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  “You’re qualified, Juliette. And you have a very promising future.”

  “I direct the family care clinic, another position you arranged for me.”

  “And your clinic is one of the best operated in this hospital.” Dr. Alexander Allen was a large man, formidable in his appearance, very sharp, very direct. “This is a good opportunity for you, and I don’t understand why you’re resisting me.”

  “Because I haven’t paid my dues, because I don’t have enough experience to direct the medical workings of an entire hospital.” The problem was, she’d always given in to her father. Juliette’s mother had died giving birth to her, and he’d never remarried, so it had always been just the two of them, which made it easy for him to control her with guilt over causing her mother’s death. Plus she was also consumed by the guilt of knowing that if she left him he wouldn’t fare so well on his own. For all his intelligence and power in the medical world, her father was insecure in his private world. Juliette’s mother had done everything for him, then it fell to Juliette to do the same.

  Juliette adored her dad, despite the position he’d put her in. He’d been a very good father to her, always making sure she had everything she wanted and needed. More than she wanted and needed, actually. And she’d become accustomed to that opulent lifestyle, loved everything about it, which was why this was so difficult now. She was tied to the man in a way most thirty-three-year-old women were not tied to their fathers. Which was why her dad found it so easy to make his demands then sit back and watch her comply. “I just can’t do this, Dad,” she said, finally sitting back in her chair. “And I hope you can respect my position.”

  “You’re seriously in jeopardy of missing your opportunity to promote yourself out of your current job, Juliette. When I was a young man, in a situation much like the one you’re in, I was always the first person in line to apply for any position that would further my career.”

  “But you’ve always told me that your ultimate career goal was to do what you’re doing now—run an entire hospital. You, yourself, said you weren’t cut out for everyday patient care.”

  “And my drive to get ahead has provided you with a good life. Don’t you forget that.”

  “I’m not denying it, Dad. I appreciate all you’ve done for me and I love the life you’ve given me. But it’s time for me to guide my career without your help.” Something she should have done the day she’d entered medical school, except she hadn’t even broken away from him then. She’d stayed at home, gone to the university and medical school where her father taught because it was easier for him. And while that wasn’t necessarily her first choice, she always succumbed to her father when he started his argument with: “Your mother died giving birth to you and you can’t even begin to understand how rough that’s been on me, trying to take care of you, trying to be a good father—”

  It was the argument he’d used time and time again when he thought he was about to lose her, the one that made her feel guilty, the one that always caused her to cave. But not this time. She’d made the decision first, then acted on it before she told him. And this time she was resolved to break away, because if she didn’t she’d end up living the life he lived. Alone. Substituting work for a real life.

  “And it’s not about going into an administrative position, Dad.” Now she had to drop the real bomb, and it wasn’t going to be easy. “In fact, I have something somewhat administrative in mind for what I want to do next.”

  “Why do I have a feeling that what you’re about to tell me is something I’m not going to like?” He looked straight across at his daughter. “I’m right, am I not?”

  Juliette squared all five foot six of herself in her chair and looked straight back at him. “You’re right. And there’s no easy way to put this.” She stopped, waiting for him to say something, but when he didn’t she continued. “I’m going to resign from my position here at the hospital, Dad. In fact, I’m going to turn in my one-month notice tomorrow and have a talk with Personnel on how to replace me.”

  “You’re leaving,” he stated. “Just turning your back on everything you’ve accomplished here and walking out the door.”

  “I’m not turning my back on it, and I may come back someday. But right now, I’ve got to do something on my own, something you didn’t just hand me. And whether you want to admit it or not, all my promotions have been gifts. I didn’t earn them the way I should have.”

  “But you’ve worked hard in every position you’ve had, and you’ve shown very good judgment and skill in everything you’ve done.”

  “A lot of doctors can do that, Dad. I just happened to be the one whose father was Chief of Staff.”

  “So you’re quitting because I’m Chief of Staff?”

  “No, I’m quitting because I’m the chief of staff’s daughter.”

  “Have I really piled that many unrealistic expectations on you? Because if I have, I can back off.”

  “It’s not about backing off. It’s about letting go.” She didn’t want to hurt him, but he did have to understand that it was time for her to spread her wings. Test new waters. Take a different path. “I—We have to do it. It’s time.”

  “But can’t you let go and still work here?”

  “No.” She shut her eyes for a moment, bracing herself for the rest of this. “I’ve accepted another position.”

  “Another hospital? There aren’t any better hospitals in Indianapolis than Memorial.”

  “It’s not a hospital, and it’s not in Indianapolis.” She swallowed hard. “I’m going to Costa Rica.”

  “The hell you are!” he bellowed. “What are you thinking, Juliette?”

  She knew this was hard on him, and she’d considered leading up to this little by little. But her dad was hardheaded, and he was as apt to shut out the hints she might drop as he was to listen to them. Quite honestly, Alexander Allen heard only what he wanted to hear.

