Page 74 of Escape to the Sun

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“She’s not back yet.” Ash walked out of the kitchen where Camila was cooking up a grilled lobster salad for lunch. Alone. She hadn’t seen Heather since she’d headed up the hill to Sherri’s. “She should be back soon. Why don’t you grab a book and relax in one of the hammocks for a while? I need to do a bit of research on the computer. Will you be okay for a bit?”

“Ash, I’m not an invalid. I’ll be fine.” She yawned. “Besides, I could use a nap and that hammock outside of my bungalow looked pretty inviting. Would you believe I’ve never been in a hammock either?”

He laughed. “As a matter of fact, I would. But today is the day to have your first hammock. So get to it.”

She smiled and Ash couldn’t help but think how much mother and daughter actually looked alike. Especially when they were happy. Maybe Casa del Sol could work its magic on Val, too. And hopefully the two of them could find their way back to each other.

As soon as Val grabbed a book from the shelf in the corner, and the mojito Ash made her, and headed back to her bungalow, Ash got to work at the computer. He was already behind in his research for helping Sherri and although it couldn’t be helped, he wasn’t going to miss another minute. Sheri’s health was a priority and he knew as soon as Heather came back down, she was going to think so, too.

She was also going to be upset.

But maybe not as upset as she could be. Sure, he should have told her. But Sherri had asked him not to. And yes, he should have ignored that. But now that he had an actual plan to help, Heather would like that.

Oh yes. He could justify it in all kinds of ways. But it didn’t matter; he was going to do as he said he would.

Without much to go on, Ash typed a few things into the Google search bar and filtered through the results. It surprised him how much he could find on natural treatments for cancer. Of course, there was just as much negative as positive, but that wasn’t his job. He’d promised Sherri they would do it her way. And they would. At least for now.

It didn’t take him long to find the contact information for nutritionists, cancer specialists, and even a man who specialized in healing through the mind with yoga and meditation. He composed a number of emails and made a list of phone numbers. He’d have to wait and call them when he got to town. The cell service could be sketchy at best so far from town and he didn’t want to risk dropping such important phone calls. The emails were a good start, but what he really wanted was to talk to a few people personally and ideally secure them as staff.

He’d been hoping to avoid a trip into town, at least until he could line it up with a guest pickup for Heather. But the more he got into it, the more it looked as though he would need to go into town soon. Very soon. If he wanted to make things happen for Sherri, and line up a staff, let alone supplies and anything else she was going to need to fight and win her battle, he needed to get moving on it now.

Especially because everything he was thinking about doing was going to require money. Not that he didn’t have a lot of it. He did. But it wasn’t easy to access. Not in a place like Bocas Town. He kept a small supply of cash at the local bank but for what he wanted to do, he would probably have to make a trip to Panama City to unlock some major funds. He’d wait as long as possible to do that. And if there was a workaround, he’d take it.

When his list was made, he was just about to log off the computer when he decided to check his email on the off chance that he received a response already. To his shock, he did. And it was the one he wanted, too. Dr. Friesen, out of Arizona, who specialized in a holistic approach to cancer. Ash had been impressed with his website. Very impressed. Enough so that when he’d written the email, he’d mentioned that he would go to any means to have the doctor come to Panama as soon as possible. If he was the best, and he certainly looked to be, Ash wanted him on the team. As soon as possible.

Eagerly, he clicked open the email.

Mr. Anderson,

I’m sorry to hear about your friend, Sherri. She sounds like a lovely lady and from what you’ve described, she is an excellent candidate for my program. I don’t do house calls very often, and I’ve never before been a ‘doctor in residence,’ as you put it. Sherri’s type of leukemia is highly treatable; however, I am intrigued by her philosophy on treating herself. I would be happy to speak to you further and entertain the idea of visiting Sherri to see how I could possibly be of help in her situation. I am currently preparing to go on a small research trip and will be gone for the next few weeks. As I sensed some level of urgency in your correspondence, I thought I would offer the opportunity to talk to you as soon as possible and potentially shift my travel plans to include a visit to Panama to discuss the best course of action and further potential treatment plans.

If this is of interest to you, I would invite you to call me as soon as possible at the below listed number. If I do not hear from you within the next twelve hours, I will unfortunately be unable to accommodate your request.

Sincerely, Dr. Mike Friesen

“Sure soundsto me like he’d be willing to make a house call,” Ash said aloud. “Everything is doable for a price.” It was a lesson he’d learned years ago and although he hadn’t had much use for money in Bocas, at least not the type of money he was used to dealing with, it was obviously a principle that stayed true.

Dr. Friesen was the guy he needed. No, he was the doctor Sherri needed. He needed to call right away. He’d change the man’s entire travel plans if he needed to. Anything to get him to Panama and on Team Sherri as soon as humanly possible.

He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and powered it on. From the moment Ash decided to leave his old life behind, ditching his old cell phone and the constant need to be in touch with the world had been one of his favorite things about leaving it all behind. His new phone existed mostly out of necessity to have a homebase. Somewhere for his parents to reach him if there was an emergency, and of course for phone calls like the one he was about to make.

Ash plugged the phone in—it was almost never charged—and dialed the number.

No service.

“Dammit.”

That was largely the problem with cell phones in Panama. He tried a different plug, closer to the water where maybe there was better reception.

Nothing.

There was no help for it. He’d have to go into town.

But Heather wasn’t back yet. He didn’t want to leave before Heather got back from Sherri’s. He hadn’t had a moment to talk to her about anything important. About Sherri, about them. Them. He shook his head. He didn’t have time to think about how much had changed or how much more he still wanted it to change. There’d be time for that later.

He ran into the kitchen; Camila was still there.

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