Ch. 1 – Taking off

"The usual hero adventure begins with someone from whom something has been taken, or who feels there is something lacking in the normal experience available or permitted to the members of society. The person then takes off on a series of adventures beyond the ordinary, either to recover what has been lost or to discover some life-giving elixir. It's usually a cycle, a coming and a returning."

― Joseph Campbell

"I shouldn't have bought that ticket!" April thought as she was running to gate. What was she thinking? It wasn't a good idea at all.

"Was that flight 2703 to Mexico?" April asked the airport employee as she watched a plane taking off.

"Yes. Was that your flight?"

"Yeah. It was" April said feeling nauseous.

"I'm sorry you lost it," the employee told her but April was already going for a seat. She let herself fall into the chair. She checked on her phone when the next flight was leaving and she bought herself another ticket. As soon as she had the check-in done, she received a call from Arizona.

"Hi Arizona," April said.

"You're not on the plane. I knew it. Was it you?" she asked.

"I don't know. Was it me what?"

"The surgeon that saved the leg of a man that had fallen down a hole in the street. That's you, right?" Arizona asked.

"I didn't save anyone's leg, that's up to the ortho surgeon who gets the case," April answered.

"She saved it. She was one of the residents trained by Callie. She sent Callie the case file."

"That doesn't explain how you know it was me, the surgeon on the field," April asked, wondering how Arizona knew.

"The paramedics told her the story and it sounded like something you would do. Going the extra mile. But being honest, I knew because they said it was a pity that you weren't practicing surgery anymore."

That last bit hurt April really deeply. Being recognized for not practicing anymore, for quitting her job, wasn't at all what she expected when she started studying Medicine. That was never how she wanted to be remembered. Quitting made her feel like a failure. She had chosen that wasn't gonna be her future anymore. She was to follow her call.

"I just hope that once I get out the airplane, you'll be waiting for me with Tequila. I had picked my poison this time."

"Great! I'll have tequila, Champagne and Pinot Noir. Just in case!"

"That sounds like a plan".

"Love ya! See you soon. And please, just stop putting yourself in danger, ok?"

"Ok. See ya", April said, feeling kind of bad, because she wasn't sharing everything with Arizona.

When April hung the phone, an old lady sitting next to her started a conversation with her.

"So, are you travelling for business or pleasure?" she asked her.

"I'm… definitely not work. I'm going to a wedding. What about you?" April asked.

"Definitely not a wedding. I don't think my grandson is going to marry any time soon. Are you married?"

April looked at her left hand where it used to be a ring and she decided to avoid the lady's question.

"I'm not marrying. I'm going to my best friend's wedding."

"I married my best friend, the love of my life. I met him at Mexico. Maybe you can meet the love of your life there," the lady said.

"I think I'm pass that," April said.

"Well, you never know. As long as you're alive, anything can happen. You don't get to know what you're going to lose and neither what you're going to gain."

"You're a wise lady. I'm taking your advice."

"I know you don't need to hear it from me. I can see it in your eyes. Death doesn't scare you. Life, on the other hand, you know it can make you suffer, without any warning, without any cause, without any criteria. And that's inevitable, there's nothing you can do to earn a life without sufferings in this earth. I know you wanna fight it, I know you feel that isn't right. You have to surrender because you still have it in you, the capability to be happy. No one can take that away from you. So stop fighting against life, you can't win. You need to start making it worthy. Now that's some advice," the lady said smiling at April, who was stunned looking at her.

"Nana, are you bothering this lady?" a man getting closer asked.

"Diego, you're embarrassing me", the lady said.

"There's no way she could be bothering me. You have a lovely grandma," April said.

Before April could actually check the time, the boarding to her flight started. April's seat was next to Diego and his grandma.

"Why are you going to Mexico? Can I ask?" April asked Diego.

"She wants it to end where it started," Diego told her while Alma, his grandma was sleeping.

And although that phrase hit her hard, she asked "What that's supposed to mean?"

"She is going back to the place where she was born, where she felt in love, where my mother was born and where she lost her best friend, the love of her life and her daughter."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know", April said.

"How could you had known?"

"I couldn't" April answered. But she was thinking how the old lady recognized in her what she had been trough and she felt she should have been able to do the same.

"You didn't sound sure. What did she tell you?"

"She told me she married her best friend and she told me, I don't know how to say it. She told me what she saw in my eyes."

"Was she right?"

"Yeah, she saw right through me."

"I don't know how she does it. She's quite special."

"Don't say that. I have told you more than once that there's nothing extraordinary about me. You just need to hear the silence and all the answers will come," Alma said.

"You don't have to answer me but… do you believe in God?" April asked.

"Well, I feel that returning to Mexico, is my way to return to him, you know? When I left my country, I was trying to leave so many things behind. I was angry with him and tried to live my life as if I could ignore his presence. I had been in good terms with him, until I lost my best friend and our kid. Seeing his presence in everything that was good was easy. But seeing him in the bad, that was something I couldn't do, so I stopped believing."

"But you do now?" April asked.

"Yes. Life has taught me not to see everything in terms of good and bad, and then it was easy. I saw he has always been there, no matter how bad the situation used to feel like. When you change, your world changes too," Alma said smiling but it was more than smile. Somehow, it seemed like she was smiling not only with her face, but also with her soul.

"Thank you for opening up with me. I'm sorry we woke you up. You should go back to sleep," April said.

"It's ok, honey. I'll have time to rest," Alma said.

The plane landed and they went to get their luggage. Once they took the luggage from the carousel, Diego and April went to Alma. April knew it as soon as she saw her. She had a pleasing smile on her face and her eyes were closed. She was gone. Diego took her hand and held it tightly.

"I'm sorry for your lost", April said.

"It's ok. She was expecting this to happen. She had cancer. She wanted her journey to end here, you know. Exactly where it started. That's your friend?" Diego asked April.

April turned around and saw Arizona waving at her.

"I think you need to go. Have a nice life, April," Diego said-

"Are you sure you're going to be fine? I can stay if you need me", April told Diego.

"Don't worry. Thank you for being here in her last moments. I can take care of myself. See you around and make it worthy."

April said goodbye to Diego and ran to hug Arizona.

"I missed you like hell," April said.

"I missed you too. So are you gonna tell me what you're doing here alone?"

"Do you have my poison?"

"Of course. Let's get to the hotel."

"I can't wait to see Harriet."

On the way to the hotel, they started catching up.

After arriving to her hotel, April left her things in her room, a room that was supposed to be for two. April jumped into her bed and smiled. It wasn't supposed to be this way, but she had no regrets. What was she going to say when asked about Matthew?

Arizona was going with her to find Harriet. On the way, April found many familiar faces. She was glad to see them but it stressed her having to answer questions about her and her husband who was missing. She thought it was a mistake not to have drunk her poison yet.

Harriet let go of her toys when she saw April standing there and she went to her with her arms wide open. April picked her up and hugged her. Harriet was the only person in the world that could make her feel at home.

Jackson and Maggie came to greet April.

"Hi, guys! Congratulations!" April said.

"Thank you for coming" Jackson said.

"There's no way I'd miss it. You've been always there for me," April said looking at Jackson. He was looking so good. The Caribbean sun looked good on him, while her skin was probably going to turn red as her hair.

"Where's Matthew?" Maggie asked.

Of course, someone had to ask her about Matthew…