Edilio yawned. He was on duty as usual. Not that he really minded, walking helped him clear his head, helped him think. And he'd always liked the night, the peace of it, how everything looked so different from daytime…more mysterious…more beautiful. As a boy back in Honduras his papá would often wake him up in the middle of the night with a 'Ven. Ver la belleza.' And Edilio would follow, marvelling at the change in temperature, at the different sights, smells and sounds. He sighed now as he walked, he missed his papá…and his mamá. He was always a family boy – they'd come through so much together! But all that seemed like nothing after what he'd been through in the FAYZ. And he'd had to do that alone. He kicked a stone and rubbed his eyes, rubbing the memories from his head.
Dahra collapsed into a large chair in the room she'd spent far too much time in these last couple of months. She was the official doctor of the FAYZ and was worked off her feet even after 'the healer' had been discovered. Dahra didn't have magical healing abilities, she didn't even know much about conventional medicines and first aid other than what her mother had taught her, but Lana did not take to being disturbed and Dahra was the only person who took time out to play doctor, and so she got her fair share of visitors. It was an alright job by FAYZ standards…it gave her something to do and it meant she got to talk to lots of interesting people, find out lots of interesting stories. There wasn't a day in the FAYZ when something interesting didn't happen. But still…the job was a whole lot worse since Elwood had left her. Not that she blamed him; he'd stuck by for much longer than would have been expected of the average teenage boy. Elwood was a good guy, but even he'd had enough of being Dahra's assistant doctor 24/7 when she never had any time for him in the end. She sighed; the doctor's room in which she worked could be a lonely place. And the interesting people? They never appreciated what she did for her, expecting her to be as efficient as 'the healer'. Well, she wasn't. Sorry. Dahra allowed a single tear to escape her eye and run slowly down her cheek, as she thought about her family, her friends and the life that she'd left behind in place of the FAYZ.
Edilio didn't know what came over him as he walked through the town plaza that night, but something, perhaps coincidence, perhaps his subconscious, or perhaps even magic, led him towards the doctor's surgery that Dahra Baidoo, a quiet and selfless girl whom Edilio had rarely spoken to pre-FAYZ, worked. Edilio could normally be placed into the 'head' category rather than the 'heart' one, but for some reason that night was different. That night he abandoned his duty for a moment or so, in order to enter the well-used building, even though he was almost positive that he would find it empty.
Dahra quickly wiped her tear away and stood up from the chair as she heard the corridor creaking outside. She sighed, not in the mood for healing right then. But that was her job. That was her duty.
Edilio pushed back the door like many before him, to find the small room empty but for the pretty African-American girl standing in the centre, the moonlight from the small window behind her spilling onto the space where she stood, and causing her to stand out from the dark room in the soft yellow light. Edilio smiled.
It was Edilio Escobar, one of the few people Dahra truly respected in the FAYZ. She had to admit, out of all the people who could have walked in right then, he was definitely one of the best options. He smiled at her and she smiled back.
"What can I do for you, Edilio?" She asked, rubbing the tiredness out of her eyes and trying to stay professional. After all, he did far more than his given duty for Perdido Beach and she felt as if she ought to impress him. Edilio shook his head.
"Oh…no…I-I'm fine, I…I don't need anything thanks." Dahra frowned.
"Then why are you here?" She asked, confused. No one ever came to her unless they needed help. Edilio shrugged, looking at his feet, embarrassed.
"I…I just thought I'd check on you. See if you were ok?" He looked at her, concerned, and she felt herself blushing slightly from the interest one of the heroes of the FAYZ was paying her.
"Gee, thanks Edilio. I'm fine, how about you?" Edilio nodded.
"I get by." They looked at each other, neither particularly good at small-talk. But the silence that surrounded them as they stood there sheepishly was definitely not awkward, rather peaceful. Both lonely souls lonely together; filling the other's empty space inside. Edilio was the first to speak.
"I just wanted to say…everyone really appreciates what you're doing, Dahra." He said sincerely.
"Really? Sometimes it doesn't feel like it…" She mumbled. She was normally a very closed-off person, but something about Edilio made her want to pour her whole heart out to him right then. She didn't.
"Well, I do." He said quietly. This was too much for Dahra; getting a visitor, being told she was appreciated…she hadn't felt so much love for a long while. Even when she was still with Elwood…he wasn't the mushy type and neither was she, they'd behaved more like friends than a couple. So as she looked at Edilio, at the concerned expression on his face, the first person to want to help her since the FAYZ had started, her eyes welled up with tears. Edilio looked away as she wiped her eyes, understanding she wasn't the tearful type, understanding she was embarrassed by the tears, understanding her. Finally she spoke.
"I really appreciate you too Edilio." She said just as sincerely, but Edilio shook his head, trying to wave the compliment away. But Dahra continued. "You do so much for everyone in the FAYZ, you do the worst jobs that no one else wants to do, and you do it all without being told. You're the kindest and most selfless person I've ever met Edilio." She said and as she said it she realised just how much she looked up to Honduran boy. And there was something else too…talking to him now he made her feel…warm. Appreciated. Loved. But she didn't tell him this.
Edilio was glad it was dark and that he was standing in the shadows of the room, because he was blushing scarlet. No one had ever been as nice to him as Dahra just had. Edilio had spent his whole life helping others, not for rewards or for thanks, just because that was the right thing to do. Because if there was someone there who needed help, and he was able to provide it, surely it was without question the obvious thing to do? But something had just filled inside Edilio that he hadn't known was empty and he realised that, although he hadn't known it, all his life he'd wanted just one person to appreciate him. And Dahra just had. But he didn't say any of this. Instead he swallowed and changed the topic.
"If you ever need someone to talk to Dahra, you know I'm here?" He said and she smiled.
"And I'm here Edilio, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week." They smiled at each other then, smiling properly for the first time since the FAYZ had started, smiling with their whole hearts, their whole souls. And the silence was now warm and loving, like a mother's arms. Edilio had so much he wanted to say to Dahra. Dahra had so much she wanted to say to Edilio. But neither of them did. Instead, Edilio eventually coughed, breaking the beautiful silence.
"I'd better go…" He said and Dahra nodded, understanding but wishing it wasn't the case. And Edilio left.
As Edilio walked through the door and into the cold, unloving night everything he'd just felt inside him went and he shivered. He was alone again. Alone in the FAYZ. Empty of love and appreciation, just another child trapped in the heartless dome. Another unappreciated, homesick child.
Dahra collapsed into a chair as Edilio left the building. Fell from the moonlit space and sat in the blackness, the empty, ebony void. The lonely shroud of hopelessness she spent every night in alone.
And they continued with their separate lives, took back their heavy responsibilities, and let go of their escape. Perhaps if either had been more confident the story would have been different, but neither realised what they meant to the other. What they meant to anyone. For them, they were alone, walking the never-ending path of hopelessness they both walked, just out of sight of the other, just out of reach. Immune to recognition. Alone.