Chapter 9

GABRIELA

I went for a walk, because I'm tired of seeing the same cracks, and I was walking down the hallway for a couple of minutes because after a while I started to get a little cold. When I was going to the waiting room a guy runs past me, I think he hadn't even noticed me, but the smell of his cologne reminded me of Alex and that today we had arranged to watch the marathon of The Walking Dead. I was going to call Marcos to tell Alex I couldn't meet him today, but I only had ten percent of battery left so I was going to have to find a charger before I ran out of battery completely.

That was the last thought that crossed my mind, because as I walk through the door to the waiting room, I see the guy who almost run over me before was Alex. What was he doing here? The truth is I hope nothing happened at his house, but I was surprised when I saw him right there, I didn't even believe it.

"Alex?" At that moment he turns, and I confirm it's him. It's not I didn't know it wasn't him, just I didn't expect to cross him here, nothing more. It doesn't take long for him to come up to me and hug me, of course I do the same, I don't think twice.

"How are you beautiful?" he asked in a worried tone "Well, but what are you doing here?" I said, moving slightly away from him so I could see his face "Well, I was calling you on your cell phone and sending messages, I was even considering going to your house to see if you were okay or what, but I heard some ladies who passed by me saying your grandmother was hospitalized and there was no one in your house. I worried about how you were doing and came here to see you."

Something told me he hadn't heard about it from some ladies. It is impossible for them to know if, in the cold weather today, no one would leave their house to stop by the bus stop or take a walk. "What would you have done if my parents or my siblings were here with me? How would I explain to them you're here?" I asked, crossing my arms, "I wouldn't mind if they were here, honestly, I would have come anyway."

"I know, and that's what I'm worried about, really," I said, because the last thing I needed now was for them to know I'm with Alex. Nobody would like it, much less my father, and that's more than clear to me "Well, don't worry, nothing will happen to me, really." He insisted, pressing me against him again. "I'll take care of that. You can be sure."

"I have known, but tell me, how are you with your grandmother?" He asked and I rolled my eyes. "I'm fine, really, don't worry." At that same moment he took off his jacket and put it on me, I don't know if it was because he had realized I'm a little cold or why he was doing it, I just know at that moment I'm really grateful. In my rush I hadn't had time to grab my jacket from the car, so I only have a sweatshirt and a t-shirt.

"Thank you." I thanked him, giving him a small kiss. "You're welcome, have you eaten?" He asked and I denied "I'm not hungry." I informed him and this time he was the one who denied "But you have to eat, you can't go without eating."

"Alex, really, I'm not hungry." I insisted "Well, let's go eat, I'll invite you." He said, completely ignoring what I just said. "No need, really." I protested, "You may not, but I want you to be well, and for that, you have to eat and worry less about your grandmother."

"Am I not going to be able to convince you otherwise?" I asked with a small smile on my face "No, we'll go eat, there's a restaurant here in front." He assured and I sighed, because I realized I wouldn't be able to convince him. "Okay, you win this time, but just know it won't always be like this."

"I know, but come on." We didn't leave without first making sure they had nothing new to tell me and well, I didn't need to call my father because apparently, they hadn't arrived yet, they were stuck in a traffic jam, so I would tell him later.

When we were about to leave the hospital, I started to take out the jacket to give it to him because I'm sure it was really cold outside for Alex to go in a T-shirt and I didn't want him to get sick, but he soon stopped me and buttoned it for me so I don't get cold.

"You should put on your jacket Alex; I don't want you to get sick because of me." I protested and he laughed. "Don't worry, I won't do it. Besides, of the two of us, you're the one who's colder, so you're going to keep it." He simply said "It's not…" I started, but it didn't take long for him to stop me. "Yes, it is, but if it calms you, we can do a sprint so I don't get so cold"

"It seems to me." It's not that I was completely convinced, but I know I wouldn't convince him to wear the jacket and I'm not going to deny to myself he looked great with it on. As soon as we left through the door we ran to the restaurant and luckily for me, it's warm there, just like inside the hospital I suppose, since after we talked a little Alex and I no longer felt so cold.

During the meal we talked about many things except about my grandmother, I guess so I wouldn't get upset or something, and the truth is, I'm not going to get as bad as I did when it was about Grandma Angela, she didn't have the merits enough to me worry about her, and I know it may sound like I'm not very grateful and I don't value what I have, with her, it may be, but to put ourselves in the situation, my grandmother had an inexplicable hate to my brother, I guess it's because he looked like my father, and she always threatened to hit him or I don't know what. Of course, I was always with Mario so nothing would happen. One day my siblings and my parents were going shopping and I had stayed at home doing I don't know what and they left me with her taking care of me since they had no idea what she was doing to my brother, we never told them.

