Their Miracle Baby

She knew that Ronnie was patiently waiting for her to share her story, but every time Venetia opened her mouth to tell her, they were interrupted. It wasn’t a story she wanted to tell twice, or in stops and starts, so it was just going to have to wait until there was time.

Finally, one night as they were getting ready for bed, Ronnie turned to her and said, “My guides have told me that tonight is the time for you to tell me your story. You look better than when you arrived, but you’re still unbalanced. You need to let it out, only then will you be able to find balance in your life.”

Venetia laughed. “Someone is always bugging me about finding balance in my life,” she said, thoughts of Lewis bringing tears to her eyes. “But I guess it’s time I talked about it. The pain is better now.”

“Sometimes pain has a purpose, but if you let it consume you, it never ends,” Ronnie said, handing Venetia a cup of tea and settling next to her on the pallet.

Far into the night, Venetia poured out her story, from that first date to the moment that she realized that Lewis had moved on. Ronnie listened patiently, still not sure what role she was to play in this drama, but sure she had one none the less. The guides had told her that much again last night when they’d insisted that she make Venetia tell her story.

By the end of her story, Venetia was exhausted. It had been difficult to relive the whole experience, but now that she’d let it all out she felt better. Ronnie never said a word when she finished, just helped Venetia into bed and handed her another cup of tea, made her drink the entire cup, then blew out the light.

Venetia slept better that night than she had in a long time; instead of waking in the middle of the night longing for Lewis, she slept through the night. The next morning, she awoke feeling refreshed and lighter for sharing her burden with Ronnie. At breakfast, Ronnie didn’t say a word about last night, and Venetia was thankful. There would be time for them to talk again, but for today she just wanted to enjoy the feeling of being free of the pain, if only for a little while.

As Venetia was filling her plate with a big breakfast, anticipating missing lunch, Lewis was struggling through the jungle. Unlike Venetia, he’d had to hire guides in the last little village; although they knew how to navigate the jungle, he soon learned that they weren’t exactly sure where they were going.

They’d taken three wrong turns, crossed a river they didn’t have to, and were terribly behind schedule. Lewis wondered, not for the first time, if someone was testing him. How had Venetia managed this trip, it was brutal to say the least. He himself would have given up long ago if seeing her wasn’t the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Only thoughts of holding her in his arms again kept him going.

He should have listened to the old men in the village when they’d laughed at his choice of guides, but he’d been in such a hurry he’d hadn’t wanted to wait for anyone else. Now he was paying the price. He had the distinct feeling that they were lost again but hated to ask, not wanting to know the truth.

Finally, he couldn’t stand it anymore, they’d been climbing steadily into the mountains all morning. Where in this brutal landscape could there possibly be a village of the size he’d been expecting. “Are you sure we’re going the right way?”

“Yes, this time we are. The village is high in the mountains, a difficult climb, but this is it,” one of the guides reassured him.

They continued to cut their way through the jungle until mid-afternoon when one of the guides let out a whoop of excitement. Lewis struggled up the steep incline to stand beside the guide, and what he saw astonished him. There on a high plateau was the village, like something from a fairytale, it sat shrouded in mist.

With a huge sigh of relief, Lewis gathered his last bit of energy for what was sure to be a difficult climb. The path, it appeared, went straight up the side of the mountain, and if the rain that was threatening came, it would slippery. But the end was in sight, he’d wait until he got closer before deciding how he was going to approach Venetia.

He was fairly sure that she had no idea that he was coming; he didn’t think there had been enough time for word to reach the village. In his mind, he’d created several happily ever after scenarios, but he knew that it wouldn’t be easy to convince her to forgive him. The truth was that at times he wondered if he deserved to be forgiven.

It took far longer than he’d hoped to reach the village. The rain had come just as he’d thought it would and they’d had no choice but to wait it out. Then the trek up the mountain had been treacherous and slick, making them test every step they took. By the time they arrived, it was dark, most of the village asleep in their huts.

When the guides explained who he was, he was shown to a large hut at the back of the village, given a rough pallet and some cold food and left alone. He could see a sleeping figure across the room, but knew that it wasn’t Venetia although this was clearly the clinic she was running. He wondered where she slept, but was so tired he barely managed to eat the food he’d been given before falling into a deep slumber without even taking off his boots.

The next morning, he was awoken briefly when the man who had been sleeping discovered him there, but he soon dressed and left, and Lewis fell asleep again. He woke mid-afternoon surprised that no one had woken him. He found that he was starving, his stomach growing loudly. Much to his pleasure, he found a plate of food next to his pallet along with a strong cup of tea.

After he’d eaten and cleaned himself up the best he could, he left the hut in search of Venetia. He didn’t find her, but he did find the man who had been sharing the hut last night. “I’m Max, you must be that new doctor everyone is talking about. Did you find the food I left for you?” he said, holding out his hand.

“Yes, I’m Lewis. Thank you for the food. It was harder than I thought it would be to get here. I thought I was in pretty good shape, but well now I’m not so sure.”

“I remember all too well my first trip up here, of course getting lost didn’t help any. Your guides finally admitted to as much this morning.” Max laughed, then added, “Welcome to the Amazon.”

Lewis found he liked the man, but then realized that Venetia had been there with him for weeks. Had she been tempted by his good looks and easy manner? Jealousy flared in his blood, making him see red for a second. Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself; if she had, it was his own fault.

“I know there’s another doctor assigned to the village. Can you tell me where I might find her?” he asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

“Oh, she and Ronnie went to a neighboring village to attend to a birth. They won’t be back for a couple of days,” Max said, giving Lewis a strange look when his face fell.

But he thought, he was here and she was close. What was a few more days, he’d already gone through hell to get here.