24 Hours Later

The sun rose over the trees as the truck moved along the dirt road at a slower pace than before; the soldiers were quiet and as Katie slept soundly in his lap, Luka gazed out at the dirty truck window.

It had been a long drive and the longest 24 hours of his life. At least Katie was safe and back in his care where he could keep an eye on her. Now, all they had to do was get to the Matenda clinic.

As the truck continued moving, Luka suddenly spotted a man and a woman assisting another woman, one who looked a lot like his wife, to walk across a field. Luka suddenly frowned…it WAS his wife.

"STOP THE TRUCK!" Luka shouted as he gently eased Katie off his lap and on to the seat beside him.

Startled by Luka's shouting, the soldier pulled over and Luka quickly got out of the truck, "What are you doing in Africa, Amy?" he asked as he ran over to the three people. "Who are these other people?"

"My father sent me and Dave to get them," Amy replied in a tired voice. "Luka, I need to rest."

Neela gazed thoughtfully at Luka, "Are you her husband?" she asked. "It's good to finally meet you."

Luka was silent, "I'm Doctor Rasgotra and this is Doctor Pratt," Neela explained, gesturing to Dr. Pratt.

"Look, I know you're having fun getting to know each other, but I'd really like to sit down and have some water," Amy interrupted in a tired voice. "Luka, I think I might be pregnant…just so you know."

Luka was speechless and watched as Dr. Pratt and Neela helped Amy over to the truck, "Katie?" Amy asked, shocked to see her youngest daughter in the backseat of the truck. "Luka…..how?"

"A miracle," Luka replied softly as he came back to the truck. "Katie, wake up, it's your mom."

Katie opened her eyes and smiled at seeing Amy, "Mommy, Daddy found me in the forest," she said in a tired voice as she sat up and hugged Amy. "I feel yucky, but Daddy said that we're gonna go to a clinic."

Amy's calm expression faded, "Some soldiers forced us to leave the clinic," she explained as she got into the backseat beside Katie. "Dave and Abby are still at the clinic with Doctor Rogers, a pregnant patient and Carter, but Carter has malaria…It's not safe, but someone has to go back for them."

"We shall send a radio transmission about help for your friends when we get to a safer location," the soldier behind the wheel said in his thick French accent as he looked at Amy. "For now, all we can do is take you and your party back to Kisangani. You can get a flight to safety from there, I promise."

Luka sighed, but got into the backseat, "Doctor Rasgotra, Doctor Pratt, you can ride up front," the soldier behind the wheel said as two other soldiers got out. "My men will travel to Matenda."

Overexhausted and silently praying that Dave and the others would be okay, Amy leaned against Luka's chest and gently clung to Katie. Luka put a protective arm around his trembling wife and held her close.

Dr. Pratt and Neela got into the truck and promptly closed the door. The soldiers exchanged words and as the two soldiers jogged off down the road, the truck turned and headed back towards Kisangani.

Luka grabbed a small water bottle from the floor and offered it to Amy, "It's not much, but if you are pregnant, you need to take care of yourself," he said in a gentle tone. "We'll get through this together."

Amy took the water, opened it, and began to drink; she may have been reunited with Luka and Katie and on the way home, but her mind was on those who had been left in Matenda to survive.

Matenda Clinic

"I…I have to push," Dalynia said in a faint voice as sweat trickled down her face. "I…I can't…"

Abby sighed and watched as Dr. Rogers draped a blanket over Dalynia's elevated legs with her hands encased in rubber gloves that had been in one of the scattered boxes of supplies in the clinic, "You can do it, I know you can," Dr. Rogers said in an encouraging tone. "Doctor Malucci, can you-"

"Mmh," Carter suddenly mumbled from the other end of the clinic as his hands began to flex.

Dave quickly moved away from Dalynia's right side over to where Carter was laying, "Carter, can you hear me?" he asked as he knelt down next to Carter. "Carter, it's Dave…..can you hear me?"

"Dave?" Carter groggily asked as his eyes slowly opened. "What am I doing on the floor?"

