With the Wind | A Short Novel (14 page)

She could not get through.  The telephone system in Thailand was down.

She ran back to the gate. 

“I have to get to Thailand,” Misty said to the man working behind the counter.

“Miss, that’s impossible at the moment.  Haven’t you been watching the news?”

“That’s why I have to get there.  He may need me.  I can’t wait.”

“I’m very sorry.  Bangkok airport is closed to all commercial air traffic.”

“Get me closer.”

“What?”

“Fly me in to the nearest country.”

“You don’t want to go to Laos or Cambodia, miss.”  

“My friends here say that I do.”

Misty held out ten hundred dollar bills.

“Do you have a passport?”

“Of course.”

The churlish gate attendant examined Misty’s documents.

“American.  It figures.  One moment please.”

The gate attendant made a couple of phone calls.  He spoke in Spanish.

“I have made arrangements for you.”

Misty handed him the money.

“Go to Gate 315.  A flight is leaving in one hour for Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.  If you are very lucky more of your 'friends' will get you a seat on a relief flight to Bangkok within the next day.”

Misty dialed as she ran.

Cell service in Thailand was still down.

She suspected it would not be restored quickly.

Please Jesus, Mary and all the saints, protect my Daniel.

Misty started to pray the Rosary.

She didn’t stop praying until she landed in Vietnam. 

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

“I’ve been stuck here for two days,” Misty complained.

“Impossible get to Thailand,” the Vietnamese airline staffer said.

“I have to get there.”

“Too many problem…where I put you?”

“I’ll ride on a crate. I’ll sit on someone’s lap.  Hell, tie me to the wing.”

“I cannot…”

A supervisor strolled over.  He was nicely dressed and looked professional.

So unlike everyone else at Ho Chi Minh Airport.

“Your name, please?” the supervisor asked.

“Misty Buffett.”

“From United States?”

“Yes, I’m American.”

“You want to go to Thailand?”

“Yes, I need to get there now.  Every second is precious.”

“Plane to Bangkok leave in ten minutes.  Jump seat available.”

“I’m on it!” Misty shouted.

“Two thousand U.S.  Cash.”

Misty paid him.  She grabbed her bag.

She had very little with her, just the essentials.

Most of her luggage was in storage in Manila.

For the past forty eight hours she had sat in this airport.

Waiting.  Worrying.

Praying.

Daniel needs her.  He might be hurt.

He might be dead.

Misty refused to consider that possibility.

She would find him.

Or die trying.

********

“You want go Phuket?”

“Yes, I go now.”

“No can go Phuket.  Big mess.  Dead bodies, water …”

Misty moved on.  She had stationed herself where the relief agencies were gathered near the Bangkok Airport.

She was asking anyone and everyone for a ride to Phuket.

Hours passed.

She felt ill.

She wasn’t ill, she had forgotten to eat.  She was hungry.

Misty spotted a noodle stand.  She walked over and ordered some Pad Thai.

“Hi,” said the older man dressed in a white coat.

“Hello,” Misty answered.

“I’m Edward Williams.  Dr. Edward Williams.”

“Misty Buffett.”

“I overheard you Ms. Buffett.  Not to be nosy but …”

“I need to get to Phuket.”

“So I gather.  May I ask why?”

“My fiancé, he is there.  He might be injured, he might be…”

“You’d be heading into a disaster.”

“Can you take me?”

“Yes, that’s why I came over to talk with you.  I just wanted you to …”

Misty set down her noodles and gave Dr. Williams a hug and a kiss.

“God bless you, Doctor.”

“Misty.  I’ll take you, but prepare yourself.  You’ve never seen anything like this before.  Not in your worst nightmares.”

“My worst nightmare is that I’ll never see him again.”

“Come with me.”

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

Misty could not believe her eyes.

Everything was gone.

A giant bulldozer had smashed all the buildings.

A water bulldozer.

She threw up, again.

It was the smell.

The smell of rotting flesh.

She had Daniel’s address. 

But an address wouldn’t do her any good.

There were no addresses in Phuket anymore.

Only rubble and bodies.

So many bodies.

The children.  There were thousands of dead and injured children here. 

She wanted to help.

She promised herself that she would after she found Daniel. 

They would help these poor people.

Together. 

Misty went from hospital to hospital.

They weren’t really hospitals.

