Out of Captivity : Surviving 1,967 Days in the Colombian Jungle

440 OUT OF CAPTIVITYto open the door. “You’re sure?” he asked. I could see the genuine concernhe had etched in his eyes.I nodded and he smiled and swung the door open. The first thingI saw was two young boys sitting on the floor playing with cars withtheir backs to me. When they turned around at the sound of the dooropening, they jumped up and ran to me, yelling, “Papa! Papa!” Theyeach grabbed a leg, and I swear to you, it felt like both of them couldhave taken me down. I was so weak-kneed and rubbery-thighed I justwanted to sink down right there and cry. Instead I went down on oneknee and let them put their arms around my neck. I looked at Patriciaand that cemented in my mind what I’d been thinking about for thelast few months: Here was a woman who knew how to do the hardright thing. For all the shit I’d put her through, for all the walls that I’dput up between us, and for all the tangled mess that had been my lifein captivity, she found a way to break through and embrace me in a waythat no one ever had before.To see that gorgeous woman sitting there with her hands in front ofher mouth and tears welling in her eyes, I knew that one person hadfailed me but another had delivered in ways beyond belief. I was notabout to consider questions of deserved or not, I just wanted to holdin my arms a woman who really understood what it was to love and toforgive.“How did they know?” was about all I could manage to squeeze pastmy constricted throat.“I had a photo of you on the wall in their room. Right between theirbeds. I told them all about you. I told them about the bad men who hadyou, and that was why you weren’t with us.”We sat down and I took her hand.“But how did you know?” I alluded to the fact that she had no way ofknowing what my feelings for her were.“Before Luis Eladio came home, I didn’t know. I just trusted—andhoped.”