“See?” His mouth quirks, a ghost of a smile. “Meddling works.”
I breathe into him, a well of relief filling me. This was the real reconciliation I needed this week.
“I can’t lose you, Leticia.” His hands sink into my hair as he kisses the side of my mouth, trailing up to my temple, and then the crown of my head. “I need you to be more careful. I need you to ask for help when you need it, because if you ever get yourself into another situation like this, my heart won’t be able to take it.”
“Okay,” I say. “I’ll be more careful. Promise.”
“Good,” he says. “Get some rest.”
I pull him with me onto the bed, curling myself into his chest and reveling in the feeling of his arm wrapped around my waist. I’m not sure when I drift to sleep, only that it hits me like a brick as my last thoughts fill with Julian.
I love him. I love Julian. He needs to know I love him.
48
Julian
It’s dark out when I wake up beside Leti, who’s fast asleep. For a moment, I watch as she breathes steadily, her cast elevated on a pillow next to her. I’m thankful all over again she wasn’t hurt any worse in the fall, that the most she has to deal with is a broken arm. Carefully, I ease myself off the bed so as not to wake or jostle her and head into the bathroom to relieve myself and then the living room, where everyone is still gathered even hours later.
“How is she?”
“Sleeping,” I tell Elena, though it’s more like I’m updating the whole living room, what with four sets of eyes on me. “But I think she’ll be okay.”
“Does anyone know how long she was alone in the hospital?” Bella asks. “I’m a little worried she didn’t call anyone. I could’ve picked Mari up early and met her at the hospital. Why would she think she’d have to do this alone?”
“I hate saying it, believe me, but I feel like I’m partially responsible,” Andrew says. “That comment I made about her being pathetic hurt her more than I knew. I feel awful.”
Andrew’s not the only one blaming himself. I keep thinking this never would’ve happened if Leti and I hadn’t had that stupidfight about her brother yesterday. We were on rocky ground to begin with, and all that fight did was create more distance between us, even if she was in the wrong for kicking Andrew when he was down. The fact is she was hurting, and she couldn’t turn to me. If I have anyone to blame for that, it’s myself.
“You did the right thing by apologizing to her,” I tell him. “But I don’t think you’re the only factor at play here. We got into a fight this week.” Before I can explain what happened, a knock sounds at the front door.
“Mom.” Andrew darts an anxious look back to me after answering the door. “Dad. What are y’all doing here?”
“We rushed down as soon as we heard,” Mr. Maldonado says as he steps inside the apartment with his wife. “How’s Leti? Where is she?”
“She’s still sleeping, and we’d appreciate if you could keep your voices down.” I block Mrs. Maldonado’s path to the hallway leading to Leti’s bedroom. She looks me up and down with accusation. “It’s been a long day for her, as you can imagine.”
“My daughter is hurt, and we traveled two hundred miles to see her.” She completely ignores my directive to keep her voice down as she tries to stare me down, but her death glare has nothing on her daughter’s. “What gives you the right to stop us after what you did to my son?”
“Mom, I deserved that punch,” Andrew says. “I was an asshole to Leti. He was trying to stick up for her, something no one in this family except Elena does anymore.”
“He didn’t deserve it, actually,” I say. “Violence is never the answer, and it won’t happen again. I can promise you that. And I appreciate you coming down here,” I whisper, putting a finger to my lips when her mouth pops open in outrage. “But we have your daughter covered here. You guys can come back tomorrow. I’m sure you’ve had a long drive and could use the rest, just like Leticia will be needing all the rest she can get after breaking her arm.”
With a huff, Mrs. Maldonado turns away from me and looks to her husband, who merely shrugs. In hushed tones, they talk to each other in Spanish, no doubt wondering what’s gotten into me to speak to them so rudely. “Oh, and another thing,” I add as I lead them to the door. “I’m throwing your daughter a goddamn birthday party, and I expect the two of you to show up. That’s all.”
Then I shut the door in their faces.
“I can’t believe you did that.” Elena looks sick to her stomach as she stares from me to the door. “Oh, they’re going to besopissed.”
“I’ll go smooth them over,” Andrew says. “I have to talk to them about some other stuff anyway.”
“Are they gone?”
We all whip around as Leti peeks her head out her bedroom door. She meets my eyes, some unreadable emotion shining in hers. “Julian?”
“They’re gone. Thought I’d give you an extra day to prepare before facing them. Or I could run and catch them if you’d prefer. I wasn’t sure you’d want to see them after—”
She crashes into my body, her good arm like a band around my lower back. I sigh into her, wrapping both my arms around her and resting my chin on top of her head. “Thank you.”
