David: Survival and Adventure

David and I sat by the side of the road drinking some water. David was looking at some of the cuts and bruises from the people on the bus. One of the police vehicles drove the bus driver away, maybe to a hospital. We didn't know for sure, not our problem.

One of the police officers, one with lots of rank on his shoulders, came over to talk to David. He spoke fairly good English. He asked David some questions and there was lots of hand gestures and nodding. I couldn't hear what was being said but found out soon enough. The police officer wanted to know why David was doing all the first-aid for the injured. When David explained that he was a doctor, the officer stepped away and talked into his cell phone. There was lots more head nodding and then he came back to David and asked if he could follow him. The hospital had asked if David could stop there to tell them a bit about the injuries of the family on the scooter. It seems that the hospital was without a doctor at the moment and the best that they had was some nurses who were very busy just now.

We got on our bikes and followed the police car to the hospital. It certainly wasn't the sort of hospital that I'm used to seeing in Europe, but it wasn't terrible either. The building was old and needed some updating but it looked reasonably clean and there wasn't any garbage in the hallways.

The nurse that David spoke with was waving her arms and telling him that they didn't have the ability to handle any additional patients. David looked around and found what he needed to stitch up some of the cuts on the kids and then he motioned for me to help him. I had no idea what to do but he was very good at telling me what to do to help him. Stitching is really simple. The hardest part was putting the curved needle through the skin. Once you've done it a couple of times, it's no problem. I helped David for what seemed like a long time, but I know it was only for a couple of hours. The sight of blood was something that I wasn't used to, but it's amazing what you can do when you have to.

David was amazing. I couldn't believe what he did. I almost forgot that he was a doctor until he ran towards the accident and started shouting instructions to people. When there is danger, most people run from it. David ran towards it. My god!

We spent three more days in St. Louis. David spent a lot of that time at the hospital seeing several patients both from the scooter/bus accident and many others that were brought in to the hospital. I found out, from a nurse, that word got out quickly that there was a doctor seeing sick people. That meant that lots of those who don't get to see a doctor might just be able to get their problem looked at. The man worked for over thirty hours without a break. I went back to the hotel to get some rest and clean up. It took David another night to rest and get ready to get back on the road.

When we left the town, it was kind of sad because we knew that the people there were now faced with not having a regular doctor that they could count on to help them.

**********

David

Back on the road south brought a whole new set of adventures. Our planned stop was Dakar. I'd read a bit about it on Wikipedia and was keen to see the city. Dakar is the capital of the Republic of Senegal and the area has about four million people. I was struck by the contrasts of the city. There was a lot of obvious wealth in the city and there were areas of grinding poverty. It seemed odd to see expensive Mercedes Benz's and shabby scooters al fighting the same traffic. But they seemed to co-exist without too much open hostility. People got on with the business of surviving. Families needed to be fed and housed and people needed to go to work to do that. That was life. It wasn't any different any other place I had seen since leaving Albany, just that now my eyes had been opened, a lot. Maybe I had Diane to thank for that. Maybe her inability to keep her legs closed to other men was the push that allowed me to see a whole new world. One that was foreign to me before. One that I could relate to better, every day. One with Emma as my guide and partner.

I insisted that we get a hotel on the beach. Until now, we had been sharing the expenses for hotels and bed and breakfast places that we stayed in. But I knew that Emma's financial resources were limited, or at least that was the impression that I got from our talks. So, I told her that I needed the rest after the experience in St. Louis. I had the money and I wasn't worried about cost at that point. So, we stayed for three days and played tourist and spent a bit of time on the beach. It was wonderful. Emma told me that travelling with me had made her very happy. I told her that she was quietly saving my life; giving me a new life.

But then reality got in the way.

