Take him!

by Parejo, Sandra

  “Thank you Carlos, but I can’t yet.”

  I loved the words Carlos told me, they show he loves me as much as I love him.

  Finally, we change the topic and we talk about anything, but Álvaro.

  I get home a bit more cleared and calm. I see I have a text from Álvaro on my phone.

  <>

  I decide not to reply him again.

  At the end of the week, I feel a bit better, at least more in peace with myself.

  At the middle of the afternoon, I decide to play a romantic movie I rented at a video store at the corner of my street. When I’m half way and my eyes hurt because I’ve cried too much, someone knocks on my door.

  Firstly, I decide not to open, but they’re insisting and it gets me hysterical and I open bad-tempered.

  Before me I see a gorgeous Álvaro, who is observing me with a cold look that changes as soon as he sees I’m a wreck.

  “Hey, but what’s going on? ―he tells me taking my hand.”

  “Álvaro, I…” I start without knowing what to tell him.”

  I hear a noise at the other side of Mrs. Margarita’s door and I know he’s looking through the peephole so I’m forced to let Álvaro in in order to avoid the woman hears all our conversation.

  Álvaro hugs me, he’s scared for my appearance. Besides, having him so close allows me to smell his scent and get hypnotized by him.

  I move away so it goes away and be myself again.

  I show him the movie cover and I see how he breathes in relief. He gets I cry because of the romantic things I like.

  “Why don’t you answer my texts?” He says in a bit challenging tone.

  “Álvaro, I think you shouldn’t have come.”

  “I wanted to apologize, I recognize it all went too fast, with my family, and I pushed you to spend the night with me.”

  I love when he feels guilty and makes me feel safer, but I know he does it because he’s intelligent and wants to win me back.

  Words don’t come out of my mouth as, I can pronounce the ones I have in my mind. I can’t say I love he’s here, that he’s gorgeous, that I miss him, and a long etcetera So he continues:

  “I miss you, I got used to having your company, your escapes, seeing you smile this last month. I must say it has been one of the best and craziest in my life and you took it away from me all at once, and I can’t stand it. I liked to curl with you to sleep and now, I can’t find the right position and I have sleepless nights.”

  “I’m sorry.” it’s the only thing I get to say.

  “I’m totally desperate, your absence is driving me crazy.”

  “Álvaro, stop… I beg you to stop and leave.”

  “But does my presence cause you so much pain that you can’t even see me? ―he asks me heartbroken.”

  “Yes.” I lie, as I know it will hurt him and it’s the only way I know he’ll leave.

  “That was the last intention I had, I apologize for it. You can call me whenever you want, I’ll be keeping a close eye on my phone.”

  He kisses my hand as he used to when I had it bandaged and leaves.

  I don’t have to finish watching the move to keep crying. I know it’s some madness what I’ve just done, I like that man too much, but I’d rather suffer now than afterwards, as I know it’d happen.

  Week 11

  On Monday the classes and normal life are back. The kids hug me after not seeing me for so many days and that’s just what I need.

  The girls and I go out at lunch time.

  “Martina, Néstor begs you to pay some attention to Álvaro. He says he’s unbearable.”

  And like that, the conversation “Martina and Álvaro” begins, which I don’t like at all.

  At Lucía’s comment, I only smile and ignore the topic. If he’s in a bad mood, he can go running for a while.

  “Did you see him again?” Angélica asks.

  Then I tell him everything about his texts during the week and Friday’s visit.

  “Ooohh.” Emma exclaims, “He’s so in love with you.”

  “That’s it, can we change the topic, now?” I suggest rolling my eyes.

  And as they see I’m not going to change my mind, they change the topic.

  And they do. Actually, it’s Angélica who tells a very good gossip.

  It turns out that the school’s principal, who is happy and apparently married with three children, has an affair with one of the cleaning ladies who works in the afternoon shift, a hot blonde from Rumania around twenty years old. We are shocked and I think and confirm my own theory that you can’t trust any man.

  “How did you find out?” Emma asks incredulously.

  “Because Luisa, the fourth year teacher, saw it with her own eyes and this morning, she couldn’t keep it anymore and she told me. You know she’s dying to come to one of our meetings.”

  Luisa is a woman around fifty years old, although I couldn’t say her exact age because to be honest, she has a neutral appearance between forty something and sixty something. Besides, she’s a busybody and we don’t want her around us.

  “Unbelievable.” Lucía and I say.

  Monday finishes fine.

  I call my niece who doesn’t speak to me not even thirty seconds.

  “Hi, auntie! I’m going to the park, they’re waiting for me. Everything is fine, okay?”

  “Okay…”

  “Kisses.”

  And she hangs up.

  The week goes by quietly. I don’t run into Álvaro because he’s on a trip, according to what Lucía told me, and she added as information that Silvia, his colleague, is with him.

  My blood boils when I think that they’re alone and I regret to not have asked him if something had happened between them. But I try not to think and continue with my life.

  On Saturday I go running and I go to visit Carlos. I love to see him so happy since he’s back with his ex-wife.

  “Martina, I have some big news!”

  “Tell me…” i say.

