“Oh wow! That was very nice of you.”
Diego and Savannah both smiled broadly. “Angel’s been very good to us. We wouldn’t have it any other way,” said Diego. “I hope you will still be working with Angel’s missions. We’d love for you to come to the wedding.”
Kevin glanced at Angel, not sure what to say. He hadn’t thought about doing another mission trip. “Ah, thanks. I’ll try.”
“Diego not only works with his father, Manuel, in his contracting business, but he’s also a very talented dance instructor. He’ll be teaching our dance classes this week.”
“Great,” said Kevin. “I can’t wait.”
“Do you dance, Kevin?” asked Diego.
Kevin smiled. His most famous role had been the lead in a dance movie. “I’ve done a little in my time.”
“I thought so. Wonderful. I look forward to working with you. Now, would you two excuse us, please? I need to see my fiancée home.”
“Of course,” said Angel. “I guess we’d better turn in too, Kevin.”
* * *
When they reached the apartment, Kevin opened the door to let them inside. Angel was heading for her room when he asked, “What’s the other mission?” She stopped in her tracks.
“I’m sorry?”
“The night we had dinner at Antonio’s, you said you were here on several missions. I know that you volunteer for the Angel’s Foundation. That’s why we’re here. And I know about the orphanage. What else is there?”
Angel paused for a moment, trying to decide what and how much to tell him. She bit her bottom lip and walked over to the sofa to sit down. When Kevin came over to join her, she took a deep breath and turned to face him. “Three months ago, I met a young woman named Nina Ramirez. She was dirty, starving, and exhausted when she came into the clinic. She had wandered the countryside, eating out of garbage cans for two and a half weeks with her four-year-old daughter, Isabel, trying to get to the medical clinic we had just opened two kilometers south of here. She’d been told there was a woman who would help her at the round house in the village.”
“Let me guess. That woman was you.”
She nodded. “The office manager called here and asked me to come by. I asked Nina and Isabel to stay the night since we weren’t open yet. When dinner was over and Isabel was asleep on the loveseat, I asked Nina why she came looking for me.” Angel tried to blink back tears as she choked on her words. “She told me a story I’ll never forget.”
She cleared her throat. “When Nina was three years old, her parents died in a car crash. Her grandfather took her in and gave her a good home and a good life, and for a long time, all they had was each other, but they were happy. Then when she was seventeen, she met and married the man of her dreams, Javier. Every time she mentioned his name, you could see how much she still loved him.”
She took a deep breath, Kevin waited patiently for her to continue. “Their daughter Isabel had barely turned three when Nina discovered a lump in her breast. The local doctor sent her to a specialist in the city where they did a biopsy and discovered she was in an advanced stage of breast cancer. They told Nina and Javier that she would have to have a double mastectomy as well as chemotherapy to even have a remote chance of survival. They both knew they couldn’t afford to pay for her treatment with their current salaries, so both Javier and Nina’s grandfather began working extra shifts in the mines. Five months before I met her, there was an explosion in the mine that killed both of them. Nina didn’t get to have the treatment she needed.”
Kevin sat back. “That’s awful.”
Angel nodded. “Nina quickly became too sick to work. Little by little, she sold everything they owned trying to survive. They were eating out of garbage cans and begging for food on the street when she heard about the clinic.” Angel bit her lip.
“What happened to them?”
“Manuel’s parents took them in. They’ve been caring for them ever since. The doctor was shocked that Nina has made it this long, considering how advanced her cancer was when she got here.”
“Most people wouldn’t do that. I mean…take in a stranger and her child.”
“I know. They’re very special people. Anyway, Nina has asked me to adopt Isabel, but the government here frowns on single-parent adoptions. I’m supposed to go see the Minister of Children’s Affairs next Tuesday and talk with him, but I’m not sure how much good it will do. Nina doesn’t have any other family, and God only knows where Isabel may end up if they won’t let me adopt her.”
“Angel, I don’t mean to sound rude but, you’re a dental hygienist who already has three children. How are you going to manage with another one? You can’t save the whole world, you know.”
“I’ll find a way. I always do.”
“Well, it sounds like your mind is already made up. Is there anything I can do to help?”
Angel sat up on the edge of the sofa and looked him in the eye. “Well, could you go with me? Could you help me talk to the Minister of Children’s Affairs next Tuesday?”
“Me! You want me to go with you?” Kevin stood and walked to the other side of the room, running a hand through his hair as he went. “No. No way!”
Angel stood, prepared to defend her request. “Why not? You’ve seen what the orphanages in rural Mexico are like. Not that Sister Mary Francis doesn’t do her best, but it’s simply not enough. Not enough help. Not enough money. And you know I’d be a good mother. Miranda and Tomás will help me. All we have to do is convince the government that it’s the best thing for Isabel.”
“Angel, these people don’t know me. I don’t have any influence down here. What makes you think they’re going to listen to anything I would have to say?”
She took several steps toward him. “I watched you tonight while you were filming and talking with the local villagers. You’re very good with people. You’re charming, you’re friendly; you even got little old lady Garcia to talk on camera and we’ve never been able to get her to do that before. You’re the perfect person to help me with this.”
