Chapter 45

GABRIELA

Marcos decided he should drive because in his opinion, I'm too nervous to do so and it could be, but I'm worried about my grandmother, more than anything in case her illness progressed. 

My grandmother had Parkinson's, but luckily for everyone, we found it early and she's taking some pills so it doesn't progress fast, and it seems to be working. It hasn't made much progress for eight years, her tremors are noticeable and so on, but they made it clear to us from at the beginning those pills would not cure her, but would delay her illness, which we're all very grateful for. 

I'm afraid it could advance a little more, I know if the illness advanced a little more it isn't she would suddenly stop doing many things like that, but I know that would make grandma sad. She was a woman who liked to move, go for walks and take care of her garden. If the disease progressed quickly, that would end and there would come a time when she couldn't even walk. 

It didn't take us too long to get to my house. My siblings didn't stop asking us what was happens. They knew very well Marcos would know, but they were also clear he wouldn't tell it if I don't want to, although for them that was no reason to stop asking constantly. They got out of the car and went home with my key and I sat in the car looking into space. 

"Gabriela, I'm going to accompany you to your grandmother's house." Marcos said "Why? "I don't need a babysitter if that's what you think, I'll be fine." I protested, because it would be true, I will be fine. "It's not because I'm your babysitter Gabriela, it's because you're upset enough not to drive, I'm not going to allow you to drive like that." 

"Marcos, I'm really fine, nothing is going to happen to me." I assured, "I know nothing will happen to you, but I'm not going to risk anything happening to you, so there's nothing more to discuss, I'm going to accompany you." she said, closing the topic. "And then you say I'm the stubborn one." 

"You are, but in these cases I am too, no wonder." He said proudly and to which I let out a small laugh "And what are you going to do? Aren't you going to go home? They will worry about you Marcos and I don't want that." 

"Don't worry, I'll call." He assured and I rolled my eyes "Well you do it right now, in front of me." I said and it didn't take long for him to put his hand to his chest with a dramatic gesture. "Do you not trust me to do it or what?" 

I laughed, because Marcos was one of the few people I fully trusted, but I'm sure if they needed him at home to run an errand, he would say he would do it later or Carlos would do it, and if I saw him, I could make sure he didn't lie to me, 

"I do trust you, Marcos, what I don't trust is whether you will tell me the truth or not" I admitted, "I always tell you the truth." He protested and I denied, because it was more than clear to me there were some situations in which he didn't tell me. "You know what I mean, Marcos, so don't act stupid." I responded "I know, I know, but this time you won't convince me." He assured, "We'll see about that." 

He picked up her cell phone and dialed his mother, who took no time to answer. He was talking for a couple of minutes and he didn't have to convince his mother to let be with me, which was normal, but the thing is apparently he had nothing to do and his face changed in no time, and since it was impossible for him not to change his face when they told him he had to do something, especially something he didn't like, on this occasion I could affirm he wasn't lying to me. 

"Well, did I pass the exam?" He asked and I rolled my eyes. "You got through it, but I still think you should go home, maybe they'll need you later, or you'll have to take care of your sister." I said, trying to convince him I didn't need him with me. "Don't worry about my sister, that's why I have my older brother for something." 

"I'm the oldest in my house and that doesn't mean I have to take care of my siblings." I snorted "But you still do it right?" he asked ironically "We're not all the same, it comes naturally to me." I responded and he nodded "That's why I would like to have an older sibling like you." 

"Your brother is good too, Marcos." I said, because that girl adored her brother, and no one could take that away from her. "He has her moments." He responded, "But he is, he does everything in his power to make sure you and your sister are well." 

"I know that, and not everyone can be like you, so I settle for my brother." He answered, shrugging his shoulders. "Sometimes you're bad Marcos, being an older brother isn't an easy task." 

"Well, you're great at it to not being easy." He said laughing and I rolled my eyes. We got out of the car to get something to eat, even though I wasn't hungry, but there was Marcos and my siblings who would later tell my mother, so I ate something, not much really, but I leave them convinced. 