**********

I checked my email and received this:

From: Chief Administrator, Albany General Hospital

To: Dr. David Walters

David,

We hope that you have been enjoying your sabbatical from your duties here at the hospital and that you are rested and ready to get back to work. Our agreement was for three months with an extension to six months, but only if mutually agreed by both us and you. Sadly, I have to tell you that you are needed back here as soon as possible, but at the latest, by the first of next month.

A colleague of yours has been ill and so the ER department needs you to return to work. I have been able to cover the shortage of docs for a few weeks, but suffice to say, we need you to get back here as soon as you can.

Let me know if you have any problems and I will do everything I can to help. Call me to when you get this, please.

David -- sorry to screw up your plans, but we really need you back! So, wherever-the-hell you are, get your butt home, please.

Laura

Dr. Laura Johnson, Chief Administrator

Well fuck! All good things must eventually come to an end, and this adventure was just another casualty of reality rearing its ugly head and biting me on the ass. I figured that I could ignore the email for a few days and carry on with the trip. So, that's just what I did.

**********

Emma Fischer

The road south was going to get very rough and quite frankly, much more dangerous. Especially since David shared that he was being told to get back to the United States and get back to his work at the hospital. We talked about me going home to Germany when he had to leave to go home. Then I suggested that we skip south a bit to Namibia and drive from Windhoek to Cape Town. We went to a bike shop in Dakar that had contacts to ship our bikes by plane and arranged for them to be loaded on a cargo plane in two days' time. So, that's what we did.

The flight to Windhoek was memorable in that the airplane was old and the pilot and co-pilot looked as if they were not much more than teenagers. The weather for the flight was very windy. We were happy to get on the ground at Windhoek airport and actually see our motorcycles.

We got our equipment sorted out, paid the handlers to make sure that we didn't have something get accidentally 'lost,' and got on the road.

It only took five days to make the drive south to Cape Town. We both knew that the end of our time together was approaching fast, and so, we made the best of it. The sex with David was fantastic. We went slow and fast and he did everything that I loved. Between his mouth, his hands, his cock and the rest of him, he touched every part of me that I wanted him to touch; and that was everywhere.

I took him with my hands, my mouth, my pussy and my ass. He knew every part of me. He pleased every part of me. I was falling in love with him. He is a hero in my books. I didn't want to give up my hero, but I had to get back to work as well.

I had a book to start writing and hundreds of hours of video to start editing. The publisher was anxious to start seeing some progress, and the money that they had advanced me was running out. I needed to go home and attend to business there.

David made flight arrangements for both of us to get to Frankfurt and it was there that we would part ways. He would fly to JFK in New York and I would take a train to Berlin. There was a direct train from the airport to Berlin that takes about five hours.

David had planned to take the subway from JFK to the city and then a train from Penn Station to Albany. He would get a cab to his hotel. The day of our last night we dropped our motorcycles off with bike shop. Mine to be stored and Davids to be shipped back to the U.S. It was a sad day for me and I could tell that David didn't want to go home.

In the Frankfurt Airport, we were very quiet. I looked at him and he looked so sad. His eyes said it all. I kissed him and told him that he needed to get to his next flight. He returned the kiss and whispered in my ear that he loved me. I knew then that this was not the last time I would see this wonderful man.

**********

Albany, NY

"Dave! Dave!" It was my brother Paul, shouting for me. I was standing in the lobby of the Hotel and looking around to see where he was. It was my second day back in the U.S. after leaving Africa.

"Holy fuck, brother. You look great. Where the hell have you been?"

"Out of the country. Hey, how did you know that I was here?"

"I didn't. I'm meeting with a customer here in a few minutes. Dad and Mom said that you were taking a break from work, and your wife. They never shared with me or Marcy where you went. What the fuck is going on with Diane?"

"That's a long story."

"Well, you're coming to my place for supper tonight and you're gonna tell me what the fuck is going on and what you've been up to!"

I didn't argue with him. I suppose it was time to get back to life here at home. "Okay, thanks. A nice home cooked meal would be great."

