Disclaimer: I do not own any character of (The Last of Us) TLOU is owned by Naughty Dog and its creators.

AN: Hi, first thanks to the people that are reading this story. Now this chapter will have a lot of jump in time as it will tell a few things about Joel's past, so I hope is not get too much confusing. Also all my happy wishes to all the mothers out there on their special day. Happy Mother's Day. Now let's go with the chapter.

Chapter 12: Memories from the Past

All Joel can see is darkness and don't know where he is. He is not sure if he was sleeping or something else. But maybe this was the end of his nightmare, because when he felt the wave hit him he knew that something bad was going to happen. He doesn't know what he was thinking when he grabs that board again and goes into the water, especially after drinking a lot the night before. Yeah, he has missed it, but that's not mean that he has to get into the water like that and try it again after so many years and after what happened. But maybe this was for the best, his life has not been the same after Tommy died, and if he has to die too what better way than doing what he loved for so many years?

(20 years ago)

"Hey… Joel!" a woman was calling his name before getting closer to him. Joel was working on his surfboard and was lost in his thoughts while listening to some music. So he didn't notice the woman at the entrance of the workshop he made in his garage. He was with his radio at high volume, so he didn't hear either. Slowly the woman walked toward him and grabbed him from behind and kissed him on the neck. "Hey, handsome… How are you doing today?" said the woman while hugging him tight from behind.

Joel let go of what he was using on the board and put one hand on top of her arm. "Hey… babe… did you wake up early today… hmmm!" He answered her with a lovely tone.

"Early? How long have you been here?... Is almost midday," said the woman with some giggle in her tone.

"Really?" he said while turning around in her arms. "I don't even notice… that," he said before kissing his girlfriend in the mouth. Tess responds to his kiss, by deepening it. After a minute, they both move apart.

"When you come here to work on that? I don't even notice when you wake up," she said without moving away from him.

"I don't remember… It was still dark when I came here… I guess… I just can't sleep and I don't want to wake you up."

"Are you nervous about the nationals? This has to be like a walk in the park for you… honey. Besides, the competition is going to be in two weeks, so you have a lot of time to get ready." she said before giving him a little peck on his lips.

"I know… I just… I was thinking about moving to that island in South America… remember the one we go on vacation with?"

"The small one where people go surfing all the time?" she said before slowly moving away from him.

"Yeah… the one that we went to last year," he said while moving back to the table where he had his board. "Rodrigo called me yesterday… Remember him?"

"Yeah… the nice old man that likes to hint at me?" she said in a mocking way. "How can I forget him?"

Joel laughed at her comment. "Yeah… I think he likes you a lot… anyway, he called me and told me that he found a house for sale close to the main town… he said that it is on the coast and has a beach behind it… that could be perfect for us."

Tess was surprised by his comment. "Wait!... Are you talking about going and living there?"

"No permanently… at least no for now. They're planning to do some competition there every year now. Yeah is going to be just a local competition, but we can go there for practice and if I buy the house we can have a good place to stay." he said, a little excited.

"I don't know Joel… I know that your parents dying a few years ago affected you, and the issue that you don't have any other family here wasn't good either, but to go to that island to live there permanently is not a little rushed. I mean I love you and I want to be with you, but I still have my family here and college."

"I know… I know… baby." Joel said before pulling her closer. "As I said, we're not going to live there right now… it is just a place to stay when we go there, it is not going to be a permanent house… at least not for now."

Tess, wrap his neck with her arms. "Well, if it is going to be a place for our vacation, I'm in," then she moves forward and kisses him. After they move apart she smiles at him. "You know… For a moment there I thought you were going to ask me to… marry you," she said with a smile.

"Ahhh, sorry for the wrong illusion, but maybe we can talk about that later… who knows, maybe it can be a marriage proposal in the future." She moved forward and kissed him again.

xXx

(Three years later)

"Hey… Joel is Bobby… we found one… dude you need to come here," said one of Joel's friends on the phone.

"One what?" Joel answered not knowing what his friend was talking about. "Do you know what time it is… man?"

"A Maverick dude… the biggest you can get in the States. All the gang is on the way there right now… so You need to come too… I will send you the address… man this is crazy."

Joel writes the address of the beach on a piece of paper and quickly grabs his surfboard, gets into his car, and drives there. It takes like 6 hours to drive there, but soon after he arrived at the beach, he saw his friend in the parking area. A lot of people were there watching the waves including a lot of the best surfing in the USA. Soon Joel gets out of his car, he walks toward his friends.

