SIGNALS IN THE ATLANTIC

Leo and Andrea are a 38-year-old couple who have been together since college. He is an astrophysicist and she is a meteorologist; both work and live in Madrid.

However, a little over a year ago, they suffered the worst thing that can happen to parents: losing a child. Hugo was the joy of the house until, at five months old, he was diagnosed with a very aggressive and degenerative illness called SMA (spinal muscular atrophy) that has no cure.

At a year and a half of life, little Hugo died, leaving his parents plunged into the deepest sadness. This loss shattered them completely, and they fell into a depression so profound that it even made them reconsider their relationship.

One day, Leo received an email with a job offer to relocate to a remote island in the Atlantic Ocean. The position required an astrophysicist to control a highly powerful telescope and keep the facilities running. When he got home, he proposed it to Andrea; he thought that accepting the job and going there alone would help them have a change of scenery, leave Madrid behind, try to save their relationship, and overcome the loss of Hugo. Andrea didn't reply right away. She told him she had to think about it, that she was very tired, and that she needed to make such a decision calmly.

The next morning, upon waking up, Leo noticed that Andrea was not in bed. He found it strange, since he usually got up first. When he went to the kitchen for breakfast, he found her there, sitting at the counter with a cup of coffee, her eyes fixed on a single point and her face thoughtful. Leo said good morning. She reacted with surprise and, seeing it was him, returned the greeting. He approached, took a stool, and sat next to her while rubbing her back. Andrea looked at her; she reflected the fatigue of a sleepless night. She gave him a timid smile, took the hand he had resting on the counter, and, looking into his eyes in silence, nodded her head. Leo did not say anything either: he just smiled and nodded too. They had been together for so many years that they already understood each other perfectly with a single look or a simple gesture.

The following weeks were spent immersed in the preparations for the trip, leaving everything well tied up for their departure; after all, they were going to spend a whole year on the island without the possibility of returning home. One night, a few days before leaving and while preparing dinner, Andrea asked Leo if he knew what had happened to the previous astrophysicist and why the position on the island had become vacant. Leo shook his head and admitted that he hadn't even thought about it. He promised her that the next day he would ask Sonia, the manager who had sent him the email and with whom he had been coordinating the terms of the contract, the move, and all the details of their stay on the island.

The next day, Sonia called Leo to finalize the details of the trip. They reviewed the flight schedules from Madrid, the layover in the Azores, and the transfer to the boat that would take them to their final destination in the middle of the Atlantic, as well as the inventory of supplies. Just before saying goodbye, Leo remembered Andrea's question.

"Why did this position become vacant?" he asked.

A deathly silence fell on the other end of the line. Seconds passed, and Leo, puzzled, thought the connection had been cut.

"Sonia? Are you still there?"

"I'll call you later, Leo," she replied in an unusually serious voice. "I'm in a hurry, I need to finish coordinating the monthly supply distribution. Remember that the boat only passes once a month to drop off provisions."

And she hung up, promising to return his call. Leo was not very convinced.

He spent the whole day turning the matter over in his mind, puzzled by Sonia's unexpected coldness. The hours passed, but the promised call never came.

By nightfall, while they were having a light dinner in the kitchen accompanied by a glass of wine, Andrea noticed his serious countenance.

"Is something wrong, Leo?"

He looked at her, hesitant.

"No, nothing serious. It's just that today, when Sonia called me during lunch to finalize the trip details, I asked her your question about the vacancy and..." He left the sentence hanging, turning thoughtful.

"And what did she answer?" she insisted, intrigued.

"Nothing."

"What do you mean, nothing?"

"I don't know, it was as if she stalled to avoid the question. She went quiet for a few seconds and then told me she was in a hurry, that she would call me later. But she hasn't."

Andrea began to get nervous, catching the uncertainty:

"But then... what does this mean?"

Seeing her worried face, Leo tried to calm her down, regretting a little having mentioned it.

"Don't worry, I'm sure she was stressed with the preparation of the supplies. Tomorrow I'll talk to her and it will turn out to be nothing."

Andrea was not very convinced. They finished dinner in silence and went to bed with serious faces, weighed down by a doubt that was beginning to sink deep into their thoughts.

The next day, at lunchtime, as was usual in recent weeks, Leo received Sonia's call:

"Hello, Sonia. Yesterday I was left waiting for your call."

"Hello, Leo. Sorry for not calling you back, it got late with the preparations and it completely slipped my mind."

"Don't worry, but I did have a doubt regarding the question I asked you about the previous astrophysicist."

"Regarding that, I can only tell you that, after a few months on the island, he had to leave. According to him, it was for personal reasons, but I don't know anything else."

Leo was not very convinced by Sonia's answer.

"It's just that Andrea asked me the other day and the truth is it made me think about it, that's why I'm asking."

"Well, I don't know anything else about it. I'm sorry I can't tell you anything more."

"I understand, don't worry, it was just a doubt we had."

The conversation continued for a few more minutes, but it was all about the preparations for the trip.

In the evening, when Leo got home, Andrea was waiting for him to ask about Sonia's call.

"Hello," he said as he walked through the door.

"Hello, did Sonia call you?" she said right away.

"Yes, she called me at lunchtime, as usual."

"And what did she say? Why didn't she call you yesterday? What happened to the previous astrophysicist?" Andrea bombarded him with questions, anxious to know.

"Nothing, just that he was on the island for a few months, but he had to leave due to personal problems."

"And that's it? She didn't tell you anything else?"

"No, she told me that's all she knew."

"And why didn't she return your call?"

"Because it got late with the preparations and it slipped her mind."

"Well, what an answer, that doesn't clear up any doubts for me."

"Don't worry, Andrea, I'm sure the previous guy had some family problem and just had to leave," he said to try to calm her down.

"Yeah, well, yes, you're right."

"Don't worry, you'll see how we're going to do great and we're going to be perfectly fine, just the two of us alone there."

She looked at him and gave him a calmer smile.

"Come on, let's have dinner, to build up strength for tomorrow, your last day at work before we leave for the island."

"Yes, that's true, tomorrow I have to say goodbye to everyone. Gosh, I'm going to feel really sad."

"Normal, it's been many years there with them. Tomorrow I'm also saying goodbye to mine, a few of us are going out for a farewell lunch."

"Don't stretch the farewell too long, we catch the flight the next day and we can't miss it." Leo let out a laugh.

"No, no, don't worry." Andrea laughed back.

"Let's have dinner, I'm starving."

"Yes, let's go, it's getting late anyway."

If you want, I can h