We chatted a bit more and then I told him that I needed to get to the hospital to see my boss. Paul had his cell phone out and I'm sure calling Marcy to tell her that I was coming for supper. Mum and Dad would be next on his list to call. I hadn't told him not to call Diane, but I was fairly certain that he wouldn't.

It was a short walk from the hotel and the morning was beautiful. Oddly, I passed right by the building that Diane works in, on my walk to the Hospital.

The hospital administrator, Dr. Johnson, was happy to see me and even made a point of telling me that she had received a strange letter from the Government of Senegal, via the U.S. Department of State, thanking her for the services rendered by the American doctor visiting in St. Louis. She was very curious what that was all about so I told her the story of the family on the scooter. Father, mother, three kids and the propane tank. She found it all very bizarre. I guess the letter was their way to express their gratitude for my help at the hospital.

I got briefed by the ER boss on what was going on and then put on the schedule. I would start tomorrow and be on 12 hour shifts for the next six days. Oh great. Those 12 hour shifts easily spill over into 18 hours with a rush from a big traffic accident or some other foolishness.

Tonight, I was going to visit my brother and his wife, eat all the food they put in front of me, play with their three kids and maybe even drink a beer or three. I knew there would be lots of questions. I was ready.

**********

Marcy, gave me a big hug when I came through the front door and took my coat. "David, how are you? We've all missed you."

"Well, I'm great, thanks for asking."

The kids, after I passed out the small gifts I brought for them, were dispatched to the family room to play. Now down to the serious business at hand.

Marcy got right to her real question. "What the hell happened with you and Diane? Why did you leave?"

"Gee, Marcy, great to see you, too. I wouldn't mind a beer if you guys would happen to have one in your refrigerator."

Paul looked at Marcy as to say 'told ya.' He went to the kitchen and came back with three beers. I took a drink from the bottle under the intense stare of my sister-in-law and brother.

I started, "So, I guess you want to know what's been happening with me? What have Mum and Dad told you?"

Marcy looked at me with a certain level of disdain for skirting the answer. "They've said nothing. I even tried to talk to Diane but she's not really saying anything. She wanted information from me, and of course, I had nothing. All we knew was that you were taking a break from work and went off to some place by yourself. So, what the hell is going on?"

She put a fine point to the question.

I spent the next half-hour giving them the Readers Digest version of the last five months. I even went into some minor detail of what I knew Diane had been doing. I spared them the gory details of the investigators report that revealed the extent of her fucking-around. I glossed over many of the details that they really didn't need to know. Besides that, they wouldn't really care about her so much, now that her affair had been revealed. Doesn't matter.

We had supper and another beer and there were lots of questions about what I'd been doing on the road and especially Africa. I shared some stories about my travels. I told them about Emma. I also told them that she was back in Berlin working and now I'm back in Albany, working. So, our lives will carry on.

After supper, I told them that I was going to look for a place to live for the time being, until I had a chance to get the divorce sorted out and figure out what it was that I wanted to do with the rest of my life. Being on the road with Emma opened my eyes a bunch, about life, and I really didn't think that I could just take up life again at the hospital and pretend that I was happy. Being back in Albany reminded me of the failure of my marriage, and how I had failed as a husband; just how easy it was for Diane to move on from me to any available guy.

I didn't say it to Paul and Marcy, but thinking about Diane made me feel like I was the ultimate chump. She pulled the wool over my eyes so easily and for so long. I resolved never to let that happen again. That was one of the many conclusions that I came to while riding my motorcycle in Africa.

Another conclusion was that there were lots of good women out there. Women with morals and integrity. Women who would be honest with you and if they were unhappy with you would tell you. Talk to you. Not just fuck around behind your back. If Diane didn't want to be married to me, why the fuck didn't she just say it and we could have divorced and moved on with life. But no, she had to hide what it was she wanted. She had to lie to me.

I Uber'd back to my hotel and actually got a good night's rest. Tomorrow I would look for a place to live.