  “Mónica and I have decided to live together again. I’m so thrilled about having my family at home again…”

  “Carlos, I’m so happy for you, it makes me so happy that you’re so good.” I say.

  “And you, how are you doing?” He asks.

  I explains Álvaro’s last visit and he tells me:

  “Honestly, I think you’re acting like a stupid. “He says sharply.”

  I do believe so too, but I’m not giving in.

  Week 12

  Monday arrives I with it, the classes.

  Before the students get in the classroom, the annoying Lucía appears, she doesn’t seem happy and I know what she’s going to tell me. I’m sure she will tell me her relationship with Néstor goes wrong because he comes back awful from work since Álvaro behaves like a dog with rabies. I’m fed up with that tale, so I warn her before she opens her mouth.

  “Lucía don’t tell me stories about Álvaro. Leave me alone.”

  “Martina, it is about Álvaro, but I think you should know this.”

  I turn around to be able to see her face because her voice tone scared me.

  “What is it?” I ask her.

  “Álvaro is in hospital, I had an accident this morning.”

  “Excuse me?”

  I freeze. My legs are shaking, my sight is blurry and I’m breathless until I hear Lucía is calling me.

  “Martina, Martina, please react… You’re scaring me.”

  “Do you know where he is?” I ask her.

  “He’s at Teknon clinic.”

  Apparently, the news got to the office and Néstor had called Lucía to find out if I knew about it.

  “I have to go, warn the principal, please.”

  I go out, I hear the little ones at the door, but I can see nothing, I only look for a taxi. Luckily, one shows up quickly and I ask the taxi driver to take me to the hospital. In half an hour I’m there, as Barcelona traffic early in the morning didn’t allow us
to arrive sooner.

  I go to reception, I tell them that they hospitalized Álvaro Castillo and I have to see him. Then, before having any kind of information, they ask me:

  “Are you his relative?”

  “Yes, I’m his partner.” I lie.

  But the girl at the reception believes me because she starts to explain what happened.

  “The patient is in the OR. I can’t give you more information as nothing else is on the computer. If you wait in this room, I’ll tell someone to come to inform you.”

  “Can you tell them now?”

  “Yes, right away. Go sit down.”

  I sit down in the waiting room and I feel I can’t breathe properly. Why is he in the OR? What problem does he have? What happened?

  After a while, I don’t know how much later as I lose track of time , the doctors show up.

  “Relatives of Álvaro Castillo?”

  I stand up and I come closer to them. The oldest one speaks.

  ―”Álvaro is out of danger. He had an emergency surgery, he arrived here with a deep wound in one leg and he was unconscious. We’ve made him some tests and we can’t see any serious injuries in any other part of the body.”

  When I hear this, I breathe in relief and ask:

  “What is the problem with his leg?”

  “He was hurt with a part of the car body and that provoked a very deep injury and the breaking of the tibia, He’s still unconscious because of the surgery medication, but we believe he’ll wake up soon. Otherwise, we’ll force him in a few hours.”

  “How did it happen?”

  “According to what we were told by the paramedics who brought him here, the road was slippery as a broken truck had lost oil on the road and that, with the rain, resulted a very sliding track.”

  “Can I see him?”

  “Yes. Go to the fifth floor, room number seventy-seven, you can also get there using this elevator.” The doctor says walking me to the elevator.

  “Thank you a lot.” I thank the doctors.

  I reach the fifth floor and I get to room seventy-seven.

  Álvaro is totally asleep. He has his face filled with bruises and his lip is split in two. I’m very sad for seeing him like that and I burst into tears.

  A while later, a nurse comes in and asks:

  “Miss, are you okay?”

  I nod the best I can.

  “Don’t worry, he’s only asleep for the anesthetic. He’ll wake up soon.”

  “Thank you.” I thank her words.

  Suddenly, I see Álvaro’s parents coming in the room, with angst in their faces. His mother goes the closest she can to her son, he’s scared. His father, however, comes closer to me and gives me two kisses.

  “Martina, how is my son?”

  I explain what I know, what the doctors told me earlier. But my tears don’t stop. Carmen, comes close to me and hugs me tight.

  Hours later, Álvaro is still asleep but we were told he will be awaken at five o’clock.

  Claudia has also come, Álvaro’s sister, with Juan Carlos, her husband.

  About half past four, while I’m seated on Álvaro’s bed, my back facing him so I can look at his mother and sister, I feel my back being caressed. I turn around and I see his beautiful eyes open.

  “Hello…” He says very weakly.

  My tears fall down again. I see him so weak and hurt that I feel impotent.

  “How are you? Does anything hurt?” I ask.

  “Everything.” He says.

  Quickly, his mother and sister come closer too. We watch him and decide to warn the doctors, who get there a few seconds later to check him.

  “We are told to leave the room until they finish and then they inform.”

  “Álvaro is fine. He’ll have to be under observation for forty-eight hours more so we can run some test and make sure he goes back home in a stable state. Now, let him rest as much as he wants.”

  The three of us nod and after thanking the doctor, we go back by Álvaro’s side, who is asleep again.

