---- Chapter 9 "Leon? What are you doing here?" My surprise slipped out before I could stop it. He smiled, wide and bright, his teeth impossibly white. "Took me a while, but I finally got accepted into Doctors Without Borders. From now on, we're colleagues." On the road to the village in Africa, the ride was rough. There were potholes everywhere, and the truck was bouncing like it had no suspension. Leon reached over and handed me a mint. "It helps with the motion sickness," he said. I took it and popped it into my mouth. Cool mint spread slowly across my tongue. ---- He asked me how I'd been. I told him everything. There didn't seem to be any point in hiding it- not even the part about Dennis. It wasn't some shameful secret, just a part of life. After three years in this line of work, I'd stopped holding back. I say what I need to say, when I need to say it. Because sometimes, there isn't a next time. When I finished, he reached over and gently patted my back. "I'll stay by your side from now on," he said. I didn't know what he meant by that. Not really. Not until we arrived and one of our coworkers told me the full story. He'd spent four years trying to join this program, just to work with me. He'd applied again and again, quietly moving closer. And in that moment, everything fell into place. I finally understood what Leon had been carrying in ---- his heart. I was stunned. Four years. He spent four years- on me. But why? Why would someone like him care about me? Even Dennis couldn't stand me. I didn't ask him. I pretended not to know anything. That night, I couldn't sleep. I stepped out of the tent to look at the stars. Didn't expect to find Leon already out there, sitting in the dark. When he saw me, he offered me another mint. "T don't eat candy at night," I said. He smiled. "Got it. I'll remember." I paused, then sat beside him.