That headboard-less twin bed in the four walled, cement room was the pentacle of comfort. After almost fifteen hours on his feet, Alvaro was ready for
his eyelids to close and for them to stay closed until his "car" arrived to take him down the mountain where his hotel was situated and to the town of
Jacmel, where a plane would be waiting to finally take him back home. Haiti had been...wet. Warm and wet, actually...the humidity pressing down on him
like a weight. He couldn't help wondering, as he lay on the hard bed, what the weather was like at home. Was it the usual warm? Were the trees swaying
in the gentle breeze that seemed to carry the smell of ocean water on it? Was the sky still as blue as it was when he'd left three weeks ago? He
missed home. And what was more, he missed his family. Huffing, he sat up and propped his back on the hard wall, he kicked off his tennis shoes and
flexing his finally freed toes until they popped. It had been an incredibly long day. One full of consultations with patients, some that were as young
as his son. They made him smile with their hugs, even in their discomfort and sickness...they made HIM smile. He was a hero to them...he could see it
in their eyes. But they were really the heroes. Not him...
Lifting the bottom of his scrubs top, he pulled it over his head, his white undershirt underneath. That was about all he had the strength to do before
he let himself curl up underneath the comforter that was way too hot right now, but would be perfect in the middle of the night when the temperature
hit a low. Exhaustion was taking him over so quickly that even the "stay put" headband that he'd gotten off of one of the nurses to keep his hair that
was getting longer by the day out of his face could stay on. Didn't matter anyway. For the 21st night, he would be sleeping alone. No wife at his
side, no son in the room down the hall, no Dobby jumping on their bed in the middle of the night. Outside of the other doctors on staff at the
hospital where he spent his time (most of them Haitian med students who spoke sparse English and no Spanish) and the other surgeons on his team, he
was pretty alone...and homesick. Thank God it would be only three more days and he would be headed back to Hawaii...back to AJ. Back to Eva...
Involuntarily, the corners of his mouth curled into a smile. The same smile that spread across his face whenever he thought about his wife. He missed
her the most. And not just because the nights were colder than the days in La Valle, but because...this was the longest he'd spent without seeing her
face. His internship with DWB hadn't prepared him for the full-time position that had him gone more than home and in places that weren't equipped with
things like "WiFi" and "cell towers". It was a shock to him and more importantly, the cause of a distance so great that he could barely stand it.
Luckily his hotel had spotty internet that decided when and where it wanted to work, but it never worked when she was available to speak to him, the
one hour time difference doing more harm than he thought it would. Not seeing his wife and AJ...it was beginning to be more than he could bear, but it
was all par for the course, right? This was the price he paid for the job he did.
Sitting up quickly, he heard the unmistakable sound of his cellphone, announcing a call. A face time call. Eva...
Happiness doesn't result from what we get, but from what we give.
She couldn't believe the day she'd had. Getting AJ up for preschool had been a complete nightmare as he refused to move faster than a snail�s
pace all morning. It wasn't the first day and she was prepared to go through the same thing tomorrow morning. She knew why he was behaving this way
and she couldn't blame him. She missed his Daddy too. He always got like this when Alvaro was gone for too long, which she could understand. He was
quieter, played less, moved slower...A boy needed his father, she got it, she just wished he wouldn't get so down when Alvaro was away...Of course,
she had never told him any of this. She loved Alvaro and she knew how much he loved his work. She also knew how much he loved his son and she wasn't
going to make him give up one for the other. Alvie would be fine because his daddy would be home in less than three days.
Sadly, her son's mood had only been the start of a not so great day. She'd spent most of her time at work cleaning up some intern's mess which had put
her behind on a lot of the things she was supposed to be doing that day, not to mention trying to help her best friend with her wedding plans. Who
knew how much went into a "simple" beach wedding. She had been busy and tomorrow she would be again but right now she was just...tired. Evita sighed,
pulling her still wet hair to one side as she slid into the queen sized bed she usually shared with Alvaro. Even when he was away she never slept far
from him; his picture just behind her alarm clock and one of his t-shirts on her back. It was never enough though. There was nothing like the real
thing and like AJ, she was starting to get a little restless too...for more reasons than one.
She missed them sleeping together. Not just the sex but, literally sleeping together; with her back pressed to him as he held her in his arms creating
this cocoon of love and warmth. She missed hearing him whisper his love for her before she drifted off to sleep and feeling his lips against
her neck or on her forehead for no reason in the middle of the night...Maybe she should have brought Alvie in here to sleep with her. They were both
just a little lonely...Or maybe she should just call Alvaro and...she didn't know, she just wanted to see him. Rolling over, she picked her phone up
from the nightstand, checking the time. It was late...would he be awake? Maybe she should just wait, she knew how tired he was most nights...She was
selfish.
