Vain (The Seven Deadly, #1)(41)

Karina’s knocking at my door reminded me I was there to do a job.

“Sophie, my love, are you dressed?”

“Yes,” I said, opening the door for her. Her face was white as a sheet. “What’s wrong?” I asked, my stomach dropping to the floor.

“Mercy has measles.”

“Measles? How? I don’t understand.”

“A nurse confirmed it late last night. She will live, I’m certain, but the young ones, none of them are vaccinated and two of the children have fevers,” Karina explained, wringing her hands.

“Why couldn’t you vaccinate?”

“We lack the resources.”

“Okay, well, what does this mean? What do we do?”

“We call Pembrook.”

This surprised me.

“What can he do?”

“There are a few options, but we have little time. He’d have to work with short notice.”

I grabbed my satellite phone and checked the battery. It was nearly nonexistent. I dialed anyway and sat at the edge of my bed while Karina paced back and forth on my creaky floor.

“Hello,” a shaky Pembrook’s voice sounded.

I took a deep breath. It was so good to hear a familiar voice. “Pembrook!” I screamed into the bad connection.

“Sophie? Is that you?” The connection broke. “...are you?”

“I missed that last bit, Pemmy. I’m fine, if you asked. Listen, I need a favor. I’m running on low battery here and I need you to arrange for a shipment.”

“What...for?”

“Measles has broken out here at Masego and none of the children are vaccinated. Karina says there are several options available to us. Can you get in touch with Ford and arrange something?”

Several seconds of silence followed and I feared we lost him. “...I’ll contact you tonight. Charge....if you can.”

“Thank you, Pemmy!” I yelled before the connection broke.

Karina sat next to me. We were silent for a few minutes letting everything sink in.

“What if he can’t get anything?” I asked her.

Karina wrung her hands continuously. “We quarantine. We treat fevers. We hydrate.”

I sighed loudly. “Jesus, Karina. When does it stop?” I turned toward her.

“It doesn’t stop, love,” she said, stopping and resting a hand on my shoulder, a wan smile gracing her beautiful face. “We do the best we can when we can and have faith it will all work out.” I nodded. “Let’s get something to eat and discuss what we need to do with Charles and Din.”

We sat at the tables, my satellite phone resting in the center of our group.

“It’s dying,” I admitted, pointing to the phone.

“We really need a generator,” Ian said quietly.

“We can’t afford it, Din,” Charles added.

“No one will have electricity nearby,” Karina put in.

“And the closest city?” I asked.

“The closest city with guaranteed electricity?” Ian said.

“Yes.”

“Jinja?” he asked Charles.

“Probably.”

“How far is that?” I asked.

“Two and a half hours. Approximately.”

“Pemmy could have called by then,” I told them.

“True, but it’s our only other option,” Charles said.

Mandisa came to my side and I slid her onto my lap without thinking, resting my cheek on her head. “What if I turned it off, waited a few hours then rang Pemmy myself later. That way we could guarantee ourselves the information?”

“I don’t think there’s enough juice to boot it back up,” Ian observed, “but nice.”

“Nice what?”

“Thought. It was brilliant.”

I rolled my eyes.

“I was being sincere,” he said, offended

“Oh,” I said sheepishly.

I turned toward the table once more and spotted Karina eyeing me with interest. I shrugged my shoulders in question, but she just grinned and shook her head.

“Then we go to Jinja,” I conceded, slumping a little in my chair.

“I’ll take over your classes,” Karina said.

One of Mandisa’s friends passed by and Mandisa scurried from my lap toward them.

“Silly girl,” I muttered.

“She’s fond of you,” Ian said, when the others got up to get plates for themselves.

“I hope so.”

“She loves you.”

I whipped my eyes toward him. “You think so?” I asked softly.

“I know so.”

This bolstered me like nothing ever could. If a child chose to love me even though I was so undeserving, did that mean I could earn Ian’s love? Could I become worthy? I studied his beautiful pale face, framed with messy black hair and piercing blue eyes. God, he was so fascinating to look upon.

“What?” he asked, running his hands through his hair. “Do I have something on my face?” He smoothed his hands down his expression.

“No, nothing,” I answered, standing up to grab a plate.

Ian got up and stood close behind me a few seconds later and I could feel the smile on my face grow to impossible lengths.