Chapter 23
Each time Benedict came across someone who had seen Odette or remembered her, a satisfied smile tugged at his lips.
Even though their paths always seemed to just miss one another.
It was a common occurrence; Odette would have just left when Benedict arrived.
But he didn’t let it dishearten him.
Instead, he absorbed everything about South Africa, taking in the smoke and fire of war and doing all he could to aid the people in need.
Having witnessed so much devastation,
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Benedict began to understand what Doctors.
Without Borders stood for, realizing the immense value of Odette‘ s mission.
Several times, he came dangerously close to death in the war zones, suffering injuries of all kinds, but never once did he utter a
complaint.
The doctors asked him, “Do you regret coming here? Back home, you could be sitting in an office, enjoying the cool air and attending meetings. Isn’t that a far easier life?”
But Benedict merely shook his head. Finding Odette was the only purpose his life held now.
Two and a half years had passed like a fleeting
moment.
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Benedict had traveled to every place Odette
had once been, meeting new faces along the
way.
In his pursuit, he started a journal.
Odette had always cherished her journals, filling them with thoughts, notes, and
reflections.
Now, Benedict‘ s journal was a tapestry of his pain, filled with musings of Odette and the empty ache that accompanied her absence.
Whenever he encountered the same children
Odette had once cared for, he would ask someone to capture a photo of them together.
In this chaotic, unpredictable world, no one could say if they’d survive the day.
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If he didn’t see the sunrise tomorrow, at
least Odette or his parents could hold on to
the photos, a glimpse of him in this fractured
moment.
Each day, he woke to the sounds of warfare, and when fatigue weighed heavily on him, he would sleep clutching Odette‘ s picture.
One morning, as the first rays of dawn broke, a doctor came rushing to Benedict.
“We need to leave now,” the doctor said urgently. “A massive earthquake just hit ten kilometers away, and all the doctors are heading there for support. Odette might be there!”
The name Odette made Benedict leap from his bed.
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Without hesitation, he grabbed his things and
set off as the sun began to rise, determined to
find her at last.
The disaster relief work was a whirlwind of
constant motion.
Odette had been working tirelessly until around 2 AM, only to be roused at 3:30 AM to start another endless round of medical care.
She had been operating at full throttle for so long that she couldn’t even remember the last time she had a proper meal.
It was in moments like these that she realized how trivial the overtime and hectic pace back at Regency General Hospital had seemed.
Here, hospitals couldn’t even guarantee meals at regular hours. Forget about food;
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there was no time to sleep or use the
restroom.
When the artillery fire roared in the distance, they had to evacuate at a moment’s notice.
Whenever injured refugees arrived, or a new disaster struck, they were expected to be ready to jump into action, no matter the cost.
Amadeo had once asked Odette if she
regretted it. Back home, the hardest part was performing a few extra surgeries, but here, every second mattered in saving lives. Even in the moments when sleep tugged at her, she had to stay mentally sharp.
But Odette never regretted it, not for a
second.
Compared to the sterile surgeries and the
Chapter 23 endless meetings back home, dealing with unreasonable patients‘ families, Odette felt that here, she could truly make a difference.
After six months in South Africa, her already fragile stomach had worsened, a constant reminder of the stress and exhaustion she
was under.
But Amadeo was always there, a quiet anchor amidst the chaos. He would find ways to take care of her, preparing soothing meals that calmed her stomach, allowing her to keep going despite the relentless demands of her
work.
When Amadeo was also buried in his work, Odette had no choice but to tough it out.
At that moment, she was fighting through a
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fierce stomach ache while desperately performing CPR on a child.
By the time Benedict arrived, he had searched frantically, unable to immediately find Odette
amidst the chaos.
