* * *

Jamal inspected the rock carefully, turning it over and over in the blue beam of his head-mounted light. He could not believe it. Diamond!

"What is it Jamal?"

The interruption startled him. He had forgotten about his students.

"Oh, I don't know. I thought I saw something, but I guess not." Jamal tried to sound bored, but it didn't come out very convincing.

He dropped it in his collection sack, hoping they didn't notice the excitement in his voice, and turned them all back to the cave entrance. He worked it out in his head. Thirty minutes, and they'd be back at the fork. Another ten minutes and they'd be at the entrance. He could unload the satellite phone and have Amina on the line five minutes later. He couldn't wait!

* * *

She knew she'd eventually have to go back in there. Amina leaned her forehead on the cool glass of the bay window down the hall from the chaos she'd just left. It just felt like she could never concentrate; there was always something talking at her and snatching her mind away from the task at hand. Whether it was another person asking something of her or a nagging worry about some project, she could never relax.

Her assistant Neela poked her head into the hallway and caught sight of her. Amina straightened up and clenched her fists to steady herself for another round as Neela walked towards her with an armful of work to be dealt with.

Someday, she promised herself, I'll be able to slow down and make some sense out of my life. Jamal had promised her stability, but she had long since given up hope. His life was his own, and he had no room in it for anyone else, much less enough to build stability with another person. He was well-meaning, but well, he just wasn't there.

* * *

"What do you mean no helicopter?"

The insects, the humidity, the steaming heat: this was not going to be a pleasant afternoon. It was a 30-minute ride by air to Cartago. Without the helicopter to pick them up, they'd have to spend the night out here in the jungle. Jamal was not happy. He had seven very inexperienced students under his care, though luckily they were two he could always count on.

"Eric, you and John go scout that ridge above the falls. We need to find a clearing for the tents."

The cave entrance was just below them through a tangle of brush. Their local guide, Santiago, had waited outside the cave with the radio, and relayed the bad news to them. The helicopter had a fuel line leak that would take two days to fix. If they were lucky they could hike down to the river by tomorrow evening and get a ride with the indian fishermen. That would save a day.

Jamal was on his knees assembling the satellite phone. Back in Portland, Amina's meeting would be ending, and soon she'd be hearing the signature "pring pring" of the Altacom satellite phone in her office. She'd be leaning back in her chair, notebook computer on her lap, tapping her cheek and checking the next morning's schedule. He smiled. It was enough to make him forget he was in Costa Rica.

* * *

"You know, doc, until you get these dictations in, you won't be able to admit anyone," Neela gently reminded her. It wasn't her fault; she was just the messenger. "We go through this every week."

Amina sighed. At least this latest task had to do with patient care. With all of the paperwork and administrative chaos, she wondered somedays if she really was a medical doctor and not an executive something or another. One of those people who worked in offices and manipulated paper and went to meetings all day long -- heck, she didn't know what they were called; she just didn't want to do what they did. What she wouldn't give for a peaceful day of just treating patients. But these days, getting compensation from insurance companies meant doing the paperwork dance. And there was no paying the bills otherwise.

She sat down at her desk and picked up a pen to start signing charts, her eye suddenly catching on a photo of her and Jamal. It was taken years ago when they were children playing make-believe. He was always digging holes or "'sploring" the wooded area of the neighborhood, forever convinced that he would find lost treasure. He'd run towards her, holding up a dirty rock he said was gold. She'd carefully put band-aids on his cuts and scrapes as he grinned, relating his adventure. That triumphant grin was hard to forget, and she couldn't help but smile every time she thought of it.