Miss Nobody

Chapter 10

NO

Mrs. Ortega stood next to the chair I was sitting in, something rolled up in her fist. She tried to put it in the pocket of my sweater.

"What are you doing?" I ask her, laughing.

She couldn't find any pockets and opened her hand. A roll of cash neatly wrapped with a rubber band balanced precariously in her palm. "Put this somewhere safe, Mija." She thrust the money toward me.

I shook my head and stood up. "I can't take that from you." I pushed her hand away. Tears welled in my eyes. I would miss Mrs. Ortega and the quiet, safe routine of the hospital.

"You can and you will. All the doctors and nurses here have added a little something." Tears ran down her face. "When you first came in here-" She made a cross over her body and said a quick prayer in Spanish. "-You were in a bad, bad way." She stepped in front of me and wrapped my hand around the money. "We weren't sure if you would survive but when you woke up from your coma and-" She sighed. "-You've recovered so quickly." She stepped away and wiped her tears on her sleeve. "I know that it's inconclusive-" She gestured toward my charts. "-what happened to you." She moved up close to me again and whispered close to my ear. "Someone has it out for you and you need to be careful."

I nodded, I had thought the same. "But why has no one come to get me? They've plastered my face all over the news. With a horrible picture that doesn't look like me." We both smiled briefly. The photo was bad and we had laughed about it for weeks. I wasn't sure where the news had gotten it from but I joked about them pulling it from a random internet search.

"But still, they know I'm alive, why not claim me and kill me?" I shrugged.

"I think it would draw too much attention to them now. But when you leave here-" A look of worry briefly flashed across Mrs. Ortega's face. "-Well, I'm glad you have decided to take that job at my brother's." She put her hands on my shoulders and squeezed them gently. "He can keep an eye out for you while you get back on your feet." She smiled at me. Her smile faltered. "It's none of my business, Mija. But....just know that my brother is a charmer and you're better off not getting involved with...him." She seemed proud of herself for her word choice.

I laughed. "That was a very nice way to call him a player."

She laughed and pulled me in for a hug.

"I have too much to think about. As you said, hopefully being out in the real world, doing normal things will make my memories come back. Maybe I can rebuild my life."

***

Early Early Morning Day 4

"No, we don't need to call her." I sat up. "She's safe where she is."

Jonny helped me to my feet. "Why are you swimming in the middle of the night? Without me." He joked.

I looked over the water instead of his tattooed-covered torso before I forgot why I was out here. "I dreamt that I was looking for something. And apparently, it's in the water." I picked up my long wet nightgown from around my feet and headed back to the path through the woods.

Jonny was close behind me. "What is?"

I shook my head. "I don't know."

He gestured to the path on the right and we went that way instead of back to my room. "I'll get a fire going."

I nodded and followed him down the path.

We passed an old VW Beetle, past its prime and sitting tire-less on cement blocks. The car had definitely seen better days.

Same bro, same.

Jonny grabbed my hand and pulled me into a building next to the broken-down VW Bug.

The warmth of his hand ran up my arm and the knots in my stomach released.

The large wooden door pushed open easily and Jonny pulled me behind him into the large room. The space was filled with potted plants of all varieties and sizes. Greenery hung from huge wooden beams, their vines trailing throughout the old greenhouse.

A Monstera plant loomed in the center, its broad, holy leaves arching out in all directions bigger than my head. Thick green Ferns surrounded the base, so many plants you could barely see the pots they were planted in. "Oh, my goodness. This Monstera is huge." Varieties of trumpet-shaped Jasmine vines climbed up thick sticks as they reached for the glass ceiling. The surprise on my face couldn't be helped as I walked to a row of rose bushes. "These are so beautiful." I bowed closer to inhale the rich floral fragrance. "Are these...the ones you left on my door, are from these rose bushes?"

He nodded slightly and continued to watch me, his tattooed arms folded as he leaned against a brick wall.

I flit through his plants. Smelling one and then another. Finally peeking at him over the Peonies.

He looked over the room proudly and grinned.

This was when I really worried about my feelings for Jonny. A person who could grow such beautiful things can't be all bad.

The heavy door of the fireplace opened with a loud squeak and I shivered thinking about the warm fire. Jonny put another log over the flames as I sat down in front of it. Ormus was lying in a ball directly in front of the heat. I sat cross-legged next to him and warmed myself. The white cotton of my old-fashioned nightgown was drying quickly. My thick hair, not so much.

Jonny sat next to me, our sides touched, his body heat permeated my skin and warmed me up faster than a fire ever could.

"I was going to ask how you found me again, but-" I nodded toward Ormus.

Jonny nodded, a solemn look on his face. "Yeah. Thank the Mother." He said a prayer in Spanish and brought a silver chain from around his neck. He kissed the pendant and undid the clasp.

