AN: Sorry for the delay. I still don't have a Beta Reader and apologize for any mistakes in advance. Have fun reading!

Jesse and Anna passed border control, fetched their luggage and left the passenger terminal. In front of the airport Jesse mostly saw sand. Hot, reddish sand. A lot of cars – most of them white – where parked on some of the sandy areas in front of the airport. In the distance, behind the airport, Jesse could see what had to be the city of Juba. There were no tall houses, no skyscrapers. Just flat buildings along the horizon. He had seen the city from the airplane but had been way more fascinated by the White Nile that crossed the city to notice anything else. He had seen the Nile while flying over Egypt as well, but now he was much closer to the mighty river.

He had also seen that there were no paved roads that led out of the city, except the one to the airport. In a strange way, it reminded him of his home country with it's many fields and farms. It was different here, though – much of the landscape was just barren, without any sign of life and almost no agriculture.

Suddenly a car stopped in front of them, a white Jeep with a plastic roof and zipper windows. They were opened and gave away loud music from the inside of the car.

The door opened and out came a man, a Sudanese judging from his dark skin, with a big smile. He went around the car to greet them. For a short moment he looked at Jesse, then turned to Anna and took her in his arms.

"Welcome back, Anna", he said, still smiling. "We missed you here."

"Thank you, Achak. Missed you too", Anna answered, then gestured towards Jesse. "Achak, this is Dr. Travis. He is the new doctor."

Achak nodded and shook Jesse's hand. "Nice to meet you", they both said. Achaks hands felt rough, but strong. He was a rather tall guy, almost as tall as Steve, Jesse mused, but with less muscles. He wore a white T-Shirt, khaki shorts and sandals. His hair was curly and short and gave him the look of a young man in his twenties. Since Anna knew him Jesse assumed he belonged to the organisation – and he was right.

"Get in the car, both of you," he instructed them and took his seat at the driver's site as well. "They are all waiting for you."

Jesse stepped into the car, wondering who was waiting for them, but soon his mind was occupied with other things. They left the airport, drove past the city and reached one of the few paved roads around he city. But the road did not remain paved for long. Soon after they left the area surrounding Juba, the road split into two. They took the right one, which was firm, but not paved any more. Around him, there was mostly desert, spotted with some bushed and small trees. He saw no houses, no huts, not even an animal. This was Africa, he realised, and it was very different from where he came from. He tried to take in his surroundings and was busy to process all the information his senses gave him. The nature, the heat, the sounds, everything was new to him. Anna and Achak, who sat at the front of the car, were busy talking with each other, sharing everything they had missed since the last time they had seen each other. He would have felt ignored had he not been glad about some time to take everything in, including those two people who sat in front of him. He wondered how many more people he was going to meet today.

Suddenly Anna turned around, looking at him. "So, tell us Jesse, where do you come from?"

"Los Angeles. I mean...I wasn't born there. I moved to LA when I finished medical school, to become a resident. I was born in Illinois. It's quite boring there, you know. And they have nothing you can surf on", he added with a sheepishly grin. Surfing was, next to BBQ Bob and the hospital, the one thing he spent most of his time with. He loved surfing ever since he came to LA and was keen to improve his skills whenever he had the chance to.

"I am afraid we can't provide you with that, either", Achak said and Anna nodded. "Right, no surfing here. But we have soccer, the kids love it. And basketball."

"Yes, basketball", Achak added. "It's important. Some of them hope it's their way out of here. Their way to America."

When Jesse had researched about Sudan, he had found out about Manute Bol, the famous Sudanese who played in the NBA. But he had not known how important it was to the people who lived here. And it definitely was not his favourite game. When he was younger, he had to attend basketball lessons in PE. It had been awful, especially since nearly all other pupils, including the girls, were taller than him. He had enjoyed baseball, though, which had been much more popular in Elgin anyway. Soccer he had never played, but he knew it was huge in Europe.

"Um…soccer sounds interesting. Maybe I can learn it," he said, even though he knew almost nothing about it. A number of people trying to get a ball into a goal. It was really much the same as basketball, except that the ball was different, the goals bigger and you were not allowed to use your hands.

"Well, you can play with the kids, if you want to", Anna said. "But don't worry, you don't have to", she said, smiling at him. "I guess most of the time you will be too tired anyway. What kind of doctor are you? Emergency medicine, right?"

Jesse was glad he could answer this one on a positive note. "Yes, I am. Chief of Emergency. It's great, you know, you get to know so many people and there are a million different diseases you have to diagnose and wounds you have to treat. You can work with all kinds of people, the nurses and other doctors and…ah, I think I get a little bit carried away, sorry", Jesse excused himself, as he realised he had begun to enthuse over his work. He looked apologetically at Anna, but she only smiled at him.

"I'm glad to hear that. That's what we need, someone who likes his work. Lewis has done well, I think", she said, the last sentence addressed to Achak. The Sudanese nodded. "We do. I hope you will like it here, Jesse Travis. You should. I love this country, and I love the people who live here, even though the politicians are crazy right now. Things will get better, I know, but until then my people need help. I think you can give it to them."

"I will try", Jesse answered, swallowing hard. Great expectations always nagged at him, and Achak obviously had them. He would try his best, as usual, but how good would that be? He might be chief of Emergency in Los Angeles, but as of yet he did not know how helpful that was. This was a different country, with different people and different diseases. Lewis had told him that things would be very different, including the medical equipment. And drugs. How good was his work without his instruments, without his machines, without the right drugs? He was bit afraid of that. But time would show, he knew.

"What about you? Where do you come from?" Jesse asked, out of curiosity. He would spend a considerable amount of time with the two people in front of him and since they knew all basic information about him, he was very curious to find out about them. He could not place Anna's accent and he had absolutely no idea who or what Achak was.

