I regained consciousness and saw that I was confined in a make shift hospital in the camp we liberated, I saw bandage on my shoulder, and I felt some pain in that area. I also didn't realize that I had a bullet wound on my left leg. 

After the Allies liberated Manila in March 1945, I was transferred to a bigger hospital in Manila together with other injured men, and civilians, they need to re-perform the surgery because the doctor said he doesn't think it was stitched good.

I saw the sun getting in a window so a nurse opened up the drapes and let the morning sunshine in to brighten up our mood. The nurse who opened the drapes looked familiar. I can't see her clearly because of the sunlight but when she approached my direction, she looked familiar. I can't believe it,  I saw Julia again. The beautiful lady who posed to be my wife in my previous mission. Am I hallucinating? Is it because of the painkillers? I don't really know. 

She checked my pulse and handed me a cup of water.

"Good Morning Agent Carter." She said. She flashed me a smile, her red lips were the first color I recognized.

I wasn't wearing my uniform now. I was dressed down to a hospital gown I lifted the covers then I realized that the maps were missing. Camila looked at me as if she knew what I was looking for.

"The papers? The other nurse got it and sent it to the military office. Did you forget? She got it when the soldiers took you to the make shift infirmary. " She said. Oh yes, I forgot. They made me change my clothes there too. I looked at Julia's direction. 

I haven't said a single word. Have I gone mute? Or is it just because of her. 

"I'm Camila Rodriguez. What's your name?" She asked.

Come on Pancho! Say something! It took me ten seconds before I was able to say something.

"I am Francisco. But everyone calls me Pancho." I replied.

"Oh, I forgot. My name here in the army is Samuel Carter... Samuel Carter." I replied. Oh damn it. I blew up my cover and revealed my identity.  

"I changed it because I want to hide from my father. He doesn't approve any of this. He said that my brother Andres is enough military for our family." I added. I sound a little tongue tied. 

She laughed on how I sounded. I sounded like a kid trying to talk for the first time. 

"Good memory, Pancho... or Samuel." She said.

"Wait a minute...Weren't you Julia, who posed to be my wife last month?" I said.

"Yes I am. Like you, I changed my name too. I'm glad you recalled. I thought you forgot. I can still remember how your eyes looked at me while we were dancing, and even when we're in the car going home. I saw you glancing at me." She said, as she smiled and laughed when she remembered what happened. 

"You were obedient and didn't break any protocol. Other men I've worked with tried to hit on me as soon as the mission's over even if I don't like them. But you were different." She added, and jokingly shared about her experiences.

"Well I guess I'm just like that. Sorry if I bore you." I replied. Then looked at her with my puppy eyes. She's going crack for sure.

"No, No, I don't mean it that way. I was actually surprised on how you acted. What a fine gentleman you are, Pancho." She replied apologetically. I knew it would work.

"So were you really..." I asked. Asking her if she was a spy too.

"Yes I was. But that was my last mission. They placed me here in the hospital ever since. My face is getting more familiar to the crowds. I heard they put on a woman named Carmen. She said that she knows you." She replied. Wow, Carmen. Good for her.

Camila got a bowl of chicken porridge and fed me. My arms were not that weak to let her do it. But if a beautiful girl like her wants to do it then I say why not. She was telling me some story when she was feeding me but I can't focus and didn't understand what she said. All I did was stare at her pretty face like a kid who looks at a new toy. So this is how heaven feels like. 

After that, she assisted me to lay on my bed, even though I can do it. I liked the feeling of being tucked into bed.

"Thanks Camila. You know what, why don't we grab some dinner after all of this is over?" I asked her. I tried to sound as confident as possible.

She turned her attention to me again and looked at me weirdly.

Okay, kill me now, kill me now. Pancho you're a loser, she's way out of your league.

"I thought you'll never ask. You owe me another dance Pancho." Were the words that she said to me. She smiled then left. I felt like butter sliding into warm toast.

The next day, O'Hara dropped by the hospital to visit me. We talked about the maps and he said that the maps that I got were so vital in executing one of the last campaigns for the war, they're only holding on to few provinces, in the southernmost part of the Philippines.

I felt so noble and proud of myself after that. But I remembered that I still don't have information about Andres. Is he alive?

He paused for a while and took a deep breath. I think he will say something bad about him. I looked away from him and stared at the wall trying to hold it in.

