The day begins, and Jona is already in a bad mood. When everyone is assigned to do something, he has to endure his boredom.

-Part 1-

Although I had only known Professor Smit for a week, I knew he hated small talk. He had never started a conversation with anyone in the delegation. He especially never made eye contact with Aarón. So when I saw him approaching Aarón who was talking to Dr. John after we had our breakfast, I was naturally suspicious. So I stared at them as I helped the women wash the cutlery.

Professor Smit didn't share the same disposition as Aarón. Aarón would fling his arms around as he talked, but Professor Smit would either stand akimbo while looking down or hug himself while tilting his head. I lost sight of the professor twice. Once when a group of tribesmen passed by me while carrying the same leaves they used for the roof, and once when Aarón stood akimbo in front of him. Like me and almost everyone here (the exception being Dr. John), he was half of Aarón's size. They talked for almost five minutes. Professor Smit then scanned the village. He grinned when he saw me. He kneaded his diamond earrings; he wore a set of them today.

I thought he was going to say something to me as he and Dr. John reached the shack, but they passed me and headed for Essien and the village chief.

"Hey, Jona," Aarón called out, beckoning me over. He was now in our hut, strapping his boots.

"What? We're going now?" I said when I reached him.

The FUNAI representatives couldn't come to greet us yesterday because it was said that there was a fight in the neighboring village. So we were going to the camp today to send our paperwork for the site study.

"Change of plans." He stood, towering over me. "I'll go and meet the FUNAI guys with Michael. I need you to stay here and monitor Alicia and Zack. They're setting up the satellite dish." He pointed toward the logistics tent the students sprung up yesterday.

"What?" Even I knew it was a lame excuse. As if I knew any better about technology. I didn't even know Insta Story was a thing until last year, and he knew it.

I knew he decided that it was a bad idea for me to follow him today because Dr. John had to help me massaging my thigh this morning. My muscles had spasmed in pain the whole night due to the cold.

He sighed. "You had bad cramps this morning, querida. You shouldn't push it. Take it easy. Talk to Dr. John. I'm going today just to... well, build rapport with the men. We can start the survey next week after I get the whole info on the terrain from them, okay?"

And here I was, still in the village an hour later when he had gone to the basecamp. I slammed the book I was reading on my rucksack and stood from the hammock.

"This is stupid," I whispered, finally having the mood to monitor Alicia.

"What's so stupid?" Dr. John ducked into the hut. He rolled the canvas 'door' and tied it up. Sunlight peered into the hut, hurting my eyes.

My cheeks warmed. "Nothing."

He scanned me up and down with his black eyes. He was as tall as Aarón, six-foot-three. So when he scrutinized me, it looked like he was prying into my brain with his medical equipment.

Adrian, his medical assistant, ran into the hut. The skinny black guy took the first aid kit under the table and rushed back outside while shouting: "Got this!" The right side of the hut was made into a small working spot, with a folding table and two folding chairs.

I stood at the entrance, calculating whether to ask Dr. John if I could follow Aarón tomorrow. I didn't even ask, but he answered me. "Scouting the forest is not a stroll through the park. You should know better. I told you yesterday that you shouldn't push yourself. You can go once they come back with clear information on the terrain."

He was saying the same thing as Aarón. It made me wonder if that was what they were talking about with Professor Smit this morning.

"But when will I get better? It has been almost six months, and I still have to depend on Oxy when it hurts."

"I'm here to talk about that. We should've talked about it before we came here, actually. Anyway, sit." He pointed to the chair in front of him as he sat on the opposite one.

He stared at me with questioning eyes while probing into the big black medical box on the table. "Da Graça, I allowed you to join this expedition because you're... I would say ninety percent recovered. You should understand the challenges that come with outdoor therapy. I'm here to navigate you through the process. But you also need to understand the extent of your injuries and how far you can push yourself."

The extent of my injuries. I had fractured my hip bone and broken my tibia in six places. I had to have fasciotomies for them to release the pressure in my leg and to get the blood flowing. My orthopedic surgeon had said if I came half an hour later, they would probably have to amputate it.

My finger traced the raised scar along the length of my lower leg. A memento I had to bear my whole life. A proof that I, regrettably, had escaped death. I remembered the day I was wheeled into the emergency room. My father had been crying while holding my hand; and instead of wanting to survive, I prayed to God to take me away. At least I would get to be with my mother in Heaven. But again, God had disappointed me.