“What on earth could I possibly say that’s going to be of any use? I don’t know anything about children, much less what it’s like to be a single parent. Until a few days ago, I don’t believe I’d ever spent more than a couple of hours in the same room with a child, and that includes my own nieces and nephews. You don’t need me.”
Angel felt as if she’d been punched in the stomach. Yes, she did need him. She felt it. She was falling for this handsome stranger and it scared her half to death. She closed the distance between them to place a gentle hand on his arm. “I do need you. Please, please say yes.”
Kevin shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’ll think about it.”
“Yes!” Angel threw her hands up in the air and then looped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” she whispered.
“Wait a minute. I haven’t said yes yet.”
“I know,” she whispered, hugging him tighter.
Kevin slowly put his arms around her and held her to his chest as he breathed her in. Time stood still until they heard footsteps coming up the stairs.
“Good night, Kevin,” she said as she ran to her room.
8
The next morning, Kevin wandered down the hall of the clinic with his camera, wondering exactly what to film. Angel hadn’t given him any specifics on what she wanted, and he wasn’t sure where to begin. Maybe he’d better ask her. Before he got to her office, she walked out of her office door.
“Good morning,” she said cheerily.
He made a face. She was wearing old, worn navy-blue scrubs, a disposable long white lab jacket, white sneakers, and a green surgeon’s cap on her head. He looked her over curiously. “Ah…good morning.”
“What, you don’t like this? This is my best outfit.” She did a couple of quick poses.
He laughed. “I think I liked the, ah…shall we say, swimwear, from yesterday better.”
She rolled h
er eyes. “Typical,” she called over her shoulder.
“Hey, wait a minute.”
“Yeah?”
“I was gonna ask what you want me to film. I wasn’t sure where to start.”
“Okay, let’s see who’s coming in today.”
She walked back into her office and looked at the schedule on the computer. “Oh, here we go. Juan Ortega’s coming in today. Make sure you get that. Maria Sanchez is coming in at one. She’d be great too. And maybe Porfivio. He’d be good on film. Just ask the assistants if you’re not sure. They’ll help you. I promise they won’t eat you alive. They’re good at what they do.”
He smiled. “Because you pick good people?”
She smiled back rather cockily. “That’s right.”
One of the assistants stuck her head in the door. “Hey, Kevin, you need to get this on film.”
“Hmmm. Should I dare say it?” Angel asked, rushing from the office.
* * *
Later that morning, Kevin stood in the corner of one of the exam rooms, filming Señor Juan Ortega as he got his first set of dentures. He was a small-built, hardworking seventy-year-old man who hadn’t had any teeth at all since he’d pulled his last tooth out himself a year earlier. He put the dentures in one at a time, worked his mouth around trying to get a feel for them, and smiled a huge smile for the assistant and the camera. Kevin chuckled slightly at the old man, but he couldn’t help the sense of satisfaction he felt, walking from room to room, watching Angel and her crew. He saw what Angel meant when she told him nobody walked away from these trips unchanged. I understood what draws her and others like her to do this time after time.
That evening, Kevin and Angel sat together in the dining room of the community center, discussing their progress as they finished their dinner.
“You were right about Juan Ortega. We got some very good footage on him.”
“Wonderful! There are a few clients coming in tomorrow who I think will go over well on camera too.” Angel nodded at several of the local women cleaning up in the dining room. “Let me help these ladies clean up in here.” She picked up several dishes and had disappeared into the kitchen when he heard some of the assistants discussing which of his movies to watch that night.
Several moments later, Angel was back. “What’s the matter?”
“I don’t think I feel up to watching a movie tonight.”
She felt his forehead with the back of her hand. “Are you okay? You’re not sick, are you?”
“No, I’m fine,” he reassured her. “I’m simply not up to a movie.”
She hesitated for a second. “Kevin.”
“Yeah?” he asked warily. He could see the wheels turning in her head.
“When’s the last time you had your teeth cleaned?”
“What?” That was the last thing he’d expected her to say.
She smiled mischievously. “You heard me.”
“Why?”
She leaned in a little closer. “How about I recruit one of the assistants and we get your teeth cleaned tonight?”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“What’s the matter? Don’t you trust me?”
He didn’t answer.
She took a deep breath and sighed reluctantly. “Okay. I can always watch a movie with the girls while you read a book or something.” She stood and headed for the shelf of movies across the room.
That did it for Kevin. He would much rather spend time with her any way he could get it than to take a chance on her finding out who he really was. Not just yet anyway. He jumped to his feet. “Wait!” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Okay, you talked me into it.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Okay, well, good. I’ll get one of the assistants.” She walked over and pulled one of them to the side. They talked for a moment and then she came back to sit beside him. “Teresa is going to meet us at the clinic in a few minutes. Are you ready?”
He nodded, trying not to look reluctant. “Sure. Let’s go.”
They walked upstairs to the clinic together. Angel opened the clinic door and walked into the hall, turning on the lights as she went. She led him back to one of the hygiene rooms, already set up for the next day’s business. She reached into a drawer and pulled out some floss, toothpaste, and a toothbrush. “Here you go.”
