“Please go away.” I could barely hear my own voice.
“But you wanted me here.”
“Mamá, por favor, déjame en paz.” I breathed. “Por favor.”
“You called me here; I am the only one who answered.”
I was being tortured; her voice was torture; her presence was torture. This was so unfair.
“Elio, I am here.”
I pressed my eyelids tightly together. “I’m not crazy. It’s just in my head. I’m not crazy,” I chanted.
“Elio.”
“I’m not cra—”
I felt a shadow over me, her hand on my cheek, so soft, so cold, so tender.
“My love, open your eyes.”
When I did, I flinched sharply with a gasp at the melting face above me. Her face was burning; her smile was slipping, her skin was falling, eyes drooping. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t move, I couldn’t—
My eyes snapped open, my breathing hard, my phone gripped against my chest.
I had dozed off after trying to call Gemma… That was a dream.
I slowly looked around me. The living room was empty. Too empty. Too quiet. Too eerie. Too lonely.
For a sliver of a moment, I felt… scared.
Sinking farther into the couch, I brought my phone to my view again, and without thinking, I clicked Elia’s name, the last one on the list. It started ringing.
I knew he wouldn’t answer; he didn’t know the number after all, and it was careless to accept calls from unknown numbers; he should be—
“Hola.”
His voice filled my ear… It was carefree, like he had been laughing and picked it up while distracted. He sounded familiar and unfamiliar. There was a bit of noise in the background: water, music, laughter.
“Hello, who is this?” his voice came in again.
I swallowed, trying to clear my throat, but it felt like a brick was on my chest, stopping my airflow.
“Hey! Make your fucking shot!” a male voice yelled at him.
“Who’s that?” A female voice that sounded much like the one who’d rejected me hours ago came through.
“Don’t know, wrong number, I think, where were—” The line disconnected.
I drew in a breath, fighting to keep my eyes open as I dialed the number again.
It rang three times, and he picked up.
“Yes?” he drawled. Irritated.
I opened my mouth to speak, but his voice cut me off.
“Breathing at the end of the line is not on trend anymore, so whoever you are—”