"Son, your brother is very much alive and he's now resting in the other room together with his other comrades. But he wasn't as well as he is. I suggest to you to wait a little bit before seeing him. Andres, experienced hell in that camp. They weren't given enough food and water. They worked hard labor that even the toughest of them will have a hard time doing it. Don't see him now, but I assure you he's well taken care of." He replied, as he lit a cigarette.

Andres is alive. I'm glad we both made it. Pápa would be happy to know it. My shoulder still hurts because of the wounds that I had. 

One morning, I walked carefully towards the exit of the ward and tried to search for Andres. I passed by Camila who was about to enter the ward. The hallway smelled of denatured alcohol, medicine and other sanitary products. 

"Hello Camila. I'm looking for my brother. He's one of the men rescued in the camp. Can you help me find him?" I said.

She looked at me and she seemed like she was recalling room assignments.

"I know I'm handsome, but I stink. My hair is sticky, and I haven't showered for weeks." I joked. She laughed and looked at me weirdly again.

"Pancho, your hospital gown seems to be untied at your back. The whole hospital may have seen your peaches behind you." She replied, then she laughed again. My face turned like a peach out of embarrassment. I tried to reach it but I still can't.

"Okay, Pancho. I will close it up. Don't worry, I'll close my eyes." She said. She stepped behind me to close it and I am trying my best not to laugh and hold my butt in so at least she'll find that I have a nice firm one if she sees it.

"You look like you're holding your poop. Calm down Pancho." She said then she laughed again. If I can only run right now, I would do it.

"Aha! So you looked!" I replied. Making her face red this time. She looked so embarrassed and was holding her laughter.

I smiled, then we both laughed at it. Some jazz music was playing on the background.

"You know we could dance right now. I know the tango, waltz, Charleston, but it's all about the jazz now." I said trying to divert the conversation and tried to move along with the music but I looked like a constipated old man moving around. 

"Oh shut up, Mr. Golden Boy. I know who you are. You're one of the Fàbregas brothers, two of the most eligible bachelors in Manila." She replied. Laughing at me again.

"That's the reason why you wanted to change to Samuel Carter? Maybe they won't trust you with a riffle if they knew who you really are." She added.

"Hey. I know how to use a gun. I know how to do archery. You just haven't seen it yet." I defensively replied. Then she laughed. I love seeing her laugh. She makes this cute weird sound when she does it.

We found Andres' room. It was way worse than I expected. I saw men without limbs, one was just staring at the ceiling. All of them looked like skeletons with skins. Then I finally saw Andres. He's like the rest of them. He looked so weak and fragile. Far from how I saw him last year.

I stood in front of him and extended my hands to his direction. I sat down and held his hand. He was still not able to talk clearly. Then he pointed at the gauze on my shoulder.

"It's nothing Andres. I'm glad that you're alive." I said.

"We didn't believe that you're gone. Despite being on a lost status for a year." I added.

Andres tried to talk slowly and he was able to share to me how life was there. He was the only one alive in his troop. All of them died just months before they were freed.

I asked Camila to help me feed him, after that I assisted him to tidy himself up. He was so light and looked like he lost 30 lbs when he leaned on me while we're walking back to his bed. I left his room and went back to mine, that afternoon, Camila held my arm and assisted me. I feel contented now knowing that he's safe. It may take months or even years to bring back the old Andres. The only thing that I fear for now is that maybe he won't be back to his old self like many others.

"I was wondering about what you said the other day. You said that you knew me and my brother?" I asked Camila as she checked my vital signs again. 

"I knew you because my mother can't stop talking about you two. She said that I should be with men like you, and not the Chinese Filipino playboy that my grandfather introduced me to, he was courting me that time even before my season arrives." She said as she prepared my meal. I handed it from her because I can now do it myself.

"Your fiancée Emily was killed during the dawn of war. You enlisted secretly for the army and worked in the mailroom." She said. I just nodded. I don't want to talk about it anymore. 

"Before the war, Andres and I were hiding from a war in Spain. We lived in Portugal for a few years before finally leaving Spain in 1939. Have you been to Madrid?" I asked her.

"Yes! I went there as a young girl. The travel going there exhausted me. 

"You fixed your hair!" She said. Then she leaned towards my direction.

"You smelled like cologne too. You really can't take a day not to look and smell good don't you?" She added. Then we both laughed.

I lied on my bed that night feeling giddy as a schoolboy. I am starting to like her more now.