  As everything is calmer, I decide to call Joaquín, the school’s principal, to apologize for this morning and I don’t tell him exactly the truth.

  “Joaquín, it’s Martina, I apologize for leaving this morning like I did. My boyfriend” here’s the lie, “had an accident.”

  ―”, Lucía told me, it’s okay. How is he?” He asks.

  I tell him the situation and then he asks:

  “Do you need some more days?”

  “No, thank you. I think I’ll be able to talk to someone to replace me when I go to work.”

  “Alright, then I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  And he hangs up.

  With my phone still on my hand, it goes off.

  I see it’s Angélica.

  “Honey, how is Álvaro?”

  “Hi…” AI tell her everything.

  “And how are you?” She asks me.

  And it’s then when I burst into tears again.

  “Do you want me to go to see you at the hospital?”

  “No, thank you. Álvaro’s relatives are already here.”

  “What is going on with you, honey?”

  “I’m a mess because I don’t know if I should be here, I’m sure Álvaro is freaking out and he might kick me out when he’s better. In fact, it’s what I deserved after how I treated him.”

  “I doubt it, Martina. I’m sure Álvaro wishes you were there with him.”

  I sigh in relief for Ángélica’s opinion. Finally, we say goodbye.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow, honey… Kisses.” She tells me.

  “Thanks for calling me. Bye.”

  When I go into the room again, Álvaro’s mother and sister are already trying to organize turns to stay with Álvaro and then I participate.

  “I can stay here until six in the morning. Then I’ll go home to take a shower and work until five.”

  “Then mom, we can leave until tomorrow and then we switch places “ The sister says.

  “I think is a good idea.” I add.

  The mother doesn’t seem very convinced but she accepts and says to me:

  “We’ll look for a hotel near here, okay?”

  “No, Álvaro will want you to go to his apartment to spend the night.”

  “You don’t mind?” His father asks.

  “I don’t live with him.” I say out loud while I think I’m nothing to him.

  I stand up and give them the keys the nurses gave me a while ago, among some other things that belong to Álvaro.

  Finally, they leave and I lie down on the sofa to be able to rest. I’m exhausted and I eat a yogurt that one of the nurses gave me.

  I sleep for a while and when I wake up, I see Álvaro is also awake and he is watching me.

  I go closer to him and sit down on his bed. I can’t say if he’s very angry at me or not.

  “I’m glad to see you here.” I breathe in relief when I listen to him.

  “You scared me to death.”

  “I’m sorry baby.” He looks at me with tender eyes.

  I smile at him and tell him his parents and sister are at his home resting and they’ll come tomorrow when I leave.

  “Are you going to be with me then?” He asks as if he were a child.

  “Yes, I’m going to take care of you, because I care about you.”

  He closes his eyes, goes back to sleep and I stay by his side until at six, Carmen wakes me up.

  “Martina, it’s six o’clock. You must go.”

  “Good morning.”

  We agree that I’ll come back after my shift and I do so.

  After a day when I wasn’t able to concentrate much, I back to the hospital.

  When I’m on my way to the hospital, my phone goes off. It surprises me that the call is from my sister’s home.

  “Hello?” I ask.

  “Auntie, it’s Carla.”

  “Hi, honey!”

  “Why didn’t you call me yesterday?”

  It’s t
rue, yesterday it was Monday and I didn’t call her because of everything that happened.

  I decide to tell the truth and I tell her,

  “But is he really fine?” She asks worried.

  “Yes.”

  “Send him kisses from me and tell him I’ll go to visit him as soon as my mom allows me to go. Okay?”

  “Okay, honey, I’ll tell him.”

  When I get to Álvaro’s room, I find him with some men from his company, who I’ve seen before, and Magda is also there, who hugs me as soon as she sees me and tells me:

  “I didn’t come yesterday because I knew nothing, Álvaro’s father told me this morning when I found them at his place.”

  “It’s okay, he’s fine.”

  I see him lying on the bed looking at me while he talks with the men from his company.

  I go to his bed to greet him and he outstretches his hand, I come closer and makes me bend so he can give me a kiss with his swollen lips.

  The men from his company greet me and say goodbye to Álvaro.

  Magda also has to leave and Álvaro’s parents must go home. That’s why Magda and I agree that she’ll come at six so I can go home and get ready to go to work.

  In the afternoon, if everything is okay, he’ll be discharged.

  When we’re left alone, I lie next to him and ask him:

  “Does everything hurt a lot?”

  “No, just the leg.”

  “Did you rest today?”

  “Yes, I’ve opened my eyes a few times, but as I didn’t see you, I went back to sleep.”

  I love what he says to me.

  We speak about my day, the children and we read a magazine together.

  At dinner time, they bring some food for the two of us, as Álvaro ordered earlier that day.

  I love that detail and I eat it as if it were the food from the best restaurant in the world. I hadn’t eaten for hours, now that I think about it.

  While we eat, he tells me:

  “I feel like going home.”

  “We’ll be there tomorrow.” I tell him.

  “Are you coming with me?” He asks with a happy face.

  “Yes if you want to, I’ll go there until you’re better.”