9. Chapter 9

AN: Okay, I'm back! I've finally gotten quite a bit more written and I feel more confident in the story's direction, so I can start posting again! I hope you all enjoy this update (Hint - this is a chapter that you've all been waiting for!)

The following days turned into weeks that all blurred together. The house was cleared, and they had already made significant progress in rebuilding the house.

They had also made significant progress in rebuilding their family.

The five grandchildren had grown closer together, bonding over the determination to love their prima and hermana.

Isabela had had the biggest change in behavior. She defended Mirabel at every turn, and took every opportunity to go and sit with her sister.

She also had become increasingly protective of Luisa.

As they had continued with the clearing and rebuilding of their house, Luisa had pushed herself more, and one day, Isabela lost it.

Luisa was just taking a break for some water and a snack at the prompting of Camilo, when Abuela appeared.

"Luisa, we need to keep working. We are far behind where we wanted to be today."

They all knew this. It had rained the past few days and really set them behind. Without their gifts, Pepa was spared from people trying to manipulate her emotions to keep the rain in check, which meant that they were now behind.

Dolores, Isabela, Camilo, and even Antonio, had been on Luisa more than ever that day to make sure she took her breaks. She wasn't staying her full 30 minutes with Mirabel, she barely stopped for lunch, and they had forced water down her throat more than once.

With Julieta and Agustín taking turns sleeping and sitting with Mirabel, neither had been to the house for more than an hour or two at a time. Which meant that they weren't there to look out for Luisa.

In response to these instructions, Luisa, who already looked on the verge of tears that day, stood up immediately. "Yes, Abuela." She murmured.

Her parents may not be there, but Luisa still had an older sister. And none of them would forget it after this.

Isabela had appeared out of seemingly nowhere.

"No, Abuela." She spat. "My hermanita will sit there and drink water, and take a much needed break. I have watched her kill herself to meet your expectations for what she needs to get done today. She is not a mule. She is your granddaughter. And she has pushed herself harder than anyone else today and everyday, and that is apparently still not enough. I already have one hermanita injured, I will not allow my other one to be as well."

"Isabela, how dare you-"

"How dare you." Isabela snapped back. "Mirabel was right when she said that we would never be good enough for you. None of us will be. So it's time we stopped trying." Isabela didn't take her eyes off of Abuela's, but she spoke to Luisa next. "Hermana, let's go see Mirabel."

"Umm…" Luisa didn't seem to know how to respond. "Well, Isa, Abuela is right. We need to do a lot more today to catch up-"

"We won't be catching up." Isabela stated. "What difference does it really make if we finish the house one or two days later? A week? Even a month? What difference does it actually make? Luisa, she's worked you to the bone every day since your ceremony. You can't even recognize that she is pushing you well past the limits of what you should be doing today. So Abuela, my hermana and I will be going to see Mirabel and Mama and Papa and spend some time as a family. Because we've been so busy up here, we have barely seen them in weeks. Come on, Luisa."

Luisa looked between both of them, seemingly unsure who to listen to. Dolores nudged her with her foot, and motioned with her head to Isabela. Luisa's head jerked in a nod, and she ducked her head and went with Isabela.

Silence reigned over the site in the absence, before everyone slowly and quietly went back to what they were doing before the spectacle.

Abuela stepped away, seeming shocked at what had just happened.

Internally, Dolores was cheering.

They may have been too late to protect Mirabel, but Isabela was absolutely determined not to allow history to repeat itself with Luisa.

They had bonded since then, really going out of their way to protect each other at every turn.

Abuela had been acting differently since then. She rarely spoke to anyone. She was giving no directions to the children, allowing Pepa, Felix, Bruno, Julieta, and Agustín to do so.

It seemed that Isabela standing up to her had finally given her something to think about.

She had been softer as well, when she did speak to any of them. She hadn't been giving direction or criticism, but had been positive and encouraging.

It had been weird, to say the least, but a nice change nonetheless.

The family had slowly convinced Julieta and Agustín to take some longer breaks from sitting at Mirabel's side. So for a couple of hours each day, it would be Tío Bruno, Mama, or Dolores who would sit at her side in their place. They were rarely left alone, though. Everyone still longed to see Mirabel and sit with her, and would take any opportunity they had to sit with her.

Today, though, Dolores found herself surprisingly alone with her prima.

Mama had woken up that morning and decided that all the children were taking a rest day from working at the house. She did not leave any room for debate. Isabela had dragged Luisa out for some secretive excursion. Antonio and Camilo were spending time with new friends they had made in the course of working on the house. Mama, Papa, and Tío Bruno were at the house working, and she suspected that Tía Julieta and Tío Agustín were also there.

Which left just Dolores with Mirabel. She was taking her time to move her cousin's arms and legs, something that Julieta had been doing for her since she entered the coma, explaining to the rest of the family that it was vital to keep her muscles from atrophying.

Dolores was working, humming to herself as she did. She was busy on moving Mirabel's legs, she didn't notice anything different.

So when Dolores turned back to Mirabel, she was startled to find herself staring straight into her prima's opened eyes.

"Mirabel?" Dolores breathed out, not sure that she believed her eyes.

Mirabel mumbled something, but then grabbed for her throat.

"Hold on, hold on. Let me get Dr. Gonzales."

Dolores made to leave, but Mirabel grabbed her arm, her eyes wide in panic.

"I'll be right back, prima, I swear. I swear it. But I need to get the doctor."

Mirabel's eyes were wide with fear still, but she loosened her grip on Dolores' arm, and Dolores flew out of the room.

"Dr. Gonzales?" She yelled, as loud as she could. She had just heard him moving around upstairs, he must still be here.

"Dolores?" He came hurrying down the stairs, concern evident in his voice. "What's wrong?"

