Jesse was leaving Sam and Dana's house. He had just spent a couple hours with his brother and the rest of the regular Thursday crew. Sam shared with everyone that Pearl had been in touch. She'd made it in one piece back from the little café.
For some reason Jesse had been fine until Sam had mentioned the flower cart.
Unbidden an image of Pearl wheezing in the open field at camp flashed in his mind and he had begun to feel unsettled as if something bad was about to happen.
Seeing something akin to dread cross Jesse's face, Dana had laughed, "Relax, Dr Murray, the pearl can handle a couple dozen roses without falling sick."
He had forced a laugh and small smile but he couldn't shake the terrible image of their friend struggling to breathe for the rest of the night. Leaving the dinner, he made the drive to his mother's house where he was spending the night, let himself in and went straight to his room. After a bit of tossing and turning, he fell into a fitful sleep.
Jesse couldn't remember any of his dreams the following morning but he did feel uneasy. His body felt tense, a clear indication that he had not slept well at all and he wondered what it was that had been on his mind while he should have been rejuvenating for the day ahead of him. The whole time he was showering, Jesse mentally took stock of how he felt physically and he ruled out the thought that maybe he was getting sick. Next he considered how he was feeling emotionally and he soon discovered that the pervading sensation was one of dread. He had nothing particularly unsavoury to tackle in the coming day, so it really didn't make sense to Jesse, but the feeling in the pit of his stomach could not be ignored.
When he met his mother in the dining room for breakfast Jesse managed a smile before falling into a pensive silence.
After a while Vivienne asked, "Is everything alright, Jesse?"
Her son shook his head. "Yes, I'm fine, I guess… I just feel a bit off."
"You're not sick are you?" Vivienne frowned.
"No. I'm not-"
Before he could say anything more, the phone rang and it was a call for Jesse.
The call was an invitation from the Como Rosario's Research Institution in Brazil. They had scheduled his tour and interview for the following week.
A small part of him was shocked at the timing. A larger part of him was inexplicably relieved. He had no desire to examine this feeling; he just welcomed it silently and went over the details of his itinerary before hanging up and joining his mother at the table again.
Vivienne, of course, was startled that he was considering a position so far away but he assured her that he wouldn't be there permanently. It was just an amazing opportunity and he wanted to explore his options before he had any official reasons to settle down.
She understood this and hoped he had a good time.
Jesse was having an amazing time in Rio. The entire experience so far had been incredible and he appreciated how eager the people at the institution were to have him in the program.
They had, to his amusement, assigned him two very pretty tour guides, and had shown him two beautiful houses from which he could choose as his temporary base, if he decided to sign up for this particular research study.
One of his model guides was about to take him to the legendary neuro-research centre when his cell phone rang.
"Excuse me just a moment," he said to the woman who was in the process of praising the facility in accented English.
She stopped and nodded, then watched him move away. The handsome doctor answered his phone and spoke for about two minutes. Most of the time he was frowning with an expression of growing worry casting a shadow over his attractive features.
When he joined his host again, she asked him what the matter was.
"I have to leave."
"¿Que?"
"I know this is the epitome of being rude but I have to leave Brazil as soon as possible. A family matter has arisen."
Understanding alighted on her face and she nodded some more when he continued. "I'll return as soon as I can but this cannot be avoided."
"Of course. Let me take you to the director's office."
"Thank you."
The director of the Como Rosario Institute was also stunned about the abrupt announcement of their guest's departure but he was accommodating when he realised it was his family that was calling him away.
"We can get you on the next plane back to the US," the man offered.
Jesse shook his head. "I appreciate that but I'm not actually going back to California. The emergency is here in South America and I am the closest, so I have to go to Bolivia this very afternoon."
"Well," the director started after another surprised silence, "good thing we can facilitate that as well. Let me take you back to the hotel and then we'll go straight to the airstrip."
"Thank you very much," Jesse responded with obvious relief.
"Think nothing of it."
The entire flight to Bolivia, Jesse could do nothing other than imagine the condition he would find Pearl in.
When Sam had phoned and said that his best friend was in hospital Jesse had felt his skin go cold. Hearing the words out loud was the trigger that caused all his underlying feelings of uneasiness to rise to the surface. The call had been an urgent request for him to go to her and make sure that she wasn't alone and was getting the best possible treatment.
In Sam's mind, nothing was more important than going to check on her. He clearly expected Jesse to drop everything and head over there. Luckily for Sam it didn't take much to convince Jesse, although the younger of the two had practically threatened to travel down personally if his brother wouldn't do it. Jesse had calmly told him his place was with his wife because his friend Pearl had people around her who could be there for her too.