"Hey, Bobby… how things are here…" he said as he got close to his friend.

"Hey Joel, glad you made it… man," said the man before moving closer to him and hugging him. "This is crazy… man nobody has seen waves like this in a long time… all the best surfers are here. I talk to some of them, and they say that they have never seen anything like this before."

"Where are the others?"

"They are down on the beach… C'mon." The man put his arm around Joel's shoulder and guide him down to the beach. Joel saw a lot of people there, including a few surfers he knew only by reputation, but none of them were on the water.

"Why is nobody in the water?" Joel asked as they walked toward the crow.

"Some of them go in before you arrive, but get out without riding one. They said that the waves are too dangerous… so they get out and start thinking of going back there. But they're others that want to try," As soon as they got on the beach, they saw a few surfers go into the water and start moving toward the waves.

"Hey… Joel, glad you made it." said one of his surfer friends.

"Hey, Mark… Carl…" he said while shaking their hands. "Where Michale?"

"He said that he is not coming… we sent him a video and said that this is not for him," said Mark.

Joel moves forward and looks at the water. "Are those… Jason and Paul?" he said while looking at the two men moving in the water.

"Yep… they just go in… you know how crazy they're…" All of them watch as the two men start to ride their first wave. But after a few minutes, they fell off their board and into the water. All the people there watch them and wait until they get out of the water.

"Well, that was close…" said Joel while watching the waves. "So, are any of you going in?" asked Joel while looking at his friends.

"I don't think so guys, that is too much for me," said Carl after watching the two surfaces get hit by the wave.

"What about you two?" asked Joel to his other two friends.

"Well, I wanted to go, but after watching Jason and Paul I don't think I can…" Mark said while looking at Joel.

"What a bunch of losers… why all of you came if you don't even want to try it?" Said Bobby while looking at his friends.

"Sorry man, but I don't think this will be like this… and after watching a few people fall down… I don't think I want to go there," said Mark with a firm voice.

"So, I guess it is only you and me… Let's go, man," said Joel while grabbing his board and walking toward the water. ,

"Joel!... Joel!... Joel."

"Bobby!... Bobby… Bobby."

Start yelling at their friends and other people there as they go into the water.

Joel and Bobby watch a few more men getting into the water after they did, but not moving toward the waves. Joel and Bobby go on top of their board and start to move toward the waves. As soon as they pass a few small ones. They saw the next one as it got bigger.

"Sorry man… I can't do it," he yells toward Joel before turning to the side to get away from it.

Joel looked at him and shook his head. Why would they call him here if all of them were going to chicken out, but this was a chance of a lifetime so he continued forward. He has wanted to ride a Maverick wave since he was young and started surfing, but he never got the chance. Joel continues until he gets into position for the next wave. He watched a few others trying to get the one it already passed but failed. Even the best surfers in the state that came here are moving out of the water. But not Joekl, he wanted to be the one to ride one today. So as the next wave came, Joel started to move with it and got ready.

Joel starts to stand up on his board as the wave starts to form. He stabilizes himself and the waves start to break as he moves inside. People on the beach start to yell his name as he moves on the wave like just a few people have done before him. But the glory was not with him today. As Joel was almost at the end of the wave, the upper part of the water hit him hard and made him fall from the board into the water while the rest of the waves covered him. His board goes flying up in the air in two parts while the water pushes him under. Some of his friends quickly grab their boards and run toward the water. One of the surfers that were still on the water, went under to look for him and after a few minutes, he surfaced with Joel in his arms.

As his friends move closer to them, they notice some blood on the water that was coming from his head. "We need to call an ambulance… I think he hit his head with some rocks on the button." said the man that was helping him.

"Oh my god, he is not responding… let's put him on the board and take him to the beach." said one of his friends who came to help. The waves were hard to take on, but they managed to put Joel on and start to swim away from the big waves. Soon they arrive at the beach, and one of his friends calls 911. His friends and a lot of the surfers and people that were there surrender them to try to see if he was still alive. Some of the surfers start to go away and others stay there, but none of them go to the water again. The waves got wider and now they were impossible to ride without risking their life.

The ambulance arrived 30 minutes later, so soon they took Joel, he was taken to the local hospital as soon as possible. Bobby called Tess on the way to the hospital and told her what happened. Soon they arrived at the hospital, a doctor there attended him and told a few nurses to take him to the emergency room where he was going to be checked out. When Tess arrived at the hospital, he was already in a recuperation room. He was still unconscious but stable.

