Choosing to Survive

By Susan J.

I was waited on hand and foot by Luis and his house staff. On the third day of my stay at his hacienda I awoke at about 8:00 am. I threw back the sheet and light blanket that covered me and I sat up, looking at my left ankle. The swelling had gone down, but there was still a slight swelling that was left. I moved my legs to the side of the bed and sat there for a few minutes, and then put my feet on the floor.

"It doesn't seem to hurt. Maybe I can walk by myself now?" I pushed myself off of the mattress and stood on my right foot, I then lightly started putting weight on my left foot.

"Mmm, so far so good." I then took a step and to my surprise my ankle felt pretty good. I took another step and then another, a knock came at the door.

"Yes?"

"Are you awake, Senorita Rebecca?" asked Sara.

"Yes."

"May I come in?"

"Yes, please come in."

Sara opened the door and walked in. She saw me standing.

"Senorita Rebecca you shouldn't be standing," Sara said.

"I'm all right Sara, it doesn't hurt anymore."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure. Watch me."

As I took two more steps Luis walked into the room.

"See I can walk by my…" When I took the third step my ankle gave way and I started to fall. Luis ran over to me, picked me up and set me down on the bed.

"Are you all right, Rebecca?" Luis asked.

"Yes, I am. I guess I overdid it a little."

"You still need to rest Senorita," Sara said.

"Sara is right, Rebecca."

"I suppose so. I thought for sure I would be able to walk by myself and not be a burden to anyone."

"You are not a burden, Senorita."

"I feel like I am, Sara."

"Don't think like that, Rebecca," Luis said.

Luis turned to Sara. "I think we should eat breakfast in here, so you will not have to move too much."

"Luis, I can make it downstairs," I said.

"No, you need to rest that ankle. Sara, bring breakfast to us here."

"Si, Senor, right away," Sara said.

Sara left the room. Luis fluffed up the pillows behind my back and then gently put my foot up on another pillow. He sat on the edge of the bed and held my hand.

"Are you comfortable?" he asked.

"Yes, Luis."

He saw that I had something else on my mind. He put his hand under my chin and lifted my head so that he could look into my eyes.

"Rebecca, what's wrong?"

"You and everyone in the house have been so wonderful to me and I truly appreciate it, but..."

"But?"

"I feel like all of you have put your lives on hold in order to take of me and I feel guilty about that."

"Please don't feel guilty. Believe it or not, I rather enjoy taking care of someone again."

"Taking care of someone again?"

"Yes, it's been a long time since I've had someone to take care of."

"I don't understand? Are you married? Or do you have children?"

"I used to be married and we never had any children."

"Used to be married?"

"Yes, my wife died a few years ago."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry."

"Don't be sorry, and please do not think that you are a bother."

He gently kissed my hand. Sara returned carrying our breakfast on a large tray; she set it down on the table that was in the room. Another maid came in with a bed tray and set it on my lap, Sara then brought a plate of food over to me and set it on the tray.

"Thank you," I said.

"You're welcome, Senorita," Sara answered.

Sara then prepared a plate for Luis and took it over to a smaller table near the bed.

"Is there anything else that you need?" Sara asked.

"No, we're fine Sara," Luis said.

"If you need anything else, please let me know."

"We will."

Sara left. As we ate we talked.

"Luis may I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"I know I should have asked you this that first night we had dinner at the hotel, but I thought I would never see you again. What do you do for a living?"

He smiled.

"I am half owner in a coffee export business."

"Really? How interesting. And because of me you haven't been to the office."

"Don't worry, I have a partner that I can trust with running things. I was planning on going to the office this afternoon but for now my place is to be here with you."

I smiled shyly. I picked up the coffee cup and took a sip.

"Now may I ask you a question?" Luis asked.

"Yes."

"Are you married?"

"Not anymore."

I put the coffee cup back on the tray.

"Are you all right Rebecca?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Are you widowed?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry."

"I guess we are both in the same situation."

"Yes, we are."

Sara came back into the room to clean up the dishes.

"Excuse me, Don Luis," Sara said.

"Yes Sara?"

"El Senor Alan esta esperando te abajo."

"Gracias, Sara."

Luis looked at me.

"I have to go and speak with my partner; please rest that ankle."

"I will Luis."

"I will see you later this afternoon."

"All right."

He kissed my hand and left.

"Sara," I said.

"Si, Senorita Rebecca?"

"Will you please help over to the chair?"

"Are you sure you should get out of bed?"

"Yes, I'm getting more tired staying in bed and I need to sit in a chair."

"All right."

Sara walked over to the bed and removed the tray, and then she helped me over to the chair nearest to the door to that led to the balcony. I sat down and Sara put my foot on the footstool.

"Are you comfortable?"

"Yes, I am, thank you."

"You're welcome. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll take these dishes to the kitchen. If you need anything else please let me know."

"I will." Sara left.

Meanwhile downstairs Luis was in his study talking with his partner Alan Jordan.

"So, what do I owe this visit to, Alan?" Luis said.

"You haven't been in the office for the past three days. Is everything all right?"

"Well, I have a houseguest."

"Oh, I see," Alan said as he winked at Luis.

"No it's nothing like that. I met her a few days ago, and as I was showing her around the plantation she injured her ankle."

"Is she all right?"

"Yes, she should be fine in a few more days. So the real reason that you came all the way out here was to say that you missed me?"

"Yes Luis, I came to say that I miss you and I want you to come back to me."

They looked at each other and started laughing.

"I was going to come in this afternoon. Anything that I should know about before I walk through the office doors?"

