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She runs her feeble fingers over his chin, catching on his stubble. “What are you thinking?”
“Sorry for interrupting,” Dr. Vásquez chirps. “I’ll let you rest, and we’ll do another check in the morning.”
Samuel walks the doctor out of the room to discuss further treatment and finds Dr. Jagdeo at the nurses’ station. “I’m grateful to have Eden in a private room,” he tells him. “It’s a smaller hospital than in Venezuela. My concern here is if Eden went into premature labor, do you have enough incubators?”
“My friend, much has changed over the years. The medical system was failing in Venezuela, so I packed up my family and came to Guyana. This hospital is small, but we’re better off here.”
“How bad did it get?”
Dr. Jagdeo scratches his jawline. “I was told about a young girl who went into labor in her village. A friend took her on the motorbike across three rivers, then she caught two buses to get to a hospital. No one would see her as they had no incubators, and her baby was coming early. She tried several others. She slept on the street, cried for her baby as her labor pains worsened. Eventually, she banged on one hospital door and then passed out. They admitted her, and she gave birth to a little girl. The baby died hours later as she didn’t have insurance, and they did not have an incubator in this particular hospital, but the young lady lived. She left the baby in the morgue as they didn’t issue a death certificate, and she had no money for a burial. Maternal deaths rose, and infant mortality increased in that year. So, my friend, I’m glad you brought your special lady to me.”
For a moment, Samuel has no words. His thoughts had jumped into overdrive thinking ahead to what they’ll need. “When we leave, I’ll require more sterilized products. Can I buy them through you?”
Dr. Jagdeo smiles. “I know of someone who can help.”
Samuel gives a knowing nod. “I knew I could count on you.”
13
EDEN
“Nooo,” I wail with nothing left to give.
My heartbeat fills the dark space around me. It’s all I hear, and every pulse is becoming weaker and slower.
Icy fingers claw at my chest. Cold tentacles spread the chill through my body. My arms are heavy as if a slab of steel restricts my movement, and I can’t escape.
“Samuel,” I rasp. He’s not here. I’d feel him if he were here. I’m going to die alone. I’m so fucking scared.
I suck air in like it’s my last breath.
“Where are you?” I shout to Samuel, only my throat constricts, and no sound comes out. “Please, Samuel.”
He’s the one person I need by my side to hold my hand even if I’m not okay, and the thought of him not with me scares me more than death itself. I imagine I’m home, safe with my family, yet my heart still yearns for a man who shares my heart. Through time and space, I’m searching for his soul, knowing we are one. Despite the short time we spent together, it was our destiny to find one another.
The air thins. My gut wrenches knowing I’m slipping away, and Samuel is completely unaware.
“Samuel,” I rasp to the dark, empty space.
The life inside of me dies, and in those seconds, every face of those I love flashes before me. Faith, on her wedding day. Mum and Dad at Christmas lunch with my father making his traditional toast to our family. My girlfriends when we were on the beach in Rio. The darkness envelops me, and I’m among the stars, aware of another presence.
Gran.
Her gentle blue eyes hold an enormous amount of love for me. Her soft hand takes mine as she walks along the beachfront talking about what home means to your heart. How I’m about to give life to a new soul. She smiles, and a light shines around her.
The intense brightness forces my eyes to open.
A light reflects from the monitor.
My heart pounds with enough force to break a rib. Not a weak pulse.
A dream.
I’m cold and alone. Every part of me is trembling. It’s the closest I’ve come to death despite it being a dream. It felt real, like a part of my subconscious the ayahuasca had accessed.
A warning.
Or a vision telling me not to leave him.