"How is he?" she asked desperately to one of his friends who was sitting in the waiting room.

Bobby gets up and looks at her. "He is still alive and stable for now…"

Matt moves up too and walks closer to her. "I think he got lucky… if it was another person it would be dead by now." Bobby bows him to the side so he stops talking as soon he sees Tess's face.

"Lucky? Do you call that stupidity? Lucky? What the hell were all of you thinking? Go to that beach and try to ride those waves… are all of you that stupid?"

Bobby moves forward and looks her in the eyes. "Sorry… Tess, we didn't know that they're going to be that bad, and besides, it was his decision to-" he stops when Tess gives him a mad look.

"You two are fucking stupid… so I don't want to continue talking with you… so where is he?" asked Tess while looking around the place.

"I think they were going to put him in observation… but they didn't let us go there."

Tess looks at the closer counter to ask the nurse there for his room. "Don't worry they will let me in," she said while walking toward the counter. Hi, I am looking for my boyfriend. He was brought here a few hours ago from the beach… he had an accident. I just arrived and I want to see him and know how he is."

"What is his name?"

"Joel… Joel Miller…"

"Oh… yeah the surfer… he was taken to room 566 on the fifth floor… you can go to see him, but only you… Your friends have to stay here."

Is okay, go… we stay here. Just let us know how he is." Said Bobby with a sad tone. Tess just gives them a bad look. "We're really sorry about all this and we're praying for him.

"I just hope that he gets out of this… or swear to God that you two are going to pay for this," said Tess before she walked away.

Soon Tess arrives at his room, she opens the door and walks toward the bed. She saw all the machines connected to him and it made her cry. After a few minutes, she moves close to him and grabs his hand. "You stupid idiot… What the hell were you thinking? What did I want to prove… hmm?" she said as more tears got out of her eyes.

xXx

(One year later)

Joel stays in the hospital for three weeks, he wakes up a few days later with Tess beside him. His friend comes a few times to see how he was, but Tess makes sure that they don't stay long, especially when they start to talk about surfing. Joel has to take some therapy as the hit his suffer affects his spine and needs some recovery. Soon after he was out of the hospital he get back home and continued with his normal life, but not surfing was allowed. A few months later, Joel and Tess were sitting in the doctor's office after he finished his therapy session. The man started looking at his test and X-ray.

"So what do you think doc?" asked Joel expecting some good news.

"Well, you recover well from the few fractures you get in the accident and I don't see any real problem with the trauma you get on your head…" the doctor started, but after watching his x-ray for a few minutes. He made some gestures that made Joel see as a but there.

"But? Please don't let me in suspense doc…"

"I think you can still work well, but your career as a surfer… is probably over." he looked at Joel's face as soon as he said that. "Sorry, Joel… but your x-ray showed some damage on the upper part of your spine and it can make you paralyzed if you get hit hard there again.

Joel can't believe that. Surfing was the most important thing in his life. "But… that can be fixed... Right? I mean can it be operable?" said Joel with a desperate tone.

"Well, literally it could be operated on, but I do not recommend… It is a dangerous procedure that isn't worth the risk. You will be fine to work, just need to be careful… and if you try the operation it can end with you completely paralyzed."

"That can be all… if I want to take that risk… It's not my decision to take?" he asks while trying to get up, but Tess stops him.

"Joel!" she said while holding him down. He said that you can still work… if you watch yourself… So why risk your life?" she said while looking at him.

The doctor looked at both of them. "Yes… you can make that choice, but not many doctors can operate, and the one they can not take that risk. But don't worry, you can still live a regular life without too many problems. You just need to limit a little of your activities and make sure to protect that part of your spine." He looks at Joel's expression. "I know you want to continue surfing, but if you do you're going to end up in bad condition or worse."

After a few minutes, Joel stood up. "I can't accept this… I want a second opinion," he said before turning around and walking toward the door, and getting out.

Tess, get up and look at the doctor. "Thank you for everything doc… I will talk to him."

"Just make sure that he does not go back to surfing… or he is going to end up worse the next time."

"Don't worry I will make sure he doesn't," Tess turns around and goes out of the doctor's office. After that, she looked for Joel until she found him in the parking lot. "Hey… are you okay?" she asked with a sad tone.

