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Rollie couldn't believe how fucking cold it was up here. Sure, he'd known that Inuvik was north, much norther than he'd ever been before, but still. It wasn't even winter yet and he was already freezing his nuts off. What was he going to do in December, when it got really cold?
He shook his head and chided himself. This is what he wanted, an assignment that would let him work with the less fortunate, the poor and the disadvantaged of this wide, beautiful country. Instead of the lucrative private practice that his father had tried to urge him into, he'd chosen to accept a two-year contract with Health Canada to work here as both a doctor and a health care planner. The goal was to help the town of Inuvik and the surrounding communities develop their own public health infrastructure, one that was suited to the unique needs of the people in the area.
He turned in front of the dome-shaped Catholic church and headed towards Franklin Street, exploring this town that would be his home for the next two years. It was so different from what he was used to. He was a city boy, the hustle and bustle of Toronto seemed ordinary to him. Here, in Inuvik, it was unnaturally quiet, unnaturally peaceful. He wondered how long it would take him to get used to it.
Ahead, he saw a small crowd gathered on the street in a loose circle. Near the center was a tall, broad shouldered man in a scarlet uniform – one of the town's Mounties, he guessed. Rollie was surprised that the RCMP officer was wearing the red tunic instead of the more usual brown uniform. It made the Mountie seem taller and more formal than he probably was. Shrugging to himself, Rollie walked past the crowd, hesitating for the briefest instant as the Mountie caught his glance, tipping his hat courteously and smiling shyly at him.
Rollie ducked his head and nodded back, feeling a twist of excitement in his stomach. Maybe being here at the ass-end of nowhere wasn't going to be so bad, after all.
When Rollie woke, it was still bright outside and he was covered in sweat and dust, but he could feel the cold and he could still see Ben's handsome face. He was exhausted after a long couple of days of patching up the wounded and this had been the first chance he'd had to lay down and relax.
He peeled off his shirt and poured a pitcher of water over his head, trying to wash some of the grit and heat away. Rollie hadn't thought of Ben in a long, long time.
For two short years they'd been best friends and more, spending all of their time together, loving and fighting and living. And in the end, it hadn't been enough to keep them together. Ben had been devoted to the RCMP, duty and honor and living up to his distant father's expectations. Rollie had been determined to join the Peace Corp and see Africa, wanting to watch the sun set over the veldt and helping others as best he could.
They'd kept in touch for a while after going their separate ways, but then Africa had swallowed Rollie up and most times his life in Canada seemed like it had happened to someone else. Over time, he'd lost track of him.
Sighing, he laid back down, closing his eyes and remembering Ben's sweet smile.
Jenna's smile was like that. Rollie shivered and pushed the thought away. Jenna wasn't going to last much longer here in Sudan. The heat and the blood were going to break her and if he was lucky, there'd be enough pieces to put her back together and send her home to Canada.
As he drifted off to a troubled sleep, he hoped that wherever Ben was, he'd had a good life. Hoped he'd found someone to love, someone who'd mean more to him that his cold RCMP duty did.
-fin-