Chapter 21

GABRIELA

As soon as I left the room, tears started streaming down my face. I understood his mother's anger to a certain extent, because I may have made Alex suffer at some point too, especially when I saw him again, but he wasn't far behind when he hurt me. I don't understand what's wrong with his mother, she's the one who had been cruel to me, but I wasn't going to stay to ask her either. She preferred Alex to be with Paula and that hurt me, I don't like being compared to her.

I left the hospital and headed to my car to leave; I couldn't be here one more minute no matter how much it hurt me to leave Alex. His mother hated me and I hadn't done anything for her hate.

As soon as I got to the car I got in and started, I'm about to leave the parking lot when I see Carolina stop on the sidewalk, of course I'm not going to stop. I don't want to talk to anyone, I just wanted to be alone.

When I got home, I put the car in the garage and stay there for a couple of minutes to calm down because my parents, my siblings and grandparents would be home, and I don't want to worry them about what's happening to me, I'm sure they would worry just the same, but I wasn't going to tell them anything. It wasn't just the thing about Alex's mother that bothered me, there was also the thing about Carlos. Everything came together in my head and I ended up getting out of the car and, unluckily for me, it didn't take me too long to enter the house where everyone was.

"Hello Gabriela, have you already resolved what you had to resolve with Marcos?" My mother asked, "Yes, don't worry, now if you let me, I'm going to take a shower." I said simply, because even though I had one of the best nights in which I had slept the best, I'm beyond tired and wanted to be alone. "Hey, are you sure you're ok?"

"Yes I am." I assured and with that, I went out to my room and I could hear my grandmother coming to see what was happening to me, so my plan of not worrying anyone hadn't worked well at all. I got to my room, closed the door and lay on the bed trying to relax a little before my grandma came in and asked me what's wrong.

A few seconds later I heard someone banging at the door. I'm not going to answer, I wanted to be alone, but I know my grandma isn't going to stand there waiting for me to let her in. As soon as she came in, I'm already calm and grabbing my clothes to take a shower, she sat on the bed and waited for me to speak, or rather she's watching me to understand what's happening to me, something she wasn't going to find out because she doesn't need to worry about me.

"You look calmer than you did a couple of minutes ago." Grandma explained and I denied, "I was calm, Grandma, I'm just tired." I stated, "I would also understand if you weren't after what happened to Alex." She said nodding. "What are you talking about?" I asked confused "About what happened to Alex, I know Gabriela, Carolina called me to tell me you were going to stay there."

"Do you know her?" I questioned "Yeah, we were friends before you two got together." At that moment everything clicked in my head. I already understood why my grandmother was aware of everything happening between me and Alex, even how she knew he was in college before suspecting it, Carolina had told her and I guess she knew Alex would be there before we had started college.

"Did you know Alex was going to the same college and you didn't tell me anything Grandma?" I asked, a little annoyed. "No, I didn't know, I found out the same day you did." She assured, "Why did you never tell me you two were talking? That did you know how Alex was doing?" I asked and she denied, "Understand me, at that time you didn't want to know anything about him or to be told about him, so I couldn't tell you I knew how he was doing."

"You're right, I didn't want to know about him." I stated, "Now tell me, what happened to Alex to have a surgery?" She asked and I sighed, because it's the last thing I want to talk about. "Carlos hit him hard and broke his nose, but I don't want to talk about it, Grandma, really."

"Carlos did what?" She asked surprised, "Yes, grandma, he did it and I have no idea why he did it." I responded, "He's not like that to do something like that." She whispered and I nodded, because if I hadn't been there, I wouldn't have believed it either. "I know and that's what worries me."

"Well let me tell you Marcos was calling all morning asking about you." She said and I ended up sitting on the bed looking in her direction. "Did he say what he wanted?" I asked "No, he just said to call him as soon as you could, he had to talk to you."

"I'll call him right now." I said, starting to look for my cell phone. "Ok, I'm going to go with the rest." He responded, "Thank you, Grandma." I thanked and grandma left the room, I left the clothes on the bed and called Marcos, because if he had called so many times it must have been because it's something important, apparently, he was waiting for me to call him.