"What do you think?" he said while crossing his arms and looking away. "I've been a surfer all my life… so what am I supposed to do now?"

Tess moved closer to him and put one hand on his face. "Surfing is just a sport, Joel. I never was a real carer … yeah I know you love it so much and you get sponsors and all that, but it is not all you can do with your life. You know that someday this will come to an end… so maybe it is time for you to start something new. There are a lot of other things that you can do."

Joel turned his head to the side. "I don't know Tess… this is what I love to do… so what other thing I can do?"

"Well, you can do a lot of things… I know you're good with your hands and you can take a few short courses on a few things you can do." She moved closer and hugged him. "I know that surfing was a great part of your life, and maybe you don't need to get all out of that. You can repair boards or even give some classes on surfing. "You can get a university diploma and start a new career. I know that you can find a good job and move from there."

Joel looked at her when she put a hand on his cheek. "I know that surfing wasn't all in my life… but I really love the ocean… feel those waves under me were beautiful… all that was more than a sport for me. All the competitions, all the excitement… it was the best thing I could do in my life." After a few minutes, he wrapped his arm around her. "I really don't know what to do now without doing that… even if some of the things that you suggest look interesting."

Tess looks at his face and smiles. "Yeah… I know… but what about a new start? Remember about that Island you want to go to live on? Maybe you can find a good job there close to the water, maybe that will help you… to still be close to what you like."

Joel looks at her and smiles. "Will you come with me? I mean we can live there together," he asked.

"I… will love too," she looked at him and thought for a moment. "But I need to finish my two years of studies first, but I can join you after that… What do you think?"

"I think that I will be so alone there without you." He said while moving forward. "But I think that I can wait for you." he moves closer and kisses her.

Tess kisses him back and when they break the kiss she smiles at him. "It will be only for two years, you will see how fast that goes… and then we can plan our future there." she moved closer to him and put her head on his chest. "Maybe I can find a job there too and you will have your things running when I arrive."

"That sounds like a plan…" he said while hugging her tight.

xXx

(Six years later)

"Hey… Joel, creo que tu… novia y ese viejo del bote… están allá afuera… buscándote." said a drunken as soon he got closer to Joel 's table inside a local bar. The man worked with Joel a few times in the last 2 years.

"Hey… Felipe… no sabía que estabas aquí." Said Joel with a drunken tone. He looked at the man and smiled. "¿Quieres unirte a nosotros?" he said while pointing to the two men sitting with him. "We… have a little… celebration here…"

"No… gracias, ya tengo que irme… mi mujer me está esperando… solo vine a avisarte… sobre tu novia y tu amigo."

Joel slowly looked back at him. "Pues.. diles… que… no estoy… aquí," he said before grabbing a beer from the table and starting to drink it.

"Man… no creo que eso… funcione… tu coche está afuera y ya saben… que estás aquí."

Joel finished his beer and rolled his eyes. "I don't want to talk to them… is there a backdoor in here?" said Joel while standing up.

"En español… man," said the drunken man that came to warn him.

"Hay alguna puerta trasera en… este lugar?" he asked again in Spanish.

"Seguro… seguro… solo sígueme."

"Nos vemos luego muchachos… fue un placer verlos," he said before taking out his wallet and throwing 50 pesos on the table. Then he started to follow the man. Joel follows the man until they arrive at the backdoor that takes them to the outside bathrooms.

Both men got outside and started to look around. "¿Quieres que te lleve?" asked the drunken man.

"What? You're a drunk man… beside… I have my own car… somewhere," he said while looking around.

"Spanish dude…" he said before losing his balance and almost hitting the floor if it was not for Joel grabbing him by the arm.

"You should have been driving… man. You should call your wife-"

"Joel is that you?" He hears a woman as soon as he moves away from the building.

"Shit!" said Joel as soon he saw the woman and let go of the drunken man. The man quickly falls to the ground as he can't sustain himself. Joel looked at him with worried eyes. "Hey… man estas bien?" The man didn't answer as he started to throw up.

Tess walked toward him. "Joel… what the hell are you doing here? You are supposed to be at work… they called you like 10 times already… and said that if you continue missing work… they're going to fire you," she said while moving close to Joel and pulling him away from the drunken man.

Joel tries to get away from her grab. "I don't give a shit… if they're calling me… they can fire me if they want… because I'm not going back there anyway… that work sucks…" he said while trying to get away from her. "All of this sucks… I hate this place… I hate my life," said Joel while shaking his arm away. "What are you doing here anyway… is not like I want you here… Fuck!... How did you find me?" Joel yelled at her.

