Chapter 40

MARIO

I don't know what's happening where all the people were gathering, I just know that I decided it's better to go there and see what's happening. What I didn't expect to find was what was happening, María being beaten senseless, which made me get in the middle to prevent them from continuing to hit her, but they ended up hitting me too. When does Gabriela arrive? I don't have the slightest idea, I just know that I appreciate it, not only for myself, but for Maria who looked pretty beaten up.

"LEAVE THEM ALONE!!!!" She shouted, standing in front of us. "Look guys, the missing one has arrived." said one of those guys, "If you wanted me, you already have me, now leave them alone." Our sister stated, "Let's see, you're the target, but they told us to go after them. With them we would get your attention." He laughed. "Well, you already have it, now stay away from them and don't even think about touching a single hair of theirs, because then the ones who will end up badly are going to be you."

"Look guys, she's acting tough now, but we know what she's really like. Keep doing what you were doing." I don't understand what we had done to deserve this beating they're giving us. The only thing I know that happened before everything got worse is one of those boys had kicked María in the head, making her fall to the ground.

At that moment Gabriela got angry and started hitting everyone who's there and trying to hurt us while I approached María to see how she's doing, and more than anything because I'm scared to death of what's happening.

"Maria, are you ok?" I asked and started to shake her, but she didn't respond, and if I'm already scared, I was even more scared now, it couldn't be that this was happening to us. WHAT HAD WE DONE TO DESERVE THIS?

"Maria, wake up. This is no longer funny, I'm serious." I asked. Out of the corner of my eye I could see how those boys who must have been Gabriela's age began to march and someone grabbed her to prevent her from going after them to finish what those assholes had started.

I was able to see Marcos and Carlota there and I relaxed a little because I know they would prevent Gabriela from doing something she might regret in the future. She's a good person, and it may be sometimes when we're bored, we got on her nerves a little and made her angry, but I never saw her as angry as she is right now, I would really stop picking on her to prevent her from getting angry like that. It didn't take long for her to come towards us and kneel next to us.

"Are you ok Mario?" Gabriela asked, examining me. "I do, but María doesn't wake up. They kicked her in the head Gabriela." I said and I could see her eyes widen in terror "DID THEY DO WHAT? No no. Come on Maria, react. Why were they hitting you?"

"I don't know, I was coming down when I saw a lot of people together and decided to go closer. "That's when I discovered they were beating María." I informed her "SOMEONE CALL A FUCKING AMBULANCE." She shouted, and I half noticed how her hands were shaking. "It's on its way, Gabriela."

"I hope so, because if not I'll take her to the hospital myself. But are you sure you're ok? You have a couple of cuts on your face." She said and I nodded, because I'm ok "They hurt, but that doesn't matter right now. María has to get well Gabriela, promise me it will be that way." I asked her and she nodded "I promise you on my life Mario, nothing is going to happen to María. She's going to recover and soon you'll be making mischief together. You're the inseparable twins, remember she's strong and will be able to handle anything."

At that moment I started crying. It's not because my wounds hurt, it's because I saw my sister like that, who was smaller than me by minutes. Gabriela soon hugged me with one arm while she hugged María with the other.

There were a lot of people around us and Gabriela had Marcos, Carlota, Sara, Clara and Alex behind her trying to console her, which I doubt they would be able to do, because even though at this moment she's acting strong for me, I knew my sister and what's happening in the family is something that affected her a lot.

The ambulance took what seemed like hours and it didn't take them long to pick up María and take her away. They also took me to undergo treatment and Gabriela came with us. I heard how she told Marcos to call our mother and tell her we're going to the hospital. When we arrived, they took María directly to I don't know where, while they left me in the emergency room.

Gabriela left at one point with our sister, but it didn't take long for her to arrive next to me, and she didn't have a very good face to say the least. "What are you doing here?" I asked, "I'm coming to see how you are." She replied dryly, "You should be with Maria."

"Mom is with Maria; I have to be with you right now." my sister responded "Did she come so soon?" I asked, surprised. "Apparently they had an appointment with grandma and they were here." she reported "So are mom and dad here?" I questioned "Yes, but tell me how are you."

"My head hurts a little, but it's nothing out of this world. It could have been worse considering what they did to María." I answered, "You really don't know anything about why they were hitting her?" She asked and I denied, because I didn't have it. "I have no idea, I just heard Paula's name in the middle at some point."

"What are you talking about?" Gabriela asked, frowning. "They named a Paula, I don't know why that was at the time, but I heard it." I could see how Gabriela's face changed from concentration to anger. I don't know what she's thinking, she couldn't even be sure it's the same Paula who hurt her, but what they did to María doesn't look good either. They attacked her for no reason, because I'm more than sure she did nothing to deserve such a beating.

"Gabriela, listen to me. Don't do anything you're going to regret later." I asked her. I knew how impulsive she could be and I didn't want her to get in trouble because of something I heard that might not be true. "I won't do anything, don't worry. I'll be here with you until you're discharged."

"I want to go see Maria." I said "And we will, don't worry about that. If necessary, we won't move from here until she recovers a little at least, ok?" She asked and at that moment a call came in to Gabriela's cell phone and she didn't take long to answer, so I guess it must be mom.

"Yes, mom, tell me what they told you... Wait a moment..." Gabriela took the cell phone away from her ear and put it on hands-free, she walked over to where I'm and sat in the chair next to the stretcher. "You can now, mom, tell us."

"Your sister is fine. Apparently, the kick wasn't that strong, but because of the blows she sustained and the impact, it was what made her faint, but she'll be fine." Our mother informed us, and we both sighed in relief. "So, is everything ok with her?" I asked, "Yes, she will wake up later and if she's fine, she might go home tomorrow."

"Good. If she wakes up before we arrive, tell her we'll go as soon as they finish Mario." Gabriela reported, "Of course, they also have to explain to me what trouble they got into this time." my mother assured, "As weird as it may seem, mom, this time we didn't do anything, I promise."

"Then why did they hit you?" She asked, and from here, I could hear the confusion in her voice. "That's what I'd like to know, mom, but don't worry, I'll take care of why they did this to them myself." Gabriela assured, "We all find out, but we'll see you guys in a while."

"See you later mom." With that Gabriela hung up and thought about something. This time I wasn't going to bother her, because she seemed to be concentrating on something, I just hoped it wasn't she's thinking about Paula, because then we could have a problem on our hands.

Half an hour later they let me leave the emergency room and we went to the floor where my sister is. The entire way Gabriela hadn't said a word, she had not even spoken after hanging up the call, and I'm beginning to really worry, it's not she's a talkative person, it's just in these cases it's not good for her to be so quiet, especially considering she usually keeps everything to herself and with the problem she has with her anxiety, it's not good for her to be so quiet.

We stayed in the room for about two hours, all of us quiet, but Gabriela the most, until María started to wake up and we all went to the bed. "Where I am?" Maria asked, putting one of her hands to her head. "At the hospital, Maria, they beat you up." my mother commented.

"Gabriela." She said, and it's the moment when she raises her head to look in the direction of our sister. "I'm here, Maria, I'm not going to leave your side." She assured, approaching the other side of the stretcher, "They told me they were doing it because of you. Paula is involved in all this... they told me... they told me to send you their regards from her."

With that we all turned to Gabriela, fearing for her reaction, but of course we didn't expect her to react the way she did. She slammed the table and ended up walking out the door angry. My father went out after her, but arrived minutes later, apparently having lost her. This couldn't be good. Right now, Gabriela is the person you should cross paths with. I'm afraid of what she might do right now, mostly because I've never seen her as angry as she's right now, even at the time when Maria and I were being hit.