Dr. John advised me about opioid medication and the risks of abusing it; the same risks I dreaded. It broke my heart every time I had to swallow the pill. I didn't like the memory that came with it. Dr. John wasn't the one who took my case, but he didn't agree with my physician's prescription. He told me he had asked for a second opinion from Dr. Chen, so we agreed to change my medication to non-opioid painkillers that he had brought to the village (he surprisingly had a large selection of drugs with him). It made the buzzing inhibition on the back of my head relaxed.

I walked out of the hut five minutes later with convoluted information on my own health status. After a few drags of cigarettes, I started toward the logistics tent. Hysterical laughter came from the six-meter Emperor Bell Tent. From the entrance, I could see Alicia and Zack, the forestry students, were joking around a table with a laptop on it. Ethan, Professor Smit's student, wore his round glasses and stepped out of the tent the same time I entered it.

"Oh, hey. Morning, Jona," he said with a small smile. "You're still here. So you've decided to help us with the questionnaire?"

I frowned, not understanding what he was talking about. "What questionnaire?"

"You weren't briefed?" He looked confused.

I just shook my head.

"I'll have Professor Smit talk to you. He could explain it better than me." He smiled and went out.

I watched him until he disappeared behind the tent, trying to understand what he meant.

"Good morning, sir Jona," Alicia said, looking up from her laptop.

She was small-build but muscly. Her skin was the darkest and prettiest shade of brown I had ever seen. It was almost matte black. It made the white of her eyes and teeth looked luminous, like last night's full moon.

"Told you to call me Jona. Sir sounds weird on me." I sat on an available chair next to Zack, who was tinkering with a walkie-talkie. "You got things figured out yet? Saw you guys put up the satellite dish this morning."

"The manual has been helpful so far. Got the generator working, that's one. We point the satellite dish toward the equator, that's two. Ethan is attaching the coaxial cable..." She went on and on about calibrating the dish and technological jargon I could barely understand. So I asked something that I understood.

"Can we Skype with the connection?"

She looked up from the manual and gathered her black, corkscrew hair into a ponytail. Her forehead was beading with sweat. "Satellite internet can be erratic. Weather can greatly dilute the signal. We'll see. I'll let you know when we get the network in, Jona. Why? Damsel at home and you're in distress?" She winked.

I laughed. I was looking forward to calling Noel and seeing how Karma and my students were doing. But I didn't explain it to her.

"I thought you were supposed to go to the FUNAI camp with Professor Chaves and Michael?" she added and drank from her blue bottle.

"Not today." I shrugged, not expounding on the subject. "Anything I can help you with? I'm supposed to monitor your work here, but I see you're doing something I could barely comprehend."

She laughed. "I'm good. Ethan is an obedient lackey."

"I heard that!" Ethan said from outside. "Got the cable, anyway."

"I'll leave you to your business then." I stood.

"I'll let you know once we get a connection."

"Wait." Zack ducked and opened a gray box under the table. "Here."

"Walkie-talkie?"

"You know how to use it?" he asked.

Well, of course. I had used it several times when I hiked American jungles. "Push to talk. Right?" I touched the button on the side of the gadget.

"Everyone has one. Professor Chaves has set up a private channel with you. We're all on channel two." He showed me how to change the frequency. I knew how to do that, but I decided to be polite and listened.

"How far does this reach?" I asked the only one thing I wasn't sure about.

"A mile and a half, maybe farther. We'll know once we start the trek next week."

"Got it," I said and walked away.

It was barely nine in the morning and I had no activity for the day, thanks to the overprotective Aarón.

"You here?" I talked into the walkie-talkie when I reached the hut. Sitting down on my hammock, I waited for Aarón to answer.

The line cracked five seconds later.

"Hey, sweetie. Missed me?" Aarón said.

I wasn't in the mood for his jokes, so I said, "Ethan said something about a questionnaire. What exactly did you talk about with Professor Smit? What's your reason for holding me up?"

"I told you, Jona. I just want you to take it easy today."

"And?"

He sighed. "Luuk was asking me if he could use your help for his study, considering you'll be in the village today."

I chuckled, but I wasn't finding it funny. Well, it was funny, but in an annoying way. "If he wants help, shouldn't he ask me himself?"

"I'm sure he will."

I was too annoyed to respond. Making decisions without taking my opinion into account was cheap. So I switched off the device and threw it on Professor Smit's hammock.