POULSBO — As she sits at a table in the back of Casa Luna nestled in quiet walkway just off Front Street, Cheryl de Luna tries to focus on the task at hand. But her thoughts are miles away.

Her husband, Juan, who opened the restaurant 10 years ago, lies in a hospital bed fighting his way of out a coma caused by an aneurysm, which struck two days before Thanksgiving.

While sitting at the restaurant, Juan suddenly froze and collapsed as an employee caught him and others ran to get help. Juan was rushed to Silverdale and, on his way there, said the last words Cheryl has heard him say since.

“He told me he loved me and I’d meet him in Silverdale,” Cheryl recalled.

He never did as he was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle shortly upon his arrival.

In the months that have passed, Juan has waged an ongoing battle to regain full consciousness despite suffering several setbacks along the way.

Doctors have told Cheryl that her husband is on the verge of coming totally out of the coma and now her goal is to bring him home as soon as possible.

“I need to get him out of that hospital, so he can continue to get better,” she said, noting that he has suffered three infections since November with the latest one being a major setback.

“He was doing really well and this infection really knocked him back,” she said. “Now he has to fight to get back to where he was.”

Unfinished business

The couple had been finishing their new home when the tragedy struck and now instead of spending days decorating it, Cheryl and Juan’s son, Anthony, are living out of boxes and spending every night with Juan.

“All three of us are in the hospital together and we’re not moving into our new house until Juan comes home,” Cheryl said.

The trio spent the holidays doing many of the same things they would have done at home and tried to keep things normal as possible, she said.

Even though he is unable to speak, Juan still found a way to give her a Valentine’s Day gift, she said.

“He opened his eyes and puckered up his lips and blew me kisses,” Cheryl said with tears in her eyes. “I can tell he’s smiling because of the wrinkles around his eyes.”

Storybook romance

Before the tragedy, Juan and Cheryl were living a life that is only found in fairy tales and romance novels.

“It was love at first sight and we were really happy together,” she said looking back on a five-year odyssey that seems like just yesterday.

The power of their love intertwined their lives as they worked the same hours and spent every hour of every day together, Cheryl said.

“The only time we were apart was when I’d go to the gym, but I’d come home and he was waiting on the couch to cuddle,” she said.

After they met, Juan eventually handed the business tasks associated with running the restaurant over to her as he would sit and laugh and smile, while she wrote checks and kept the books, Cheryl said.

“It’s one of those romances that’s really hard to find and I’ve been so blessed,” she said. “I absolutely adore him.”

That love has helped carry her through the past several months as she comes to the restaurant once a week to check on things and do the books before returning to Juan’s side.

“I have to be here for the customers and this is what Juan would want,” Cheryl said. “Nothing else matters but getting him home.”

Paying the bills

Marina Market owner Andrea Rowe said Juan’s presence is missed throughout the downtown area.

“A lot of merchants go in there and hang out and he was an example to a lot of people,” Rowe said.

Juan was hard working and took care of his family by putting them first, she said.

“With him, it’s all about family,” she said. “A lot of people don’t know what happened and they’re really shocked.”

Because the family’s insurance will not cover all of Juan’s medical expenses, an account has been set up at Frontier Bank in Poulsbo.

Donations to the Cheryl de Luna and Juan de Luna Medical Benefit Account can be dropped off at any Frontier Bank location or mailed to the bank at P.O. Box 1779, Poulsbo, WA 98370.