“Pediatrics broke my heart too often. I—um—To be an effective doctor I needed to be more detached.”
For someone who tried so hard to be stone-hearted, he’d seen through the façade to a very soft, caring woman. It had shone in Layla’s face every time she’d looked at one of her pediatric patients. She couldn’t hide it—at least, not from him. “Well, you would have been good at it, and you will get your fair share of children to treat here.”
“Hope I’m up to it better than you were up to your climb on the roof with Chauncy. Who is?”
Arlo put the antiseptic and bandages back in the cabinet, looked out the window and spun around to face her.
“He’s actually just come home. Want to come meet him?”
He waved at Samron, an aged widow who spent several hours each day in Happy Hospital, cleaning, doing laundry, serving meals and other jobs that gave her something to keep her busy. She was also the self-appointed receptionist who greeted patients when they came in.
“I’ll be across the street if you need me,” he said to her.
Yes,” she answered, smiling. “With pretty lady doc. Your wife?”
Arlo chuckled, then explained to Layla. “They all want me to settle down, get married, start a family. I’m usually on the receiving end of a fix-up at least twice a month. Somebody’s sister, or cousin, or daughter.”
“Sounds like they care about you.”
“Maybe a little too much.” He smiled at Samron and shook his head. “Not wife. New lady doc. Doc Layla.”
Samron nodded, but her smile told the story, and it was all about Arlo and Layla, together. “Doc Layla,” she repeated, then pressed the palms of her hands together in a prayer-like fashion, bent her head ever so slightly and said, “Wai,” a customary Thai greeting.
Layla did the same, then followed Arlo into the road. “She seems very nice,” she said.
“And very helpful. She also volunteers at the school. And on the weekends she spends time with new mothers in the village, helping them with their babies. She’s a very respected person here.”
“Respect is important,” Layla said. “Too many people have forgotten what it is.”
“Well, it’s not like that here. If you earn respect, you’re given respect.” Arlo entered his hut and went straight to the curtain separating the room into two. Then pulled it back to reveal
“What is that?” Layla asked, her eyes wide open.
“This is Chauncy, my civet cat. We co-habit.”
“A civet cat is?”
“Something like a cat, only a little larger with a face kind of like a big rat. They’re nocturnal so they have really glowy eyes.”
“And your civet cat got stuck up on the roof and when you went to get him you fell through? Couldn’t he have come down himself? I’m assuming civet cats can climb. You know, the law of jungle survival and all that.”
“They can, but Chauncy’s not good at it. He had a broken leg when I found him, and it healed leaving him lame. So he can climb up pretty well, but getting down is the problem.”
“And now he’s your house cat?”
“Pretty much.” Arlo smiled. “You’ll get used to him.”
Layla took a couple steps closer, then stared down at the creature who didn’t resemble a cat, curled up on the cot she would use. “He’s clean, I suppose,” she said, bending down to pet him. “And he doesn’t bite?”
“Very clean. He doesn’t really wander out in the jungle anymore. He’s pretty domesticated, and since the people here all know him, they feed him, which makes him too fat, which also makes him lazy. And, no, he doesn’t bite. Also, his scent gland was removed since he had to be domesticated for his survival, so you’re safe there as well.”
She bent to pet Chauncy, who raised his head long enough to decide she was no threat, then immediately went back to sleep. “He’sbeautiful,” she said, speaking in a whisper so she didn’t disturb him.
“I recall you liked cats.” Arlo had been concerned that living with a wild animal might cause Layla problems since she was strictly big city but watching her relate to Chauncy gave him a whole new appreciation for her. In fact, he admired the way she simply accepted the fact that she’d be curling up with a jungle creature. That wasn’t the Layla he remembered. She’d beenhighly strung.
“Cats, dogs, civet cats. All God’s creatures, Arlo. Just didn’t expect to be sleeping with one. But when you’re in the jungle I suppose you sleep with the civet cats when you must.” She tiptoed away from Chauncy then moved to the opposite side of the cottage. “Just no snakes,” she said. “They’re free to roam around all they want outside the hut, but not inside, please.”
Arlo laughed. He’d always liked her practicality. When other female med students had been trying to attract him by flirting or making offers that hadn’t interested him, Layla had been the one who hadn’t noticed him. Which had made him want her to.
And he’d worked hard to get her attention, finding out afterward, when they were together, that’s what she’d wanted all along. But she’d been so inexperienced—not shy, though—as much as reserved. Like she had been testing the water and he had been the water. But it had been cute watching her find her way in their relationship. Even after that night with the popcorn, there had been so many things she hadn’t known. Things he’d delighted in showing her. Simple things like hiking in the woods. Complicated things such as the profound pleasure an uncomplicated massage could offer.
She’d led a sheltered life, though. Hadn’t ever really had anyone there to guide her. She also hadn’t had to contend with civet cats, snakes and elephants daily, the way he’d done, growing up. Talk about opposites Honestly, he’d always been a little protective of that side of her. Now he wondered if it still existed, and if it did, would it bring that out in him again? “Snakes have their place. If you know which ones won’t kill you.”
“Good information to have handy,” Layla said in the matter-of-fact tone Arlo remembered, oh, so well, as she sat cross-legged on the floor near the door and patted the floor next to her. It was a tone that meant she was trying to stay aloof, trying to avoid contact, commitment or whatever else frightened her. Understandably, she was probably more frightened of him right now than snakes. Yet here she was, trying to face it. That was a new side of her, one he liked a lot.
“So, since we don’t have proper facilities in here, I suppose buying a luxurious spa tub with soothing jets and all kinds of bubble bath is out of the question? As well as a heated towel rack?”
Arlo laughed as he sat down “Afraid so, but we’ve got a stream about half a mile from here where the water’s pretty warm this time of year. And if the temperature’s hot enough, the rocks heat up so you can consider that your heated towel rack.”
“You always kept me amused, Arlo. I remember some of those long nights of studying after a long day of working in the hospital, when I thought I wasn’t cut out to be a doctor. Then there you’d be, cooking me
