Title: Thin Air – The Juan Fulanito Edition
Characters/Pairings: Juan F., a few OCs
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Alternate Ending No. 3 to "Thin Air".
Author's Note: Well… I don't speak Spanish. But Google Translate and LEO Dictionary do, so I hope I didn't screw up too badly with the Spanish. Lo siento.
Day 420
He's been dubbed Juan Fulanito. A fulanito is what they call a John Doe in Mexico. As to how he got to be one and ended up in this country, he has no bloody clue.
They tell him he's been in a coma for over a year, and that it's a milagro—a miracle—that he's woken up after all this time. They find a nurse who can speak English, who asks him a lot of questions in a strong Spanish accent.
He doesn't remember a thing. Not his name, not where he's from or how he got to Mexico. They give him a hand mirror, and the person staring back at him looks completely unfamiliar.
There isn't much of a police force in rural Mexico, and the American embassy is a long way away. He's tried to get someone to look into who he might be, but he's been running into walls.
And today's he's being released from the hospital with no clear idea what the rest of his life is going to be like.
Yolanda waits for him in the doorway, patient with his slow movements and shuffling steps. He's had to relearn how to walk, how to eat, how to speak, how to be a self-sufficient human being again. It's been a long struggle, but he's finally strong enough to get out of this sordid place.
Yolanda speaks good English and is eager to have someone she can practice on. She's managed to convince her family to take Juan in and care for him until he's strong enough to work and make a living. In Veracruz, family comes first, and Juan is now family.
Day 697
"Juan!" Yolanda calls him, "I need some help over here."
"Esperar!" he responds. "Ya voy. I'm coming."
He helps her load the firewood off the old, rickety pickup truck. Their latest purchase, and he's damn proud. Soon she'll have to stop with the heavy lifting, because she's four months pregnant. She's only just starting to show.
He pulls her close and kisses her on the head. "You need to stop working so hard, mi amor."
"And you need to stop being so… so…" She's looking for the word.
"Awesome?"
"Patronizey." She pronounces it wrong too, and he laughs.
"Patronizing. And I'm not. I just love you. And our future offspring."
She playfully pushes him away. "Go be more awesome. I'll have dinner ready en media hora."
He smiles to himself, and thinks how lucky he is to have found a life here and a beautiful wife along with it. Sometimes he dreams of an overwhelmingly busy, gray city with sky-high skyscrapers and someone repeating the word 'foggy'. It doesn't mean anything to him, even though he does wonder if they're old memories.
But it doesn't matter now. He's Juan, and he's happy where he is.