"Hello Gabriela, I thought you didn't want to talk to me, I called you on your cell phone a thousand times." He said and I denied, because I don't know why he thought I wasn't going to talk to him. "It's not I don't want to talk to you, but I just hadn't realized, I kept it quiet." I admitted, "Well, I would understand if you didn't want to talk to me after everything that's happened, really."

"I wasn't going to get mad at you, but tell me, do you know anything about your brother?" I asked, "No, we haven't found him, that's why I was calling you." He said and I nodded "You tell me and I'll try to help you." I assured, "You told me you were going to look for my brother when I told you he was going to Alex's house." He tried to corroborate what I told him, "Yes, I found out where he was."

"Could you tell me where it is so I can go look for him?" He asked, "Sure, do you have somewhere to write?" I asked and told him where Amanda told me Carlos was staying, I hoped he was there, because if not, it wouldn't occur to me where he could be. "Thank you, Gabriela, how did you leave Alex yesterday? Tell me he's better."

"Better according to him, but Marcos, he had a surgery." I sighed "What? Why?" He asked with concern evident in his voice. "Because Carlos broke his nose, that's why, but he's better, don't worry." I assured him. The last thing I needed was for him to have one more worry "And you're not with him?"

"No, I'm at home, I'm not welcome there." I responded "What are you talking about?" he asked "That when his mother arrived this morning, she went ballistic, that I shouldn't be there because I had hurt her son too much and would do it again, I don't know, I preferred to leave it that way."

"And Alex let his say that?" He asked in an annoyed tone to which I began to deny "No, he didn't let her, but I preferred to leave before they fought because of me." I admitted, "You can't help that, I'm sure Alex is going to tell his mother to leave you alone."

"I hope not, I don't want them to argue because of me." I answered honestly, "It wouldn't be your fault, it would be his mother's for saying thing she don't know." Marcos protested, "Yes, she can say things, but go get your brother, if you want, I'll go with you." I said, "No, it's not necessary, you have to keep an eye on Alex."

"His mother and grandmother are with him, nothing is going to happen to him" and at least that was somewhat true "Maybe, but you have your grandparents at home to eat. You don't need to come, really." He insisted, "Ok, I'll listen to you, but you can tell me anything." I asked "I will do it, don't worry."

"Hey, what are you going to do with Ana?" I asked, remembering Ana. "I don't know, we'll have to bring her with us." He said, "Does she know anything about what happened with Carlos?" I asked, because if he didn't, it wasn't something I needed to know. "No, we don't know how to tell her." He admitted, "Well, don't tell her, I can take care of her."

"You would do us a great favor." He said relieved, "I'm going to get her, it won't take long." I assured, "Ok, thank you Gabriela." He thanked me and I denied, because he didn't need to thank me for something I do for pleasure. "You're welcome, until now Marcos."

We hung up and I thought for a moment about what Marcos told me about his brother, but I soon stopped thinking to go get Ana, I didn't want him to worry about what her brother was doing right now, it wasn't necessary for him to worry about nothing.

I left the room quickly, grabbed the car keys and my mother comes out into the hallway to see what I'm doing. "You're going to go? You shouldn't leave Gabriela, it's Christmas." She protested, "Don't worry, I'll be back." I assured "Is something wrong?" She asked when she noticed me. "I'll tell you later, now I have to go, mom."

"At least tell me if you'll be here to eat." She asked and I nodded, "Yes, I'll come in a bit." I said "Well until now." I left through the door without saying goodbye, got into the car and as soon as it started, I accelerated to get to Marcos's house. As soon as I arrived, I could see everyone in his family worried and the look on Ana's face was one of not understanding anything of what was happening. I took her in my arms and Marcos gave me her car seat.

They left as soon as they saw Ana is inside my car and it didn't take long for me to get into mine and drive off towards my house. Ana was quiet, thinking about something, probably on what's happening at home and trying to understand it.

When I got home, I unbuckled my seatbelt and did the same with Ana's, I got out of the car to which Ana soon did the same, but she stayed waiting by the door. She looked very thoughtful and I want her to be happy, I hope at least the gift I had for her would make her a little happier and help her stop thinking about what's happening at her house.

