Second Chance at Love

by Mistydawn

Anna gazes across her audience to find them teary-eyed. She wipes the moisture from her face, sniffles, and then continues. "Alejandro and I barely spoke more than a few words for months after our big fight, and then it was usually in passing.

"His mama and pappy still watched over me, but they're so cold, distant like they were put off by my being there. I often ate my meals in my room, so I wouldn't have to see their disdain or feel the frost that seemed to blanket the room. I knew I had to set it right with Alejandro, but I wasn't sure how."

Anna wipes a tear from her cheek and then changes the photo behind her to migrant workers in the field. Picturing the horrid incident in her mind, she gazes across the auditorium and says, "A near-death experience brought us together."

September 1993

It's a miserably, hot, mid-September day. The temperature is in the triple digits; the humidity is nearly as high. I'm heading to my cabin with a tray of food when a strong hand yanks me into the shadows. I then hear a gruff voice say.

"You need to start taking care of your own the way you do the men in the truck, Anna."

I look around to find several field workers surrounding me. I start to scream; a large hand covers my mouth. A sweet, clean smell quickly follows. My head becomes fuzzy; my eyes grow heavy. I shake my head, hoping to clear the fog, but it only makes things worse.

"Nighty night, princess." I hear as I nod off to sleep.

I open my eyes to see a dark, starry sky above me. I turn my head and discover I'm in the middle of the field. Where exactly, I wasn't sure. I wasn't too certain about what'd happened to me or why they'd dump me out here. I try to raise up and quickly realize I'm too weak to move. What's wrong with me? I try lifting my extremities one at a time. They barely budge.

I then feel something warm and sticky, gushing between my legs. I can only assume by the feel, the metallic smell that its blood.

The stream of liquid pools around my butt and upper thighs. A horrifying thought suddenly crosses my mind. I'm going to die if I don't get help soon.

With every bit of determination I can muster, I try to get up, growing weaker with every attempt. Succumbing to sheer exhaustion, I gaze up at the stars and say, I hope someone finds me soon.

I must've passed out again because I wake up to find myself floating around the makeshift hospital. I glance down and see the sunlight cascading across my frail, naked body sprawled out across the gurney. The camp's doctor and his chubby assistant are doing their best to revive me.

The screen door creaks open, Alejandro rushes to my side. He takes my hand in his and says, "I'm sorry I got mad at you, that I treated you the way I did. I'm sorry, Anna, so, so sorry. Please, come back to me, baby, please come back. I love you, Anna. I love you with all my heart. Please don't leave me, please don't go away." He collapses on the floor beside me.

I feel a strong jolt when my body and soul connect. The nurse must've sensed the change because she presses her finger against my neck.

"I have a pulse, doctor." She watches my chest rise and fall. "She's breathing on her own too."

Alejandro springs to his feet. "Anna?"

I slowly open my eyes and look around. "Alejandro?" I weakly mutter.

He bends down and says, "I'm right here, baby."

I lick my parched lips and say, "I love you too..." There's a sharp pain in my chest. I gasp for air but can't draw in a breath. A single tear trickles down my face. My arm falls flaccid on the bed.

"No, Anna, no. Please don't go, please don't go," Alejandro cries.

"I'm not getting anything, doctor."

"Please come back, Anna, please come back." Alejandro sobs burying his head in my chest.

I wake up to find tubes running from what seems to be every orifice of my body. A small machine beeps rhythmically by my head. What happened to me? Why am I here, and why am I like this? I glance around, hoping something will trigger my memory. Small fragments of the horrid night replay in my mind as I scan my surroundings. Turning my head, I see Alejandro asleep in the chair. It wasn't a dream. I'd often hear his sweet voice talking to me, reciting my favorite poems.

The doctor walks towards me. "How are you feeling, dear?"

I lick my parched lips and say, "Thirsty." I grimace with every syllable.

The doctor's belly jiggles when he laughs. "That's a very good sign."

Alejandro runs to my side. "You're awake. You're finally awake."

"He's been by your side the entire time." The doctor smiles at Alejandro and says, "I'll give you two a few minutes alone."

"Alejandro, I..."

"Please, Anna, let me speak." He clears his throat and continues. "I understand now why you did what you did. It's what you've been groomed to do since you were a small child. It's how you survived. But I don't want to be like them, doing you just because I can." He strums his finger down the side of my face and says, "I want our relationship, our lovemaking to be special, memorable. Something we'll both cherish for years to come."

Tears stream down my cheek when I say, "You deserve someone better. Someone worthy of your love, not a washed-up whore like me."

"You're not a whore, Anna, you're not, you're not. You were forced to do those horrible things, but it doesn't define who you are." He points to my chest. "What's in your heart is all that matters. I understand that now and together, we can work through this."

I turn away. He runs to the other side. He takes his hand in mine and says, "I wish you could see what I do. What a beautiful young woman you truly are, in here." He points to my chest again.

"I'm not beautiful, Alejandro, I'm not. I'm ugly, and I'm broken." I sob, turning away.

"You're neither of those things and if I have to, I'll spend the rest of my life proving it to you."

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Alejandro proclaims his love.

A chapter in the book Where Are All The Children

Second Chance at Love

by Mistydawn

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