The Disappearance of Valentina Moreno

Prologue

Amelia Moreno awoke to a gentle hand squeezing hers. She sat up quickly, almost forgetting where she was until the soft percussion of hospital machines reminded her. 

"Mi amor..." a voice said.

"Javier, que pasa? Are you in pain? Do I need to call the nurse?"

"No." He shook his head and squeezed her hand again. Her eyes couldn't help but glance down at the IV tube attached to his. "Promise me something?"

"Sí, mi amor, anything." She caressed his exhausted, grey stubbled, face.

Javier stared into her honey-brown eyes, appreciating the fine wrinkles at the corners of her lids. Amelia's dark hair was streaked with hints of silver, and despite her ageless beauty, the years of stress were apparent in her lack of a smile. Twenty years of anxiety to be exact. 

Twenty years since they last saw her.

"Promise me you'll keep looking."

"What?" She drew her head back, confused.

"Promise me you'll keep looking for Valentina."

"We will keep looking. You and I, and the girls."

"No." He shook his head. "I mean after. Don't give up. Keep looking."

Amelia ripped her hand out of his. "Why are you saying this?"

"Mi, amor, please." He reached for her.

"Are you giving up!?"

"Amelia... There's nothing to give up when there's no chance of beating this. Not this time."

"But Dr. Gutierrez said—"

"No!" he barked. "We both know I'm not beating it this time. Which is why I need you to promise me you'll keep looking after I'm gone."

Amelia held her hands up in prayer as tears drenched her eyes. "Javier, por Dios, for the girls, you can't give up. Dr. Gutierrez said there's a chance we can still beat this again!"

"No, mi amor..." He cupped her face. "You and I both know I would need a miracle this time."

"Don't say that!"

"I can feel it. I won't make it." He pressed a hand to his chest and nodded towards the IV drip. "I'm only doing this for you, and the girls, and for the hope of seeing Valentina again. But if I die before that happens, you need to promise me you'll keep looking."

"Javier... " she cried.

"Please?" He took her hands in his and began kissing her knuckles. "Please?"

"Fine." She turned away and stood. "But you have to promise you'll keep fighting. I don't want you leaving this earth without having put every ounce of fight into beating cancer again. You hear me?"

"Si, mi amor." He smiled.

"I'm going to grab un cafesito from the cafeteria. Want me to bring you back something?"

"No, that's ok, I'm always queasy after therapy." 

Amelia smoothed away a rogue tear from her cheek and left the room. She didn't like combusting into hysterics in front of Javier, but sometimes she felt she was barely hanging on by a thread. Not to mention it was the anniversary of Valentina's disappearance. 

It had been twenty years since Amelia last saw her sweet face and head full of dark curls. The brand of detergent on her clothes that night had a distinct scent she would never forget. It was a scent that had become Valentina's, and a reminder of her absence.

As she followed the signs pointing to the cafeteria, Amelia's strength buckled, and she fell to her knees with eyes blurring from tears. There on the scuffed linoleum of the hospital floor, she finally succumbed to the flood of emotions she could no longer contain.

"Dios, por favor..." she pleaded through sobs. "Please, help me. Help us! I will do anything. Anything."

For a moment she kneeled there, with her face in her hands, crying, but then her phone beeped, so she began digging through her purse. It was most likely one of her daughters wanting to know how Javier was doing, so she didn't want to miss the call, and practically shook out her purse just to find the phone. Then finally, buried under wads of tissues and candy wrappers, she found it!

The screen flashed the name, Lily, except it was a text, so she opened the message from her youngest daughter and through a veil of tears read it out loud.

Lily: Dateline ran a story on Valentina last night. A girl in class has a cousin in America and she showed it to me.

Amelia's eyes widened with a soft gasp, and she hugged the phone to her chest. If news stations in America were still running updates, then certainly there was still a chance? A laugh bubbled from her throat as relief rolled over her body like a hot sip of tea. 

There was still hope and she was determined to find their daughter before it was too late. Before Javier left the earth without seeing her again.