"Come on princess, you're sure hungry." I said with a smile planted on my face. "Did something happen to Carlos?" She asked and I looked at her. "No, why do you say that?" I asked, trying to see what he knew. "It's just everyone is worried about him and he hasn't come home since you were there."

"Well, I'm sure he's fine, now they were going to look for him. You will see when you return home you will see him standing there ready to give you your gift." I said, which probably wouldn't be true. "Do you think?" She asked hopefully and I nodded "I'm sure of that, now let's go inside so I can give you, my gift."

With that, she got excited and stopped being worried. When we entered the house, everyone stared at us, but I ignored them. I took her to my room to give her gift, sat her on the bed and went to get it. The gift wasn't much, it was just a bracelet I had made for her with a unicorn, the way she liked it.

"Well, are you ready to receive your gift?" I questioned and Ana started jumping on the bed "Yes, yes, yes." When I gave it to her, she looked at it for a couple of seconds with great interest and then gave me a hug to which I responded.

"Thank you, Gabriela, it's very pretty." She said, looking at her carefully, "You're welcome, it had to look pretty for a beautiful girl." I responded and it didn't take long for her to look at me. "Did you make it?" She asked and I nodded "I like it more now, can you put it on for me?" Ana asked, "Of course, princess." I put it on her and stared at it for a couple of seconds again until my mother and grandmother entered the room.

"Hello girls, how are you, Ana?" My mother asked, "Good, look at the gift Gabriela gave me." She said, showing them the bracelet, I had just put on her. "It's a beautiful bracelet, she's good at choosing gifts." My mother said, laughing, "No, Aunt Lara, she made it for me."

"I didn't know, but how about you go with Angela so she can give you something to drink?" My mom asked and Ana turns in my direction "Gabriela, will you come?" She questioned, "Yeah, I'll be coming in a while. "I'm going to take a shower first." The girl nodded and took my grandmother's hand and left with her, leaving me alone with my mother. I grabbed clothes to head to the bathroom, but first I stopped so my mother could ask the question she's keeping to herself. I'm sure it's referring to Marcos and what's happening at his house, so I closed the door to prevent Ana from hearing it.

"You can ask the question mom." I sighed, noticing more and more tiredness. "What's going on at Marcos' house that made you go for his sister?" He asked "They're looking for Carlos and they have no idea where he is." I responded "Is that what you were doing yesterday?"

"Yes, I had to help them look for him." I answered, even though it wasn't true. "And you haven't found Carlos yet." He confirmed and I nodded "No, that's why they're leaving now and since they didn't let me, I decided I would help them with Ana, she doesn't know anything so don't say anything about this, ok?" I asked "I won't, don't worry."

"Are we going to eat?" I asked to get an idea of how much time I could spend in the shower. "No, but it will give you time to shower." She assured, "Perfect, I'll go right now." I said, grabbing my things. "See you in a bit, Gabriela." My mom said "See you mom. Can you see Ana doesn't get sad or anything?"

"Yes, I'll do it." She stated "Thank you." I thanked. We both left the room and I went to the bathroom. Before getting into the shower, I called Carlos, but he didn't answer. It took me less time than usual to shower and as soon as I dried off and dressed, I went downstairs to meet my family and Ana, who hugs me.

"You are beautiful Gabriela." said the little girl to which I laughed "Thank you little one, you are too." I returned and what made her smile light up her entire face "Not as much as you." She replied and I denied, "Of course, you are more, but now let's sit down before Aunt Lara gets upset because you're not sitting at the table."

Ana quickly went to sit at the table and made a place for me next to her. During the meal everything passed calmly and happily, it seems Ana is having a good time. When we finished eating, we went to the living room and as soon as I sat on the couch, Ana sat on my lap falling asleep within a few minutes.

About an hour passed when she woke up and I was waiting to get some information about Marcos or Carlos, which I do a few minutes after his sister woke up. I sit her next to me and I get up to answer him, leaving the room.

"Tell me you found him." I asked and when I hear the sigh, I realize they haven't done it. "No, we haven't found Carlos, he wasn't there. Amanda said he left." He answered tiredly, "How did he leave? And where is?" I asked, "That's what we're trying to find out, but we have no idea where he could be, but that's not what I was calling you for. How's my sister?"