Pressing his picture in her favorites, she FaceTimed him. She was just going to say goodnight and let him sleep.
But it's you who brought me here.
You, through all these years.
Nearly hitting his head on the low mounted light on the wall, Alvaro snapped up from the bed, looking across the room to the small table on the far
wall where his cellphone had been charging. He didn't need to see the face of the phone, Eva's picture displayed on the front, to know that it was his
wife calling. He could always tell when she was on the other end of a call. Call it a sixth sense, call it premonition...call it a "weird inkling".
But Alvaro called it...the familiarity of their hearts. He knew her heart so well that he could almost...feel her. But all of the sensing in the world
didn't replace the need to see her face. It didn't replace the need to actually be near her. Technology and the temperamental wifi could only do so
much for the way he felt without Evita and AJ at his side. Seeing them was one thing, but actually being there was another. It wasn't hard to see that
he loved his work as he loved helping children in disadvantaged countries that would be hopeless without Doctors Without Borders. But it put a strain
on his family. Every moment he spent working was a moment spent away from his loves. It was a balance, both sides weighing against the other...the
scales threatening to tip over at any moment.
Finally making his way to the phone, he picked it up, seeing the illuminated picture of Eva, the usual smile on her face and AJ in her arms. Alvaro
smiled as he remembered the day that picture was taken. It was he first time he and Eva had taken AJ to the circus. He had to admit, he'd been a
little nervous. AJ was young and the sounds and animals had the chance of being too much for him. But that brave little guy smiled and laughed the
entire time. Even when the lions roared, even when the human cannon ball blasted from the cannon and his mommy and daddy jumped, he laughed and
clapped his chubby little hands. Alvaro couldn't help but wonder at his bravery and think, selfishly, about work. About the brave children that were
just like his AJ. Brave kids that stared death in the face every day, that heard it roar out for them. And they just kept on smiling. Right in the
face of the end...
Sliding his finger on the screen to unlock the phone and answer the call, he held the phone in front of him and watched as his wife's face came into
view, her hair wet from a recent shower...and her face radiant.
"Mi amor...hola..." His smile reached his cheeks, erasing the tiredness in his face.
Happiness doesn't result from what we get, but from what we give.
She hated when he left. It was always to somewhere where cell service was scarce and wifi was nearly impossible to find. Of course, that made perfect
sense, it wouldn't be Doctors Without Borders if they...well stayed within borders. Small villages, impoverished countries. That was where her husband
felt he was making the most difference; who was she to dispute his decision? Who was she to ask him to sacrifice his happiness for hers? It just got
hard sometimes, without him. Cold nights, quick dinners, lonely PTA meetings. She had no idea how gloomy single-motherhood was when she'd offered it
to Alvaro when she told him about AJ. She remembered that night like it was yesterday rather than four short years ago.
She'd showed up on the doorstep of his apartment without any kind of warning or notice and told him...nothing. Sure, she'd said hello and all but the
most she could get out to him was a request to have dinner with her. He knew something was wrong with her the entire time they were together and
despite want to just...tell him, she wasn't able to until well after dinner was finished. God. He had been incredible the entire night despite her
evasiveness and especially after telling him. She wasn't sure what she'd expected his reaction to be then but, she knew she wasn't expecting him to be
as excited as he was. After the shocked, expressionless stare he gave as an initial reaction, no one could imagine her relief when a slow smile spread
across his face before he kissed her, in that restaurant, full of people, he kissed her. Like she and their unborn child were the only things that
mattered to him and he had been proving that to them ever since. She couldn't be mad at his job choice. Not when she knew how badly he missed the two
of them when he was away too...Besides, technology was helping a little. She smiled as her love came into view, his face showing his weariness despite
the smile that overcame him as he said hello.
"Hi, baby-," a smile to match his formed on her lips as she leaned back into the pillows, her back resting against the headboard. And just like that
she was completely content again. There were times when speaking to him did the trick but, tonight she was glad she got to see him, if only for a
little while. "I just wanted you to know I miss you..."
But it's you who brought me here.
You, through all these years.