They were tarps set up to cover the dead and dying.

But that is where he’d be.   

He would be helping all these desperate souls.

That was Daniel. 

That was the man she loved.

She had been searching all day. 

It was Saturday now, four days after the wave hit.

She had not slept much during the last week.

One more hospital, she told herself.

I’ll go to one more, and then I’ll find a spot to curl up and pass out.

“Have you seen this man?” Misty shouted, waving a picture of Daniel.

“Anyone, have you seen him?”

This is what she did.  She stumbled through the litters. 

Searching, desperately searching.

A young nurse approached her.  She was Caucasian.

“May I see the picture?”

Misty showed her Daniel’s photo.

“I’m Tiana.”

“Misty Buffett.”

“Misty you look terrible.  May I get you a cup of coffee?”

“I’d love one. Bless you.”

“Please. Wait for me over there,” Tiana said, pointing at an aide station.

Tiana returned with the coffee and an envelope.

Misty’s heart raced.  Had Tiana seen Daniel?  Was he here?

CHAPTER THIRTY

             
“Misty, I have to tell you.  I recognized you as soon as you walked in,” Tiana said.

             
“Daniel?  Is he here?  Tell me what he …”

             
“Honey, Daniel was here.  He’s dead, Misty.  Daniel died in my arms two days ago.”

             
No, it couldn’t be true. She was lying, or mistaWilson, or…

             
Misty didn’t cry.  For the moment she was beyond tears.

             
All she could do was look desperately at this woman.

             
This woman who had told her the worst news she could imagine.

             
“Daniel was severely injured in the tsunami.  He should have died immediately.  Something kept him going.  It was you.”

             
“I couldn’t sit with him all day, of course,” Tiana continued.  “There are so many people here who need attention.  But I talked with him for a few hours.  He told me all about you.  Daniel loved you Misty, very much.”

             
“He held on as long as he could because he knew that you would find him.”  Tiana handed Misty the envelope.  “I asked him if I should mail this letter, but he said no.  He told me to give it to you when you arrived.”

             
“I’m amazed that you found me.  How did you get here?  I mean no one is being allowed into the country…”

             
Misty wasn’t listening.

             
She was reading.

             
Misty, my love.  I am so sorry for what has happened.  I could not get out of way of wave.  I try, I try so hard but it was too much.  I was smashed into concrete wall by water.  Doctor told me that there is nothing he can do, I am bleeding too much inside.

             
I know that you will come for me.  I give your picture to nurse, Miss Tiana.  She will keep a look out for you.

             
Please take my body back to Russia.  I want you meet my parents.  I tell them night before wave, on Christmas Day, that we re-unite and all about our plans.  They send you money to take me back.  I tell you how to find them on other side of letter.

             
Now I feel no pain.  I take no medicine, but I feel no pain because when I close my eyes I am with you in our wonderful bedroom making love all night long.  Then I think about our days spent talking.  I see your eyes.  You have most special, beautiful eyes.  You have most special soul. 

             
Please remember what I tell you now.  I love you from moment I first saw you.  It is true.  You are most beautiful woman in world, but even more beautiful inside than out.  You are my wife forever, even though we never get to be married.  Love never die, Misty, it lives on.  I live on through you.

             
Someday another man come into your life.  I hope and pray he love you as much as I do.  Marry this man, Misty. Be happy and have many children.  Keep place for me in your heart, but do not stop living because I am gone. 

Be happy.  That is all I ever want for you.

              We be together again someday.  In next world.  I know this is true.

             
Help people in Thailand.  I want you do this.  For me.

             
I love you.  I am yours forever,

              Daniel

              “Misty?  Hey honey, did you hear what I said?”

             
“What?  No, I’m sorry.”

             
“God I hate to ask, but I need your help.  They just brought in fifty more patients.  They’re all kids from the orphanage.  It was completely destroyed.”

             
“Yes, I will.  I’ll do whatever you need me to do.”

             
“Look, I can see that you’re exhausted.  Rest for a while…”

             
“No, Tiana.  I will help you.  Right now, not later.  Tell me what to do.”

             
“Daniel was right.  You are a remarkable woman.”

             
“I didn’t deserve him.  He was way too good for me.”

             
“Grab that case over there.  I need you to move…”

             
Misty became a medic that day.

             
The suffering of others took her mind off of her own loss.