A/N: As always thanks for the reviews! This chapter was hard to write, so I hope you all like it!

Stepping off the plane into the hot and humid air, Rose began to sweat instantly. She was glad Jack and not only suggested she wear shorts and a tank top under a pair of sweats, but he had took her heavy winter coat from her at the airport. The sun was relentless and the humidity was horrid.

Rose had flown from Chicago to Miami. From Miami she took a smaller plane to the Dominican Republic. Part of her was relieved she wouldn't see the grief stricken country up close right away. ICRC was allowing her to settle into a make shift camp first. Following that, teams would be divided, and Rose would be assigned to stay in the Dominican hospitals, or to cross the border into Haiti and work in the field.

It didn't take long at all. She was shown where she could place her belongings. She had only taken one suitcase with clean clothes, a few toiletries, and her cell phone charger. Rose didn't know if or when she'd be able to charge or use her phone. Thinking about that, she grabbed her phone and saw she had a couple bars, indicating a weak signal. She knew Jack was teaching a class right now, so she typed out a quick email on the Blackberry, sent it, and turned her phone off to save the battery.

...

Jack felt his phone buzz in his back pocket. He had a feeling it was Rose. He glanced at the clock and saw there was only five minutes left of the class. His students were all working on the computers, learning how to touch up overexposed photos.

"Alright, that's enough for the day. It's Friday. Get a head start on your weekend," he told them. Not having to be told twice, the students saved there work and filed out of the computer lab. Jack sighed and grabbed his phone. As he suspected, it was an email from Rose, and he smiled.

Hi babe. Landed safely in the DR. Don't know when I'll be able to get in touch with you, if at all. I'm waiting for my assignments, and when I can I'll let you know how everything is going. I miss you and love you. Rose.

P.S. The signal is spotty and I've turned off my phone to save the battery. So please don't panic if you can't get in touch with me. :)

Jack was relieved she was there safely. He had known contact with her would be limited, if even possible. But getting the simple email lightened his spirits. He slide out the keyboard of his phone and sent her a quick email back.

Hey hun. Glad you made it there safe, and that you were able to email me. I love you, and am so proud of you. Stay safe, and don't worry, I won't panic. LOL. I talked to the guys earlier, and both Tommy and Fabri send their love and prayers along with mine. I'll miss you, especially at night. Love you. Jack.

...

Rose found herself eager at the task in front of her. Rose had gone into the medical world surrounded by a small shield of comfort. Everything in the OR was sterile. She had all the information on a patient. If something went wrong during surgery, she had not only the skills, but the tools at her disposal to fix it. The temperature of the OR was controlled, and the air clean. Here it was entirely different.

She had been assigned to work in a field hospital in Haiti. It was outside, as there were very few sound structures left. Thankfully it was an enclosed tent, so the debris in the air would be minimized. Medical supplies were scarce. Fortunately for the first time use they would be sterile. But all the doctors had been told throw nothing away. Should supplies run low or run out, they would be forced to reuse tools. Although cleaned in solutions, there were no autoclaves to sterilize them. Disinfected was the best they could hope for.

As the truck neared the Haitian border, Rose felt her stomach tighten. The images she had seen on TV would soon be in front of her eyes. She'd never been nervous going into surgery, not even the first time. She had been confident, and most importantly, not emotionally connected. Rose knew there were two kinds of doctors. There was the kind who got rid of their feelings, and the kind who hold onto them. If she kept a hold of her feelings, she knew she'd get sick from time to time, that's just how it worked. People came into her OR, sick, bleeding, and dieing. They needed her help. She knew helping them was more important that how she felt. It was a pain in the ass sometimes, but she gave herself a swift mental kick, closed her eyes, and let go of her feelings.

...

"Clamp that artery," Rose told the nurse who was assisting her. Rose blinked rapidly to prevent the sweat from rolling into her eyes for what seemed to be the thousandth time. She felt high, as adrenaline had been pumping through her all day. The sun had begun to set, and she had to finish quickly. There was no electricity and the lighting provided by the back up generators was shady at best. It got dangerous at night as well, as people in situations such as this tend to panic.

Already she had operated on four people. The first two had been to repair internal bleeding, the third was an amputation. This one was more difficult for her. Her patient was a young woman, about eight months pregnant. She'd gone into early labor, but the baby was breech. The only way to get the baby out safely was by C-section.

The first three operations had been a breeze. While performing this one, Rose felt her feelings attempting to creep back up on her. Get over it Rose. You know the pain of losing a child. Do not let this woman go through that. While easier said than done, Rose managed to shove her feelings aside and pulled the tiny infant out. The nurse grabbed the bulb syringe and quickly sucked out the fluids from the baby's airwaves. Moments later, it let out a tiny but piercing scream.

...

Rose stepped out of the van with shaky legs. She was hot, hungry, and tired. Now back over the Haitian border in the Dominican Republic, Rose let out a sob.

Granted she had spent the majority of her day inside the surgical tent, she still caught a glimpse of the devastation outside. Piles of rubble lay where buildings had once stood. The hot and humid conditions caused bodies within those piles of rubble to decompose rapidly. The smell was acrid and thick. Despite what Rose had seen over her career as a doctor, it took her quite some time to adjust to the odor.

Mass graves were being dug, and dump trucks full of bodies filled them. Hundreds upon thousands were laid to rest in a pile. No funerals, no mourning. There was simply nothing else that could be done with them. Making her way to her cot, she sat there and cried for those poor souls.

Despite the conditions, a lukewarm shower and a warm meal helped Rose feel like a brand new person. After sweating away ten pounds by merely standing in the heat, saving lives, experiencing a 4.0 magnitude aftershock, and trying not to freak out at the sights, Rose was also beat.

She pulled her hair into a high ponytail and stretched out on the cot. It was less than comfortable, but at the moment Rose didn't care. Thousands of people were sleeping on the streets just miles away from her. Those people didn't know if they would live or die. They didn't know if their loved ones were alive or dead. They didn't know where their next meal was coming from, or when they'd be able to sleep in a bed again. It all caught up with her. One day was down, she had twelve more to go. Knowing that she'd soon be in a comfortable bed with Jack's arms around her while the broken people of Haiti had little or nothing, Rose cried herself to sleep.