"Just that we are ready to ship out the order to Mexico City, and I need your signature on the final shipping order."

"Well I can do that now if you like?"

"Yes."

"Let's go."

As they walked out they met Sara.

"Are you leaving, Don Luis?"

"Yes Sara, I'm going to the office, so please take care of Rebecca until I return later this afternoon."

"Si, Don Luis. Adios, Don Alan."

"Adios, Sara."

As they walked out Alan turned towards Luis.

"I love it when she calls me Don Alan."

"Well, come on Don Alan, we have work to do."

I got up and looked out the balcony door to see Luis and his partner get on their horses and ride away. I had just sat back down in the chair when Sara came in the room.

"Do you need anything Senorita Rebecca?" Sara asked.

"No, thank you, Sara. Sara," I said.

"Yes, Senorita?"

"Where is Luis going?"

"He and his partner are going to the office, he will be back late this afternoon."

"Oh."

"If you'll excuse me, I have work to do; please let me know if I can get anything for you."

"I will."

Sara left, closing the door behind her.

"I can't stay here another day. I can't run the risk of Luis finding out about my past. I have to leave as soon as possible, I thought.

Luis and Alan arrived at the offices of Vargas Jordan Coffee Export House. Their horses were taken to the stables that were on the property. As they walked through the building they were greeted with Good Afternoon's from their staff. When they reached the door of Luis' office, Alan stopped.

"I have the invoices in my office, let me get them and I'll be right back," Alan said.

"All right," Luis answered.

Alan went to his office while Luis went into his. Luis sat behind his desk and looked at the papers that had piled up on his desk during the days that he was away. As he sorted through them Alan came into the office.

"I can hardly see you behind all those papers, Luis," Alan said.

"Well I'm back here somewhere. Is there anything really important that I should take care of right away?"

"No, if there were I'm sure your secretary would have notified me."

Alan handed Luis the invoices for his signature. Luis looked them over and started signing them. One by one he handed them back to Alan.

"I want this shipment to go out without any problems," Luis said.

"I don't foresee any problems, Luis."

"Good."

Alan sat down in the chair in front of the desk.

"Now tell me more about this houseguest of yours," Alan asked.

"There isn't much to tell. I met her a few nights ago; we had dinner, I invited her for a tour of the countryside and she sprained her ankle while I was showing her around the plantation, that's all."

"Do you like her?"

"Yes, I like her."

"Do you know anything about her?"

"Just that she's a widow and is traveling alone."

"Don't you think she's worth investigating?"

They looked at each other.

"I don't know," Luis said.

"Luis, I don't want to see you hurt again. You went through hell and made it back alive. If I were you I'd check into her background."

"Maybe you're right. I need to get more information from her."

"Then get it and check her out before it's too late."

"I will."

Meanwhile back at the hacienda I was hopping around on one foot getting dressed. I knew that I wouldn't be able to take my things with me since I was trying to get out of here fast. Suddenly I was startled by a knock on the door. I hurried back to the bed and covered myself with the sheet.

"Who is it?" I asked.

"It's Sara. Are you all right Senorita?"

"Yes, Sara, I'm fine."

"Do you need anything?"

"No, thank you. I'm going to take a nap and if I need anything I'll call you."

"All right Senorita, rest well."

"Thank you."

I heard Sara's footsteps disappear down the hallway. I got up and as quietly as I could I left the room. I was able to make it downstairs and out to the stables. I saddled a horse and then lifted myself onto the saddle without yelling in pain. I then hit the horse on its sides with my heels and we left out the back of the stables.

About two hours passed; Sara was carrying clean sheets upstairs when one of the other house servants walked towards her.

"Gabriela, have you checked in on Senorita Rebecca?"

"No. I haven't heard a sound from her room," Gabriela said.

"I wonder if she is all right?"

Sara continued up the stairs. She reached the door to the bedroom and gently knocked.

"Senorita Rebecca are you all right?"

She knocked again and then slowly opened the door.

"Senorita Rebecca?"

Sara entered the room and looked around. She checked the entire room but I was gone. She left the sheets on the bed and ran out of the room looking everywhere, but by this time I was long gone.

Luis and Alan were standing on the dock watching as the men loaded the crates of coffee sacks on the ship that was leaving in the morning for Mexico.

"I think this is the largest shipment that we've ever sent out," Luis said.

"Hopefully it won't be the last," Alan replied.

Luis took out his pocket watch and looked at it.

"It's almost 5:00 p.m. I better get home before dark," Luis said.

"All right, I'm going to stay for a little while longer."

Luis smiled and slapped Alan on the back.

"Goodnight, Don Alan."

Alan smiled.

"Goodnight, Don Luis."

Luis headed back to the hacienda and arrived just before the sun set. The stable hand took the horse and Luis went inside. Sara came towards Luis.

"Don Luis, thank goodness you're home," she said.

"Sara, what's wrong?"

"It's Senorita Rebecca."

"What about her? Is she all right?"

"She's gone, Senor."

"What do you mean she's gone? Gone where?"

"I don't know Senor. I just checked in on her and I found out that she was gone."

"Maybe she's somewhere on the property?"

"Rafael is checking right now."

Rafael hurried towards them.

"Did you find her, Rafael?" Luis asked.

"No Senor. One of the horses is missing. I'm afraid she's gone," Rafael said.

"Rafael, saddle up another horse and bring him around to the front," Luis said.

"Si, Senor, right away."

"What are you planning to do, Senor?" Sara asked.

"She may have gone back to the hotel. I have to try and find her," Luis said.

Luis walked outside where Rafael was waiting with a fresh horse. Luis mounted the horse and left at full gallop towards the town.