Page 110 of No Going Back

The female voice he had heard earlier got closer. She spoke faster and it took Tyler a moment to realize she wasn’t speaking Urdu, but Pashtu. His Pashtu was limited, but he got the gist. She was annoyed that her son had been running, then asked if he was alright.

The woman crouched beside him. Tyler smiled at her, taking in her stylish pant suit and matching hijab.

“I’m a doctor,” he repeated in Pashtu this time. “May I take a look?” He gestured to the child.

“We speak English. And thank you, but he will be fine. The hotel has a doctor. I will have him take care of it.”

Her English was very good. He glanced up and realized a dozen hotel staff surrounded them, looking concerned. The woman addressed one of them, asking them to get the hotel doctor. The man responded, but Tyler couldn’t make out what he’d said. The woman didn’t look pleased.

“Everything alright?” he asked.

“It seems the hotel doctor is busy with a guest.”

“Then please. Allow me to take a look. It doesn’t look bad. Perhaps there is a first aid kit?” Tyler offered.

The woman hesitated for just a moment, then nodded. “Thank you.” She asked the staff to bring the first aid kit. The boy was crying now.

“Why don’t we get off the floor and I can take a look?”

The woman nodded and guided her son to the nearby chairs and sat. As the first aid kit appeared at his side, Tyler knelt before the boy and took hold of his hand.

“Hey, buddy. You doing OK?” he asked with a smile. The boy nodded solemnly.

Tyler examined the cut on his palm, then took out an antiseptic wipe.

“I’m going to clean away the blood. It might sting a little. Can you be brave?”

The boy looked at him with frightened eyes.

“You can be brave. Like your father always told you to be, remember?” The woman smiled encouragingly at her son.

“OK. Here we go.” Tyler wiped quickly. The boy winced, but held steady. Once the blood was gone, Tyler studied the cut, then reached for some tweezers.

“There’s a little splinter of the vase in there.” He looked at Mom and held up the tweezers. “It’s not deep. He’ll be fine.”

She spoke to her son in Pashtu, reassuring him it wouldn’t hurt much. Tyler wiped the palm again and cleaned the tweezers, then he spoke to the boy.

“You’re being really brave. Your father would be proud of you. What had you running so fast? Was Mom chasing you?” He winked and the boy gave him a small smile.

“Too much sugar today, I think,” his mom said.

“Ahh. What did you have?”

“Chocolate,” the boy said as Tyler removed the fragment and applied pressure. The boy didn’t even flinch.

“Chocolate, huh? I love chocolate, too.” He wiped the wound again and then ripped open a Band-Aid.

“It’s done?” the boy asked.

“Yep. All done.” He placed the bandage over the cut.

“Thank you. Doctor...” the woman asked.

“Walker, John Walker.”

“Are you staying here at the hotel, Dr. Walker?”

Tyler stood. “No, just passing through.”

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