“Alright,” Lex lets out once we’re on the road. “Back to the house, then a good shower, and I’ll need you lying down on the bed for two hours.”
“You animal. Let a girl rest for a day, at least.”
He lets out a disapproving “Hm,” which I let go to enter my passcode on the phone. Immediately, it begins buzzing, over and over and over. Various messages flash on the screen, and while I can’t make out any of them properly, panic instantly sets in.
Twenty-three missed calls from my mother. Eleven from my father. Thirteen from Rafa. Seven from Kate. And texts. A bunch of them. An awful feeling twists my guts into tight knots. Shit, what is this about?
“What is it?” Lex asks, noticing my anguish.
“I don’t know… My family has been trying to reach me.”
I force myself to dial the voice message inbox, despite how scared I am to hear what this is about. My phone automatically paired with the car’s Bluetooth, so the electronic voice resonates for both of us.
It announces that the first message is from yesterday morning, so a couple of hours after we started our hike and were already out of cell network. When my mom’s shaky voice takes over, my heart painfully tightens in my chest. “Pollito, I don’t know where you are or when you’ll get this, but call me back as soon as you can.Mamáhad an accident. We’re in the ICU with her, and… things aren’t looking very good. Please call me back.”
Oh, God … MC …
Tears gather in my eyes within seconds, but I don’t allow them to fall down my cheeks. It’s been nearly thirty hours. Have things developed for the worse? Is my abuela still alive, or has her condition worsened?
Lex stops the car on the side of the road as another message follows. This one is from my father, and he doesn’t give more details, except that MC is asking for me. I hold my breath during the entirety of the third message, as my mother explains they’re considering putting her in an induced coma to prevent damage from her concussion. By the fourth message, which holds no information on what happened either, I hang up to call my mother directly.
“Andrea, finally!” she says as soon as she picks up.
“How is she?!”
“She’s stable. They sedated her so she could get some rest.”
“What happened to her?”
“We were at the mall together. I was having my hair cut, and she wanted to shop around. I wasn’t there when it happened, but she fell down an escalator. She knocked her head hard, but she still managed to send someone to get me. EMTs arrived soon after me, and I rode with her to the hospital.”
“Did she lose her balance or something? I didn’t know she had this kind of issue.”
“She doesn’t. Not that I know of, at least. She claims someone pushed her, but no one else saw it.”
“Wait, what?”
“Hija, she wasn’t making any sense, talking about a bald man with a face tattoo. They told me she really hurt herself, and—”
“Was it a snake?” My tongue asks the question before I can even think it.
“What?”
“The man who supposedly pushed her. Was the tattoo on his face a snake?”
“I… Yes, I think she said that. Why?Pollito, do you know who that is?”
Jesus fucking Christ.
I turn to Lex, whose horrified expression matches mine. It’s the same man. The one who tried to kill him. The one who shot me instead. He pushed Maria Carmen down the escalator. But why her?!
The world crumbles around me as reality catches up with me. For two months now, we’ve fooled ourselves into thinking everything would be fine since we’re safe here. But staying away isn’t enough, because there are people we love out there. People who can be used against us. People who can be hurt. We were so fucking stupid for thinking we could escape it.
“How soon can you get here?” Mom asks.
I glance at Lex again, and he shakes his head, wary. “I don’t know,mamá,” I say, feeling completely lost.
“She has been asking after you. She would really like to see you in case… in case she doesn’t make it.”
