When Love Begins in San Antonio (English version)

Chapter 3

The sun was setting when the stranger regained consciousness. His eyes wandered around the four corners of the room. He had no idea where he was.

"How are you feeling?" Lianna asked. The man slowly turned his head towards her. She was sitting beside the bed, holding a white cloth she had used to clean his wounds. He could still feel the stiffness in his neck.

Lianna could clearly see the man's American features. Even his uniform, stained with dried blood, indicated that he was a military officer.

The man sat up on the bed, holding his head.

"I found you on the beach this morning. Your body was covered in bruises and cuts. I couldn't take you to the hospital because it's in town, so I brought you here instead. How are you now?"

When the man didn't respond, Lianna spoke again. "Your condition... how are you?" she repeated.

As his vision became clearer, he finally spoke.

"Who are you? And h-how did I get here?" the man asked in confusion, still clutching his forehead.

"I had Mang Pedro carry you here. I couldn't just leave you there until the waves took you." Philip just stared at her like she was crazy. It had been quite a challenge for Lianna and Mang Pedro to sneak him into the house. Even though her father had left for work early that day, they still had to be cautious around the people in the household. Mang Pedro also struggled to carry the foreign man because he was somewhat heavy.

"Look at this. You decided to live in this country yet yoy can't even speak our language," Lianna said, crossing her arms.

The man suddenly stood up as if nothing was wrong with him, quickly put on his boots, and began walking towards the door. But Lianna blocked his way and grabbed the doorknob.

"Hey! Hey! You can't go out now; my family might see you. They can't find you here. Go back there. I'll sneak you out later when they're asleep."

"What?"

"Cama!" Lianna commanded, pointing to the bed as if she were ordering a dog. "You must understand some Spanish, right?"

While not as fluent in English as she was in Spanish, Lianna could still understand some of it.

"Get out of my way."

"Keep your voice down, someone might hear you," Lianna whispered urgently.

"Move!"

"No!"

And they began struggling over the doorknob.

A few moments later, they heard a knock on the door. The two stopped immediately.

"Miss Lianna?" they heard Linda's voice. Lianna gestured for the soldier to stay quiet.

"W-What?" Lianna asked, leaning against the door. "Doña Cecilia is asking for you to come down for dinner," Linda said.

"Alright. I'll be there." Lianna turned back to Philip. "Stay here, okay? Don't go anywhere. I'll be back. No se mueva. Entendido?"

As she went down the stairs, she found her family already seated at the dining table. "Why did it take you so long, dear? Were you doing something?" Don Manuelo asked.

"Ah—N-No, I was just tidying up some things."

Before they began to eat, Doña Cecilia led the prayer. The table was filled with various dishes. Lianna thought about bringing some food for the foreign man. She suspected he hadn't eaten since the previous day. However, her parents might wonder why she needed to bring food upstairs if she was already dining with them.

Lianna hurried through her meal so she could quickly return to the foreigner hiding in her room. She couldn't help but worry that he might be snooping around her belongings and finding things he shouldn't see.

"Slow down, dear, or you might choke!" Doña Cecilia said, concerned.

After finishing her meal, Lianna discreetly grabbed some bread and grapes from the kitchen, placed them in a basket, and rushed back to her room. When she opened the door, the foreign man was no longer there. She noticed an open copy of the Tribune on the table, with the headline reading, "Bataan Falls to Overwhelming Japanese Horde."

Lianna saw that her window was open. She quickly went there and saw the foreigner climbing over the tall fence beside their house, heading away while clutching his shoulder, where he had a deep wound.

Lianna immediately followed the foreign man.

"Wait! Señor! Señor!" Lianna called out to him.

But he didn't look back.

Lianna breathed heavily and called out again.

"Kuya! Sir!" Still, the man kept walking. "Edward! Charles! George! Philip!"

The man suddenly stopped and looked back.

"Ah, so your name is Philip," Lianna said with a smile, walking closer to him. In truth, she wasn't sure; she was merely guessing, calling out the names of European princes and kings she read from books.

He turned away from her again, but before he could take further than two steps, Lianna blocked his path.

"Where are you going? If you're heading back to your camp, you still have a long walk ahead, and your wounds haven't fully healed. I'll have our worker take you there by carriage tomorrow."

She noticed his blue eyes, which seemed enchanting with a color uncommon among the people around her. The man had a fine physique and handsome features, even though he was scowling. However, Lianna didn't dwell much on that.

"I can't just use the carriage because my father might wonder why it's missing. And I can't tell him I took it because only he knows how to drive it—"

But Philip continued walking towards the street.

"Hey! Wait! Come back here! You don't even know how to say thank you!" Lianna yelled at Philip. "Does he even know where he's going?" she wondered to herself. "He is a soldier, though. He should be able to handle it."

Lianna returned to their house and found Linda waiting outside.

"Miss, who were you talking to earlier?" Linda asked curiously. "I saw you run outside after some man. It seemed like he came from the hacienda."

"Sshhh! Keep your voice down! Just don't ask questions. And don't mention this to anyone. Claro?"