All that glitters is not Gold

Alright, here comes chapter 9, finally.

I hope you'll enjoy it.


Chapter 9: That Damn Pharmacy

At the clinic, 1.30 pm

Lily hurried after Keeton and saw his figure disappearing into the pharmacy. Her face felt hot, and Lily was sure that everybody would be able to detect her blush. But right now, she didn't really care. She had other things on her mind, for example Ben Keeton and his looks. But her reason for going after her boss with that much determination now had other origins, unfortunately.

Lily had promised herself to start her life over in the jungle. She had come here to get over her fiancé's death, to find back to herself. Having met Keeton on the way was something she hadn't expected, and maybe hadn't wanted. Not at this point in her life. He was actually interfering with her starting over, because whenever he was nice, or looked at her with those dark blue eyes, or when he wore a burgundy shirt, she couldn't act normally anymore.

Lily sighed and gathered all her strength, as she reached the door to the pharmacy. She couldn't help but think back to their last encounter in this room, where the chemistry between them had only been interrupted by Zee's coming in. What would have happened, if Zee hadn't come in that day? That was something Lily had thought about quite often.

Now, she swallowed hard, and purposefully walked into the room, as if a firm and self confident walk could somehow influence her behaviour. Ben was standing in front of a shelf and obviously looking for something. Lily came closer, clearing her throat to get his attention.

She couldn't know that she had his attention from the minute her foot had crossed the threshold. Ben had noticed her familiar walking pattern on the hardwood boards outside the pharmacy. For a moment his heart had made a small leap, trying to convince him that she was coming for him. He longed for the flutter of his stomach in Lily's presence. But his mind had told him otherwise, right away. Why should she be coming for you?

"Dr. Keeton?"

Ben swallowed as he heard her voice. Maybe she is here for you after all, and the flutter in his stomach returned instantly. "Dr. Brenner … what can I do for you?" His voice sounded much more neutral than he had intended it to be.

Lily cleared her throat again, and rounded the shelf to be face to face with him. In order to give him the time he needed to get over his past himself, and to give her the time to really start over, Lily had made a decision. It was her plan to stop any flirtatious acts between them, if there had ever been any real flirts. Lily hoped that with this upcoming conversation, they would be able to clear the tension, and that she would get rid of the unreleased emotional pressure and jumpiness, whenever she was around Keeton. This is actually keeping you from doing your job! Lily scolded herself, and raised her eyes to take a last look into Ben's. Too bad that – although Keeton's face rarely turned into a smile – small wrinkles surrounded his eyes, telling her that he was carefully smiling at her. "Uhm…" Great, that's all you can say right now?

Ben observed the petite brunette in front of him and started smiling even more. Her hair was neatly tucked away in a bun, and a tight t-shirt hugged her athletic body in all the right places. Ben just liked the way she dressed and looked. Her attire was a mirror to her personality - casual, practical, and comfortable. She looked stunning, but at the same time ready to head off into the jungle any minute. But although he always had the impression she was on top of her game, whatever she did, right now was a time she seemed a little helpless. "What is it, Brenner?" He asked and couldn't hide a chuckle.

Lily started to get annoyed with herself. She had thought about what she wanted to say – and now, with him standing right there, she just couldn't bring herself to start.

Ben felt slightly flattered, feeling as if it was maybe his fault she couldn't continue talking. But then again, maybe that was just what he liked to believe. He couldn't quite shake that thought – and truthfully didn't want to, because it made his stomach flutter even more. If this was a sign of her interest, then this was all he really needed and wanted, wasn't it?

Lily's heart was pounding and she hated herself in this moment. Why is it so hard to say it? To tell him? In this exact moment, Ben made a step forward and Lily could feel the warmth vibrating from him, reaching her arms almost immediately. Lily's eyes shot up and met Ben's, only to be blown away by the intensity. This isn't helping, damn it!

Lily thought about leaving – right there and then, but that would equal flight, and she wasn't someone to run away. Normally, she thought and remembered how running away to the jungle seemed like a good idea to get over her fiancé's death. Stupid me!

There she was, just a few inches away. Exactly like it had been two days ago, with her breath warm on his forearms. Maybe you should make a move, his heart told him. But then again, Ben's mind was still active, telling him that he had actually intended to leave her alone. But as Ben started talking again, and his voice came out as a husky whisper, only bound to reach Lily's ears, he knew that it was futile to believe his mind had any say in this matter, "I'm waiting, Brenner."

Lily's eyes fluttered to his instantly, not missing the tone of his voice. What did he just say? Her heart started pounding hard. And it was this moment that suddenly enabled her to talk, because she knew where this was heading – into dangerous territory and totally into the opposite direction of what she had wanted, "Stop it!" She choked out, taking a deep breath to steady her stomach, and racing heart.

