Never Be Tamed

Chapter 42: Thunderstorm

Chapter 42: Thunderstorm

After Alexander left the village, nagsimula agad ako sa trabaho. The first thing I needed to do was to have a record of all the supplies available at the clinic and to review the logs to learn which illnesses were more frequent in the village.

I stayed in the village's small clinic for the rest of the day. Fortunately, Nari was with me to assist and provide the things and information I needed. Some of the villagers even dropped by and shared snacks and food for us.

Takip-silim na nang matapos ang unang araw ng aking trabaho. The village provided me with a living quarter where I could stay for the rest  of the week. It was a comfortable room located on the second floor of  the clinic.

By evening, Nari came knocking on the clinic door. At first I though there was an emergency, but then she invited me to have dinner with  her family.

"Kung okay lang sa'yo, Ms. Eleanor."

I smiled at the kind gesture. I was more surprise that they would  willingly invite me. I took my coat and went to walk with her to her house.

Cool night breeze lingered in the mountains and the soft glow of light from the houses made everything cozy.

Nari lived with her parents and a younger sister in a cabin with a narrow wrap-around porch. Her parents pleasantly welcomed me. Their place was homey, warm with crackling fire from the small fireplace made of rocks in the corner of the living room.

Nagsalo-salo kami sa simpleng hapunan, which were mostly vegetables dishes and a roasted wild duck from the mountains, caught by Nari's father that afternoon.

Habang kumakain, Nari giddily mentioned her dream of working in the apothecary after studying in town. She wanted to bring home her  learning and manage the village clinic.

"You can do it," I encouraged her. "The seniors would be happy to have you learn from them."

"Really?" Nagliwanag ang kanyang mukha.

Nari was so eager, so hopeful. She looked up to the staff of the apothecary because we were living her dream. That's when I realized even my worst days could be the best for someone.

Before leaving, Nari also showed me their home medicines made from wild medicinal plants from the mountain. Several bottles of powdered and dried leaves and roots were place neatly on the shelve in their kitchen.

A specific bottle caught my attention. They also had several bottles of it in the clinic. According to the records, the plant was commonly use for severe wound infection. It was a rare plant that even the apothecary had  no samples of it.

"Is there a lot of this plant here?" I asked Nari.

"There are patches of it around the mountain," Nari told me. "Kapag hindi ka na busy, Ms. Eleanor, I will show you where they could be found."

"Really?"

Bumungisngis siya at tumango. Muli kong pinagmasdan ang bote ng gamot. It would be helpful for the apothecary to have this kind of medicine.

I was back at my living quarters nang tuluyang bumagsak ang ulan.  According to the people of the village, it usually rains in this place, specially during evenings.

Before going to bed, I watched the heavy rain from the window. There was a certain stillness in the mountain... a lonely yet peaceful atmosphere.

For the next few days, I was busy checking up every household  members in the village, with my priority in the children and the much older villagers.