My day started off roughly. Working as a young nurse can be very difficult, especially when you work in the ER of one of Los Angeles's largest hospitals. I had been on call the night before, and although I had been able to get a few hours of rest in the on-call room, I was beyond exhausted. Finally, when the third shift came to an end, I went to change out of my scrubs, rubbing my eyes, and stretching slightly. On my way to the locker room, I ran into Madeline, who had also worked the night shift with me. She smiled warmly at me, before yawning, "Ella?"

"Hm?" I asked as I politely held the door open to the locker room open for her. She nodded her head slightly in thanks, and pulled her blonde hair out of it's ponytail as she pulled off her white lab coat. "Did you see the list of volunteers being sent to Kenya?"

Whitney, who had followed us in, snorted, "It's not a list of volunteers--nobody actually signed up. It's a group of doctors and nurses being forced to go to Kenya by the administration."

I nodded, agreeing with Nurse Lee, "I wonder who the lucky "volunteers" are." I replaced my scrubs with my navy blue sweatpants, and my old Harry Potter sweatshirt. 

Madeline sighed, "Oh, Ella, sweet pea, you didn't see the list?"

I shook my head, "I didn't have a chance, there was a car accident last night." I paused for a second, midway of pulling my wild curls out of a bun. "Oh God, please tell me I'm not on the list."

Madeline pulled out her phone and opened the email, allowing me to hold it, and much to my terror, the list read:

Nurse Ella Anderson

Dr. Madeline Baker

Dr. Keith Bradley

Nurse Amy Gibson

Dr. James Gilbert

Dr. Greta Kramer

Nurse Whitney Lee

Dr. Brandon Scott

Dr. Anthony Van

Dr. John White

I stared at the phone, my mind still processing that I was being sent to Kenya. I was twenty-five years old and had been a nurse in the ER for only a little over a year. I wasn't even that experienced, and I was getting sent to Kenya? This had to be a mistake. "This has to be a mistake."

Whitney came to look over my shoulder, and gasped, "That's not my name on that list. That had better not be my name on that goddamned email."

"Oh my God," I rubbed my temples. "We are going to Kenya."

"For four months," added Madeline, causing a collective groan from Whitney and I.

"Would it be too early to invite you two out to drinks?" 

As the three of us exited the locker room, crestfallen due to the recent revelation, Brandon approached us. He had obviously just been informed of the news as well--his distressed green eyes said it all.  He pulled Whitney into a hug, "I knew they would send me...but to wrong my innocent Whitney! It's unspeakable!"

Whitney pushed him off her, annoyed, "Get off me, you idiot!" She straightened her clothes, and patted down her dark hair, obviously embarrassed. "Where's Keith? He usually follows you around."

Keith piped up from behind me, "I'm here."

As Brandon blubbered to Whitney, Keith explained to me that he had gotten the email and shown it to Brandon, thinking that Brandon would be just as excited as he was. However, Brandon took one look at the list and ran around the hospital to look for Whitney, and Keith had unwillingly followed.

I laughed at his story, "But why are you excited to got to Kenya?"

He flushed, "I just think it's a good opportunity to...grow as a doctor...and maybe get to know each other a little better."

Whitney, Madeline, and Brandon snickered quietly, "He means to get to know a certain nurse better."

Keith shot them an annoyed look, and Whitney laughed a little before cutting in, "Well, it's--" she checked her watch "about seven-fifteen in the morning, which isn't too early to drink. So shall we all go get a drink?"

So that morning, Keith, Madeline, Whitney, Brandon, and I all headed to the bar just down the street from out hospital, where we all drank--complaining about how unfair it was that we had been forced to volunteer at the military base in Kenya. However, I was young then, I still didn't understand that everything happened for a reason. I didn't realize that being sent to Kenya was the luckiest thing that could ever happen to me. 

~oOo~

That night I d of the wedding from nine years ago. I d of hazel eyes, chestnut hair, warm hands, and his smile. I hadn't thought of him in years--so why was I dreaming of him now? He smiled at me, and oddly enough, I even remembered his voice, "Ella. Has a nice ring to it."

I smiled at him, happy to see him again. I was suddenly sad that we were never given a chance to give us a try. That night was magical--we had danced in the moonlight, talked about our dreams, we had shared everything--and yet we both knew that it was that one night. We were kids, young and foolish. He was going to leave to join the military and I lived in Ohio. Even if we had tried, the timing was all wrong. But I had the memory of the magical night, and I was content with that. I had an amazing night that I could look back upon to remember what being young was, to remember what it was like to be young and free, to have no worries.

And yet, every time I remembered that night, I woke up missing him. I could not deny that I missed Gabe Whit. I wished I could have found a way to at least stay in touch with him, to see how he was doing when I woke up, thinking about him. But instead, I could only imagine what he was like now. Is he in the military? Stationed in some faraway land like Japan? Was he private? Or had he been promoted to something better? I had no idea, and all I could do was imagine what he was like now.

~oOo~

Finally, Thursday came around, and the ten of us boarded the plane headed to Kenya. The flight was fairly insignificant, just an extremely boring twenty hour flight. I was seated between Whitney and Keith, and across the aisle sat Madeline, Brandon, and Amy. Brandon continually begging either me or Keith to switch seats with him, wanting to be next to Whitney. We were served two bland meals, and were mostly all asleep when the plane landed.

I was woken up by Keith who gently shook me awake, and the medical team promptly exited the plane. We were greeted by the humid day, and I realized that it may take some time to adjust.

"God!" Brandon groaned. "It's so hot!"

"You wore like four different shirts, you idiot," Whitney snapped.

"All for the sake of fashion."

I giggled and looked around. I could see lots of people, gathered by the luggage claim, and I gestured towards it. "We should go claim our luggage."

"Yes, but we've got to be quick!" Madeline replied. "I was told the barracks are sending a helicopter out to pick us up!"

Ten minutes later, everybody had all their luggage and we're outside of the airport waiting for our transportation to the barracks. Madeline was on the phone with her fiancé, telling him that they had landed safely.

Whitney and I were standing together, "Ella, I wish I could find love the way Madeline has."

"You've got Brandon," I teased.

"He doesn't count!" Whitney sputtered. "He's my childhood friend, that's all!"

I rolled my eyes at her stubbornness as she asked, "What about you? You're young and pretty, don't you have a boyfriend?"

I began to speak, but there were suddenly large winds. The wind blew my mess of a hair back and I turned around in time to see a camoflauged helicopter beginning to land about a hundred yards from where we were standing in a group. As it landed, about six men dressed in military uniforms stepped out, walking towards us.

Madeline stepped forward to greet the men, and we politely greeted them as well, "Hello! Thank you for having us."

The soldier in the front nodded his head, "Thank you for coming. I'm Captain Cooper, and I'm in charge of this unit. We will take you to the barracks, but will have to split your group in half, due to limited seating."

"Yes, Yes, that's fine. I will go with the second group," Madeline replied, gesturing to Whitney, Keith, Brandon, and I.

Brandon groaned under his breath, "Why do we have to be the second group?"

Captain Cooper gestured to the other men, who began distributing duffel bags, "We also ask that you take only what is necessary for the night in these duffel bags. The rest of your belongings will be taken back to the barracks by the morning."

I nodded, showing that I understood, and began to thank the soldier who handed me a duffel bag. He was a tall man, looking as though he was a good eight inches taller than I was. He had muscular arms, hazel eyes, and chestnut hair. He seemed...familiar, to say the least. He cut me off as I began to thank him.

"Ella?"