Ben leaned back a bit, as if her words had pushed him away.

"This …" Lily carefully gestured back and forth between them, " … is not okay."

Ben frowned, and his stance became more rigid. Gone was his fluttery stomach. He observed her fair face, and noticed the slight blush on her cheeks. This is taking its toll on her, too.

Lily swallowed, "I can't do this … I mean, we can't." Now that she had finally started talking, it became easier by the second, although she was still very aware of his presence.

Ben didn't say anything, he just watched her, and tried to figure out what she wanted to tell him. Or better to say, he tried to convince himself that she wasn't trying to say what he thought she wanted to.

"I mean, you're my boss … and I work for you … and we need to work together … and get along … and what will everybody think?" Lily just started spilling every bit of thought that came to her mind. It was everything that kept her awake at night, that stopped her dead in her tracks when she watched Ben talking to Ryan, or Ben paying attention to her. Everything that bothered her, pained her, or fired her imagination. Lily shook her head and her eyes dropped to the ground, "I came here to forget … and you …" her voice faded.

Now it was Ben's turn to swallow. Is she really talking about us? About how I am affecting her? Now, Ben had to know. It was his chance to get her to either say that she didn't want him at all, or that she couldn't bare the thought to be without him. The importance of this moment was not lost to Ben, and he felt his palms becoming sweaty, "What about me?" His voice was dark and deep.

Her head shot up and her huge eyes met his. This time, she wasn't able to look away – it was like Ben's eyes were gluing her to the spot. "You …" Lily felt as if her chest couldn't contain her bumping heart, as Ben slightly tilted his head, a playful gesture, "… I can't think when …"

This is it, Ben thought and boldly took a step forward. He didn't think about it. It was more a reaction caused by an auto pilot function of his brain: it was her small form in front of him, her huge eyes, her nervous breathing. Ben just couldn't help it, "You can't think when …" His right arm came to rest next to her right shoulder, keeping her from bolting away, blocking her way to get to the door.

Little did he know that blocking her way wasn't even necessary. Lily couldn't move, and wouldn't have. His eyes, his smell, and his warmth were so intoxicating that she didn't even think about leaving. All she could think about, and all she could feel, were here legs growing warmer and weaker by the second. Long forgotten were her intentions to tell him to back off and her thoughts about the fact that what she was doing right now, was totally wrong. Her heart had put her mind into neutral gear.

Ben realised how thick and dark her lashes were, and how he was able to recognise her scent. Whenever she had been standing next to him in the OR, he had been inhaling her scent. But he had never been this close to her. Right now was the first time it occurred to him that he was actually able to relate that scent to her. It was soapy, pleasant, and somewhat mysterious. He closed his eyes and leaned even closer, while he rested his weight on his left arm, caging her in.

"I can't think when you are …" Goosebumps ran down Lily's spine as he watched him close his eyes.

"… this close?" Ben finished and opened his eyes right in front of Lily's face.

She shuddered.

Ben lowered his head to the crook of her neck, just to inhale some more of her intoxicating scent.

His breathing tickled her skin, and Lily had to close her eyes, heaving a deep and trembling sigh at the same time as Ben reached for the small of her back with his right, warm hand. "Ben," was all she could say and think of. Everything was gone from her mind, except for the feeling of Ben's proximity, and his hand on the small of her back.

That was all his heart needed to move forward, it was his name on her lips. Ben brought his head back up to look into her eyes, their lips only mere centimetres away. Their breathing became one. Their eyes locked and closed again, before they simultaneously closed the distance and …

"MERCURY POISENING, Mina! Didn't you hear what I just said?" Tommy Fuller's voice was carried into the pharmacy from the patio, just like a light breeze.

But it wasn't a breeze for Ben and Lily, rather a storm. Lily drew in a sharp breath, and her eyes shot up to meet Ben's, mirroring her surprise and excitement at the same time. Oh my god, Lily thought. Her small hands moved to Ben's pectoral muscles, pushing him away from her.

Ben stepped back, tried to figure out what had just happened, and how he could explain this to himself. Lily had actually come here to talk to him about how they would have to keep things strictly professional. How did it end up like this? With me nearly kissing her? In broad daylight? Ben sighed and tried to reign in his confused feelings, while her smell still lingered in his nostrils. His eyes came to rest on her blushed cheeks and face, as Fuller came rushing into the pharmacy.

Lily swallowed. What have I done? Am I out of my mind? How can I plan to end whatever there is between Ben and me, and then end up almost kissing him? Just one second longer and Fuller, followed by Mina, would have caught them kissing. Me kissing our boss!

"Oh great, Dr. Keeton, there you are!" Fuller exclaimed and stripped off his backpack to let it slip to the ground, trying to keep his breathing calm. He had been jogging back through the jungle, in order to get to the clinic as fast as possible. "I need to talk to you." Tommy's face was glistening with sweat, and he had a restless look in his eyes.