When we finished eating, I told them grandma had had an accident, but apparently, they took it better than I did, but well. My mom called around four in the afternoon to tell us they had already arrived home, so we left for my grandmother's house. For me, the road seemed too long even though it took at most half an hour to get to my grandparents' house. 

When we arrived, I quickly got out of the car and went inside the house. I could see how my grandma was already doing things, so it could be my mind exaggerated everything that happened to her, which is possible. The truth is, I tended to exaggerate things a little when it happened to my family or friends, I knew that and both Marcos and Carlota knew it. 

The point is I approached her and hugged her, something she didn't hesitate to do too. We stayed like that for a few seconds until she pushed me away from her a little. "Gabriela, I really am fine. If I wasn't, do you think your mother or grandfather would have let me do something?" I asked, "I know, but you scared me, grandma." 

"Your mother scared you; I don't even know why she called you honestly." she protested and I laughed "Because she had to know." said my mother, arriving next to us. "Maybe, but it was better to tell her when she was at home and not in college." 

"Maybe, but what would I say to her to explain that I wasn't at home?" my mother asked. "I'm sure she wouldn't even ask you." My grandmother assured me and I rolled my eyes at her. "I wouldn't ask her, but I could tell in her voice she was worried about something, so I would ask her." 

"Okay, maybe if you ended up asking her where she was, but let's face it Gabriela, she didn't need to tell you." grandma answered and I denied, "Yes, she did, but I'll let you believe it wasn't necessary." I responded, "Anyway, I would have been calmer if I hadn't told you." 

The rest of the afternoon we were talking and spending time with grandma, mostly me, because it was something I loved, especially when she told us something about what my mother and her siblings did when they were little or things she did when she was little. I loved hearing the stories, I learned many things and helped me get to know grandma a little better. After dinner, me and grandma went for a walk, she always did it after dinner, and generally, I always accompanied her. 

"You really don't need to worry more about the accident Gabriela, I'm fine." she tried to convince me, "I know, but like I told you, you gave scared me." I countered, "That won't happen again, don't worry." 

"I sincerely hope so, but did they tell you anything about the illness?" I asked, focusing my attention completely on her. "They didn't tell me anything." She said that last thing without looking at me, so I know she was lying to me, she always did it when she didn't want me to know something, but this I did want to know, there was going to be nothing in the world that would prevent me from discovering what it was. 

"I know you're lying to me; you can tell me. I'm not going to leave without you telling me first what they told you." I affirmed, and I cared little tomorrow I had college. "Tomorrow, you have college, you're not going to stay here. Besides, Marcos has to go to his house." 

"Mom and dad can take him when they go home, but I'll stay." I stated and she rolled her eyes "Okay, I'll tell you." She said, "Well, whenever you want, start." We were quiet for a moment until she took a deep breath and started walking again. "I was told it advanced, but not much." 

"I know, you can tell it didn't advance you much, but it worries you." I said, "Of course I'm worried about its Gabriela, I want to continue doing things, I can't stop suddenly." she replied and I nodded, because I knew it. "I know, but you can be sure that won't happen to you, I assure you." 

"You can't assure me anything Gabriela." she answered tiredly "I can assure you grandma, trust me, something tells me the pills will have the effect you want and will delay it for a long time." I tried to assure her, "Thank you for the encouragement, my little girl, but let's stop talking about it." 

"So, what do you wanna talk about?" I asked, letting her change the subject, "How was it with Alex? How are you two doing?" she asked and a smile quickly spread across my face. "We get along well; he loves me and I'm happy." I admitted. "Have you stopped being afraid he will hurt you again?" 

"More or less, that's going to take some time." I answered sincerely, "I'm sure you won't lose him, he really loves you." grandma assured, "I feel like there's something you're hiding from me, grandma." I said, thinking what could be what. "Well, there's nothing." 

From her face I knew there was something she was hiding from me, but I also know she wasn't going to tell me, I sensed it, but I would find out, no matter what it cost me. "You know I'll find out, right?" I asked, "We'll see about that, my girl." 

We started laughing and turned around to go home, because it was too late to be outside and tomorrow, I had to go to college, I had to get up early, unfortunately for me, something I hate more than anything in the world.