**********

Diane

I got word from one the people that I work with that David was back in the city. They knew someone that had been at the hospital and saw him. I tried to call his mother and father and as you might expect was met with the same response that I got every time I called since David left: Fuck off!

I was getting desperate and decided to stake out the hospital ER entrance in the hope that I might see him. I spent four nights parked at the hospital in a space where I could observe the entrance. My god, a lot of people come and go, in and out of that place. I never realized how busy it was. Every night there seemed to be a constant stream of ambulances delivering the sick and injured. I got bored so I brought a book to read and a snack. Unfortunately, the second night, I had to pee so I got out of my car and went inside, to find a washroom. I walked around until a security guy asked if I needed directions. I decided to just ask for David. I was met with a clear response that doctors names are not revealed unless you have an appointment, and then you go to the main entrance. I thanked him and left.

The fourth night, I struck gold. There he was. He was walking from the doctor's car park area into the entrance. My heart rate shot up and I almost jumped out of the car and called his name. I was too late as he disappeared inside the building. I had what I came to get. I knew he was back in the city.

My next step was to try to talk to him and get him to come home.

**********

David

It took a couple of days of searching but I managed to get a nice little apartment not that far from the hospital. It was a few blocks from my old place. It was a fairly tiny one-bedroom but it was furnished and all I had to get was some sheets and towels and stock the place up with food. I wanted a furnished place since I wasn't keen to buy furniture. I hadn't made any decisions about how long I was going to stay, so no point in getting a lot of things that I was only going to have to get rid-of later. It had underground parking for my car and I saw the building had some security, even though it didn't have a doorman.

It didn't take long to get back in the swing of things in the ER. The daily toll of GSW victims was steady, and accidents and knifings kept me busy. Heart attacks and strokes, were a regular bet, since Americans were obsessed with the concept of obesity. Why do people want to be so overweight. Africans are not nearly as obese, because they have a much better diet and they have less to eat, and they understand that they need to be as healthy as they can be, since medical care is so sparse. Oh well. All these ER customers, and their insurance companies, were paying my salary.

Two weeks after I returned to Albany, I called my lawyer and asked to meet. Three days later she and I discussed the details of a divorce from Diane. There was little in the way of possessions or money to divide up and I had told her that Diane could keep all the things that we had in the apartment that I shared with her. I had told that to Diane when I left. LeeAnn was thinking ahead and already had the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage prepared and ready to file. I told her to go ahead and get it done. I was very surprised that Diane had not started the divorce. I figured that she would be keen to get on with her life and get untangled from me.

Once the details were discussed, I left and went back home to my apartment. When I got there, I realized that my life outside the hospital was going to be lonely. I needed a hobby. I made a call and discovered that my motorcycle would not be delivered to me for several more months; so, I decided to go looking for another one.

I spent some time online comparing motorcycles and decided to go look at a KTM. We actually have two bike shops outside the city that sell KTMs. On my day off, I drove to both and looked at what they had in stock and settled on the 890 Adventure R. I asked them to bring in some accessories to equip it for long distance travel: panniers, extra lights, a quick shift adaptor, and a few other tidbits, all made this a great bike to ride both on the paved roads and on the dirt roads. It wasn't cheap, but what the fuck else did I have to spend my money on.

**********

Diane

I got home and there was a guy in a suit outside the building just standing there. As I approached the entrance, he looked down at his phone and then asked me, "Diane Walters?"

"Yes, who are you?"

He handed me a large envelope, "You've been served." before I could say anything, he stepped back and took a photo of me, with his cell phone, holding the envelope and then quickly wheeled about and went to his car.

Shit. I knew it was coming.

**********

David

Okay, quick tutorial on New York State divorce law:

You can seek a no-fault divorce in New York if you and your spouse have been separated for at least one year or if there's been an "irretrievable breakdown of the marriage" for at least six months.