Chapter Five
"Paloma you’ve got a lot of explaining to do."
Was the first thing I hear as I come to.
"Huh?" I reply, still unable to focus on the person in front of me. Finally the blurriness disappears,
and I look straight into my brother’s eyes. "Luis." I inhale saying his name.
"Yes it’s me." He sneers. "How are you sister dear?"
"Get out! No, I don’t want to see you, get out!" I try to scream, but the words come out as a hoarse
whisper. Quickly I clear my throat.
"This wasn’t right. I should’ve stopped you. Go on, leave." Jess says, pushing him and the rest of my
family who stood silently behind him out the door.
"She’s my sister! I have the right to see her! You let me stay now!" I hear Luis yell back at Jess.
"You’ll upset her. That could be bad for her health. Trust me, my mother’s a nurse. Just get out! Can’t you
see the last people she wants to see is the family that deserted her!" After they leave, she returns to my
bedside and sits down in the chair.
"Why were they here? Why’d you let them in?" I beg Jess.
"Jess couldn’t really stop them. They just entered. The tall man leading." Julie, who was standing on
the other side, states.
"Oh. What happened? Am I okay?" I groggily ask.
"You were shot in the stomach, but they were able to repair the damage. You had to have a blood transfusion
because you lost so much blood." Jess explained.
"Did the hospital have enough blood? AB- is rare." I remark.
"No, you’re family had to be tested and gave blood." Julie replies.
"Were any of them a match?" I ask, fear creeping into my voice.
"Yes one was." Jess remarks, looking into my eyes. I already know the answer, and I lift my arm slowly
to my mouth.
"No. Not Luis. NO!" I scream.
"Maria, don’t stress yourself." Jess warns, putting her hand on my arm as I break into hysterics. "I’m
sorry."
"I don’t want to see them still. Just because this happened doesn’t change anything." I remark, my determination
to stay away from them coming back.
"Understood. We’ll do all we can, but we can’t promise anything." Julie comments.
"I need you to call my father. His number is in my bag at the hotel room. Tell him what happened, and let
him decide what to do." I instruct.
"Okay." Jess nods her head.
"What did I do to deserve great friends as you?" I lift my other arm, which an I.V. runs from, to touch
Julie’s arm.
"Just lucky I guess." Jess smugly remarks.
"I’m sorry girls, but Ms. Fitzgerald needs her rest. You can come back and see her later." A fat nurse,
dressed in scrubs, says from the door.
"Hon, we’ll see you later." Julie says as she walks to the door.
"And we’ll call your dad. Don’t worry. You get some sleep!" Jess remarks, walking out the door. The nurse
smiles at me and walks to the machines.
"Just leave her the hell alone! She has no respect for you, and neither do we!" I hear Jess’ muffled
yell.
"But-" My mother’s voice replies.
"The last thing she needs is stress, and that’s just what you bring her!" Julie’s voice defended.
"Those are some friends you’ve got." The nurse comments to me.
"Don’t I know it." I say, a frown falling onto my face as I realize that sometime I will have to stop
relying on my friends, and face my family.
Waking up four hours later, I lay in bed, pondering. What will I say to them? What can I say to make them realize
the pain I’ve felt? And now I had Luis’ blood running through my veins. If it wasn’t bad enough that I was his
sister.
I sigh heavily, and stare at the wall. It was still light out, but night fall was quickly coming. The doors sudden
movement grabs my attention, and I wait for the other person to enter.
"You awake?" He whispers.
"Yes." I answer, unsure who it is. Slowly the man steps in, and I breathe a sigh of relief. It was only
Hank.
"Are you okay?" He asks, concern apparent in his voice.
"Physically I’ll live, but mentally I think I’m freaking out. I never liked to stay in one place for too long."
I admit.
"I know the feeling. But I think your mental state has something to do with your family." Hank replies,
sitting down in the seat to the left of me.
"Perceptive as usual." I sarcastically remark.
"I guess I haven’t changed much." He states back to me. I gaze into his eyes, and take in for the first
time what a kind soul he was. His face showed worry and care. His gentle eyes were the same as they had always
been.
"No, you haven’t changed much." I comment. "And neither has Luis. Can you believe he pushed his
way past my friends to come in here and visit me? And then, instead of being loving and kind, he cockily remarks,
‘yeah, it’s me.’ when I realize who was standing over me. The nerve!"
"Some things never change. You and Luis never got along when you were younger." Hank shakes his head
as he says this.
"Well, don’t expect us to be best friends because he has the same blood type! I still can’t see how you two
could be friends, you’re complete opposites." I admit to him.
"Don’t I know it! I guess that’s part of the appeal. He helps get me outta jams, plus, he can be really nice."
Hank states, and I can see he’s trying to get me to give Luis a second chance.
"The day he’ll be nice to me is the day hell freezes over. That’s the way it’s always been, and that’s the
way it’ll stay." I sigh and look into his eyes. "I know you want our broken family to try and get along,
but it just isn’t going to happen. Not when they let Luis push them around like he does. As soon as I’m well, I’m
leaving this hell hole." I state.
"I still think you’re making a wrong choice. If you give them another chance, maybe they’ll prove you wrong."
Hank says convincingly.
I sigh and look at the ceiling. "We’ll see." |
