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Chapter 6
After more than ten hours on the plane, we finally landed, worn out and exhausted.
The scene before me couldn't have been more different from the peace and quiet I'd left behind. This was a war zone, chaotic, violent, and brimming with danger. You could lose your life here in an instant if you weren't careful.
As we dozed off in the car, the leader of the medical team who had picked us up began briefing us. Along with the briefing, he handed each of us a gun.
"Saving lives is what we're here for," he said, his tone serious, "but remember, your life matters more than the mission. Keep that in mind."
Those words hit me harder than I expected.
It made me think back to my time with Ottilie, when I had once considered her my everything. Back then, hadn't I also put her above my own life?
We finally arrived at the site, and the scene was chaos. The ground was littered with people, many of them bleeding and sitting in the mud, their injuries horrific. I soon learned that the area had just been bombed, and the ones I was seeing were the least injured. There was no room in the operating rooms, so they had to be treated on the side of the road.
I didn't hesitate. I pushed aside everything else and rushed to help, doing whatever I could to stop the bleeding and patch them up.
This was only the beginning.
Over the next few months, it felt like every single day tested my limits. But with each challenge, my resolve only grew stronger. I had no regrets coming here, no regrets becoming a doctor with Doctors Without Borders.
Then one afternoon, a colleague came running in, panting. "Someone's here to see you. It's a woman, from back home."
For a split second, Ottilie's face flashed in my mind. Before I could even respond, she appeared at the door.
"Jude Wilson, it's really you!" She rushed toward me and threw her arms around me, tears streaming down her face. I felt her sobbing into my neck, and I awkwardly pushed her away.
I hadn't expected her to show up here, especially after I'd gotten that message from my lawyer saying the divorce papers had already been filed. Our marriage was ending, whether she liked it or not.
"We're already divorced," I said, my voice cold.
Ottilie blinked, stunned. "Do you know what's happened since you left? My father... he's gone."
The words hit me like a punch to the gut. Mr. Parker was dead. I hadn't been prepared for that.
"I'm sorry, Jude. We didn't believe you before. We thought you were lying, but Kieran... Kieran was the one lying. He never went to see that specialist. My dad just kept getting worse. If we'd listened to you, if we'd gotten that doctor's help, maybe he'd still be here."
Ottilie collapsed to her knees, hands covering her face, sobbing uncontrollably.
I stood frozen, unsure of what to do. Despite everything, her grief hit me harder than I expected.
In this warzone, I'd seen more death than I ever imagined. I thought I'd become numb to it all. But hearing Ottilie's words, her regret, her sorrow, made something stir in me.
After all, Mr. Parker had been kind to me once.
"I'm so sorry, Jude," Ottilie choked out, her voice raw. "I've been trying to find you ever since I realized what you were really doing here. I thought you just quit your job, but you... you became a doctor with Doctors Without Borders. That's why I came all this way, to find you. Please, come back with me. It's too dangerous here. I've already lost my father. I can't lose you too."
Her words hung in the air, desperate and broken.