Page 12 of The Risks of Reuniting

"Have them send earplugs."

"If this happens for the entire month, I'm going to go feral and join the pack as the new alpha."

I chuckle lightly. "Worst case, we snag some cotton balls from the medical clinic and shove them in our ears tonight."

She peeks one eye out at me, and I can see it's as puffy as mine feel. "It's a deal."

"So you're an influencer?" I ask her, intrigued. I'm not on social media at all.

She makes a humming noise. "Not really. I'm just really extroverted and gather friends wherever I go.Strangeris a foreign word to me."

I immediately hear my cousin Lucy's voice in my head and smile at her words – even though this isn't a romance.This would be a classic opposites attract situation. According to Lucy, that's not a bad thing, and I hope she's right.

We fall back into silence until an alarm goes off on my phone letting us know it's 7:00 a.m. and we need to get moving. Breakfast will be served at 7:30 and then the dentist arrives at 8:00. I stretch and crack a few unhappy joints in the process. Rachelle stands, gathering her toiletry bag and towels, and heads straight out the door to the bathroom. Bathroom time around here isn't a luxury affair. It's a sink with a small mirror, a toilet, a showerhead with no curtain, and the infamous toilet paper garbage can. There's barely room for one person at a time, and from what I can tell it's not only Rachelle and I who will be sharing it. She was smart to jump and run.

I use the private time to clean up with body wipes and change into one of three pairs of scrubs. (I'm going to be doing laundry quite often … and by hand, I suspect.) Then I run my fingers through my hair to shape it back into the messy waves I like. This pixie cut was the best idea ever. Thankfully I brought a compact mirror, so I pull it out and check my hair before brushing on some light mascara and covering my face with sunscreen. Were I back in Salt Lake I'd try a little harder, but I didn't come here to make some fashion statement. I'm here to help people. There's freedom in keeping it simple, and I tuck my make-up kit away just as Rachelle comes back in with a towel wrapped around both her body and her head.

"Did you just run across the alley in only your towel?" I ask, eyes wide.

She shrugs. "It's covering more than my swimsuit would. You'd better hurry, I think I saw someone heading to the bathroom," she says.

I don't need to be told twice. My bladder is already angry with me for having to wait the ten minutes Rachelle took. I dive across the alleyway and into the bathroom before anyone else makes it. I close the door and sigh with relief, but it's short-lived as someone knocks hard and says something in rapid Spanish. I feel bad, but I'm already halfway to using the facilities.

"Ocupada," I call out, hoping that word means what I think it means as I squat over the seatless toilet. Yeah, seatless. It's a basin, and we squat over it.

They reply with more fast words and I get the feeling they need the bathroom rapido.

"Um, momento," I call as their knocking makes the door swing open slightly.

I lean forward to push it closed and hustle to do my business. When I finished there are two people waiting and I scoot past them, holding my hands out to my side, fingers splayed because I hate that I can't wash them in the bathroom. I have to use special boiled water back in our room for all washing and brushing. Thankfully Rachelle and I thought ahead and left some last night.

Rachelle is dressed and brushing her wet hair when I get back to our little room. She's wearing bright pink scrubs with white and blue unicorns scattered around, and a smile tugs at my lips.

"Those are fun," I say, gesturing. "Unicorns. I feel so boring in my plain navy."

She glances up at me from behind already forming blonde waves. "Unicorns bring good luck and make people smile. I'm guessing we'llhave a few kids come through too." I nod and move to wash my hands. "That was a quick bathroom break."

"Someone had an urgent need," I reply with a smirk.

"No shower this morning?" she asks. "I had to get all that travel ick off me."

"I'll shower before bed tonight, but I did a quick wash with body wipes."

"What do you think Dr. Joseph will be like?" she asks me, flipping her hair to the other side of her head and brushing in a different direction.

I shrug. "No idea. Probably nice. I don't think bad guys do humanitarian missions."

She grins at me, and I watch her blue eyes light up. "I hope he's young and single."

Surprised, I laugh. "Oh yeah?"

She nods. "It would make a great story. Just imagine meeting a guy on a humanitarian trip in another country. Love at first sight."

"He was helpless against her unicorn scrubs," I smile. "You have to promise to invite me to the wedding."

Rachelle straightens up and shakes her head lightly, and somehow those damp blonde waves fall into place. "Our colors will be blush and bashful," she cracks, referring to the movieSteel Magnolias. "I think you'd look amazing in pink."

We both laugh as we make our way out the door, excited to see what the day has in store for us.

---