Hearing Eva's voice always brought a smile to Alvaro's face. It was like a cause and effect. Eva's voice just equaled his happiness. Nothing else
seemed to matter as much when she spoke, when she laughed...when she breathed. It had always been that way. His friends at VCU told him that that was
going to be his demise. That his weird obsession with that "freshman" was going to totally be the end of him. First off, it wasn't an obsession...it
was...Alvaro couldn't even put into words what it had been when he first laid eyes on Eva at Freshman Orientation. He'd been helping out as one of the
greeters on campus and out of the corner of his eye, he saw a...beautiful girl. Beautiful really...wasn't the word for her. Her hair was thick black
and her eyes were like...they sparkled. And Alvaro would've been content with just...gazing at her until she left his line of sight except, she kind
of walked right up to him, announcing her that brilliant voice that she "was in his group". And that was where they started, well...the friendship at
least. If he'd known then what he knew now, nothing about the way they met would've even hinted to him that he would be facetiming her a thousand
miles away and that the smile on her face would be for him.
Walking back to his uncomfortable, but welcoming bed, he lay on it, his back meeting the hard wall where his headboard would have been...had he been
home. His smile never faltered as he watched her speak, the words "miss you" on her lips. He missed her too, more than he could tell her or his lips
could say. But he knew that she knew. It went without saying, really. He missed her warmth. He missed the way she curled up beside him in the bed they
shared, her hand rubbing his chest as his arms wrapped around her. A casulo she liked to call it, where nothing extended beyond his arms and
her love.
"I miss you too..." He spoke softly, taking in her face. She looked...tired. She was always beautiful, there was no doubt about that...but, she looked
like her day had been as long as his. Like she'd been right beside him the entire time. And it probably had been entirely long. With her work and
taking on the responsibility of AJ by herself. Alvaro hated that. He hated making a single parent out of her. She, taking the job on of raising their
son while her husband was away, tending to children that he could not call his own. It was unfair to her, but she never said a word about it. She
knew, purely in her heart, that this was where HIS heart was...and that it was truly torn in two as she always had a piece of him.
"No, I want to talk to you. You're not getting away that easily..." For a moment, he just...studied her, hesitating before he spoke again. "How was
your day? It's kind of like looking in a mirror right now..." He said, a chiding smirk on his face. He knew that she could tell that he was saying, in
the gentlest way possible, that she looked as tired as he did.
"Let me guess...more problems with your intern?"
Happiness doesn't result from what we get, but from what we give.
I miss you too... And there it was. That look he gave when it became hard for her to keep eye contact with him. The look he'd given her when
they first met and she wasn't paying enough attention to catch it. The look that said everything his lips weren't at the time but, everything she knew
to be true. He loved her, maybe even more than she loved him, if that was possible. Alvaro had been one of her best friends in college, since day one.
And unlike some of the other upperclassmen that helped with Freshman Orientation, Alvaro had stayed. He kept coming around, asking her to do
things...with him. She smiled at how cute he had been when he asked her out on their first real date. Usually they just did a movie or hung
out around campus just...being together but, for their first date Alvaro cooked for her and took her for a super cute picnic lunch. It was a great day
and he was probably one of the dates she'd ever had...but for some stupid reason she hadn't seen what was right in front of her. How perfect he was.
"I just wanted to say a quick good night to you-," she said sweetly, her smile never faltering. Even now, thousands of miles from her, he had the
power to make her smile like only he could, her heart soaring as he said he didn't want just a short hello. He wanted to talk to her. That was good.
Great even. With the way his voice was already brightening her stressful day, there was nothing she wanted more than for him to stay. She was about to
ask him how his day had been, even though she could almost read it on his face, but he beat her to it, telling her ever so sweetly she looked as tired
as he did. She didn't know about that but she was finished with everything for the day. Her sheets had called and she was already beneath them, her
conversation with her husband the only thing keeping her up.
"It was alright-," she half-lied, a soft sigh falling from her afterwards. She didn't want him stressing over AJ or listening to her talk about
Whitney's wedding. None of that was really important. Not now that he was in front of her. She wanted to know about him. Was he enjoying Haiti? Had he
gotten to explore a little or was he just working? She might have asked him these things if he hadn't been reading her features as she let her
thoughts run on. Her intern. Of course he knew. The poor girl had been messing things up at her firm for close to four months now and Evita complained
about her regularly. Sad but true. Sometimes she just had to get things out, and her frustration with that intern was usually saved for when she got
home, with plenty of stories to tell Alvaro. But she wouldn't get into it tonight. She could easily see that sleep was trying to pull them both under.
