One floor below, the heavy figure of Bruna Lopez, the Center’s administrative assistant, hurried over the dark tiles which lined the ground floor. When she reached the bottom of the wide staircase, the admin grasped the railing with her right hand and continued her rush up the stairs.
Once at the top, she immediately covered the short distance to the double metal doors and pushed them open, looking around the room.
“Miss… Alison…”
Alison turned away from the others at Lee’s desk and spotted Bruna in the doorway, breathing heavily.
“Yes, Bruna. What is it?”
“Someone… is here to see you. She said… it was urgent.”
Alison turned to DeeAnn with a concerned look. The last time someone came to see them unannounced things ended very badly. “Who is it?”
“A woman. From San Juan. A Boricua.”
Both women quickly followed Bruna. She led them back downstairs but stopped short upon reaching the bottom step where they spotted a middle-aged woman curiously looking around their observation area.
When the woman saw Bruna returning, she appeared relieved and quickly closed the distance between herself and the women, staring intently at Alison as she did so.
“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “’I’m sorry. I was just-”
Bruna was breathing hard again but still managed an irritated glare. “I told you I would get her.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine.” Alison could see puffiness around the woman’s eyes. “What can I do for you?”
“I’m very sorry. I don’t mean any disrespect, but I have to speak with you.”
“About what?”
The woman took a deep breath. “My name is Lara Santiago. I've come to ask you for help. Not for me, for my daughter.”
“Your daughter?”
“Sofia. She’s eight. Her class came here recently on a field trip.” The woman frowned before continuing. “My daughter couldn’t come. She… she hasn’t been to school for a long time. She’s very sick.”
All three women’s faces softened.
Lara pressed her lips together firmly. She had already cried so much. But the tears still came, sometimes unexpectedly. “My daughter has leukemia. Her friends came to see her recently and told her about their field trip.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Alison said, her voice having dropped to a soft whisper.
The woman forced the next words out. “She… doesn’t have much time left.”
Alison placed a hand over her mouth and looked at DeeAnn.
“I’m here for her,” the mother continued. “She was wondering… we were wondering if we could arrange for a visit with your dolphins.” Lara was clearly struggling now. “Maybe a private visit? Sofia’s embarrassed of how she looks now, but she asked to see them… before it’s too late. If that’s possible.”
Alison dropped her hand and nodded. “Of course. Of course it is. We’d be happy to have her.”
“Thank you.” Lara smiled and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. “Thank you so much. Sofia loves dolphins. She’s wanted to come ever since you and your team arrived, but she’s been slowly getting worse. She doesn’t have much strength left. So her father and I are trying to make the rest of her time with us as happy as we can.”
Now all three of the women were near tears. They stepped in closer while Bruna placed a hand gently on the woman’s arm.
“How soon can you bring Sofia in?”
“Is tomorrow too soon?”
“Not at all.”
“Maybe ten o’clock?”
“That would be fine. We’ll make sure everything is ready.”
“Thank you so much. I can’t…” She stopped herself, unable to finish the sentence.
They each stepped forward and embraced Lara warmly one at a time. “You tell Sofia that we’ll all be waiting for her.”
Bruna then wrapped an arm around her and gently guided Lara back toward the double doors.
Alison and DeeAnn both looked at each other in silent amazement. They then glanced up, realizing Lee, Chris, and Juan were standing above them at the top of the stairs.
“I take it you heard all that?”
“We did.” They nodded solemnly.
“Can we count on your help tomorrow then?”
Chris smiled. “Hell, yes.”
From the inside of the tank, Sally watched Alison and the others speaking. They were talking quickly and for a long time. When it was over, the others disappeared, leaving only Alison, who remained staring at her and Dirk.
“Hello, Sally. Hello, Dirk.”
Sally answered as they both drifted effortlessly toward the tank’s glass wall. Hello Alison. How you?
“I’m good. Thank you. I need to talk to you about something.”
Outside, the computer beeped with an error when translating the last word. Alison shrugged. It didn’t matter. “I need to talk,” she repeated. Why IMIS had long been able to translate “need” and not “something” she didn’t understand. There were still a number of words the system couldn’t figure out and others it could. Of course now, given what Lee and Juan had discovered, there was no telling how deep IMIS’s translations went.
Yes we talk, answered Dirk.
“A young girl would like to come see you tomorrow. A child.” Alison thought for a moment and added, “She’s very sick.”
Why girl sick?
Alison frowned. She couldn’t think of a way to explain it. She knew IMIS didn’t have an exact match for the word “sick.” Instead, for the dolphins, the word IMIS translated it to was closer to “injury” but the context was close enough. “She’s been sick for a long time.” She hoped that would allow them to understand.
Girl come for talk?
“Yes. She’s very excited to talk to you and Dirk.”
We like talk her.
“She’s a very special girl. We want to make her visit special.”
They weren’t sure what Sofia would be able to do, but hopefully, with Dirk and Sally’s help, they were going to give her the experience of a lifetime. Even for one as short as hers.
7
When Sofia Santiago arrived at a few minutes past ten, everyone was ready, including Dirk and Sally. They both floated attentively at the end of the tank, watching as the small girl was wheeled in through the double-wide doors by her father.
Sofia looked frail in her chair, leaning slightly and wrapped in a light shawl. A beautiful pink and purple scarf was wrapped neatly around her head. Below the scarf, a set of warm brown eyes darted excitedly to Dirk and Sally on the other side of the glass. Her smile completed the picture of a beautiful young girl fighting bravely against a horrible disease. A girl who had a sickness, but the sickness clearly did not have her.
Alison and DeeAnn both stood beside the tank, amused that Sofia hadn’t yet noticed them. It wasn’t until her mother turned the wheelchair and introduced them that the girl’s eyes were peeled away.
“Well, hello there, Sofia.” Alison reached down and shook her delicate hand. “My name is Alison Shaw. We’re so very happy to have you.”
Sofia grinned. “I saw you on the TV.”
“Is that right? Is that how you found out about us?”
She nodded proudly.
“And this is my friend DeeAnn.”
“Hello, Sofia,” DeeAnn said, taking the girl’s hand next. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. We hear you’re crazy about dolphins. In fact, we have a gift for you.” DeeAnn brought something out from behind her back and unfolded it. It was a small T-shirt with a picture of Dirk and Sally on the front.