by Sammy Sutton
"The power of love to change bodies is legendary, built into folklore, common sense, and everyday experience. Love moves the flesh, it pushes matter around.... Throughout history, "tender loving care" has uniformly been recognized as a valuable element in healing."
~Larry Dossey
Antonio would learn later, that the first time he really understood where he was, was on the fourth day after the attack. His physicians had concurred with his parents that going home was the best choice. With the assistance of the family, Amanda prepared his old room, gathered everything she could think of to aid his recovery, and watched as his father arranged for the best security possible.
The once stately home suddenly seemed the perfect fortress. Its grand design had given it an enclosed courtyard on all four sides, and now those walls were patrolled by armed men. The gate to the home was no longer left open for all-comers, and the advanced security system received an update hourly.
When Antonio rode through the gates, he was beginning to regret leaving the peace of the hospital, and its regular injections for pain. When the car stopped suddenly, he moaned, and Amanda immediately scolded the driver.
Tomas, Carlos and José assisted him into a wheelchair and wheeled him in. The three men picked him up, chair and all and carried him up the stairs to the comfort of his old room. By the time his mother and Amanda finished fussing over his bed clothes he was ready to scream in pain. Amanda readied a hypodermic, and injected it directly into his hip. Within minutes, Antonio began to fade, and it would be days before he was lucid enough to wonder why Amanda looked so ill.
At the end of the day, Amanda was stressed beyond her limits. Her mind usually so sure, constantly doubted her decisions. She felt weak most of the day, and only at night did she feel like her old self.
While everyone made her feel welcome, she was only truly comfortable when she could finally be alone with Antonio.
Amanda leaned over and gently returned the pendant she had given him to its rightful place. Thankful that Maurice had returned it to her. As she stretched out beside him, she held him in her arms, and cried softly, thankful for the pleasure of being near him. She knew she had the knowledge and skill to heal him, but first he must rest, then she would make him whole once more.
No matter what the future holds, together they were better, and together they would face it. Planning a future is a way of grounding hope in your heart. She silently promised Antonio, that soon they would return to New Mexico, gather the information needed for finding the Chosen, and get on with the mysteries that had lain secret for so long.
Once more she and her beloved would step out into the foot prints left by those so long ago, and seek the end of King Solomon's Journey, and the beginning of a change for all mankind, a change she believed rested within those secret rooms of Hidden Mountain.
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