"I come from Sweden," Anna answered. "From Värmdö, a town near Stockholm. It's filled with fish, porcelain and tourists. And it's cold. That's why I came her, to warm up a bit. You should have seen my children's faces when I told them – when they had moved out, they had expected me to live in our big old family home forever and for always, but I surprised them."

"I cannot even imagine a place so cold," Achak chimed in, laughing. Jesse had to laugh, too. He was sweating from head to toe and he came from a place where heat was nothing unusual. But this was different. This was hot. Warming up had certainly worked for Anna.

"And you, Achak? Do you come from Mongalla?" Jesse asked the man who drove their car. But Achak shook his head. "No, I was born in a very small village close to Juba. As soon as the war started we moved to Juba, my younger brothers and me. I was about 13 then and my parents wanted us to be saved. This was really unusual, they needed us to take care of the cattle. But our uncle offered to take us in, to which my parents agreed. Our mothers were heartbroken, though. Only their daughters and the elder sons remained."

"So you lived in Juba since then?"

"Well, yes and no. I lived there for a long time, I even went to school. By coincidence I started to work for a humanitarian organisation. Five years ago I was hired from DWB to work for them. They sent me to Mongalla to help build up the hospital. I did and I liked it there, so I stayed."

"Then Mongalla is a nice place to live?"

"You can put it that way, yes. Nice as good as it gets. It's dangerous, but there is no place in Sudan right now that isn't. But people are really nice and the town is really fine."

Anne nodded to what Achak said. "It really is. I like it there. I have been in Sudan for about three years now and right now I can't imagine to go home for more than a few days."

About one and an half hour later they arrived in Mongalla. They had passed the White Nile, since Mongalla lay on the right hand of the river, in opposite to Juba. The river had been so broad, Jesse had difficulties seeing the other shore. The city itself seemed way smaller, if one could call it a city at all. It consisted mainly of huts built of brickearth and with roofs made of straw or corrugated steel. The few streets were not paved and filled with chariots, goats and people dressed in modern clothes. Only few people wore what seemed to be traditional Sudanese clothes. Those who looked at them seemed very friendly, some of them nodded towards them, others smiled and waved. They probably knew Achak and Anna, Jesse assumed.

And then there were the children. They followed the Jeep, ran next to or behind it. And with every metre they became more. When they stopped in front of a bricked building at what seemed to be the village's centre, the children surrounded their car, screaming Annas and Achaks names.

"You have them with you, right?", Achak asked Anna, who nodded in response. Then she grabbed her backpack, opened it and showed it to Achak and Jesse. What he saw was a backpack full of sweets. Chocolates as well as candy drops and jelly beans. Outside the children were getting even louder. "I think you should take those outside before they scream down the whole city", Achak said, then stepped out of the car. Anna followed him, and so did Jesse.

It did not take longer than a few seconds to give away everything that was in the backpack. After they had finished, Achak and Anna lead Jesse into the building. On it's front he saw the DSF banner. He concluded that this had to be the hospital, or whatever they called it here. From the outside it looked like a very small building with two floors that was covered with a red roof. The windows and their blinds were opened. For a moment, Jesse wondered about this – after all, it was quite hot outside, but then he stepped into the building and realised that it might have been hot outside, but inside it was worse.

"Welcome to Mongalla Hospital, Dr. Travis", Anna said. "This is our lobby, which isn't very busy today, as it seems."

The room contained a desk that stood at the rear end of the room. On the left side of the room was a door that probably lead into other rooms. On the right hand were five chairs. Only one of them was seated, with a woman who looked slightly sick.

"Come on, I'll show you the rest." With that, Anna showed him around the whole hospital. The door brought them into a big room that was split in two. The first part seemed to be the examination room, with one bed, two chairs, some instruments, a med cabinet and even something that looked like a heart monitor. The other part of the room – which was four times as large as the examination part – was filled with beds. There were twelve beds total, two of them filled. At the other end of the room was another door, which led to the operation room. Anna also led Jesse up some stairs, where he found a small room with some more beds, a small kitchen and a toilet – and Lamara Wasiljew, a woman with straight, brown hair, who was probably three inch taller than him and had a strong, russian accent.

"Anna, you are back!", Lamara exclaimed. She embraced her colleague, shook Achaks hand and then turned to Jesse. "And you must be Dr. Travis. Quite young, are you?", she asked him, with a surprised look on her face. Then she smiled. "Anyway, I am Dr. Lamara Wasiljew. Feel welcomed." She offered him her hand, which Jesse gladly took.

"Thank you. It's nice to meet you", he answered, a bit overwhelmed by that tall, strong woman. And everything else.

That day, Jesse got to know a lot of people. There were of course Anna and Achak as well as Lamara and Noah, e a Sudanese of about 19 years who planned to become a doctor and spent nearly all of his time inside the hospital or with the doctors and nurses. Lamara was the only other doctor, he found out, while Anna was one of three nurses. The other two were Lucy and Max. Max had only arrived a few weeks before him, while Lucy, who came from Canada, had been stationed in Sudan for more than three years now. Max was of the same age as Jesse, while Lucy was only 24.

He spend his first evening in Sudan with his new colleagues and a nice warm meal inside the hospital. The patients – there were only two and both of them were able to sit – ate with them the stew that had been cooked for them by Noahs mother. Jesse was not sure about the stew's contents, but was soon appeased by the fact that it was merely beef that had been put in the soup. And it really tasted fine.

After the sun went down, the small group dispersed. Anna lead Jesse to his bed, which was one of those that stood in the room on the second floor of the hospital. He hardly got undressed and washed before he went to bed and fell into a deep, refreshing sleep.