“Ever see fistful of dollars, with Clint Eastwood?” Ernesto unbuttoned his shirt and pulled out a badly mangled, metal church collection plate that he had fastened to his chest. He untied it and tossed it aside. Even in the moonlight Muna could see that his chest was badly bruised.

“You need to get up, we need to get you medical attention, she extended a hand down to him, but he did not take it. “Come on, I promise I won’t knock you down again.” Ernesto did not respond. She knelt beside him and inspected his wounds. She was shocked to find that his clothes were soaked in his own blood, and he was now unconscious. He had been bleeding far worst than he let on. She ripped his shirt open and spotted a large gash near his abdomen. Fortunately for Ernesto, Muna had tended hundreds of such wounds like these.

Ernesto awoke a week later. He was in a bed in an unfamiliar room. After a few minutes Muna walked in with some bandages and some food. “So you’re finally awake?”

“Where am I?” Ernesto sat up and discovered that his wounds had been expertly patched up. “Where is the doctor?”

“You’re in my room, and you’re looking at her.”

“You did this, even the stitches?”

“Yes, as well as several medicinal herbs that helped speed up the healing. It was the least I could do after almost letting you bleed out on the beach.”

“I guess I am forgiven then?”

“Yes, I forgive you,” Muna placed a hand on Ernesto head. “The fever appears to be gone. Are you hungry?”

“I am starving.”

        For the next few weeks, Muna took care of Ernesto, she had come to the realization that she was meant to be here, to make sure that this man had not died. His wounds would have been fatal, had she not been there to treat him as quickly as she did. In time, as Muna helped Ernesto heal, a friendship developed, and that friendship blossomed into a deep and unshakable love. After only a few months, with a ring made out of vampire gold, Ernesto proposed, and Muna with tears in her eyes, said yes.