VI

382 16 7
                                    

Jahne pinched her nose in frustration as she looked at Kalas lab results. There had to be a reason for her change in behavior, but her results were inconclusive for any bloodborne or bacterial pathogens Jahne tested. Rubbing her aching forehead, she glanced back at Kala who was once again asleep. That's what she had been doing most of the day...sleeping.

To anyone else it might not have seemed out of the ordinary...even her colleagues said so but after weeks of growing this bond with kala; she knew. She knew something was wrong, but she could not for the life of her figure out what it was. She couldn't say it was this unknown illness they were researching originally that was the cause because they still didn't know what they were up against when it came to the illness killing the gorillas. All lab work would come back inconclusive for every test known to man.

Looking down at her watch she realized it was going on 5am and everyone would be getting up in a few hours. Groaning in frustrating Jahne decided to call it a night or day whichever way you decided to look at it. Dr. Wallace already got on her ass a few times about her long work hours when she saw Jahne still in the same spot she left her in the day prior. She felt like they were running against a ticking clock, and she was terrified that they would never find an answer. She was even more terrified of the thought of losing kala in the process.

Gathering her bag and flashlight from the ground she gave a final look to her sleeping gorilla. "Goodnight mama kala" she whispered sadly before exiting the tent. It was one of the hottest days she'd experienced since arriving, and she could feel the sweat and stickiness on her skin, but it was late and no one was awake to go with her into the jungle to rinse off.

Last week they had set up a few showering systems but of course they stopped working yesterday and the person they were sending to fix it that was supposed to come today got delayed and wouldn't be there until tomorrow. She'd already gone one day without showering but going another day was out of question. All these other people could not give a flying fuck about their hygiene, but she refused to be the same.

She had a clean set of clothes in her bag so she wouldn't have to go back to grab any. The only problem was that she would be going alone when they were specifically warned to never go into the jungle alone especially at night.

Against her better judgement she decided to throw caution to the wind and go to the running river they originally used before the showers came. The sun would be out soon and she prayed that any dangerous animals were further out hunting or sleeping. Turning on her flashlight she tightened her grip on her backpack and went into the jungle following the familiar path to the river. It was quiet and almost felt peaceful as she finally arrived to the waters edge. There was a beautiful waterfall there that she loved to go behind when she did take random swims in the water on hotter days.

Setting her backpack down with her flashlight she began to strip down...usually she would have someone with her so she would only strip down to her underwear before entering the water and taking them off but since she was alone she completely stripping to bare skin. Dipping her toe into the water it felt cool sending a shiver up her body.

Jahne walked in lowering her body gently into the cool water. She closed her eyes taking the time to relax and let her body free itself of all the tension of the last couple weeks. Floating on her back she dipped her head back and smiled. After a few minutes of relaxing, she began to wash her body using a cleansing oil that Dr. Wallace had given her yesterday. She said it was fine to use in the water and just as good as using bath soap. She had to agree. The oil made her skin feel soft and smooth not to mention it smelled of her favorite scent...vanilla and jasmine.

As she rubbed the oil from her chest to her neck she had an odd feeling of being watched. Opening her eyes she looked around knowing it would be almost impossible to see anyone in the dark jungle. She knew it wasn't a colleague since they were still sleeping around this time. She didn't feel that creeping sense of danger either but either way she knew that something or somebody was there.

Me Tarzan, You Jahne (BWWM)Where stories live. Discover now