Without Borders Read Online Free PDF

class.” She held up a drawstring bag. Inside was a model of the female reproductive system, complete with removable ovaries. She’d begged it off of a doctor in her dad’s building. The bag also held the flashcards she’d made to help her learn the proper Spanish terms for the body parts inside.
    Marisol pulled the model out and stared, her mouth falling open.
    “What?” Annie stuffed it into the bag. “You’re a nurse. You’ve seen vaginas before!”
    Marisol laughed. “ Mi Anita . You are thinking too advanced for this class. You need to explain the birds and the bears to them. That you get a baby from sex, not from Dios .”
    A prickle of anxiety rose in Annie’s throat. She pushed it down, reminding herself of the hours she had spent preparing for the sex ed class. “Birds and the bees ,” she corrected.
    “Birds, bears, bees, vaginas, condoms. All of it. But we will put your plastic woman in the medical supplies, okay?”
    Annie shook her head, anxiety still swarming. “I have to practice my lecture. I need it.” She filled the last of her space with the model and a swimsuit. Everything else, more than half of what she originally packed, would stay in Marisol’s room.
    “And the itinerary?”
    “What is that?”
    “A schedule.”
    Marisol shook her head, her hair rippling around her shoulders. “Here.” She pointed to her temple.
    “Really? Don’t you think you need—”
    “It will be like this: clinic, boat, clinic, boat. Then a rest in the middle, where we will drink lots of cervezas and get new supplies. Then boat, clinic, boat, clinic. Until we are home.”
    “A rest in the middle?” This was news to Annie. “Where? For how long?” She couldn’t imagine where or how they would find a place to relax in the middle of the rainforest.
    “Sahsa,” Marisol said. “I am so excited for you to see.” She grinned and stretched across the bed, her brown legs crossed at the ankles. “It is where Felipe and I were born.”
    A twinge of excitement settled in Annie’s stomach as she stuffed her “extra” belongings into her suitcase. Marisol’s past had always fascinated her—so much drama, travel, and upheaval in such a short span of time.
    Footsteps came from the hallway, the wood floor groaning with each step. Felipe ambled by the open door and down the stairs. Even though she’d been deep in a drunken haze at El Bar, Annie remembered exactly what he smelled like. The sweet citrus of the shots lingering with a hint of something spicy.
    “…I think so, yes? Annie?” Marisol’s voice brought Annie back to herself.
    “Sure,” she answered, not knowing what she was agreeing to. “Hey, why didn’t you come get me at the airport?” She forced her voice into a calm, everything-is-perfectly-fine nonchalance.
    Marisol sat up tall. “Felipe said he would do it. I think—”
    “Mari, I was expecting you .” Annie blinked and looked at her friend. Anger and shame burned in her voice, cutting through her detached ruse.
    “I gave Felipe my phone. You made it to the hotel safely. What is wrong, mi Anita ?” Marisol twisted the bracelet dangling from her right wrist. From a distance, it looked like an assortment of shiny red and purple beads. Up close, the diabetes alert tag was obvious.
    “He really didn’t tell you?”
    “No. Tell me what?”
    “Never mind.” Annie stood and pulled the zipper closed on her suitcase, sealing off the belongings that would stay behind.
    Marisol caught her arm. Her eyes narrowed to slits, but mischief oozed from her features. “Sit. Tell.” She pointed at the bed.
    Annie flopped onto the mattress. Her face scorched as she spilled the entire story.
    It was three minutes before Marisol stopped giggling long enough to get out a response. “He probably liked it.”
    “He didn’t. Trust me.”
    “He had a big crush on you before, when we lived in Missouri.” Marisol bit down on the “ss” sound, making Annie’s home state sound far more exotic