Chapter 18: Recuperation

The week passed with pain on Valero's side and mystery on Hana's side. She went to the hospital to get Valero since the recovery period was over and Dr. Taka said he could go home. When she arrived, she saw Joaquin in a wheel chair with a defeated look on him. This man once with confidence and stoic was now a pale and empty. She felt his sadness that he didn't want anyone to know about. While walking towards him, she was stopped by Dr. Taka, who wanted to explain the situation.

"Oh, Hana san before you take him home, we need to talk about his condition and what we know." Dr. Taka said to Hana. She looked at Joaquin quickly and agreed. She walked into her office and took a seat on the leather chair.

"Well Hana the good news is that he is ready to go home and his insurance covered all of the treatment so don't worry about the bills. Special Forces get really good pensions, so in his case he must have been really something." Dr. Taka said to Hana.

"Oh I see, well that's good, but I'm more concerned about his health rather. You said that he only has a short time left." Hana said.

"Yes unfortunately. His cancer has become advanced quickly and there is only little we can do. I'm sorry, but he is going to die." Those words hit Hana hard. She now felt useless to save his life, why didn't he say anything? Why didn't she do something when she first noticed the blood? Is this what he wanted? Dr. Taka interrupted her thoughts.

"Hana san, we need you to sign some papers. Just some release forms and some other works." Dr. Taka said to Hana.

"Dr. Taka, you said that you never seen this type of cancer before. What did you mean by that?" Hana asked.

"Well, cancer usually grows periodically and slowly. This however, was sporadic, and was caused by something external. We found what was believed to be radioactive material in his lungs, microscopic isotopes that have radioactivity in them. How did he get?"

"Radioactive? As in like uranium?"

"No not that, just something we can't identify. Luckily we were wearing our surgical masks and saw that it wasn't enough to infect the room."

"But he has radioactive material in him?"

"Relax, we got all of it out, or at least enough to only affect him."

"HOW CAN YOU SAY RELAX?!" Hana said with such anger. "HE IS DYING AND ALL YOU CAN SAY IS RELAX?! WHAT KIND OF DOCTOR ARE YOU?!" Hana felt her anger then cool down. Dr. Taka took a deep breath and took in the remark. She then proceeded with sympathy.

"Hana, I understand that this is a bad situation, and that his outcome is most severe, but understand there is only so much we can do for him." Dr. Taka said to Hana.

"No I understand, I'm sorry about my outburst."

"Ok, let's get these papers signed and you'll be on your way out with Valero san." Dr. Taka handed out the forms and Hana signed them. She then left the office to see Joaquin. He was still at the window looking out. His face pale and looking skinnier due to the treatments. She walked up to him to see if she can cheer him up.

"Hey tough guy, hanging in there?" Hana asked Joaquin. He still stared blankly at the window. She saw the sadness in his eyes. They went back to his hospital room to get him dressed back into normal clothing. His limbs felt numb and weak. Hana helped him with his shirt and jacket as well as his pants. He tried to walk but Hana insisted that they use the wheel chair. Joaquin reluctantly agreed. He sat down and Hana pushed him to the elevator and then to the parking lot. He was able to get in the truck himself. They drove off back to the house. There was silence for a while, then Hana tried to talk to him.

"Valero san, did you know you had this condition?" Hana asked Joaquin. Valero was silent and looked out the window. Hana asked again. "Valero san, I understand that you didn't want tell anyone, but please I need to know, did you know?" Joaquin decided to answer.

"Yea, I did. It's not an easy thing to talk about." Joaquin said with a raspy voice.

"But we could've gotten you help in the beginning. Why wait?" Hana asked Joaquin.

"I did, many doctors, but none could help. Even my medic." He said.

"How many have you seen?"

"Many."

"And they had the same answers?"

"Yea, that I'm just one foot in the grave."

"Tell me, did you get this condition from your last assignment?" Joaquin was shocked. How did she know about the mission? She must have read his journal. At this point, it didn't matter.

"Yes, we were on a mission and everything just fell apart." Joaquin said to Hana.

"How so?" Hana asked.

"People started dying, even my own team."

"And this sin that you have was it on the mission?" Joaquin was reluctant to answer. He just gave a simple answer.

"Yes." Joaquin said. Hana felt that if he answered, maybe he would feel at ease.

"What is this sin you have?" Hana asked Joaquin. Joaquin didn't want to answer. "Valero san, maybe if you talk about it maybe you could feel better." Joaquin felt differently.

"Hana, there are some things that even if I talked, it would only make me worse about myself." Joaquin answered. Hana decided to stop talking about it. They got home and Hana helped him to his bed. On the way out of the room, she found a folded piece of paper on the desk. She opened it up and read what was inside.

Dear Hana,

Thank you for everything you have done for me. It was a huge pleasure to meet you and the children. Now I must bid you farewell and hope for the best for you and the family. There are many things you wondered about me and I never answered to your questions. You must understand that there are some things I wish to keep to myself and want to take to the next world. May Spider Woman bless you and your children.

Ahéhee'

The letter was heartwarming and yet feeling of a last act of his life. She wanted to know what he had intended after he left.