Ben cleared his throat and saw how Lily slowly retreated, bringing some distance between them, as well as between her, Mina, and Fuller. "What are you so worked up about, Fuller?" Asked Ben and tried to bring his own heartbeat under control. The thought of how close he had been to Lily, how he had felt her firm back through her blouse had him worked up, as well.

Tommy inhaled deeply, "La Cortina – I've been there with Charlie this morning, doing house calls, and I realised something. Something important." Tommy looked into Keeton's, Mina's and Lily's eyes for support, "We need to gather all doctors, a few have to go back to La Cortina, and we need to figure out what to do next."

"About what?" Keeton asked, getting slightly annoyed by Fuller's random babble – but mostly only because Fuller had been the disturbance.

Mina rolled her eyes and punched Tommy's shoulder, causing him to yelp "Ouch!" He started rubbing the spot, "The Mercury poisoning … I believe that's what everyone is suffering from."

10 minutes later in Ben Keeton's office

Similar to an oral exam, Fuller stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by his colleagues and friends, whose eyes were resting on the young plastic surgeon.

"Mercury posining, huh?" Otis asked and searched for Ben's eyes, while letting the information sink in.

Tommy nodded vehemently, "Yeah." He thought back to La Cortina, and how he had seen all symptoms together, which had made it that much easier to diagnose. Here, at the clinic, each doctor had dealt with a single patient, simply missing the bigger picture. "It's like I said, guys, it simply clicked, you know? I've seen the people and their symptoms, all together. Textbook symptoms at that! Hair loss, appetite loss, anaemia, tachycardia, rashes that could mimic Scarlet fever, bleeding gums, stomach cramps … you name it, they all have it!"

Lily eyed Tommy up, and thought back to her own case, Miguel Vargas, a small kid with what she had diagnosed as Scarlet fever. Yet, the test results had been more than inconclusive. "My patient seems to have Scarlet fever," she mentioned and felt hope rearing its head. The treatment she had put Miguel under, wasn't really helping him. So, if Tommy suggested another disease, she was willing to follow his belief and angle of treatment. She just wanted to help the poor kid.

Mina listened carefully and nodded, "My patient's suffering from severe hair loss and fatigue. Mercury poisoning could be an explanation. It really could."

Zee was still sceptical. She wasn't treating a patient with any of those symptoms, but then again, she had been working in the maternity ward for the last three days, so she didn't really have any say in that. How had so many people gotten into contact with Mercury? Could Mercury poisoning be that random? Zee doubted it. "And you said most of the people in La Cortina are suffering from this poisoning?"

Fuller's head turned around to meet Dr. Alvarez' eyes. Zee was standing close to Ben's desk, while Ben sat behind it, Ryan had been slumped down on the couch next to Otis. "Yes, that's what I am saying."

Otis carefully shook his head and leaned forward, "And how did they contract it? The people in La Cortina and our patients here? It's a good 4 miles to La Cortina. Poisoning can't be that coincidental."

Tommy shook his head, "It's not. The Mercury is in the water, it's in the river." With that he fished for something from his backpack, and came up with a vial, filled with muddy water. "If we analyse it, it'll be the proof we need."

Lily stepped forward and took the vial from Tommy's hand, studying its contents. Small particles of rotten and degraded leaves were floating around, looking like a somewhat ugly snow globe. She knew that her staring couldn't detect the mercury, but copper could. She would do exactly that, as soon as their conversation was over, "I'll do a test as soon as we are finished here."

Some nodded, but it was Zee who spoke up again, "But some of those people were are treating don't even live close to el verdor," Zee brought up and had the picture of a map in her mind. El verdor, the river they were talking about, came from the Colombian Highlands, meandered down the jungle slopes, and lead into the ocean close to La Cortina. Zee knew most of the people living around here, and some of their recent patients were not from here – so, where could they have come into contact with el verdor's water?

Miguel Vargas, Lily thought and let the vial slip into the pocket of her trouser, "Maybe those people are visiting relatives around here? At least, that's what my patient's family is doing. They are staying with an uncle, and as far as I know …" Lily paused and tried to remember the Spanish phrases she had to listen to, as one of Miguel's cousins had explained to her, where they lived. And then it hit her again, "… but they are just living two days up the river."

"See?" Fuller exclaimed, "it all goes back to that river."

Ben had stayed silent during the whole conversation. That was his way of dealing with things. He listened first, and then made up his mind. And right now, he was still digesting what Fuller and the others had told him. Mercury poisoning. If Lily would really be able to detect the metal in Fuller's water sample, then they would have proof, and needed to act. Soon. The more time they wasted, the more people could get into contact with the water, and get sick.

