Chapter 17

GABRIELA

Alex is on the ground and I don't hesitate for a second to go over to him to check on him. Marcos was holding his brother to prevent him from attacking the two of us, it seemed like he wanted to kill us or something.

As soon as I'm next to Alex, I got on my knees on the floor and put my hands on either side of his face to check on him. His nose is bleeding considerably and he looked in pain, this worried me too much, this didn't have to be happening.

"Love, are you Ok? Does your nose hurt too much?" I asked worried, "Are you ok? Did he hurt you?" He said and I snorted, because now the last thing he had to do is worry about me. "I'm fine, but your nose is bleeding too much."

"I'm fine, don't worry, be careful with Carlos, I'll get better." He assured, "I'm not going to separate from you." I stated, "And I'm not telling you to do it, I'm just telling you to be careful, I can see how much he wants to give me that beating he didn't give me in years."

I didn't understand what he meant, but at this moment it was the same. I got up and faced Carlos. I didn't care he slapped me because I'm so angry it didn't hurt too much. I approached him and punched him in the cheek, it's the least he deserved for everything he had done to Alex just now.

"Now you are going to defend him, right?" He asked ironically "You're going to get out of here and leave me and Alex alone. You're not going to approach us for anything in the world and if I find out somewhere you plan to beat up my boyfriend, I swear I'll go to your house and beat you up myself."

"Of course, I'm going to leave, I'm not going to see this stupid thing you're doing with this guy. I hope you enjoy it while it lasts." With that, he took off towards his car and left. Marcos stood there not knowing what to do, I know he wants to go to his brother and see what's happening to him, because I could tell he isn't well, and I felt sorry he isn't, but he got hit with someone who he shouldn't have and I won't allow it.

I went back to Alex and kissed him on the cheek and got more worried because he wouldn't stop bleeding, and that couldn't be good. "Let's go inside the house to see what I can find to stop your nose bleeding; you can't go on like this." I said and Alex denied "Don't worry, I'm fine."

"You're not and I'm not going to leave until I'm sure nothing is going to happen to you." I insisted and a small smile appeared on his face "Ok, whatever." he answered. With that I helped him get up from the ground, and it didn't take long for Marcos to come. It's not he needed to; it was obvious he doesn't have his head where it should be.

"Marcos, you must go look for Carlos, something is wrong with him, he's not like that." I said without looking in his direction. "I think the same, it's not normal for him to talk to you like that." He assured, "That's the least of it, but find out what's wrong with him, there's something weird about him. Call your parents to help you."

"Don't you need my help?" He asked and I denied "No, it's not necessary, I can handle this, don't worry. Right now, you have to worry about your brother." I said and he nodded "Then I'm leaving, and Alex, I'm sorry for what my brother did to you, he shouldn't have done it."

"It's nothing, Gabriela is right, he's weird. Go to him and find out what's wrong." He nodded and walked out the door, closing it as soon as he walked through it. I helped Alex get to the kitchen, there it would be much easier to clean up all the blood that fell on the floor or anywhere else. I started looking for gauze and hydrogen peroxide to clean his face of the blood and see if he had any more scratches because the hit against the ground was quite strong. As soon as I found everything, I walked over to the chair he's sitting in, sat astride his lap and he stared at me.

I didn't even get close to touching his nose when he complained and I had noticed something weird in it, it seemed to me it's broken and that wasn't good. "Alex, I think we have to go to the hospital."

"No need, everything is fine." He assured for the thousandth time and I rolled my eyes "No, everything isn't fine and we're going to leave, you will have no excuse." I assured, "Gabriela, seriously, everything is fine. In a while you'll have to go home to go to your grandparents' house, I don't think you want to be late for dinner."

"I don't care Alex; I'll call them and tell them I can't come. The only thing that matters to me right now is you're well, and since you're not, I'm not going to sit idly by. You're going to hold on to the gauze and I will take you to the hospital." I said seriously, "I'm going to stain your whole car, it's not necessary."

"I don't care about the car or if you stain it, we're going to leave and we'll take these gauze pads for the road." He got up and I made him lean on me to go to the car, he could get dizzy or something I didn't want him to take another hit on the floor, the one he had taken when Carlos hit him it was quite enough.

It took us about an hour to get to the hospital and they told us his nose is broken, which I suspected since I put the gauze on it, but at least it had stopped bleeding so much. They told us they would have to do surgery because it's a major tear and they had to close the blood vessels to prevent bleeding.

I had been there for an hour waiting for them to tell me something about him and it's around nine thirty at night when my mother called me, to whom I told her I wouldn't be able to go because I had some issues to resolve with Marcos, which she believed without having to insist.

Half an hour later, a phone rings again, but this time it's not mine, but Alex's, and when I see it's his grandmother who's calling, I don't hesitate to answer, she must have been worried about her grandson.

"Hello my child, I thought you weren't going to answer me." his grandmother said and I sighed, because the last thing I want is give news like that to his grandmother. "I'm sorry, ma'am, I'm not Alex, I'm Gabriela." I responded after a few seconds "Gabriela? Where's my grandson?"

"He's having a surgery because he broke his nose." I said and I could hear her take a breath of air. "What do you mean he's having surgery? How is he doing?" She asked "I don't know ma'am, but I think you should come with his mother, you should be here with him."

"What hospital is he in?" His grandmother asked, "At the Hermanos Reyes, ma'am." I responded, "Ok, I'll leave right away and thank you, Gabriela, for letting me know." She thanked even though the only thing I'd done is answer his phone. "I should have told you and your family before, if you want, I can try to call Alex's mother to come."

"No, it's not necessary, I'll let you know without any problem." She assured and I nodded "Anyway ma'am, I'll wait for you here." I said "Ok, see you now Gabriela." I responded "Until now ma'am." She hung up and I sat in a chair nearby waiting for them to come out and tell me something, if my boyfriend is ok or what's happening, but this isn't going to stay like this. I'm not going to see Carlos's face for the rest of my life.