I grumble as I sit on a stool at home.  Captain Lavinia manages to practically and embarrassingly, carry me home. The doctor she requested finally arrives.  Doña Elena is meanwhile pacing around the kitchen nervously.

“Oh poor Alvaro…poor Alvaro…”. I can hear Elena whimpering in the other room.

Sheis exaggerating unnecessarily about my predicament.  It’s not like we are married…It's amazing how much that little woman cares about me.  Could it be affection?  She is indeed beautiful, but I could never provide for her the way a partner should.  I dismiss my irrational thoughts.

Dr. Sepúlveda pauses during the examination.  "How are you feeling?"

“About the same way I look.”  I grumble back at her.

“Papi, please be nice. She’s trying to help.”

“Captain Lavinia is a good friend of mine.”  Dr. Sepúlveda crosses her arms.  “She asked me for a favor."

“I’m just a charity case.”

Dr. Sepúlveda lets out a sigh.  “I do not think that is true.  She called you her old friend.”

I’m sure I look it.  The scars can make me look rather ragged.  Just as I finally start to let my guard down…

“Ouch!” I yelp.

“I am sorry.  I should have warned you.  I need to clean the rest of you skin with this so try to…”

“Toughen up?”  I grunted, trying to disguise the pain.

“No. To hold still.  Listen. I know you don't think much of yourself because of your wounds.  I have seen many a person waste away because of their self pity.”

“As you can see, I don't have much going for me right now.  I have no real job to care for my little girl.  My home is still a small one room for both myself and my daughter.  I do not have the strength I once had to do even menial tasks.  And I’m…unbearable to even look at.”

Dr. Sepúlveda finally relaxes her arms.  "You have friends, you have a daughter, and real strength comes from your heart.  It is not your physical prowess. And despite all that has happened to you, you are are still very handsome.”  She blushes slightly.  “Now come on. Let me look at you without your shirt.”  She tilts her head slightly.  “I mean to look at your wounds.  Under your shirt. On your chest I mean.”

Just ten a ceramic plate hits the hallway floor.

“Doña Elena?  Elena? Are you all right out there?  Go check on her, Milagros.” I whisper the last part to my daughter.

“Aye Doña! Another accident?”  Milagros exaggerates loudly as she enters the hallway.  I smile without thinking.  I even see doctor Sepúlveda holding back a chuckle out of the corner of my eye.

...