Dalynia suddenly let out a scream, "Dalynia, push!" Abby yelled as she wiped the sweat off of Dalynia's sweaty forehead. "Doctor Rogers, do you see the head or feet yet?"

"Dave, what's happening?" Carter asked in a faint voice. "Why is there so much noise?"

Dave sighed and quickly checked Carter's pulse, "You had a seizure and have been out of it for about 24 hours," he said in a gentle voice. "Abby and Doctor Rogers are helping Dalynia have her baby."

Carter was silent as he gazed at Dave, "What happened to you?" Carter asked, suddenly noticing the dried blood and bruising on Dave's face and the bloody gash on Dave's forehead. "You're bleeding."

"A soldier knocked me out," Dave replied in a strained voice as he suddenly felt pain in his ribs. "The soldiers also made Amy, Doctor Pratt, and Doctor Rasgotra start walking back to Kisangani..."

Carter sighed and coughed, "I'm not getting any better," he stated weakly. "I can't even sit up."

Dave sighed, "Doctor Rogers radioed for help yesterday, but we don't know if it got through to anyone out in that mess," he replied softly as he reached for the supply bag in the corner. "I gotta check your blood pressure and temperature now. You're looking worse all the time and it's unnerving."

Dalynia suddenly screamed again, "Okay, I see the head!" Dr. Rogers exclaimed as Dalynia gasped and grabbed to Abby's hand for support. "Dalynia, just relax and breathe while I finish the delivery."

"Take care of my baby, Doctor Rogers," Dalynia whispered faintly. "I won't survive this…"

Suddenly, the sound of a baby crying could be heard, "You have a beautiful little girl, Dalynia," Dr. Rogers said as she held the baby up for Dalynia and Abby to see. "Abby, can you clean the baby up?"

Despite the fact that she hadn't held a baby in over a year, Abby nodded and taking the wailing baby from Dr. Rogers, she used some of the nearby water bottles to clean the baby off. After the baby was clean, Abby removed her jacket and swaddled the baby in it so it wouldn't get cold.

There was then silence as the baby quieted, "It was a tough labor, Dalynia, but you did it," Dr. Rogers said in a reassuring tone. "You did very, very well. What would you like to name your daughter?"

Dalynia didn't respond as Abby brought the baby close to the bedside, "She's unconscious," Abby said, frowning down at the unconscious Dalynia and checking her pulse. "No pulse either."

"Dalynia?" Dr. Rogers asked as she came around to the left side of the bed. "Dalynia, can you hear me?"

Carter raised his head and Dave frowned, both of them watching as Dr. Rogers quickly initiated CPR on Dalynia, "There's blood on the floor," Abby said, suddenly noticing a puddle of blood forming near the end of the cot. "She's hemorrhaging all over the place….is there anything we can do?"

"No," Dr. Rogers replied solemnly as she lowered Dalynia's legs. "We can't do anything for Dalynia."

There was a prolonged silence and Carter felt tears prick his eyes, "It's only a matter of time before I die too," he whispered as tears rolled down his cheeks. "Abby, I love you so much…"

"That's enough!" Dr. Rogers snapped as she walked over to the stretcher. "Doctor Malucci, help me pick up this stretcher...I don't know if help will come, but we can start walking back to where we can get it."

Dave nodded and helped Dr. Rogers lift the stretcher, "Abby, will you grab my backpack from the corner and load whatever you can from the supply boxes into it?" Dr. Rogers ordered. "Then put it on your back and I want you to carry the baby while I help Doctor Malucci carry Doctor Carter on this stretcher."

Abby nodded and shifting the baby to one shoulder, she grabbed the backpack from the corner and hurried around the clinic, filling it with as many IV bags, food rations, water bottles, and medical supplies that she could carry without feeling tired. The baby yawned and remained silent, but awake.

"All right, ready," Abby said as she put the backpack over her shoulders and held the swaddled baby close to her chest. "How long will it take to get back to Kisangani by foot, Doctor Rogers?"

