Valdir found them there. He greeted Nate warmly, delighted that their guest was sitting up in bed and looking better. He whipped out a cell phone, and as he punched numbers he said, "You must talk to Mr. Stafford. He is quite anxious."
"I'm not sure I..." Nate's words trailed off as he drifted.
"Here, sit up, it's Mr. Stafford," Valdir said, handing him the phone and puffing up his pillow. Nate took the phone and said, "Hello."
"Nate!" came the reply. "Is that you!"
"Josh."
"Nate, tell me you're not going to die. Please tell me."
"I'm not sure," Nate said. Valdir gently pushed the phone closer to Nate's head, and helped him hold it in place. "Speak louder," he whispered. Jevy and Welly stepped back.
"Nate, did you find Rachel Lane?" Josh yelled into the phone.
Nate rallied for a second. He frowned hard, trying to concentrate. "No," he said.
"What!"
"Her name's not Rachel Lane."
"What the hell is it?"
Nate thought hard for a second, then fatigue hit him. He slumped a bit, still trying to remember her name. Maybe she never told him her last name. "I don'* know," he mumbled, his lips barely moving. Valdir pressed the phone harder.
"Nate, talk to me! Did you find the right woman?"
"Oh yes. Everything's okay down here, Josh. Relax."
"What about the woman?"
"She's lovely."
Josh hesitated for a second, but he couldn't waste any time. "That's nice, Nate. Did she sign the papers?"
"I can't think of her name."
"Did she sign the papers?"
There was a long pause as Nate's chin dropped to his chest and he appeared to be napping. Valdir nudged his arm and tried to move his head with the phone. "I really liked her," Nate suddenly babbled. "A lot."
"You're stoned, aren't you, Nate? They've got you on painkillers, right?"
"Yep."
"Look, Nate, call me when your head is clear, okay?"
"I don't have a phone."
"Then use Valdir's. Please call me, Nate."
His head nodded and his eyes closed. "I asked her to marry me," he said into the phone, then his chin fell for the last time.
Valdir took the phone and walked to a corner. He tried to describe Nate's condition.
"Do I need to come down there?" Josh yelled for the third or fourth time.
"That is not necessary. Please be patient."
"I'm tired of you telling me to be patient."
"I understand."
"Get him well, Valdir."
"He is fine."
"No he's not. Call me later."
TIP DURBAN found Josh standing in the window of his office, staring at the cluster of buildings that composed his view. Tip closed the door, took a seat, and asked, "What did he say?"
Josh kept staring out the window. "He said he found her, that she's lovely, and that he asked her to marry him." There was no trace of humor in his voice.
Tip found it humorous nonetheless. When it came to women, Nate culled little, especially between divorces. "How is he?"
"Feeling no pain, pumped full of painkillers, semiconscious. Valdir said the fever is gone and he looks much better."
"So he's not going to die?"
"It appears not."
Durban began chuckling. "That's our boy Nate. Never met a skirt he didn't like."
When Josh turned around he looked quite amused. "It's beautiful," he said. "Nate's bankrupt. She's only forty-two, probably hasn't seen a white man in years."
"Nate wouldn't care if she was as ugly as sin. She happens to be the richest woman in the world."
"I'm not surprised, now that I think about it. I thought I was doing him a favor sending him off on an adventure. It never occurred to me he would try to seduce a missionary."
"You think he hit on her?"
"Who knows what they did in the jungle."
"I doubt it," Tip added on second thought. "We know Nate, but we don't know her. It takes two."
Josh sat on the edge of his desk, still amused, grinning at the floor. "You're right. I'm not sure she would go for Nate. There's a lot of baggage."
"Did she sign the papers?"
"We didn't get that far. I'm sure she did or he wouldn't have left her."
"When is he coming home?"
"As soon as he can travel."
"Don't be so sure. For eleven billion, I might stick around for a while."
Chapter Thirty-Six
I HE DOCTOR found his patient snoring in the shade of the courtyard, still sitting up in bed, mouth open, gauze removed, head fallen to one side. His friend from the river was napping on the ground nearby. He studied the IV bag and stopped the flow. He touched Nate's forehead and felt no fever.
"Senhor O'Riley," he said loudly as he tapped the patient's shoulder. Jevy jumped to his feet. The doctor did not speak English.
He wanted Nate to return to his room, but when this was translated by Jevy it was not well received. Nate pleaded with Jevy and Jevy begged the doctor. Jevy had seen the other patients, the open sores, the seizures and dying men just down the hall, and he promised the doctor he would sit right there in the shade with his friend until dark. The doctor relented. He really didn't care.
Across the courtyard was a small separate ward with thick black bars sunk in cement. Patients wandered out from time to time to gawk through the bars into the courtyard. They could not escape. A screamer appeared late in the morning, and took offense at the presence of Nate and Jevy across the way. He had brown spotted skin and red patchy hair, and looked as crazy as he was. He clasped two bars, stuck his face between them, and began yelling. His voice was shrill and echoed around the courtyard and down the halls.
"What's he saying?" Nate asked. The lunatic's yelling startled him, and helped clear his head.
"I can't understand a word. He's insane."
"They have me in the same hospital with the crazy people?"
"Yes. Sorry. It's a small town."
The yelling intensified. A nurse from the safe side appeared and shouted for him to be quiet. He lashed back at her with language that made her run away. Then he refocused on Nate and Jevy. He squeezed the bars until his knuckles were white, and began hopping as he screamed.
"Poor guy," Nate said.
The screaming turned to wailing, and after a few minutes of nonstop racket a male nurse appeared behind the man and attempted to lead him away. He didn't want to go, and a short scuffle ensued. With witnesses, the nurse was firm but cautious. The man's hands, however, were glued around the bars and could not be removed. The wailing turned to shrieking as the nurse tugged from behind.
Finally, the nurse gave up and disappeared. The screamer pulled down his pants and began peeing through the bars, laughing loudly as he aimed in the general direction of Nate and Jevy, who were out of range. While his hands were off the bars, the nurse suddenly attacked from the rear, grabbing him in a full nelson and dragging him away. Once he was out of sight, the yelling ceased immediately.
When the daily drama was over and the courtyard was once again quiet, Nate said, "Jevy, get me out of here."
"What do you mean?"
"Get me out of here. I feel fine. The fever is gone, my strength is returning. Let's go."
"We can't leave until the doctor releases you. And you have that," he added, pointing to the IV in Nate's left forearm.