She giggled a bit before speaking, "We won't talk about her tonight. I don't think we have time-," They really didn't and thinking about the situation
the girl had put her in today would only make her angry. "But how are you, meu amor. I can see your day was long too."
But it's you who brought me here.
You, through all these years.
Alvaro's smile widened at the slight flutter in his wife's eyelids as she fought against them, keeping her eyes connected with his instead of looking
away. The slight darkening of her mocha-colored cheeks. The curl of her beautiful, defined lips. All signs of the fluster that he knew she felt
whenever he looked at her the way he was at that moment. His eyes combing her face, taking in every feature, every piece of her he could see. He'd
always looked at her like that. Like she was the only light in a room full of dark. A glimmering ball of warmth and light. She drew him in, like a
moth to a flame and dimmed any and every thing around her. Was it any wonder why he looked at her the way he did, why he'd always looked at her the
way he did? Even when they went to school together, in that year that was too short for his liking, he never stopped finding a reason to gaze at her
the way he was looking at her now. And years later, he still hadn't run out of reasons.
As she began to talk about her day, Alvaro settled down further into the bed, the flat pillow finally meeting his back, a welcome departure from the
hard wall behind him. Her comment about her day was short, a lot of the details were...not there. Definitely lacking on the "content". Thankfully, he
could assume what her day had been full of...but he wanted to hear it. He wanted to hear what life was like when he was thousands of miles away,
missing every moment of it. He wanted to hear about the picture AJ drew in class that day or that their mutual friend, Whitney, had finally chosen the
venue for her wedding. He wanted to hear about her intern, the traffic in KR, the sale at Trader Joe's...anything. Anything that made him feel like
home wasn't as far away as it was.
But Evita wanted the exact opposite, as her day had probably been full of the things that seemed so interesting to Alvaro. She was right. Their time
was short. The internet was more than just unpredictable. It was downright...moody. It worked when it wanted and that meant that it worked hardly at
all. That they were able to even look at each others' face for more than two seconds before the wireless blanked out was nothing but a miracle. Evita
was right, they needed to use their time wisely. Smiling at her words, his wife acknowledging the look of fatigue on his stubbly face, he nodded,
shifting himself before he answered.
"Today was long...very long." Rubbing his face, his hand moved to his hair, pulling off the black headband that he'd forgotten was there. Wrapping it
around his wrist, he spoke quickly about the two consults he'd had that day. The little girl who'd lost the use of her entire left side due to a tumor
the size of a plum on her brain. And the boy with injury-related Aphasia due to a biking incident that had previously left him in a coma for nearly a
month. He'd been riding on a motor bike (their only mode of transportation) with his mother and his uncle to market day in Jacmel and they'd collided
with another vehicle on the narrow road. The boy was lucky to have his life. All of the children Alvaro helped were lucky...blessed for their lives.
And Alvaro truly believed he was there to help them live the spared lives to the fullest.
"I did get to visit the beach on the other side of the hotel today..." He admitted, rubbing his eyes as he spoke. "I took a Heineken and that book you
got for me this Christmas and I sat for awhile. I even got to read a couple of pages...you know, before the hospital call again for me to come in.
Ni modo, verdad?"
*Oh well, right?
Happiness doesn't result from what we get, but from what we give.
She didn't want to talk about herself. Not that she thought he would mind listening but, she didn't want to bore him with the mundane details of home.
Nothing seemed to change for her while he was away. Her life only moved when Alvaro was home and when he wasn't there wasn't much of a story to tell.
Especially not after he'd been gone for as long as he had...That and she didn't want him to think he was missing out on too much. Sure, she
had to admit that little AJ was changing by the day, growing so quickly Evita was sure she'd blink and miss it but, she didn't want to tell Alvaro
that. There was a laundry list of things that she could mention that she knew he would hate to miss. Soccer games, pre-school plays, and adorably
funny things that her little "man of the house" would say just in random conversation. She knew he would miss that. The little things. His little man.
She used to tell Alvaro everything but, she could see his pain through his excitement. She didn't want to give him anymore reason to miss his family;
he had work to do.
Today was long...She could tell, watching him run a hand over his face, the bags under his eyes telling the story before he could. Not the
whole story though, it was Alvaro that told that, going over the details of his day for her; the poor babies that he treated day in and day out,
easing their suffering and making their tragedies a little more bearable. He was...good. Every bone in Alvaro's body was good. Caring. He cared like
no man she had ever dated and the thing she loved most about that was that his care went beyond those close to him. What made Alvaro extraordinary was
the compassion he had for complete strangers. It was one of the reasons she'd married him. She smiled a little as he mentioned what little downtime he
had. A well-deserved break, even though it wasn't nearly long enough. Her poor baby.