"She's awake." Dolores was almost numb as she looked up at him. "She's awake, but she can't really talk and-"

"Yes, I imagine not." He mused, and he headed straight for her room. "Hello, Mirabel." He smiled at her, and Dolores returned straight to her side, taking her hand tightly in her own, lending support to Mirabel.

Mirabel pointed with her other hand to her throat, and the doctor nodded. "I know, I know." He turned away before coming back with a cup. "Why don't we see if some water helps, hmm? Take slow sips, you haven't been able to drink anything in quite a while."

Dolores helped her to sit up and take the cup and take some small sips. After a couple, Mirabel cleared her throat.

"What happened?" Her voice was scratchy, but it was such a marvelous sound that Dolores almost wept. As it was, she had to keep wiping the tears that were silently making their way down her face.

"Well," Dr. Gonzales glanced at Dolores. "It appears when your home fell, you may have gotten hit on the head?" He started examining her, and Mirabel allowed him to while they continued their conversation.

"Oh." Mirabel said. "Yeah, I did. So?"

"Mira… you've been in what's called a coma." Dolores said. "Its when you aren't able to wake up for a while."

"How long is a while?" Mirabel asked, eyes flitting between the two.

"Umm… about six weeks." Dolores cringed as she spoke, and Mirabel's eyes widened in shock.

"Six weeks?" She breathed out. "That's a long time."

"Yeah." Dolores laughed a little. "We've all barely left your side. We couldn't all be here at the same time, but your Mama and Papa have been with you almost as much as possible. Everyone really, but we have had to make them leave to take care of themselves too."

She saw Mirabel relax a little bit. "They've been here?" She asked, vulnerable.

"They have." Dr. Gonzales rolled his eyes. "Dolores is right. Someone has been with you literally every moment since you collapsed. Most of the time, it's been two or three people."

Mirabel sent a questioning look to Dolores. Dolores answered, knowing what was going through her mind. "Your parents, my parents, Tío Bruno, Camilo, Antonio, Luisa, and Isabela. Everyone has been here as much as possible."

"Except Abuela." Mirabel stated.

"Except Abuela." Dolores agreed gently. She hadn't understood. Abuela had never even asked to go see Mirabel, even when she wasn't invited. And it hadn't stopped Isabela, who knew that she would have to prove her love to her sister and to prove how sorry she was.

"You seem to be in remarkably good health." Dr. Gonzales remarked. "Would you like me to go notify Julieta and Agustín, or would you like Dolores to go get them?"

Mirabel immediately tightened her grip on Dolores' hand. "Can Dolores stay here?"

Dr. Gonzales smiled softly. "Yes, she can. I'll be back quickly, though I suspect some of your family members will beat me." He left the two alone.

"Your Mama and Papa are going to be so upset that they weren't here when you woke up." Dolores combed her fingers through Mirabel's hair. "I'm serious, they've been here almost constantly. We've been having to make them take care of themselves as well."

Mirabel leaned into her cousin's touch. "Thank you for watching out for them."

They heard the door open, and both perked up, not sure who to expect first.

Dolores wasn't sure who was more surprised - Bruno or Mirabel.

Bruno wasn't paying much attention as he came into the room. "Dolores, I know that you love being here with Mirabel, and your Mama knows that too, but she has said that today is a day for all of you kids to take time for self-care, and she said that under no uncertain terms, I am to kick you out and-" Bruno stopped in the doorway and gaped at them, looking between Dolores and Mirabel.

"Wha- what?" Then he did his knocking routine, something that Dolores didn't see him do nearly as often recently, but normally came out when stressed or startled.

"Hi Tío." She smiled at him.

"Wh- When did you wake up?" He hurried forward, and Dolores moved out of the way so he could greet Mirabel and check her out himself.

"Not long ago." Dolores answered. "I'm surprised you didn't see Dr. Gonzales. He was leaving to find Tía Julieta and Tío Agustín. You must have passed him on the way here."

"I stopped at the church before coming here, so I probably just missed him." Bruno murmured. "I'm glad to finally see you awake again, mi sobrina. You've had us worried. All of us." He ran his own fingers through her hair before hugging her to him tightly.

Mirabel squeezed him back, glad for the contact. "You two don't have to keep lying to make me feel better." she murmured. "I know that you two were worried. And my parents."

"And Camilo and Antonio and Isabela and Luisa." Bruno said gently. "As well as Pepa and Felix. We aren't lying. You'll see for yourself. They'll be fighting each other to come and see you first, I promise."

Mirabel didn't look like she believed them.

"He's right." Dolores said gently. "I've never seen them all act like this."

"You must be telling the truth." She mused. "Because both of you purposely left out Abuela. If you were lying to me to make me feel better, you would have said she was worried too."

They exchanged nervous glances. "Mirabel-" Bruno said gently. "She's just-"

"No." Mirabel shook her head. "Don't make excuses for her, please. She's responsible for her actions. It isn't your job to justify them."

Bruno nodded. "Very well. Regardless, everyone else has had to be pried from your bedside."

A glimmer of a smile graced Mirabel's face. "Thank you," She said quietly. "What has been going on while I've been asleep?"

"We've been rebuilding Casita." Dolores told her, and explained the details of the progress they were making. She was about to explain about some of the house plans when they heard the door and heavy footsteps coming down the hallway.

Dolores stepped back, though Mirabel didn't let go of her hand, ready to see who would enter the room next.

AN: I hope that that meets expectations! I know a lot of you wanted Alma to be there with Mirabel when she woke up... that didn't feel right. I wanted it to come full circle with Dolores and Bruno. The rest of the reunions will be coming in the next few chapters! Thank you all for the wonderful words of encouragement on my last chapter! It means so much to me!

Also, I will be updating all of my stories today, so keep an eye out