The Wind Beneath Our Wings

Chapter 2

Joaquin was laying on the bed that had been placed in a corner of the set, covered by a blanket. His eyes were closed.

Reese was sitting still on the edge of the bed, staring at him. "And... Action!", I heard James' yell.

Silence instantly fell in the room.

As soon as the cameras started rolling, Reese's features softened and her eyes filled with a kind of light that wasn't present in them only a split second earlier.

At that moment, I knew that she had become June Carter.

The love and the longing I noticed in her eyes while she was staring at Joaquin belonged to June and were for her John.

"Hey", she called him in a whisper.

Even though I was standing a couple of feet away, I felt that my heart skipping a beat the moment Joaquin opened his glorious eyes.

Just like every single time my gaze would meet his.

Reese handed him a small bowl of glass filled with raspberries:

"Mama and I picked these up down the road", she spoke gently. "They're good"

Sitting up straight against the pillow that was placed behind his back, Joaquin -or rather John -  picked a raspberry from the bowl, his eyes glowing as he stared at Reese - his June. His face lightened up with a soft smile before he placed the raspberry in his mouth, taking a few seconds to taste it.

"It's good to see you again", June smiled at the man she loved.

Seeing Joaquin looking so fragile-as if he was about to break into pieces at any given moment - was painful.

My mind was perfectly aware that the moment that Reese and Joaquin were creating was a fictional version of what John Cash had to go through when he had finally won his battle against his drug addiction.

However, my heart was urging me to believe that this movie scene belonged to reality.

The love I was witnessing in June's eyes and the pain that seemed to consume John seemed frighteningly real.

" Can I get you something else?", June whispered. 

"Just stay"

As soon as I heard these words, that Joaquin uttered in a voice that I could barely hear, I felt my heart melt.

If Joaquin asked me the same question, what would my answer to him be?" 

"Okay"

June's answer to John reached my ears from miles away.

If Joaquin asked me to stay by his sides to help him win his battles, to share his happiness, would I give him the same answer that June gave to John?

My eyes wandered to him

He was gazing intently at Reese while she was delivering her lines to him. 

I couldn't hear any of her words.

I was unable to tear my eyes from Joaquin's face.

He looked vulnerable, like a child who was craving for love and protection.

This vulnerability was most probably one of the main reasons why John Cash himself wanted Joaquin to portray him in the movie based on his life that we were shooting.

Mister Cash had certainly identified in Joaquin the same fragility that he also had within him. Joaquin was barely thirty years old. And yet he had already had his share of struggles in life.