  “What I’m thinking is that I’ve already made arrangements for a place to stay, and I’ll be leaving one month from Friday.”

  “To do what?”

  Now, this was where it became even more difficult. “I’m going to head up a medical recruitment agency.”

  Her dad opened up his mouth to respond, but shut it again when nothing came out.

  “The goal is to find first-rate medical personnel to bring there. Costa Rica, and even Central America as a whole, can’t supply the existing demand for medical professionals so they’re recruiting from universities and hospitals all over the world, and I’m going to be in charge of United States recruitment.”

  “I know about medical recruitment. Lost a top-rate radiologist to Thailand a couple of years ago.”

  “So you know how important it is to put the best people in situations where they can help a hospital or, in Costa Rica’s case, provide the best quality of care they can to the greatest number of people.”

  “Which leaves people like me in the position of having to find a new radiologist or transplant surgeon or oncologist, depending on who you’re recruiting away from me.”

  “But you’re already in an easier position to find the best doctors to fill your positions. You have easier access to the medical schools, a never-ending supply of residents to fill any number of positions in the hospital and you have connections to every major hospital in the country. These are things Costa Rica doesn’t have, so in order for them to find the best qualified professionals they have to reach out differently than you do. Which, in this case, will be through me.”

  It was an exciting new venture for her and, while she wouldn’t be offering direct medical care herself, she envisioned herself involved in a great, beneficial service. And all she ever wanted to be as a doctor was someone who benefited her patients, and by providing the patients in Costa Rica with good health-care practitioners she’d be helping more patients than
she’d ever be able to help as a single practitioner in a clinic. In fact, when she thought about how many lives only one single recruited doctor could improve, she was overwhelmed. And when she thought of how many practitioners she would recruit and how many patients they would touch, it boggled her mind. “It’s an important job, Dad. And I’m excited about it.”

  “Excited or not, you’re throwing away a good medical career. You were a fine hospital physician, Juliette. In whatever capacity you chose.”

  “You were, too, once upon a time, but you traded that in for a desk and thousand-dollar business suits. So don’t just sit there and accuse me of leaving medicine, because I’m not doing anything that you haven’t already done.”

  “But in Costa Rica? Why there? Why not investigate something different closer to home, if you’re hell-bent on getting out of Memorial. Maybe medical research. We’ve got one of the world’s largest facilities just a few miles from here. Or maybe teaching. I mean, we’ve got, arguably, one of the best medical schools in the country right at our back door.”

  “But I don’t want to teach, and I especially don’t want to do research. I also don’t want to work for an insurance company or provide medical care for a national sports franchise. What I want, Dad, is to find something that excites me. Something that offers a large group of people medical services they might not otherwise get. Something that will help an entire country improve its standard of care.”

  “There’s nothing I can do to change your mind?” her dad asked, sounding as if the wind had finally been knocked out of his sails.

  Juliette shook her head. “No, Dad. There’s not. I’ve been looking into the details of my new position for weeks now, and I’m truly convinced this is something I want to do at this point in my life.”

  “Well, I’m going to leave your position open for a while. Staff it with a temp, in case you get to Costa Rica and decide your new job isn’t for you. That way, you’ll have a place to come back to, just in case.”

  Her dad was a handsome, vital man, and she hoped that once she was gone, and he didn’t have anybody else to depend on, he might actually go out and get a life for himself. Maybe get married. Or travel. Or sail around the world the way he used to talk about when she was a little girl. In some ways, Juliette felt as if she’d been holding him back. She still lived with him, worked with him, was someone to keep him company when no one else was around. It was an easy way for both of them but she believed that so much togetherness had stunted them both. She didn’t date, hadn’t dated very much as a whole, thanks to her work commitments, and she’d certainly never gone out and looked for employment outside of what her father had handed her.

  Yes, that was all easy. But now it was over. It was time for her to move on. “If I do come back to Indianapolis in the future, I won’t be coming back to Memorial because I don’t think it’s a good idea that we work together anymore. We need to be separate, and if I’m here at Memorial that’s not going to happen.”

  “Is this about something I’ve done to you, Juliette?” he asked, sounding like a totally defeated man.

  “No, Dad. It’s about something I haven’t done for myself.” And about everything she wanted to do for herself in the future.

  * * *

  One month down, and so far she was enjoying her new job. She’d had the opportunity to interview sixteen potential candidates for open positions in various hospitals. Seven doctors, three registered nurses, three respiratory therapists, a physical therapist and two X-ray technicians, one of whom specialized in mammograms. And there were another ten on her list for the upcoming two weeks. The bonus was, she loved Costa Rica. What she’d seen of it so far was beautiful. The people were nice. The food good. The only thing was, her lifestyle was a bit more subdued than what she was used to. She didn’t have a nice shiny Jaguar to drive, but a tiny, used compact car provided by the agency. And her flat—not exactly luxurious like her home back in Indiana, but she was getting used to smaller, no-frills quarters and cheaper furniture. It was a drastic lifestyle change, she did have to admit, but she was doing the best she could with what she had.