"Meu pobre bebe-," she began, a short yawn stopping her words, "Well, think of this, soon you'll be home and all you'll have to do here is
rest and let me take care of you." She paused, her words sinking in after she said them. "I really can't wait, love. Just three more days..." Three
more days. Three more days and she would have her love back. Her better half. Her heart. God, she missed this man and even as they spoke now she was
mentally counting down the days that remained until she and Alvaro were reunited.
Just three more days.
But it's you who brought me here.
You, through all these years.
Just three more days. The word "just"...just didn't seem to go with the fact that Alvaro had three more days until he boarded a small,
passenger jet back to Port-Au-Prince and found himself homebound. Three days...was like three years, as far as he was concerned. Because it was still
time. Time between where he was and where he wanted to be. He loved Jacmel, he loved the people he helped. He loved the hospital he serviced. But he
loved his family...so much more. The smile of Eva's face as she watched him toss AJ into the air. The feeling of his only son's round cheek pressed
against his own, his arms wrapped around Alvaro's neck in the tightest embrace. The quiet in the house when AJ finally went down for a nap and he and
Eva too it in, just thanking God and their lucky stars for their life...and their love. All of that...never got old. It never stopped being Alvaro's
happiness.
"Am I dreaming? Pampered? I think I need to go away more often!" Laughing, he looked at his wife's image on his phone, smiling softly at her yawning
face. He couldn't wait to see that up close. His comment was only a joke as he really couldn't stand being away any longer and more often than he
already was. In the year that he'd been a full-time surgeon with Doctors Without Borders, he'd been away more than he'd been home. His internship had
been nowhere near this intense. Constant leaves of absence were out of the question as his Residency took most of his time, leaving him with he
summers to really invest time with DWB. But nothing was stopping him from traveling now and nothing was stopping DWB from knowing that fact and using
it to their advantage. Well, not really their advantage...the advantage of the people that need him. But as it was their advantage, it was
Eva and AJ's disadvantage, both lacking a father and a husband when they shouldn't have had to. Even if it was for the greater good, it was a
sacrifice that Alvaro felt so guilty for forcing them to make.
"Three days is so long, mi amor." His voice lowered as he admitted his impatience to his wife. It was an embarrassing thing to admit. That he
would rather be curled up in her arms, his hands on her warm skin...then save lives. But he didn't hide the truth from Eva. She knew him. She knew him
more than anyone outside of his own parents knew him. The good, the bad...and the down right horrible. She knew it all.
"I just-I...I miss you. That's all." His lips smiled weakly at her, his tired eyes still wanting to look at her even though they were lowering with
each second that ticked by.
Happiness doesn't result from what we get, but from what we give.
She could do it. She could wait just a little longer for her love to come home. He had been missing from her life for months now and she was down to
mere days before she was reunited with him again. Three days would go by in a flash and she'd have her husband back. AJ would have his father. A quick
three days or at least that was what she was going to keep telling herself until he came back to them. In all honesty she knew how long three days
really was. He hadn't been able to call her for three days after he arrived in Japan for tsunami relief last year. She had been a complete and total
mess until he was finally able to find service and a free moment out there to tell her that he'd made it and he was safe. That had been the longest
three days of her life. Those three days would not be these three days.
But those thoughts were pushed from her mind, his voice bringing her back to the present as he joked about leaving more often. Ha, as if either of
them could stomach that. Besides, his homecomings were her favorite times. She got to dote on the man she loved; meals, affection, watching him play
with AJ after family dinners, it all reminded her of why she suffered through his absences. She allowed him his happiness and in return, he gave her
the one thing she had to sacrifice for their relationship, his time. She laughed a bit at his joke, a sweet smile settling on his face for her as she
tried fighting off sleep for just a second longer, watching his eyelids droop just a little more, the way they had been with each passing minute. The
time was drawing nearer for them to say good night. She might have ended their conversation there, telling him how much he was loved before letting
him get the rest he had earned in the day, but Alvaro spoke first.
"I miss you too, mi amor-," she said sweetly, her native Portuguese tongue slipping easily to Spanish the way it did quite often with Alvaro.
"But the sooner you rest the faster time will pass. Those three days will be gone before you know it, baby-," she smiled at him then, her words the
way she was holding on as well.
"I love you, Alvaro. Get some sleep."
But it's you who brought me here.
You, through all these years.
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