasing by the minute. He was not going to tell a stranger his life story. ‘My situation is completely different to yours.’
Her eyes flashed. ‘How would you know? I don’t know why you even asked me in from the rain. You should have just walked straight past me, rather than inviting me in with a closed mind.’
The barb hit, stinging in its accuracy. He’d let a pair of dancing eyes get under his guard and in the process had caused more disappointment than was necessary. Guilt seeped in.
She walked toward the door but stopped as Tien walked in with a steaming bowl of pho. The room immediately filled with the pungent aroma of coriander.
I’m completely starving. Her words slugged him. He couldn’t let her leave on an empty stomach. ‘Please, stay and eat your noodle soup.’
Emotions warred on her face and she almost seemed to slump, as if the fight had completely gone out of her.
A streak of self-righteousness curled inside him, tucked up neatly next to his guilt. He’d been on the money. Vietnam wasn’t for the fainthearted. If she couldn’t survive an argument with him then she didn’t have the gumption to face the challenges of working here.
She sat down with a smile of thanks for Tien, picked up the soup spoon and fork, and started to eat.
He watched her from the other side of the room, not wanting to but unable to stop himself. What the hell was wrong with him today? He met women all the time and didn’t usually see past their job description to see the person. There was no point. His life was far too messy and complicated to be considering a relationship.
Inviting her in had been a bad idea. Well, he’d end it right. ‘I’ll call for a driver to take you back to your hotel as soon as you’ve finished your soup.’
‘That would be the least you could do.’ She shot him a derisive look. ‘Tell me, Tom, you believe I have no idea about the real health needs of this country?’
He breathed deeply, not wanting to get into an argument. ‘I don’t think you have a full understanding of the big picture, no.’
She dextrously manoeuvred the noodles and pork into her mouth, her gaze fixed firmly on him, never wavering.
‘And if I did my research, discovered the big picture, became familiar with the specific health needs of this country and developed a thorough plan of action…’
‘Yes.’ He nodded. ‘That is exactly what you need to do.’ Finally, she was realising what was really involved.
She nibbled on some coriander.
An image of her lips nibbling his flashed through his brain, completely unnerving him.
She had to go.
He had to catch a plane.
She smiled at him as she emptied the bowl. ‘Sorry, I won’t hold you up any longer. You were on your way somewhere when I arrived?’
‘I’m heading to the Lai Chau district.’
‘The hill-tribe region, right?’ A friendly tone had replaced the chill of a moment ago.
He gave an internal sigh of relief. She was seeing reason. ‘That’s right. I look after a clinic in a remote village there and I visit once a month. Local health workers staff it the rest of the time. I’ll be doing some “train the trainer”, as well as seeing patients. Right now we have a focus on maternal and child health.’
She reached for her hat and stood up. ‘So is Lai Chau Province the sort of place I should visit to get a real feel for the country?’
‘Sure. It would be a start.’ He walked toward the door to usher her out.
‘Excellent. My hotel is on the way to the airport and I can quickly grab my stuff.’
Her words ricocheted around his brain, trying to take purchase. ‘Hang on a minute—you’re not coming with me.’
She tilted her head slightly and focused her clear unflinching gaze straight at him. ‘Why not? You said I needed to do my research and what better way than with a doctor who is completely familiar with the health needs?’
Indignation spluttered through him. ‘I’m a doctor, not a tour guide!’
Her mouth took on the increasingly familiar firm line. ‘And I’m a nurse, not a tourist. I’ll pay my way and earn my keep. I have midwifery and maternal and child health qualifications, some emergency experience and a master’s degree in public health. I’ll be an asset, not a hindrance. Are you in the position of knocking back free professional help?’
Hell! She’d completely turned the tables on him. Somehow she’d seized control of the conversation without him realising.
He didn’t want her travelling with him, with her sparkling eyes and wondrous smile. Part vixen, part ingénue, he hated the way his body reacted to her. He had to keep his focus firmly on his reasons for being in Vietnam. Between medicine and trying to trace his family, he had no time for anything else.
But how could he knock back an extra pair of medical hands? He didn’t have the right when so many people had so little access to health care. A few weeks in the remote regions of the country would prove if she had the mettle to follow her dream.
He picked up his pack. ‘It’s hot and exhausting out there.’
A laugh quickly chased away her grimace. ‘Tell me something I don’t know.’
He had to regain some equilibrium, set some ground rules. ‘You acknowledge I’m the doctor in charge?’
She nodded, her face serious, but a hint of a smile hovered about her mouth. ‘Absolutely.’
So why didn’t that ready agreement make him feel any more in control?