Tess was without words. "I brought her here Joel… necesitas para esto… you need help… man," said Rodrigo as soon he appeared at the back of the bar.

Joel turns his head to the side and looks at the old man behind Tess. "It figures… siempre hay una rata… alrededor de uno."

"Rata?… por dios… ¿te estas escuchando hablar a ti mismo?" said the old man with an indignant tone. "Este no eres tú… ¿Qué rayos haces Joel?"

"Joel… what the hell!" said Tess while moving close to him again. "Don't talk to him like that… We're just trying to help you… you need to stop this… what happened to Tommy it wasn't your fault."

"Well, guess what… I don't need any help… and I don't need you…" he moved to the side and looked at Rodrigo. "Y definitivamente no te necesito a ti… so why you two go to hell and leave me alone…"

Tess looks at him as some tiara goes down her cheek. "If you want to continue to feel pity for yourself and want to throw your life away for something that wasn't your fault… I'm done… I try my best to help you Joel… but I can see now that you don't want any help." Tess moves one hand toward her fingers and takes the ring that Joel gave to her a few years back off. "Here…" she threw it to him. "I hope that one day you find your way back Joel… but from this day forward, I'm done trying," Tess turns around so Joel can't see her cry and quickly walks away.

"C'mon… I will take you back home," said Rodrigo while walking after her.

Joel looked at them but didn't say anything or move toward them. He just stayed there watching them go.

xXx

(Now, back to the present)

Rodrigo opens the door of the hospital room Joel was in. It Has been two days since Joel was brought to the hospital and he hasn't woken up yet. "Hey…" he said as soon as he closed the door behind him.

Ellie turns her head and looks at him. "Hi…" she said with a tired tone. Ellie was sitting on a chair beside the bed. She has been in the hospital since they brought Joel there.

"Here… te traje algo de café.," he said while passing one of the cups to her.

"Thanks…" she said before giving a sip of the coffee. "Did you talk to the doctor?"

"Yes… he said that his conduction is growing better… I… Mmmm, I don't know how to explain the rest he said, but the doctor said that he will come here in one hour to check on him."

Ellie looks at Joel with a sad expression. "If he is getting better… Why hasn't he woken up yet?"

Rodrigo moves closer to her. "I don't know… but Joel told me once that he had an accident surfing and almost died… so probably it has to be something like that."

Ellie turns her head and looks at him. "That is why he doesn't surf anymore?"

"That… and something else…" he stays quiet for a few minutes. "Look, I'm glad that you're here, but you should go back to your hotel… you should not miss your vacation time for being here. I can see how much you care for him, but you already have to do too much… for him."

Ellie looks at Joel's sleeping form. "You said that he doesn't have any family… so I don't want to leave it alone here… I know it sounds stupid. A girl like me has been doing all this for a man she knows very well, but I know how it feels to be alone in a hospital and if this can help, I will stay here all the time I can. "

Rodrigo looks at Ellie with some concern. "Are you talking about yourself?" he asked curiously. "Did you spend time in a hospital?"

Ellie lowered her head and looked at the coffee cup in her hands. "No… It… it was my father… he was very sick for a long time and was in the hospital a lot." Ellie was surprised to tell the old man that. She never likes to talk about her father or what happens to him.

"Did he get better?" he asked with a sad tone.

Ellie stayed quiet for a few minutes before speaking again. "No… he died," she said with watery eyes and a sad expression.

The old man walked closer to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry to hear that," he said with a sad tone. "I'm sure that he was a great dad… it's sad to lose someone like that."

After a few minutes, Ellie wiped the tears from her face. "Yes, he was… He died of cancer a few years ago. Sorry if this is making you sad… I don't know why I'm telling you this… I don't even talk with my mother about all that." she said while racing her head and looking at the old man.

"Don't need to feel bad about it… Sharing is a great step on the road to healing… you should not keep all that to yourself. That it's never good for a person, mentally and physically." the old man looks toward the bed where Joel is. "Did Joel know?" he asked her.

"No," she said, now looking at the bed too. "Like I said… I don't like to talk about it and since Joel doesn't like to talk about himself much… I didn't bring it up."

"Is a shame… because two broken hearts can help each other in the healing process. You should tell him, that will be good for both of you."

