“We can’t just be burning tick heads”, she restated.

“Then get some alcohol”, Helena proposed, getting up.

“I don’t have any”, Carmen bit her bottom lip.

“You don’t have any alcohol?”, Helena exclaimed, stupefied, and Carmen chuckled.

“Hel, I don’t operate here”.

“Alright, how about some olive oil?”, she opened a cupboard, “Which kind? Jalapeño or rosemary?”.

“Rosemary”, Carmen replied, stretching out her arm and grabbing the bottle from Helena’s hand. She let a drop of oil fall on Earl’s fur, then proceeded to remove the tick with a paper towel. Her face looked concentrated. She didn’t feel like talking with Helena right now, and she was frankly grateful to have something else to do.

“So… what did you and your friend… What did you say her name was?”, Helena ducked her head to a side, leaning the small of her back against the kitchen counter.

Carmen looked up, briefly.

“I didn’t say it. Anyway, it’s Shane”.

“What did you two talk about?”.

Carmen sighed, patting Earl’s head and letting him go. She stood up and watched Helena straight in the eyes.

“Dying”, she replied, honestly.

Helena blinked, dumbfounded, and Carmen scoffed.

“Come on, we deal with life and death every day. Why can’t we talk about it?”. She took another sip of her beer.

Helena shook her head, smirking.

“I hope you won’t become a surgeon who prays in the O.R.”, she considered, pensively, unbuttoning her white shirt and motioning toward the bathroom, “I’m very tired. I’m gonna take a shower”.

“Can we talk for a minute?”, Carmen called her out, without moving.

Helena didn’t turn back.

“We’ll talk while camping”.

“Helena, I can’t go camping now”, Carmen laughed.

Helena stopped in the hallway, turned around and stared at her, concerned.

“We need some time together, Carmen…”.

Carmen nodded, sighing.

“All right, let’s see if we can just spend ten minutes…”, she slowly walked to Helena, “…Let’s see if we can just stand still together for ten minutes…”.

Helena observed Carmen’s tanned arms sneaking around her waist and half-smiled.

“Doing what?”, she asked in a murmur.

“Just being here”, Carmen shrugged, pulling her closer.

Helena’s smile widened.

“I’ll get the trail map, then”, she proposed, trying to pull away.