having flashes of déjà vu.” He cleared his throat, used a shaky hand to place the cup against dry lips and sipped. “Thank you.”
The effort exhausted him. Great. Back to square one. “What’s your name?”
“Amy.”
Pretty lady, pretty name. “Nice to meet you, Amy, I’m Juan. So, when can I get up and get back to my rooms?”
Amy shrugged. “As soon as you feel like you can, I suppose. I suggest you stay put for a couple more days.”
Staying put wasn’t an option. Juan had had enough of being sick and lying flat on his back. He shifted, groaned and sat up. Dizziness assailed him. He gasped at how weak he felt and flopped back onto the pillow.
Amy smiled a knowing, I-told-you-so smile, but said nothing. Juan grimaced and said, “I think I’ll take a nap.”
“I think that’s a splendid idea.” She reached out a steady hand to feel his forehead and Juan fell asleep to the touch of Amy’s fingers trailing down his cheek.
Two days later, Amy took on the job of opening the cardboard boxes filled with medications that lay scattered around her feet. They’d arrived compliments of Lucas Bennett, who’d come from the medical mission to make the delivery and check on patients.
She thought about everything as she stocked the medicine carts. She’d had little sleep in the time she’d been here, but that didn’t seem to matter. Especially when it came to Juan. He’d become as special to her as Anna had said he was. From feeding him to provide much needed nourishment; to calling on Romero, the orphanage handyman turned do-what-needs-to-be-done man to help with Juan’s basic needs; to the act of fluffing his pillow; she did it all. These were the kind of giving, selfless acts that gave her more satisfaction than purchasing a painting for six figures ever had.
Shaking her head over her past and the things she used to consider important, she thanked God for showing her the true meaning of worth, love and service. That serving Him was all that mattered. She just wished she could get over the guilt that accompanied every thought of what her mother had done and the deaths she’d caused, including that of Amy’s friend, Micah McKnight. Tears always accompanied thoughts of Micah. He’d been on a SEAL mission in this very jungle, killed on the mission her mother had managed to gain information about. Her mother had then betrayed Micah.
Her mother. A woman so evil it scared her. She slapped the last of the medication into the cart with a thud, her breathing quickening with thoughts of the past. She would not turn out like her mother, she vowed on a daily basis. Amy would try her best to do everything in her power, with God’s help, to make a difference in this world for the better. She’d started with revealing her mother’s criminal activities, which resulted in saving Cassidy McKnight’s life; unfortunately, there was nothing she could do about Cassidy’s brother, Micah. He was dead, his body never recovered. Now she was spending time helping here to make amends.
Amy swung away, hating the direction of her thoughts, yet unable to send them down a different path. Needing a distraction, she set out to find Juan to see if he needed anything. Her feet led her over to his curtained-off area. Absently she noted some retreating footfalls to her right. Pulling the curtain aside, she stopped and stared, shock and horror ripping through her. A pillow covered Juan’s face, indentations from someone’s grip fading as the foam slowly returned to its original shape. In the blink of an eye, she propelled herself to Juan’s side and yanked the pillow from him.
“Lucas! Help!” she hollered even as she leaned over to check Juan’s breathing. His lips had a blue tinge, his chest was still. Without a second thought, she pinched his nose, tilted his head back, placed her mouth over his and blew.
She came up for air, then leaned over him and blew again. And again.
More footfalls sounded behind her, this time running toward her, not away.
“What is it?” Lucas demanded.
On her next breath, without bothering to turn, she said, “He’s not breathing.”
Then she went down to force air into his lungs, once more pleading with God to make him breathe. Finally, with her next puff of life-giving air, Juan gasped, choked…and pulled in his own breath.
“Oh, thank You, Jesus.” Amy slumped to the floor, shaking, trying to control her adrenaline rush and subsequent reactions while Lucas took over, checking Juan’s vitals. He slipped an oxygen mask over Juan’s face, cranking the knob to its highest level. Lucas patted his cheek. “Come on, man, open your eyes. Talk to me.”
Juan’s eyes flickered, opened and stared. He blinked. “What happened?” he mumbled around the mask.
Amy, still quivering, placed her fingers over her mouth, her gaze bouncing between Lucas and Juan to the pillow she’d tossed aside. “Someone tried to kill him,” she whispered.
Lucas’s eyes shot wide. He dropped the oxygen line and stared at her. “What?”
Juan’s eyebrows dipped to the bridge of his nose as he processed her statement. She explained, “He must have been sleeping pretty deep. I came to check on him and found—” she gulped “—that pillow over his face. I pulled it off, hollering for you. He wasn’t breathing so I started CPR.”
“Did you see anyone?” Lucas asked. Juan watched them, not saying anything as he continued to suck in the oxygen—and the conversation. His color was better. Keeping her eyes on Juan but answering Lucas’s question, she shook her head. “No, but I heard someone running away. If I hadn’t come to check on him when I did…” She trailed off, unable to finish the thought.
“I’ll give the chief of police a call and have him send someone out here to take a statement.” He shrugged. “I wouldn’t hold out hope for many results, though. David Ruibero’s a good man, but there’s only so much he can do with what he’s got to work with.”
Yeah, she knew how the justice system worked out here. Slower than Christmas two years away. “Well, we’ll just have to keep a real close eye on him until he’s able to take care of things himself.” She glanced down at the man who’d fallen back asleep, his body traumatized by the recent event. She was sure he’d want details when he woke up.
Lucas went to make the call.
TWO
Two weeks later, Amy still shuddered when she thought about coming upon Juan’s lifeless form, the pillow cutting of his air. She felt sure she would carry that vision to her grave.
They’d informed the policeman who’d come to the orphanage to take a statement from Amy and Lucas about what they’d seen and heard. The officer had even packed up the pillowcase to see if his limited forensics department could find anything but didn’t offer much encouragement, just as Lucas had warned.
Then Amy had filled Anna and Juan in on exactly what had happened. Juan had been puzzled, unable to comprehend why someone would want to kill him, but determined to find out once he gained his strength back.
Anna and Amy had taken turns keeping a vigilant eye on him until he’d grown strong enough to walk out of the gymnasium under his own power. Fortunately, nothing else had happened during that time.
Amy had also grown to care for Salvador Orozco and his little sister, Carlita, who, thankfully, had escaped the