  Perhaps the most drastic change, though—the one thing she hadn’t counted on—was that she missed direct patient care in a big way. She’d reconciled herself to experiencing some withdrawal before she’d come here, but what she’d been feeling was overwhelming as she’d never considered that stepping away from it would take such an emotional toll on her. But it had. She was restless. When she didn’t stop herself, her mind wandered back to the days when she’d been involved directly in patient care. And it wasn’t that she didn’t like her job, because she did, and she had no intention of walking away from it. But she could physically, as well as emotionally, feel the lack in herself and she was afraid it was something that was only going to continue growing if she didn’t find a fix for it.

  “Are you sure you want to go through with this?” Cynthia Jurgensen, her office mate as well as her roommate, asked her. Like Juliette, Cynthia was a medical recruiter. Her recruitment area was the Scandinavian countries, as she had a heritage there. And, like Juliette, Cynthia had experienced the thrill of being called to a new adventure.

  “Well, the note I found posted on the internet says the scheduling is flexible, so I’m hoping to work it out that I can commute in Friday night after I leave work here, and come home either late Sunday night or early Monday morning, before I’m due back on this job.”

  “But it’s in the jungle, Juliette. The jungle!”

  “And it’s going to allow me to be involved with direct patient care again. I’m just hoping it’s enough to satisfy me.”

  “Well, you can do whatever you want, but leave me here in the city, with all my conveniences.”

  San José was a large city, not unlike any large city anywhere. Juliette’s transition here had been minimal as she really hadn’t had time to get out and explore much of anything. So maybe her first real venture out, into the jungle of all places, was a bit more than most people would like, but the only thing Juliette could see was an opportunity to be a practicing doctor again. A doctor by the name of Damien Caldwell had advertised and, come tomorrow, she was going to go knocking on his door.

  * * *

  “Could you get one of the volunteers to take the linens home and wash them?” Damien asked Alegria. The hospital’s sheets and pillowcases were a motley assortment, most everything coming as donations from the locals. “Oh, and instruct Rosalita on the particulars of a mechanical diet. I’m admitting Hector Araya later on, and he has difficulty chewing and swallowing since he had his stroke, so we need to adjust his diet accordingly.”

  Back in Seattle, Damien’s workload never came close to anything having to do with linens and food but here in Bombacopsis, everything in the hospital fell under his direct supervision. This morning, for instance, during his one and only break for the day, he’d even found himself fluffing pillows and passing out cups of water to the five patients now admitted. He didn’t mind the extra work, actually. It was just all a part of the job here. But he wondered if having another trained medical staffer come in, at least part-time, would ease some of the burden. That was why, when he’d gone to Cima de la Montaña last week to mail his letter to Daniel, he’d found a computer and posted a help-wanted ad on one of the local public sites.

  Low pay, or possibly no pay.

  Lousy hours and hard work.

  Nice patients desperately in need of more medical help.

  That was all his ad said, other than where to find him. No phone service. Come in person.

  OK, so it might not have been the most appealing of ads. But it was honest, as the last thing he wanted was to have someone make that long trek into the jungle only to discover that their expectations fell nowhere within the scope of the position he was offering.

  “There’s a woman outside who says she wants to see you,”
Alegria said as she rushed by him, her arms full of bedsheets, on her way to change the five beds with patients in them.

  “Can’t one of the volunteers do that for you?” Damien asked her. “Or Dr. Perkins?”

  “Dr. Perkins is off on a house call right now, and I have only two volunteers on today. One is cleaning the clinic, and the other is scrubbing potatoes for dinner. So it’s either you or me and, since the woman outside looks determined to get in, I think I’ll change the sheets and leave that woman up to you.”

  “Fine,” Damien said, setting aside the chart he’d been writing in. “I’ll go see what she wants. Is she a local, by the way?”

  Alegria shook her head. “She’s one of yours.”

  “Mine?”

  “From the United States, I think. Or maybe Canada. Couldn’t tell from her accent.”

  So a woman, possibly from North America somewhere, had braved the jungle to come calling. At first he wondered if she was some kind of pharmaceutical rep who’d seen the word hospital attached to this place and actually thought she might find a sale here. As if he had the budget to go after the newest, and always the most expensive, drugs. Nah. He was totally off the radar for that. So, could it be Nancy? Was she running after him, trying to convince him to give up his frugal ways and come back to her?

  Been there, done that one. Found out he couldn’t tolerate the snobs. And if there ever was a snob, it was his ex-fiancée.

  “I’m Juliette Allen,” the voice behind him announced.

  Damien spun around and encountered the most stunning brown eyes he’d ever seen in his life. “I’m Damien Caldwell,” he said, extending his hand to shake hers. “And I wasn’t expecting you.” But, whoever she was, he was glad she’d come. Tall, long auburn hair pulled back into a ponytail, ample curves, nice legs—nice everything. Yes, he was definitely glad.

  “Your ad said to come in person, so here I am—in person.”