He did not pray often.

He prayed then — not to be forgiven, which he did not think he deserved, but only to reach the boy in time, only for that, only for the chance to undo one hour of the fifteen years he had wasted.

Chapter 15 — The Escape

What happened inside the ambulance, Santiago could only piece together later, and the doctors would piece together the rest from his injuries.

Fighting the pull of the sedative, half-conscious, he understood in some animal way that wherever they were taking him, he could not let them arrive.