But first of all, they needed to know how the Mercury even ended up in the water. This was the basic question and had top priority. Like in medicine, you need to know the origin of an illness before you can treat the whole person, Ben mused and shifted his position. What they had been doing up until now, up until Fuller had told them that it was probably Mercury poisoning that they were up against, they had simply treated the symptoms. But in order to cure a patient, treating symptoms was not the most important thing to do. If you wanted to cure somebody completely, you had to go to the roots of things. In this case, the Mercury source. "Fuller," Ben said, "any idea where and how the Mercury got into the stream?"

Fuller sighed and shrugged. He had asked himself the same question, but hadn't found a satisfying answer.

Ryan spoke up, though, "Well, I may have," the redhead said, and brushed her hair behind her ears. "It's stupid of me that I haven't seen it sooner, but now that Fuller mentioned the poisoning … I've seen it in Ghana, once. In areas of illegal or small scale gold mining businesses."

Otis frowned, "Gold mining?"

Lily nodded and spoke up, "Yes, she's right. Especially gold mines use the metal to increase gold recovery rates. Mercury and gold form an alloy, called amalgam, causing the gold to sink through the water-gravel mixture." Lily felt as if everyone was staring at her, and she was right. They all did. But to tell the truth, it had come in handy to know some things about chemistry – at least sometimes. "Uhm, if mercury is not properly disposed of, and stored in containers for heavy metals, water soluble forms of mercury, such as mercuric chloride or methylmercury, can leak into rivers."

Zee swallowed. She knew the people around here, and she knew their stories. People from a 12 mile radius came to the Clinica Cruz del Sur, and therefore, Zee knew also stories from places that weren't exactly 'close by'. And now that Ryan and Lily had brought up the mines, suddenly something dawned on the latin doctor, "There is a mine somewhere up the stream." Now, all eyes came to rest on her.

"Where?" Otis asked.

Zee shrugged, "I don't know. A few days upstream, maybe. A few weeks back, I had a patient, and I overheard her talking to another patient, telling her that her husband worked in a gold mine somewhere upstream."

"We need to go there!" Fuller said, and everyone saw the zest for action on his face.

Ben nodded in agreement, "Seems so." They would need to form some kind of a hunting party to travel through the jungle, while the other half of the doctors stayed here to keep things under control. But first of all, they needed to make sure that it was really Mercury poisoning they were dealing with. Lily needed to do that test.

"Okay, mates, you all listen carefully now – I suggest that Brenner does her water analysis …" he saw how Fuller wanted to speak up, but Ben simply didn't let him, "… just to make sure what we are dealing with, alright?" Ben paused and watched Fuller calm down, maybe because the sense in Ben's words had reached the young surgeon's ears, or because Mina Minard had put her hand on Fuller's arm to keep him calm.

"Otis, Minard, and Ryan head to La Cortina, to help treat those people. Take all the supplies you need, but be back by tomorrow morning and bring Charlie, because by then, the rest of us, meaning Brenner, Fuller, Zee, Charlie, and me will be going on a trip." He had thought about who to take along and which one to leave behind. Leaving Ryan, Otis and Minard seemed the best choice: Ryan spoke Spanish perfectly, but she wasn't a local, so Ben needed to have Zee by his side, when travelling into local territory. Otis was the most experienced surgeon and doctor around here, next to Ben himself. He couldn't have him tag along, otherwise the clinic would be left vulnerable. And Minard, well, she was fearless and skilled. Whatever crisis could occur at the clinic, she possessed the ability to work through it. Plus the fact that something inside him didn't want to leave Lily behind.

Ben sighed and numerous things started popping up in his mind, things he needed to think of and do before he could head into the jungle, let alone the images and feelings he experienced whenever he thought about Lily Brenner. He had to swallow, just to forget about what had happened in the pharmacy for one second and focus on the new task at hand. "That's it," he said, and watched the others standing up and leaving the room.

Mina, Lily, and Tommy reached the door at the same time and they all shared a long look, before Mina started talking first, "Mercuric chloride and Methylmercury? Seriously?"

Lily's mouth opened immediately, "Wh…?"

Mina shook her head in disbelieve and rolled her eyes, before she started smiling, "Science geek!"

Lily was about to fire back, as Tommy brushed past her, and added with a bright smile, "Totally!" Then Mina and Tommy both headed off, and Lily stood right there, with that water vial in hand, ready to do her science stuff. As she strolled off, a tentative smile crept upon her face, too. They are actually right.


Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. Leave a comment, if you like. Please excuse any vocab, spelling, grammar and punctuation mistakes.

Take care, K.


* Spanish translations and additional info in Chapter 9:

el verdor - meaning "the green one", rivers are typically male in Spanish: el rio verdor, meaning "the green river".