When they told me they were going to go look for him at Amanda's house, something told me he wasn't going to be there, but I hoped he would be there. I started thinking about what other places he could be until I came up with one, where he had told me he used it to think and he had not taken anyone but me.

"Gabriela, is my sister, ok?" He asked worriedly and I nodded "Yes, she's fine, don't worry about her. But it just occurred to me where Carlos could be." I said with a smile starting to form on my face "Where?" He asked confused "You don't know where it is."

"But I have to go after him Gabriela." He insisted, "Don't worry, go home, I'll go get him." I told her and I could swear he's denying, "Gabriela, you're not going alone." He protested, "I'm going to do it, don't worry, Carlos won't do anything to me." I assured, because that's something I have clear "Yesterday he slapped you."

"That has nothing to do with it. Trust me, this time he won't do anything to me." I affirmed, "Gabriela…" he began, but I denied, "Gabriela, nothing, right now I'm going to go after him." With that, I hung up before he told me he wasn't going to let me go after his brother, but I'm the only one who knew where he is, there's no other option. I enter the living room and approach my grandmother to give her the cell phone.

"Why do I want your phone?" grandma asked, confused. "You take care of it for me and you don't let anyone get close to it, much less answer who calling, ok?" I asked and she nodded "Gabriela, where are you going?" Ana asked and I stood at her level with a smile on my face. "I'm going to get your brother, princess, he just called me to go look for him."

"Oh really?" She asked "Yes, but now I have to go." I said to which she nodded. I gave her a kiss on the temple and walked out the door with the car keys in one hand and the jacket in the other. I got into the car and headed towards the place where I'm sure Carlos would be.

It didn't take long to arrive and as soon as I do, I put on my jacket and get out of the car. The first thing I noticed is his car. That's a good sign. I went into the forest and when I found him, I heard how he's crying.

"Carlos…" Upon hearing his name, he turns around, being able to confirm he's crying, so I get closer to him until I am at his side. "How did you find me?" He questioned "You brought me once, remember?" I asked "No, but forgive me for slapping you, I shouldn't have done it."

"It doesn't matter, I'm fine." I assured him, but he denied, "I just don't know what's wrong with me Gabriela, my head hurts a lot." He admitted, "Calm down first of all and tell me what's wrong with you." I asked calmly, "Do you remember when I started avoiding you?"

"Sure, what's going on?" I asked, "Well, I went to the doctor because I had a headache and they did tests in which they discovered I had a tumor, it's not cancer, but they told me they weren't to do surgery at the moment, they gave me some pills to see if was reduced."

"And what happened?" I inquired, not liking where this is going. "I don't know, I didn't go back to the doctor." He admitted "Why not? You should have gone." I scolded him even though I know it wasn't something I should be doing right now. "I know, but I'm afraid to go and I was feeling better until a couple of weeks ago when the headache came back."

"Does your family know?" I asked, calming down. "You're the first to know." He responded "Well, let's do something. We're going to my house, which is where they will surely be, you will give your gift to Ana while I tell your family what's happening and you will head straight to the hospital to have tests done."

"I don't have a gift for her." He whispered and thank goodness I supposed he didn't have one, because otherwise Ana wouldn't be happy. "Don't worry, I have it for you, she'll think it's yours." I stated, "But Gabriela, I don't want to go to the hospital, I'm afraid."

"You're going, no matter what it costs me. If necessary, I'll take you myself" I assured, because I wouldn't hesitate to do so. "Will you accompany me?" He asked and I denied, "I have to take care of your sister, but as soon as I can, I'll go, I'll keep an eye on you."

"Thank you." He thanked me, and I gave him a small smile. "Now let's go, the sooner they do the tests, the better." We got up and went to my car. I told him it's better if he didn't drive and luckily for me, he listened to me.

When I got home, I could see his family's cars, I gave him the gift he would give to his sister and we went inside the house. There, everyone hugged him and as soon as they left him, he went to Ana while I told them what Carlos told me.

They didn't take much longer at home, they waited for him to give the gift to Ana and talk to her a little so she wouldn't worry, and they took him to the hospital. As soon as they left, I went with Ana and spent the afternoon playing, more than anything so she wouldn't worry about her brother while I did, he's like my older brother and I didn't want anything bad to happen to him.