There was silence as Dr. Rogers and Dave carried Carter from the clinic and Abby followed, "I honestly have no idea how long it will take by foot, but we'll just have to do our best," Dr. Rogers stated gently.

Silence once again reigned as the group started walking away from the clinic and into the unknown.

Kisangani Clinic– Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo - Several Hours Later

"Darn it, I'm not picking up any radio signal from the Matenda clinic!" Kem shouted as she slammed the radio receiver down and glared at Neela. "How could you just leave them in Matenda alone?"

Dr. Pratt sighed and walked over to Kem, "Kem, what else could they have done?" he said in a calming voice as he placed his hands on Kem's shoulders to relax her. "The soldiers were pretty insistent."

Kem sighed, "You're right, Greg, I'm sorry," she replied in a soft voice. "Neela, I apologize."

Neela nodded and gazed over to a cot in the corner where Amy was asleep with an IV in her arm and a blanket covering her. Katie was laying on the next cot with an IV in her arm and Luka was sitting on a stool between then, his hands locked tight to both Amy's and Katie's free hands.

The trio watched them silently for a moment, "Neela, can I talk to you for a minute?" a male voice asked in a gentle tone as Neela felt a hand on her arm. "Kem, Doctor Pratt, please go do rounds."

Neela turned to see her husband, Michael Gallant, standing there in army fatigues, "I just got off the emergency phone in the administration tent," he said, taking her hands. "A plane is being sent from Kinshasa to pick up you, Doctor Pratt, and the Kovacs to take them to Chicago via Kinshasa. It should arrive at the airstrip in the next day or two. Any word on the people still stranded at Matenda clinic?"

"None," Neela replied softly. "I hope the rebels didn't capture them…"

Michael Gallant sighed, "I wish there was more I could do," he said in a tired voice. "I may be just one person on active military duty, but I managed to get a clinic set up because of my medical training…I hate knowing that there are people out there that need help. There are only so many resources here. All I can do is keep open contact with the military administration tent and hope we hear something soon."

There was silence for a moment, "Michael, did you manage to get Doctor Kovac's wife to take a pregnancy test?" Neela asked. "If she's pregnant, she'll need extra care to ensure the baby's health."

"I thought it best to let her sleep off a few IV's of fluids first," Michael replied gently. "After she wakes up again, I'll ask her to take a pregnancy test and give her and her daughter something to eat."

Neela nodded, "I can't believe they got here that quickly," she said in a concerned voice.

"Talk with Doctor Kovac and maybe see if he'll rest," Michael said in a soft voice. "Tell him that we'll look after his wife and daughter while he takes care of himself. He must be exhausted after all that travel."

There was silence, "I appreciate your concern, Doctor Gallant, but I'm all right," Luka said, having overheard Neela and Michael's conversation. "I'm well rested and I'm not in need of food or water."

"Luka, go and get something to eat," Amy suddenly said in a sleepy voice while her eyes remained closed. "You're no help to us if you get sick. Doctor Gallant and Neela will look after Katie and I."

With a sigh, Luka stood and stretched, "I'll take the first watch, Neela," Michael said as he moved over to the stool. "Luka, my wife will show you were you can eat, shower, and maybe get a little sleep."

Neela took hold of Luka's arm, "Come with me," she said in a gentle voice. "It'll be okay."

Luka nodded and followed after Neela, "Michael, I'll come find you if any word comes through about those back in Matenda," Neela promised as she led Luka out of the clinic's patient area.

Now alone with the sleeping Amy and Katie, Michael sighed and swallowed hard; he would soon be required to close the clinic again and go back on active military duty in Iraq. He and Neela lived in the U.S. together before he had been deployed and soon, Neela would be without him. He had only come to Africa during his leave after hearing from Neela how broadening Africa had been for her career.

However, Michael personally wanted Neela to go back to America to live and work somewhere safe.

Swallowing hard, Michael silently prayed that all would work out for those who had come so far and had obviously sacrificed much to be in Africa; this was a good place to learn, but it wasn't for everyone.

I have put a lot of work into this story thus far...I just want people to show appreciation for it.