18 YEARS LATER...
Farmacia Milagro
Las Rosas, Mexico
June 27, 1910
Mahal kong Ama,
It has been two years since I last wrote to you now.
I'm sorry for not writing to you sooner. The truth is we've been very busy with the pharmacy. I've learned so much working here with Don Oscar. He thinks I will make a great boticaria one day. He always tells me how much I remind him of you when you were my age.
Till this day I haven't received a single letter from you, though I'm sure the unstable situation in our beloved Islas Filipinas must be interfering with the correspondence. If only you could see what I've seen, and all that we've accomplished here, I know you would be proud of me.
I continue to hope and pray for the day I can see you again, my dear father.
I hope you have been well.
Awaiting your response,
Your daughter,
Josie.
Josie put down the pen and looked up at the old black hat sitting on her desk. The hat her father had given her to protect her from the rain that night so many years ago had turned out to be a parting gift. She had never seen or received letters from him ever since. She kept staring at the old hat and sighed.
Putting the new letter inside an envelope, she got up from the desk and laid down on her bed. Her adoptive father, Don Oscar had left earlier on a trip to Mexico City and would not be back for days, leaving her to run their pharmacy alone. She really had improved and the fact that Don Oscar had left her behind this time instead of taking her along like always showed his trust in her.
She brought the sheets up to her waist and reached over to the night stand, adjusting the wick on the lamp. When she was satisfied with the light, she picked up the book that sat next to it.
She ran her fingers over the three large, bold-letter words on the cover: Noli Me Tangere.
It had been written by her father before she was born. She had discovered it in Don Oscar's library as she was cleaning the pharmacy's office, and she had become utterly intoxicated with the novel and it's dark yet romantic theme. Eagerly, she flipped through the pages.
An old, crumbly photograph of her father, the only photo she had of him, served as her bookmark. With a wide grin she started reading in a low voice...
"How long have you been away from the country?" Laruja asked Ibarra.
"Almost seven years."
"Then you have probably forgotten all about it."
"Quite the contrary. Even if my country does seem to have forgotten me, I have always thought about it."
It was well past midnight when Josie was suddenly driven awake by the panicked screaming and banging on the door.
"Auxilio!" The woman outside shouted. "Por favor, Auxilio!"
Josie jumped out of bed and stumbled across the dark room. She quickly threw on some clothes and ran downstairs, skipping two or three steps as the woman outside grew more frantic.
Josie dashed over to the front door of the pharmacy, unbolted the locks and came face to face with a girl close to her age. Her eyes were wide with panic and her dark brown hair was a mess over her face.
"Senorita, the pharmacy is closed," Josie started to say.
"Please, doctora, you have to help me!" The young woman shrieked.
"No, no, el doctor is not here," Josie insisted but the woman fell to her knees and started to sob.
"Please, I don't have any money but I have two horses. Take them both. Please help me!"
Josie sighed as she looked over the crying girl.
"Okay, senorita, just calm down and tell me what you need."
"My brother," the girl sobbed. "I found him in the streets unconscious and I can't wake him up!"
Immediately, Josie's mind snapped into emergency mode. Though she was not a doctor, she had been learning from Don Oscar as his assistant. Immediately, she grabbed Don Oscar's medical bag and the two women took off into the night.
Thirty minutes outside the small town of Las Rosas was a small ranch. The two women finally made it to the front of the house and burst in.
"This way, por aqui," the woman led Josie through the house and into a small room in the very back.
Three candles barely lit the room and it took Josie a moment to adjust to the dimness and scent of the room. On the bed laid a large man with a short beard and wildly curly hair. He was so tall, his legs were actually touching the floor.
The woman came up to him and knelt down beside him.
"Miguel, I've brought a doctor to help you," she said.
"Dios mio, what happened to him?" Josie said, opening the bag and setting her things on the bedside table.
"I don't know! He didn't come home last night and when I went looking for him I found him like this."
"He's got a few broken bones and wounds." Josie said as she looked over him. She placed two fingers on his throat and nodded. "He's still alive, but barely. I'm going to need some space to work on him."
The woman looked back at the large man for a moment then nodded. Quickly she stepped out of Josie's way and closed the door behind her.
"Okay, Miguel," Josie said, mostly to herself to relieve the tension of the long night ahead. "I never remove the guy's clothes on the first night, so consider yourself lucky."
She tied her hair back, gently removed his bloody clothes and got to work on him.
The sun was already out by the time she was finished with him.
Josie washed her hands and packed her things. She was about to leave when Miguel stirred in his bed.
"Where am I?" he croaked weakly.
"Oh, you finally woke up! Welcome back, curly locks," Josie said, pouring a liquid into a glass and bringing it to him. "Drink this," she placed the cup on his lips.
Miguel's face wrinkled and he spat the foul tasting medicine out.
"What the hell is this, horse piss?" He demanded.
"Don't be ridiculous, it's medicine to help with your stomach," Josie exclaimed, putting the cup back to his lips. "Sige na, drink!"
Miguel looked at her and back at the cup. With a growl he opened his mouth and drank the medicine.