Ellie looks back at the old man. "I didn't even notice much, but you've been talking in English a lot since I found you in the bar. Your English is really good. Where did you learn it? And why are Joel and you talking in Spanish around me all the time?"

The man turned his head and looked at her. "Well, I told you in the bar that I understand English. I'm sorry if Joel and I talk much in Spanish, which is the native language here. And for where I learned… I can tell you that was because of my parents."

"Are you american?" Ellie asked curiously.

"No… but my parents were. I was born here after my parents got married, and came to live on this Island… Well, not here at first. We lived first in Ecuador for 20 years before coming to live here. So Spanish has become my native language, but my parents always teach me English too." The man was going to say something else but stopped when he saw Joel move his head. "Hey, man… como te sientes?" he asked as soon Joel opened his eyes.

Joel looked at him. "What the hell happened? And where I am?" he said in a whisper tone.

"You don't remember what happened?" he asked as soon he moved to the other side of the bed.

"I… remember water… a lot of it… and an Angel… I thought I was dead… until I hear your voice… now."

"Well, I don't know about the dead and angel part… but Ellie was the one that saved you…. So maybe she was the angel you saw," he said with a smile.

Ellie gets up from the chair and stands beside the bed on the other side. "Are you-" She started but was interrupted when the door of the room opened and the doctor came in.

"Saludos vine a ver al… oh veo que despertó," said the doctor while quickly walking to the side of the bed. "Vamos aver como sigues…" the doctor put Joel's medical record on the small table beside his bed and took a little lighting pen and examined Joel's eyes.

Rodrigo and Ellie move away from the bed to let the doctor do his job. "¿Está todo bien?" asked Rodrigo after a few minutes.

Soon the doctor finishes, and he looks at the people in the room. He grabbed the medical record and started to check it. "Esta mañana recibí los últimos análisis y placas… y al parecer no hay nada grave. El golpe en la cabeza no fue tan grave gracias a Dios." he said while looking toward Rodrigo and Ellie. "La falta de oxígeno bajo el agua y el agua que trago no reflejan ningún daño permanente y el haber despertado es una buena señal." he said while looking at Joel now. The doctor was young, like 37 or 40, but he was one of the best doctors on the island. "¿Cómo te sientes?"

"Como… si me hubiera… arrollado un autobús." Said Joel with some difficulty.

"Yo creo que tuviste mucha suerte… según me dijeron esa dama de hay te salvó la vida." The doctor turns his head and looks at Ellie. Si no te hubiera sacado del agua y darte los primeros auxilios otro sería el cuento."

"Si… hoy algo de eso…" he said while looking toward Ellie.

"Bueno… hay otras cosas que tenemos que discutir en tu récord médico." he turn his head and look toward Ellie and Rodrigo. "El récord de un paciente es privado y come ustedes no son familiares… tendré que pedirles que salgan unos minutos de lo que yo hablé con Joel."

"Oh… sí por supuesto." Rodrigo grabs Ellie's arm and looks at her. They need to talk in private… so let's go outside for a few minutes."

"Sure…" she said while walking toward the door with Rodrigo. "We can talk later… okay," she said to Joel before going out of the room and closing the door.

"Soon they go outside, and Rodrigo moves beside her. "Let's go to the cafeteria… you need to eat something." Ellie looks at the door with worried eyes. "Don't worry, now that he woke up and the doctor said he was better… everything is going to be okay."

Rodrigo takes Ellie to the small cafeteria in the hospital since the island is not big; it only has one hospital that is in the main town. Rodrigo buys some lunch for the two of them since Ellie has barely eaten since the time she was there. "So you think Joel will be okay to go? I mean if the doctor wants to talk to him in private… don't you think something is wrong?" asked Ellie.

"He will probably talk with him about some private stuff. As you hear the doctor, he didn't suffer any permanent damage… but I will ask as soon as we get back and see what he can tell me."

"I hope he will be able to get out soon… I don't like much to see people in a hospital,"

"Yeah… I know now why…" he put one hand on top of Ellie's. I wanted to thank you… not only for saving his life but for staying here even if you don't have to. I know how hard this is for you… so thank you."

"You don't need to thank me… Joel is like a friend to me and… and I will do anything to see him well.

"Yeah… anyway thank you." he ate part of his sandwich before speaking again. "Well, I guess he will need someone to look after him for a few days… when he gets released from here. So I will need to start looking for one. I will do it but I can stay in his house all day and he doesn't have too many friends here that can help him like that."

