Episode 4

Chapter 04

The Official Residence That Nearly Collapsed

The health post was smaller than Alyssa had imagined.

Its walls were dull cement, the white paint peeling in too many places. A sign by the door read Integrated Border Health Post, though the letters had begun to fade under heat and rain. Beside it stood a small medicine storage shed secured with a rusty padlock.

Behind the post, dry hills stretched into the distance.

"Sorry, Doctor," Midwife Renee said as she set down her bag. "This is what we have."

"I've worked ER shifts under a leaking ceiling," Alyssa replied. "This can still be fixed."

Joe laughed. "Very optimistic."

Alyssa was about to go inside when a soldier approached.

"Dr. Prescott?"

"Yes."

"The commander asked you to come with me. Your official residence is ready."

Alyssa glanced toward the command post several hundred yards away.

Damian had not even come himself.

Fine.

Maybe that was better.

She took her small suitcase and followed the soldier. The medical staff housing stood at the far end of the compound. Several of the houses were simple but livable. Laundry hung outside, potted plants lined porches, children played ball, and women chatted from their terraces.

But the soldier kept walking past all of them.

All the way to the last house.

Alyssa stopped in front of the crooked gate.

The place looked as if no one had lived there for a long time. The front window was cracked. Dead leaves covered the porch. The wooden door looked damp. Through the gap beneath it, she could see a thick line of dust.

The soldier who had escorted her looked uncomfortable.

"This is... the house, Doctor."

Alyssa looked at the house, then at him.

"Seriously?"

The soldier lowered his head. "Orders from logistics, Doctor."

"Logistics or the commander?"

His face stiffened.

Alyssa already knew the answer.

She nodded. "Thank you."

"If you need help..."

"I need a broom, a mop, a bucket, disinfectant, and, if possible, someone who knows which outlets still work."

The soldier blinked.

"You don't want to report it first?"

"For what?"

"The house..."

"Is filthy. Not dead."

The soldier looked as if he wanted to laugh but was afraid to.

"Yes, Doctor. I'll get them."

After he left, Alyssa opened the door.

A stale odor rushed out at once.

She coughed, then covered her nose with the edge of her headscarf. Inside, dust coated the floor. A lizard darted along the wall. A small table in the front room stood unevenly, and the thin mattress in the bedroom was rolled up with stains she did not want to identify.

Alyssa set her suitcase on the porch.

"All right," she murmured. "We start with air."

She opened every window. One hinge nearly came off. She propped it with a stone. Then she tied up her hair, rolled her sleeves, and began dragging the dirty mattress out into the yard.

That was when Damian appeared.

He stood in front of the gate, still in his field uniform. Two soldiers behind him carried a folder and a radio. His expression was flat, but his eyes tracked Alyssa's every movement.

Alyssa pulled the mattress as far as the porch, then turned.

"Do you have a patient?"

Damian did not answer the question.

"You've seen the house."

"I'm looking at it now."

"If it doesn't suit you, you can ask to move in with the midwife."

Alyssa slapped dust from her hands.

"So everyone can say I arrived as the commander's wife and demanded special treatment?"

One of the soldiers behind Damian quickly looked down.

Damian stared at her.

"You do enjoy making everything sound like an attack."

"Because it usually is."

Wind crossed the yard, carrying dust with it. Alyssa held back a cough. She lifted the mattress again and dragged it toward the patch of sunlight.

Damian watched her.

"You don't have to do that yourself."

"I know."

"Then why?"

"Because I can."

The answer chilled the air between them.

Damian stepped through the gate. "Alyssa."

He never said her name gently. Even when his voice was quiet, an order lived inside it.

Alyssa straightened.

"Yes, Commander?"

His gaze shifted slightly.

The title clearly bothered him.

"Here, I'm the operational authority. Don't create problems with the locals, the soldiers, or the families living in the compound."

"I came to work."

"I know how city people look at regional assignments. Enthusiastic for two weeks, complaining the next month, then begging to be sent home."

Alyssa gave a quiet laugh.

"Do you truly think I have enough time to complain?"

Damian said nothing.

"In the ER, I've stood for twenty hours. I've stitched drunk men who cursed at me. I've been yelled at by patients' families because their insurance paperwork was a mess. A dirty house won't send me home."

Damian watched her.

Alyssa picked up the old broom she had found in the corner of the porch.

"If you're done welcoming me, I need to clean."

The two soldiers behind Damian held their breath.

Damian turned his face aside, as if restraining something.

"Are you always like this?"

"Like what?"

"Stubborn."

"Only when people expect me to give up."

For the first time, Damian did not immediately answer.

He looked at the house again. Maybe he had only just realized the place was worse than he had imagined. Or maybe he had known all along and only wanted to see Alyssa ask for help.

Alyssa would not give him that.

The soldier who had escorted her returned with a broom, bucket, mop, and bottle of disinfectant. Behind him came two women from the compound, curious enough to follow.

"Goodness, why are they using this old house again?" one woman exclaimed. "Doctor, we'll help you clean."

Alyssa smiled. "Thank you, ma'am. Only a little, then. I don't want to trouble you."

"No trouble. I'm Mrs. Nichols, Sergeant Baxter's wife. This is Mrs. Willa. If you need anything, just say so."

"I'm Alyssa."

Mrs. Willa glanced at Damian, then at Alyssa.

"Oh... so you're the commander's wife?"

The air shifted.

Alyssa felt every eye turn to her.

Damian said nothing.

Alyssa met Mrs. Willa's gaze with a polite smile.

"I'm the doctor assigned to the health post, ma'am. Please just call me Alyssa."

Mrs. Willa looked awkward. "Oh. Of course, Doctor."

Damian noticed the answer.

He knew Alyssa had deliberately avoided using the title of wife.

Good.

Wasn't that what he wanted?

Over the next two hours, the house turned into a small battlefield. Alyssa swept dust, Mrs. Nichols cleaned windows, Mrs. Willa brought hot water, two soldiers repaired the door hinge, and Joe arrived with disinfectant from the health post.

Damian had already left.

But before leaving, he gave one brief order to the logistics soldier.

"Make sure the power and water work before nightfall."

Alyssa heard him.

She pretended not to.

By dusk, the house was still far from comfortable, but it was livable. The floor was clean. The windows were open. The old mattress had been thrown out and replaced with a folding mat from the health supply room. Alyssa's suitcase sat in the corner of the bedroom.

Mrs. Nichols brought a plate of rice and clear vegetable soup.

"Eat first, Doctor. Don't faint on your first night here."

Alyssa laughed. "Thank you."

"The commander is like that," Mrs. Nichols suddenly said in a softer voice.

Alyssa looked up.

Mrs. Nichols hesitated, then went on. "Stiff. Talks like he's angry. But usually, he doesn't do things carelessly."

Alyssa looked down at the rice on her plate.

"I know."

She knew Damian was not careless.

He was only careless when it came to judging her.

That night, after everyone went home, Alyssa sat on the floor of the front room. Her back ached. Her hands stung from wringing out the mop for too long.

She opened her phone. One bar of signal.

There was a message from Mom.

Did you arrive? Is Damian being kind?

Alyssa stared at the question for a long time.

Then she typed:

I arrived, Mom. The house is simple, but safe. I'm okay.

She did not answer the part about Damian.

Because she had no idea what lie to tell.

Outside, a motorcycle stopped.

Alyssa turned her head.

A package hung from the gate. No one was there. Only the motorcycle's taillight receding into the dark.

She went out and took the package.