"Thank you," Josie said, taking the cup back to her bag.
"So what are you a doctor?" Miguel said, as he tried to sit up in bed.
"I'm a pharmacist," Josie corrected him with her back turned. "I'm here to make you feel better- Don't do that!"
Miguel howled in pain as one of his wounds reopened in his attempts to get up.
"Hold still!" Josie yelled, pushing him back down and pressing a bandage against the open wound.
"Joder!" Miguel cursed, wincing.
"Breathe slowly," Josie said in a soothing voice, never taking the bandage from his wound.
Slowly he began to calm down and his arms came to rest on Josie's exposed thighs. That's when she realized she was practically on top of him.
"Doctora," Miguel said with wide grin in his face. "You've removed my clothes and made me feel better. Allow me to return the favor."
Miguel's boldness both flattered and infuriated her.
"Like I told you before," she said. "Never on the first night!"
With that she pressed the bandage hard, making Miguel groan in pain again.
"Keep pressure on that," Josie said, climbing off the bed and gathering her things. "I'm going to leave a bottle of medicine with your sister. Take two doses daily and you should be good in a few days. Come back to me for a checkup as soon as you're feeling better."
"Not going to give me a 'get well' kiss, at least?" Miguel called as Josie turned to leave.
Josie turned back to him. "What, don't you prefer a lollipop instead?"
"Sure," the curly man chuckled, putting his enormous arms over his head. "I would love to taste your sweetness any day!"
"Go to hell," Josie stormed out of the room furiously. Miguel laughed, admiring the tall Filipina's curves as she slammed the door behind her.
"If he's hitting on you he must be feeling better already," the young woman commented as Josie walked to the living room. Josie shook her head.
"Here," Josie said, giving the girl a bottle of medicine. "He hates this but it will help him recover faster."
"If he hates it it will be more fun to make him drink it," she laughed. Her beautiful features were outlined with tiredness and worry. Still, she had a beautiful smile.
She extended an arm out and took Josie's hand in hers.
"My name is Isabel. What's your name, doctora?"
Josie returned the greeting.
"Un placer, Isabel. I'm Josie Rizal Bracken. And I'm not a doctor."
"Well, you certainly have a good pair of hands on you," Isabel complimented. "Thank you for saving my brother. I don't have any money but the two horses are yours. My brother's life is worth to me more than them."
"Hmm how about you give me a ride back to town on those horses and we'll call it even?" Josie offered. "After tonight I don't think I can make it back walking."
"Oh yes, of course," Isabel said.
"Isabel," Miguel called from inside his room. "Tell her she can stay here. There's plenty of space in my bed for two."
"Let's go." Isabel said.
"Yes, please!"
"So why did you decide to study medicine?" Isabel asked, breaking the silence between them as they rode back to town. Josie's thoughts were broken as she glanced back from her view of the mountains.
"Mostly because of my father, I guess," she said. "He's an Ophthalmologist in the Philippines."
"Right..." Isabel said with a confused look.
"Although for someone who helps his clients see, he hasn't seen me in years. Ever since I moved down here, really." Immediately she regretted saying that aloud. The doubt that her father had never come to see her or even write to her because he was so busy with his job had been stuck in her head for the past years but she never wanted to acknowledge it.
"Do you have family here?" Isabel asked, changing the subject.
"Well, my mother died of tuberculosis when I was a little girl, and my father's family is all in the Philippines. The only family I know is Don Oscar, my caretaker, teacher and boss." She laughed.
Don Oscar had been much more than that. He'd been a mentor, a fellow student in medicine, a business partner... a father.
"What about you and the Kulot Salot?" Josie asked
"We have no parents," Isabel said with a hint of disdain in her voice. "Miguel and I ran away when we were little and we've been taking care of each other ever since."
"No boyfriend?" Josie teased.
"I'm getting married in half a year," she confessed. "But Miguel doesn't like my fiancee. I'm... worried of what he might do, or might happen to him, when I leave with my husband."
"He was near death last night and trying to get up just a few hours later, I'm sure he will be alright," Josie laughed.
"Yeah... what about you?" It was Isabel's turn to tease. "No boyfriend."
"No time!" Josie said. "I'm way too busy for a relationship right now."
"My brother's single, sorta, if you're interested..."
"Pass!"
The two women continued talking until they reached Las Rosas. Isabel said her goodbye and went back home. Josie smiled with pride at her accomplishment.
Wait until Don Oscar finds out!
Her smile was broken when she turned the corner.
A large group was blocking the corner that lead to her house.
Josie fought her way to the front of the suffocating mob and her mouth dropped.
Tears sprang to her eyes as she saw the house she had grown up in completely in flames.
"No!" She screamed and ran, but a man grabbed her.
"No, senorita! It's too late!"
"Let me go!" she roared and ripped herself from the man's grasp. She had too much to lose in that house. The hat her father gave her, her books, all the memories she had left and their pharmacy that had taken them years to establish.
She got as far as the first steps when a large explosion from within shook the ground. Josie was sent flying back as flames obliterated her house.
"Senorita Rizal!" She heard distantly. "Senorita Rizal!"
Then her world went black.