The thing is that day Carlos, Marcos's brother, came to visit me, and we left the house to talk calmly. After about twenty minutes my grandmother came out angry, calling Carlos by my father's name and telling us he couldn't bring girls to the house or anyone who wasn't family and I don't know what other stories and we didn't understand anything and she even raised her hand to hit me, if it hadn't been for Carlos, I'm sure she would have hit me and well, that was between the two of us, we didn't tell anyone, we promised.

It must also be said at that moment my grandmother began to lose her memory at times and started with the whole illness thing, but that doesn't explain anything of what she did to my brother and what she wanted to do to me and Carlos that day. Now that she looked more vulnerable, of course I helped her in any way I could and all, but that didn't mean she's going to regain all the respect she had lost from me when I was little.

Obviously, I worried about her, more than anything because of my father, who I know didn't like seeing her like that. He more or less knew she had a grudge against my brother, but when she wanted to do something to my brother, none of my parents or grandparents. That's the reason why I'm not so fond of my grandmother. After everything she had done to my brother and me that day, she didn't deserve the love I had for my other grandmother.

When we finished eating, we went to the waiting room since my mother is going to come later, after leaving work because apparently, they had offered her to do one more shift. We sat in the chairs and talked about everything, he was by my side holding my hand when the doctor or the nurses came to tell us something about my grandmother. The last time they stopped by, they told me the doctor would stop by later to tell us something that seemed important, I just hope it wasn't anything bad. I also called my father and he lamented that at this moment he had to go to work far from home, but I told him I would tell him whatever the doctor told me, he would be the first to know.

At some point I had fallen asleep. I guess mostly because at this moment someone was gently shaking me awake. When I open my eyes, I see Alex smiling at me which automatically makes me smile back. I gave him a kiss I would have liked to last a little longer, but he separated from me a little, leaving our foreheads together.

"Hello my Queen." Alex whispered, giving me a small kiss. "Hello." I responded, kissing him back. "I hope you slept well." My boyfriend said with a smile on her face. "Yeah, sorry for falling asleep."

"It's okay, you were tired, I'm sure you haven't slept since you brought your grandmother here." He practically stated and I nodded, because it's true. "Not really." I confirmed, "Well, that's okay."

Just at that moment my cell phone starts ringing and I see my mom is calling, so it doesn't take me long to answer. Alex pulls away from me a little, puts an arm around my shoulders and pulls me closer to him.

"Hello Gabriela, do you know anything new?" My mother asked and I shook my head, realizing she couldn't see me. "No, the same thing I told you the last time I called you. Why are you calling?" I asked "To tell you I'm going there right now; do you need anything from home?" Well, it doesn't matter, you're going to come home today anyway."

"Mom, it's not necessary, I'm fine." I assured her, "You need to rest, I'm not going to allow you to stay tonight. We'll talk now when I get there." She said and I rolled my eyes "Whatever, see you in a bit mom."

"See you, Gabriela." With that we hung up and I stared at Alex. We stayed like that for a couple of minutes, I loved his eyes, I loved those little darker green spots. "Your mother is coming here now, isn't she?" He asked and I nodded. "Yeah, you're going to have to go."

"I know, are you going to be, okay?" He asked and again, I nodded "Yes, I will. I promise you I will tell my family soon, really." I promised, because I know he couldn't be like this all his life. "Don't worry about not telling them, take as long as you need, I won't break up with you because of that."

"I know I love you." I said with a smile "I love you too." He responded and with that, we kissed and decided it was best for him to leave now. I walked him to the exit and when we were a few steps from the exit, I took off his jacket to give it back to him.

"You can keep it beautiful; I won't need it." He assured and I denied, because now I wasn't going to let him leave without it. "You're going to need it; besides, my mother will surely come in my car and I will have my jacket in it." I said, "Are you sure you don't need it?" He asked and I nodded "Sure, thanks for lending it to me."

"It's the least I could do, I didn't want you to freeze." We laughed, gave one more kiss and a few minutes later he left. Before walking out the door he turned to look in my direction and I smiled at him so he wouldn't worry about me anymore, it wasn't necessary. When I lost sight of him, I went to my grandmother's room since they had told me it's possible to enter and as soon as I am there, I can see her sleeping. Half an hour later my mother arrives, so I guess she was already driving when she called me. We talked for a few minutes and then she told me to go home, because I had to go look for my siblings so it didn't take as long as I would like to refute the idea of her staying here.