Dying is a way of life on the border.
Lindsay Bonner knew that now. She was a nurse, but she could not deny death. She was a married woman, but she loved two men. Four men had come for her, but only one man would go home. She reached across the hospital bed and touched his face.
Bode Bonner opened his eyes. He blinked hard to focus. He was lying in a bed. In a hospital room. His wife sat next to him. He remembered.
"Doc?"
His wife clenched her jaws and shook her head. He felt tears come into his eyes.
"How long?"
"Four days. Since surgery."
"Where am I?"
"Laredo hospital."
"How?"
"Border Patrol. They brought us all here. The federales shot at us, from across the river. They hit you and Jesse. He died in the colonia. We buried him next to his mother."
She cried now.
"I'm sorry, Lindsay. For Jesse… and for hurting you."
She stared off a moment then turned back to him.
"You need to know something, Bode. I loved Jesse, but I didn't have an affair with him. Not a physical one."
"Can you ever forgive me?"
"I already have."
"Why?"
"Because you came for me."