They were eighteen when Julieta visited Aya with a patient complaining of sleep paralysis and apparitions. Aya leapt into action and concocted a solution within hours. The young man burst into tears and profusely thanked her for her help. Julieta shyly requested a bottle for herself. After that, more people started trickling down the path toward Aya's hut. Because Aya's treatments were not magical like Julieta's, it took her a few trials and errors before getting consistent results.
Aya started going to church again. Wearing a black veil, she sat in the back to not attract attention. But people started noticing her in the church, in the plaza, and in the market. Her visibility in these public places brought more people to her hut within the year. One of these new patients was Bruno Madrigal.
One afternoon, Bruno emerged from the path with a haunted look in his eyes. "Please, help," he croaked. He was pale and thin, and he had dark circles under his eyes. His facial hair was newly grown but in need of a trim. His curls, normally shiny and bouncy, now hung limply around his face. Julieta had spoken to Aya about how Bruno's frightening visions and deteriorating reputation in the community was taking at toll on his mental state, but Aya hadn't expected it to affect him physically as well.
"I don't know what to do, Aya! I'm his sister. I'm supposed to help him, but I can't!" Julieta had wept.
Her heart swelling with love for her friends, Aya guided Bruno to the bench outside her hut. He plopped himself on the bench. He had an unblinking stare in the middle distance.
"Bruno!" Aya shouted, clapping her hands once.
Bruno blinked and seemed to wake from his trance. He began to get up. "I-I-I'm s-s-sorry. I-I-I should—not—be—here. I don't know why I even—"
Aya leveled a stern look at him, and he sat back down.
Bruno started panting. "It's like my feet brought me here."
"Because?"
"Because..." Bruno's voice broke. He reached for his hood to cover his face.
Aya sat beside him and held his hand. She waited like that until he spoke again. It was something that her mother would do when anyone was upset.
"Last week, I cut myself," Bruno confessed.
Aya closed her eyes and bowed her head. She squeezed his hand.
Bruno wept. "I wasn't trying to kill myself. I fantasize about it—a lot. But I don't know what possessed me to actually take the razor and—" He sobbed.
Aya glanced at Bruno's arms. She sighed in relief to see them intact.
"I eat Juli's food before anyone would notice," Bruno grumbled. "But it didn't kill this—thing—inside."
"And today?" Aya asked in the gentlest voice she could muster.
"Pepa saw me just as I was healing myself. She screamed at me and cried."
Aya felt a little better to hear that. Bruno didn't need to have Aya's outrage hurled at him, too. "That explains the rain today."
"She and Julieta took and hid my razor." He absentmindedly touched his beard. "They said I'll have it when I decide to use it properly."
Aya let the silence linger for a moment. She glanced at Bruno, who was now staring at the ground. She was disappointed that he would do this to himself. But Bruno didn't come here for a scolding.
"Does Doña Alma know?"
"I made my sisters promise not to tell."
Aya gently patted Bruno's hand and got up to get a glass of water for him. When she came back, she held it just out of his reach. "Bruno," she said softly, "if you kill yourself, I would miss you."
Bruno's eyes widened. His mouth twisted in disbelief.
Aya had no idea what he was going through, but she could swear that pain pierced through her heart to see it on his face. "You are brave and beautiful and smart and funny. I get to help other people now because you helped me," she said, her voice trembling with emotion.
Bruno tore his gaze away from hers. "No! Because of me, you lost your family!"
"Because of you, I am alive! I was about to throw myself into the river when you and your sisters found you. You led them here."
Bruno was shaking his head.
Aya crouched in front of him and put the water on the bench. "Bruno, look at me. Look at me!"
Sobbing, Bruno looked at her. Aya's own eyes welled with tears at the sight of his sorrow. Aya cupped his face with her face, so he couldn't look away from her again. "I love you," she said.
Aya sat beside him and gave him the water. She stroked his hair while he slowly calmed down. "You were right to come here. My family treated patients like you."
Bruno's face shone with a hopeful light. "So you can help me?"
Aya smiled and nodded. She went into her hut to search her shelves for a jar of dried yellow flowers. She handed Bruno the jar. "Steep a teaspoon of the flowers in a cup of water and drink the infusion every day. You won't feel the effects right away, but over time, you'll start to feel better," she said. "If the dark thoughts persist, I have something stronger, but I can't give that one to you until you're a little older."
Bruno finally smiled. "Thank you, Aya."
"With or without this medicine, just come to me whenever you feel like this. It doesn't matter what weather or day or hour. I love you," she repeated.
Bruno still looked astonished to hear it. But he was no longer resisting it.
"Thank you. I love you, too."