We gazed into each other's eyes as he placed the necklace around my neck and under my hair. He was quick with the clasp but his fingers lingered, straightening the silver chain and lightly touching my skin.

"I can get Doc to prescribe you some sleeping pills. Help you get some rest."

"No. I-" I shook my head. "-I don't like pills." After I woke up from my coma, Mrs. Ortega prescribed me some for the nightmares that would plague me every night. I wouldn't remember them in the morning and they never had me sleepwalking but the pills didn't sit well in my body and gave me migraines.

Jonny clenched his jaw. "You say no to me a lot."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"It's unusual." He leaned back, turning his body toward me. "I want to punish you for it but I think you've been through enough."

Punish me? "So you pity me?" I stood up quickly, brushing the dirt from my pond water-stained nightgown.

"Is that what I said?" Jonny stood next to me and crossed his arms.

"No-" I smiled at my feet. This is probably what he was talking about. I looked up to see him grinning at me. "What was it you said?" I asked instead.

He stepped closer to me, his thumb gently traced my lips. "You have a beautiful smile."

My traitorous stomach rumbled loudly. I sighed. Food. I liked food. I was just tired of needing it. I'd been surviving off toast since Chef died.

Jonny grabbed my hand, interlacing our fingers, and pulled me out of the building and to the path in the woods.

"Where are we going?"

"I'm going to feed you." He nodded in the direction of the black cabin.

"I thought they rented these cabins out?"

"Nah, this one's mine." The door was unlocked and Jonny led me to a sleek silvery stool at his island counter. "Sit. I'm going to put fences around the pond, maybe the river..." He trailed off while getting a container out of the fridge. "I'll have my nephew put more locks on your door." He put a pan on the stove, emptied the container into it and looked at me. "You have someone trying to kill you but if they don't it looks like you might just do it yourself." He turned the gas stove on, the flames coming to life. He stirred the food in the pan and mumbled to himself, "How do you keep someone safe from themself? Lock her in the basement? Tie her up?" His head nodded as if he had decided that was the correct choice.

He's serious. All I could do was sigh. How do you keep someone safe from themselves? Maybe I could wear a bell or something? "I can't afford a full-time bodyguard. Best I can do is find the clues myself. Be proactive. See who may have a reason to kill me. Can I get a list of guests who were in the hotel that night?" It sounded lame at this point but it was somewhere to start.

Jonny stared at me as he slid a plate of hot, delicious smelling food, in my direction. "Sure, but they've already been questioned. No one saw or heard anything."

"Is that from the police report?" My mouth watered as I rolled the large meatball around with my fork. "No mushrooms?"

"I don't like mushrooms and no, these questions were done privately."

I nodded and cut the meatball in half. "Rice?" I poked at the white dots throughout the half meatball.

He nodded.

"What about all the employees? Were they questioned?"

"I was off property until Jess called me. I made it only a few minutes before they brought you out in handcuffs." He smirked. "Ben and Roman were probably fucking." He shook his head at my look of surprise. "Probably why he wasn't watching you last night." He crossed his arms again. "But if you ask them, do it separately, I'd love to hear the excuse they come up with." He grinned. "I always thought it'd be you bailing me out, not the other way around."

I blushed and avoided the connotations. "So then Jess or Cherry, but I don't think Cherry would risk her grandfather's life."

"Or, Pedro, Alice, Nen, Debbie."

I looked at him confused.

"More people work here than you see. Not to mention those with day passes that use the natural hot springs and pools. And all the guests that eat at the restaurant."

"There's hot springs and pools? I make a terrible detective." I crossed that off my mental 'Who am I?' list.

"Eat before it gets cold. I have some people looking into it. I'll let you know if they find anything."

I stared at the food, it did look delicious. My stomach rumbled loudly again.

Jonny took the fork from me, cut the half meatball into another half, and shoved it into his mouth. He chewed, swallowed, and handed me back the fork. "If I were going to kill you, I wouldn't use poison." He winked.

I took a bite, at some point I would have to eat real food again. "This is good. You should put this on the new menu."

Jonny grinned. "It's an old family recipe, Mi Abuela would spin in her grave." He made the sign of the cross across his shoulders. He came around the counter and put my hair behind me. He adjusted the silver chain around my neck. "Virgen de Guadalupe, she will help protect you." His fingers lingered over the pendant. "I'm sorry about kissing you, I shouldn't have."

"It's okay." Heat spread across my chest and face as I thought about our make-out session in Chef's closet. "I think I kissed you more than you kissed me. I won't even mention it to your sister." I smiled slyly at him.

He laughed. "She wants to kill me anyway so I might as well make it worth it." He gently brushed my hair back behind my ear. "Come out with me tonight. We can get to know each other better."

My blush deepened.

"Say yes and I won't tell my sister." He whispered like she was in the room.