“What’s this for?” Angel’s eyebrows went up incredulously. “Okay, I know what it’s for. Why are you giving it to me now?”
“Well, I’ve seen the toothbrush you’re using in our bathroom, and it’s awful. You need to throw it out. And as far as I can tell, you don’t even own any floss.”
“That’s because I’ve been using yours. Ha-ha.”
She laughed at his playful juvenile expression. “Good. You can use the sink to brush your teeth.” She gave him a look of mock disgust. “There are no funky mouths allowed in the hygiene business.”
“Point taken.”
Kevin turned to the sink to brush and floss while she got her instruments ready. When he’d finished, she was all set to get started.
“Have a seat. Let’s get some X-rays.”
Kevin sat in the dental chair. “You know, I’ve never understood why a dentist needs X-rays?”
Angel practically lit up. She obviously loved educating people. She was definitely in her element with her mission work. “Well, bitewing X-rays will help us find cavities between the molars and premolars. They also help us watch for bone loss around the root structure of the teeth. They’re a very important part of any routine dental exam.”
She put the lead apron over him and took four X-rays, two on each side of his mouth. “Let’s get a panoramic one as well.”
“What will that show?”
“A panoramic X-ray gives you a view of all the teeth and root structure as well as the entire jaw structure. They’re not as clear as the ones we just did, but it gives you a good overall view. Come on.”
After she had taken the X-ray, she pulled a part of the machine off. “Would you like me to show you how they’re processed? Come with me.”
Kevin followed her through the revolving door to the other side where it was pitch-black. She reached for the wall beside him and turned on the light.
“This is the developer,” she explained, setting the film on the counter. She took her gloves off and turned the machine on. “The film goes in on this side and comes out on the other side of the wall. You have to develop X-rays in complete darkness. If you expose them to any light except for the red light here on the shelf, then you can’t see anything on the film.” She opened up an unexposed film for him to look at. “You have to remove the film from the jacket like this…and put it in the processor…here.”
Kevin scratched his head. “How am I going to watch you develop the film if we’re in here in the dark?”
“Well, it’s one of those things you kinda have to feel your way through.” She giggled when she saw his grin. “Here, put these on.” She handed him a clean pair of gloves before putting on a pair herself. “Never handle film that’s been in a patient’s mouth without gloves, and I mean never.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He struggled into the snug nitrile gloves. “Okay, now what?”
“First, I’m going to dry off the bitewing films.” She dried the four films off with the paper towel and threw the paper towel into the trash. “Next I’m going to turn out the light.” She reached over and turned out the light with the back of her hand. “Now, I want you to take your hands and feel what I’m doing.”
Angel tried to let him feel it when she tried to take the film out, but it was a struggle and they almost dropped it. “Okay, wait a minute. This is awkward. Kevin, put your arms around me.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He gently pressed up against her in the small room, letting the heat coming off his body seep into her. He brought his arms around her and slid his hands slowly down her arms until he felt her hands with the film in them. “Like this?”
“Uh, yeah. Now, you open the fil
m packet…and pull out the film.” She helped him find the film, and he eased it out of its jacket. “And then you feed it into the slot.” She gently guided his hand to the processor. The machine pulled the film from his fingers and slid it inside. “Just like that.”
“That’s it?”
“Yeah, that’s it. It goes all the way through the processor and comes out on the other side. Now, we have to do that three more times.”
When the bitewing X-rays were in, they took off their gloves and she showed him how to unload and put in the panoramic film as well. “Well, that’s it,” she said, with a sigh. “Now you’re an expert at developing dental X-rays.”
He didn’t move. He still had his arms around her, his heart still pounding against her back.
“Thanks for showing me,” he said softly, wrapping his arms tighter around her pulling her closer, intertwining his fingers with hers. It felt warm and safe, his hips against her hips.
Seemingly without realizing it, she leaned back into him, her head falling back onto the sturdy shoulder of his strong frame. “You’re welcome,” she said. She turned her head toward his voice, his breath on her face as he bent his head closer to hers. He could almost taste her kiss.
“Now what?” he asked.
Angel could barely breathe, much less speak. “I…I don’t know.”
“It’s your decision, Angel,” he whispered into her ear.
She wet her lips and reached up with one hand to pull him closer, but the second before her lips met his, a door shut somewhere in the building.
“Angel, where are you guys?”
Kevin sat in the dining area of the community center, watching Diego set up in the sound booth. After a very full and productive day, the nighttime festivities were about to begin. Diego pulled several CDs out of their cases and laid them to one side. Tonight was the night for Latin dancing, and Kevin was definitely looking forward to dancing with Angel again.
Early that morning he had stumbled upon her dancing in the small, empty dining room of their apartment when she’d thought she was alone. He’d stepped back around the corner and watched her whirl around the room with her imaginary beau. She looked so beautiful when she danced. He couldn’t wait to see her—to hold her in his arms again. He looked at his watch. Where is she?
Angel's Mission Page 9