"Maybe I can help you with that… I mean, I can look after him until he recovers completely," she said quickly.

"Oh… no, no… I can't let you do that… you're on vacation and you don't need to stop that for-"

"I don't mind…" she said quickly to stop him. "I mean… if you don't think of finding someone else… I can do it."

Rodrigo looks at her face and notices what he has suspected since he met her for the first time and saw them together. He knows now that the young woman has some feelings for Joel, but he needs to let Joel work on his feelings. "Okay… I don't mind if you don't… but that will depend on Joel."

"Okay…"

After they finish eating, they go back to the front of the room, and for a few minutes, the door of the room opens and the doctor comes out. He looks toward Ellie and Rodrigo and moves closer to them. "Hey… el Sr. Miller está preguntando por ustedes dos…" said the doctor.

"Todo esta bien doc? ¿Algo que Joel necesite hacer?" asked Rodrigo.

"Solo mucho descanso y que se mantenga en cama por algunos días y por supuesto fuera del agua y de hacer fuerza innecesarias… le daré una receta para unos medicamentos que debe tomar."

"Gracias doctor."

"Trate de conseguirle a alguien que lo cuide por unos días… y que se asegure de que se tome su medicamento."

"No se preocupe por eso, yo me encargo de eso… gracias."

"Perfecto, arreglar los papeles para su salida y la receta… volveré en unas horas." The man looks toward Ellie. "Señorita… que tenga un buen dia… y me alegra que el Sr. Miller tenga tan buenas personas a su lado." he said before walking away.

Both Ellie and Rodrigo walk toward the room and enter. He closes the door as soon as Joel looks his way. "Hable con el doctor… and you need someone to stay with you for a couple of days."

Joel looked at him and rolled his eyes. "No necesito a una niñera Rodrigo… estoy perfectamente bien," he said the looked toward Ellie. "The doctor told me that you stay by my side since I was brog here… you don't have to do that, but thank you," he said with a better tone in his voice.

"It was okay… Joel, I didn't mind." She moves to the other side of the bed and looks at his face. "I'm just glad that you're okay and nothing bad happens to you."

Rodrigo moves to the other side. "She also was the one that saved your life… I know this is not the time or place to talk about what happens, but we're going to have a talk as soon as we take you back to your house," he said with a firm tone.

Joel knew what he was talking about and the last thing he needs is a lecture, especially in front of Ellie. So he was happy that he wouldn't do that in front of her. "Yeah… I bet you will." Joel looks at Ellie again. "Thanks again for saving my life, I guess I was lucky that you went to my house and… well thank you," Joel turned his head and looked toward the glass window, trying to avoid her eyes. "Sorry that I ruined part of your vacation… by making you pass for all this… I'm really sorry for that," he said without looking at her.

"You don't need to be sorry for that… Joel. I'm glad that I was able to help you… and that you're better now."

He turns his head and looks at her. "Yeah… but you risk your life… for me." he turned his head and looked at the ceiling. "You shouldn't have to do that… I never will be able to forget myself if something happens to you, just because I was an asshole and…" he stops there as memories of Tommy start to get into his head.

"Is okay Joel… I'm good at swimming… Besides, I have to do something so I can't let you die there. I am just glad that Rodrigo took me to your house in time to help you… I was so worried when you didn't show up at the hotel."

"I'm so sorry for the trouble I caused you and that you have to waste some of your vacation time on me…"

"Joel, don't worry about my vacation… that is not important right now. What matters is that you're okay. I can still extend my time here for two more weeks. Besides, you still need to compensate me for the time we lost… of course when you recover and get better."

Joel turns his head and looks at her. "Really… you still want me to do that… after all this?"

"Yes…" she said with a smile.

Joel rolled his eyes again. "You should continue with your vacation, Ellie… I'm not going to be able to take you anywhere any time soon… besides you already do too much for me… and I don't know how I can repay you for that."

"Well… we will have some time to think of something… so don't worry about it."

Joel looks at her with curious eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Por qué no hablamos sobre esto cuando te llevamos de vuelta a la casa?" Said Rodrigo.

Joel turns his head and looks at Rodrigo. "What do you mean we, old man… Ellie needs to go back to her hotel and continue with her vacation…"

"Well, you need someone to take care of you for a couple of days… So this young woman here volunteers to help you with that."

Joel opened his eyes wide while looking at both of them. "You two are not serious right?"