Elvis put on his usual outfit, work shirt with the sleeves rolled up, camo pants and work boots, for a day in the camp working alongside Georgie. The last piece was to strap on his sidearm. Everyone in the camp was so used to seeing Elvis two steps away from Georgie, kitted put the way he was that no one batted an eye lash any more.
He wandered past the area that passed as the kitchen area and grabbed himself a coffee as he headed towards the office in the clinic. He knew that Georgie would be in one of two places at this time of the morning, either in the office or doing triage just outside the clinic. Nafula had promised to keep Georgie close to home today.
Elvis wound his way into the office and found Nafula buried in paperwork; order forms, reports and the like. "Morning Nafula!" he chirped with one of his trademark smiles.
"Good morning Elvis." Nafula smiled back at him. She would be the first to admit that when Elvis arrived at the clinic looking for Georgie, she had had misgivings about him but in all days and nights he had been there Elvis had been nothing but helpful, polite and respectful. He was not at all like she had expected; some brash, larger than life, cocky young man. He was hardworking and thoughtful. He had a kind heart, although he would probably deny that and Nafula could see, along with everyone else at the clinic, that he loved Georgie beyond reason.
And despite everything she said Georgie loved him too. Georgie hadn't admitted that to anyone, not Nafula and certainly not Elvis. She was still telling him that she wasn't interested, that she hadn't forgiven him for hurting her and that they would never be getting back together no matter what he did. Since the day of Elvis' arrival Georgie had been keeping him at arm's length. Yes, they had kissed but that had been an error on her part, a glitch in her system.
Georgie had been keeping busy from early morning until late at night. She'd worked continuously in the clinic before Elvis' arrival. Nafula hadn't let her go to the outlying first aid posts but now with her seemingly personal bodyguard, Nafula was letting her venture away from the clinic. Georgie kept Elvis in his place by getting him to help with the mundane, fetching and carrying and even helping with patients.
Elvis was particularly successful when the patient was a child. Georgie thought it was the fact he was nothing more than an overgrown child but it probably had more to do with the fact he was a father now himself. A good one, she knew he was, the way he spoke about Laura and the photos he was constantly showing. It was hard to miss the fact that Miss Laura had her daddy wrapped around her little fingers and he was happy to be there.
"Where is she, Nafula?" Elvis asked with a grin. Nafula looked at Elvis and smiled in response to his daily question "Where she always is at this time of the morning, Elvis. I would think after following Georgie around for the last few weeks you would know her routine by heart by now."
He chuckled "I do know it but I live in hope that she may have slept in." They both laughed at that, knowing that it wasn't in Georgie's DNA to sleep in when someone could be in need of help. Elvis pushed himself away from the door "Ok I'd better go and fall in line. Georgie doesn't know anything does she?"
"No" Nafula responded "I've not said anything to her other than the normal responses when she questions why she be somewhere, do something or change something."
"Thanks Nafula! I know you weren't too happy when I arrived but then neither was Georgie. But I hope..."
Nafula cut him off "Don't worry Elvis, I think you are a good man. Impulsive...maybe, hardworking and protective...definitely and is your heart in the right place? No question. But I do think that this maybe too soon for Georgie. Don't be surprised if she is not happy about your surprise."
"When is Georgie ever happy with me? I'm always in the shit, it's only the depth that changes." Elvis walked away from the office to find Georgie, who by her own schedule would be part way through triage at the clinic.
He wound his way through the crowd that always seemed to be at the clinic no matter how long it had been open or how many staff were working or the number of people they saw. He finally found Georgie surrounded by a family that was made up a father, mother and several children of various ages.
Halfway through their morning Elvis made sure that Georgie sat down in the shade of the building, ate a protein bar and had a cup of tea with an extra sugar in it. She wasn't happy about it and she let Elvis know "Elvis I've got too much to do! I can't be sittin' here drinking tea...there are people that need help..my help."
Elvis gave a small sigh before answering "I know Georgie...there are always lots of people that need your help but so help me..if you don't look after yourself you'll be of no use to anyone." She knew the truth of his words. Every now and again a worker would topple over because they hadn't stopped to eat or drink all day. And they always needed extra hands. One reason why Elvis had been welcomed by everyone was because he helped where ever he could. So if she keeled not only would they be short a set of experienced, knowledgeable hands but Elvis would be at her side and not helping.
Not long after she went back to work, a large commotion broke out in the crowd lined up inside the clinic waiting for treatment. It seemed to centre on a girl of about 11 years of age that had come bursting into the clinic. Elvis, without a thought, stepped in front of Georgie, just in case.
Georgie pushed him aside and made her way over to the girl who was babbling away and pointing frantically out the door. Nafula was listening to the child and asking the occasional question, it seemed to Elvis, he didn't recognise the dialect the child was using. Eventually Nafula had calmed the child down enough to get a clearer picture of the problem.
She turned to Georgie and Elvis. "The girl, Zahara, her mother has gone into labour. They had been walking here for the last two days but she can't come any further."
"I'll go!" Georgie volunteered as she turned to go and get her kit and supplies.
"How far out?" Elvis asked. Nafula turned to the child and asked the question in a hurried voice. "She says not far. She had only been running to get here for 15, maybe 20 minutes."
"Right...we'll take the jeep." Elvis started to move. He grabbed one of the orderlies "Help Georgie load the supplies. I'll grab some food and water. Get the jeep round the front." He barked out as everyone started to move.
"Elvis!" Nafula called out, "I'm sorry!"
"About?"
"You may not get your surprise for Georgie."
Elvis fired back a gracious smile "Don't worry Nafula...one way or another it'll get done." And he was gone out the door.
A/N: My apologies for taking so long to update. I'm currently writing three different stories, crazy I know, and changing gears with the characters can be a bit tricky but which ever characters are yelling at me the loudest are the ones getting their stories written.
