“Look, it’s already midnight. I just want to order a cab and go home, I have a lot to do tomorrow.”
“I could drop you, it is much safer than taking a taxi at this time,” Ricardo suggested.
“Sierra, he kinda has a point. It’s not exactly safe to take a taxi,” Nina said as she began to head for the hall.
“Nina, who’s side are you on? I think I’ll be just fine.”
“You two need to sort yourselves out,” Nina said.
“Well, I kinda had to promise your father that I would bring you back safe,” he said as we walked towards the entrance of the building.
Before I had time to answer, my phone started ringing. It was my Dad.
“Hey dad, look I know it’s past my curfew and I am so sor-.”
“Sierra, I need you to come to the hospital now.” My dad tried to say in between small frantic sobs.”
“Dad, what’s going on? You’re scaring me.”
“It’s your mother.”
“What do you mean?” I asked frightened. At that moment the signal began to break and I couldn’t hear any of the words he was saying. That very second my heart dropped and all the background noises faded away.
Why was dad sobbing? What’s wrong with mom? Are the twins ok? All sorts of thoughts filled my head as I felt my heart hammering across my chest.
NINA:
I saw her shoulders drop after she answered her father’s call. I knew something was wrong. I ran towards her when I saw her break down and cry on the steps.
“Sierra, what’s wrong?”
“Um Ricardo, could you take me to the hospital on Unrenta Lane?” She said in between tears.
I sensed the panic in her voice so I did as I was told. As I was driving I could see she was practically shaking and silently whispering to herself. I slipped my hand around hers and offered her what I hoped was a pleasant smile, but her mind was far off. I still didn’t know what was going on, but I had never seen Sierra this scared and I was worried.
“Sierra, what’s going on?” I asked.
“I don’t know but my dad said something about my mom, and I jus-,” she said trying not to cry.
“Hey-hey, look at me. Don’t cry. It’s going to be ok.”
As soon we reached the hospital, Sierra flew out of the car and run towards the reception. I locked the car and followed her inside.
SIERRA’S FATHER:
I saw my daughter running from a car in the parking towards the entrance of the hospital. I battled back tears as I contemplated how I would tell her.
“Dad, what’s going on? Where’s mom?” She asked.
“You see… um, Sierra.”
A nurse came from the lobby.
“Mr. Aramente.”
“Yes, that’s me,” I said as I turned to the nurse.
“Would you please follow me into the waiting room?”
“Umm excuse me, ma’am, how is my wife?” I asked.
“Sir, she is still in surgery.”
As the nurse walked away I turned to my frantic daughter.
“Dad, why is mom in surgery? What happened?”
Before I had time to answer, I saw my other kids running through the doors of the hospital followed by their grandma.
“Daddy, where’s mama?” The twins cried as they wrapped themselves around my waist. I could see the fear in their eyes and it tore my heart to shreds.
“Come sit down,” I said trying to fight the lump in my throat that threatened to choke me.
……………………………………………………………………………
SIERRA:
I could see my dad was trying his best to be strong for us, but I knew he was worried.
“Well, this evening your mom went over to Nina’s to pick up your sister, Sierra. Mr. Martinez said you weren’t back so she drove to Protea to pick you up, but on the way she was hit by a drunk driver,” my dad tried to say without breaking down into tears. After wiping them, he continued, “The hospital called me when she was already in surgery.”
“What happened to the driver?“ Leo asked.
“After the collision, he was brought in an ambulance, but he didn’t make it,” dad said clutching his fist with visible anger.
“This is all my fault,” I said as tears slid down my cheeks like a river. “If I had come home at the time I was supposed to, mom wouldn’t have been in that accident.”
“Sierra, it’s not your fau-,“
“Yes it is.”
“It’s going to be okay, Sierra,” Lilly said resting her small hands on my face.
Abuela was seated next to me, holding Lola who was sobbing.
Lilly soon left me and went and sat with Leo who was seated across me with dad.
I realized Ricardo was still here. I stood and walked over to him. The cold floor stung my feet with every step because I had removed my heels.
“Ricardo, thank you for driving me here.”
“No problem.”
“It’s ok if you want to go back to the party.”
“No, I’ll stay here with you.”
“Thank you,” I said with a faint smile on my lips.
He wrapped his arms around me and enveloped me in a warm hug.
I thanked God for giving me friends who were always there for me.
I soon saw Nina run from the reception to the waiting area holding up her dress with one hand and holding her shoes with the other. She ran towards me with open arms. I ran into her hug and all the tears I had been fighting back opened like flood gates.
“Listen it’s going to be okay. She is going to be fine,” Nina said trying to comfort me.
A doctor walked into the room.
“The Aramente family.”
“Yes, we are here. How is she?” My dad asked.
“She’s alright, right?” Lola asked staring up at the doctor with her red puffy tear-soaked eyes.
In my mind, everything was so quiet you could have heard a mouse sneeze. My heart stopped as if in anticipation of what the doctor would say.
“The surgery was difficult.”
“But my mother is fine, right?” Lilly said with a determined hopefulness.
To be continued…
princejez 