Then the minister shook her head, still scowling, although slightly less ferociously.
“I see your point, Dr. Haraldson, but unfortunately our yearly budget won’t stretch to new announcements.”
Kiah leaned forward and said, “Now that I think about it, that thirty-and-under demographic might not even be watching local television or listening to the radio very much. Even if you don’t have the funds for new TV and radio announcements, you should, at the very least, put something out on the social media platforms they are tuned into.”
“It would be much less expensive,” Mina said, backing him up. “And how about the schools? What kind of outreach are you doing there?”
“None that I know of,” Miss Pearl replied. “But the district nurses go into the schools regularly, so it wouldn’t be difficult to come up with a plan to add to the usual talks we give.”
“Getting the young people involved could have a huge impact,” Kiah said with a wry smile. “As a parent, I know how much children love to be able to take their parents to task over things.”
They all chuckled, even Minister Barrows, who said, “I concur. My sons are in their teens now, and convinced I know nothing worthwhile.”
“How about some kind of contest in the schools, to tie in with the district nurses’ lectures?” Mina suggested. “Something to get them talking, debating the possibilities?”
That led to a spirited discussion, and a number of ideas were floated, none of which seemed to strike the right chord.
Then Mina had a brainstorm.
“Are the kids here like the ones in Canada, where most of them have cellular phones?”
Once more everyone focused on her, and Miss Pearl replied, “Almost all of them. It’s the bane of us older people’s existence. You can hardly get them to hear you, much less listen half the time.”
“Then, let’s kill two birds with one stone,” Mina said, excited by her idea.
Kiah started laughing, and she knew he understood exactly what she was thinking, even before he said, “A video competition?”
“Yes.” She couldn’t help beaming at him. “Let them produce the PSAs. All the phones nowadays have pretty good video capabilities, and I think we’ll be surprised at the ingenuity the children will display.”
“And any quality issues could probably be cleaned up by the graphics folks,” Kiah added. “It will make people sit up and take notice, as well as get the kids fired up.”
The air of sudden excitement in the room was exhilarating as she and Kiah batted ideas back and forth, with comments and questions from the other meeting members. By the time they wrapped up, the proposal seemed set to go forward.
“I think we have something worthwhile here,” the minister said, with no small measure of satisfaction. “Thank you all for your input, and I’ll keep you all informed as we initiate these new ideas.”
The meeting was adjourned, and Mina got up and stretched.
The minister paused on her way to the door and said, “Thank you for participating, Dr. Haraldson. This may not be your area of expertise, but I can already see you’ll be a valuable resource going forward. Sometimes a fresh perspective is more useful than empirical knowledge.”
“Thank you, too, Minister, for letting me sit in on the meeting. It was very interesting.”
“You’re welcome.” Then she looked from Mina to Kiah, and back again. “You two make a good team.”
“Don’t they?”
Miss Pearl’s tone was brisk, as usual, but for some reason Mina felt a little wave of heat rise into her face.
Kiah just laughed.
“That’s what comes when you’ve known a person for an unconscionable length of time. You start reading their mind.”
“Whatever the reason, I’m grateful for it,” said Minister Barrows, heading for the exit, her little entourage trailing behind her, shedding farewells as they went.
“Don’t just stand there,” Miss Pearl said when it was just the three of them left in the room. “Take Mina and show her around the hospital.”
Kiah held up his hand, stopping the elderly lady before she could say anything more.
“Granny, that can wait. I’m still on vacation, and fully intend to make the most of it before I’m back on call Sunday night. I’m taking Mina to the beach. Do you want a drive home?”
Miss Pearl surrendered far easier than Mina expected. Only with the tightening of her lips did she show any signs of displeasure.
“No,” she replied, giving Kiah one of her dry looks. “I’ll take a cab when I’m ready.”
Mina kept pace with Kiah, but tension tightened her shoulders and she was clenching her teeth as they left the building and approached the car. Finally, unable to bear the thought anymore, she stopped. Kiah took another step before he realized she was no longer walking, and turned a questioning expression her way.
“I don’t want to go to the beach.” Even being shown around the hospital, although also stress-inducing, was preferable to the thought of putting on a bathing suit or sitting in the heat with a long-sleeved shirt on.
Kiah’s eyebrows rose.
“Why not? You love the sea.”
The anger that stormed through her system was stronger than she could control, and she glared at him. He knew exactly why she didn’t want to go but seemed determined to make her say it.
She stepped closer, almost got into his face, and said, “I don’t want people staring at me. I don’t want to have to answer when some nosy person asks what happened to my hand. And, most of all, I don’t want anyone’s pity.”
Kiah’s expression turned stony, his lips momentarily firming into a hard line before he replied, “The only person pitying you is yourself.”
Anger turned to rage in a flash, sending a blaze of fire into her veins, and she clenched her hand into a fist, raising it, ready to throw a punch for the first time in her life. Kiah grabbed her wrist, firm fingers even hotter than her fury-heated skin.
“Dr. K!” A breathless female voice came from behind her, breaking them apart. “Dr. K. Wait.”
Mina was gasping, trying
