I woke up to my cell phone buzzing on my chest. I’d fallen asleep on the couch in the living room area of the suite, after hours of texting in the early hours of morning, updating everyone that needed updates. Seeing Kara’s picture on my screen, I sat up and answered immediately. “Hey, Lil Manita.”
“Hey, Marquitos,” Kara greeted, her voice soft. “How are things this morning?”
I cleared my throat. “She’s uh, she’s the same. Griff said it would be a day or two before they took her off everything.”
“That’s rough.” Kara sighed. “How are you doing?”
I glanced around the suite to see that Jason sleeping in the recliner near him and Nico in the recliner beside Maya. I switched to Spanish, so I could speak freely and stood up and headed for the bedroom suite for some privacy. “Mal. La verdad es que estoy hecho un desastre. No sé cómo hacer esto. ¿Qué hago?”Not good. Honestly, I'm a mess. I don't know how to do this. What do I do?
“Oh, Marquitos. It’s ok to be a mess. It’s hard. No one should have to live through the trauma that Maya lived through. The important thing right now is to remind yourself that she’s alive. She’s alive, and she going to recover. You just have to be there for her.”
“Yeah,” I mumbled, switching to English. “What do I do about Luke?”
“You can’t tell him what happened to her, not the exact truth. He’s too young,” Kara said. “But he knows she was with Hillcrest and that he hurt her. That’s enough for him. I wouldn’t wait to bring him to her. Even if it’s a lot right now. It’s been a week since he’s seen his mother.”
“Yeah.” I grunted the word and had to clear my throat as my voice choked with emotion. “Yeah, I—”
“How about I bring him by this afternoon?” Kara suggested.
I thought about it for a minute. “No, no. I should be the one to drive him up here. Elaine too. I’ll run home and shower and change my clothes and all that. Get some food and I’ll bring them up here. Can you come too? Say around one?”
“Yeah, I can do that. I’ll probably have one of the guys with me,” she warned.
“Wouldn’t expect anything less, Lil Manita. You need to stay safe.”
Marcos
I held Luke as he bawled in my arms. Seeing his mother like she was would be hard for anyone. But for a nine-year-old kid who knew his mother had been kidnapped—who had traded herself for her son’s safety—it was excruciatingly painful.
I took Luke into the bedroom suite and held him tightly as he cried. Kara came and sat down next to us on the bed, rubbing Luke’s back as I rocked him gently. “It’s ok, buddy,” I murmured softly. I kissed the top of Luke’s head and held him tighter.
Elaine stepped into the bedroom suite, wiping tears from her eyes. She walked past us and over to the window, looking out at the city of Mourningside below. “I called Jenna this morning. She should be here soon.”
Luke pulled away slightly to look over at his grandmother. “Aunt Jenna is coming?”
“Yeah, honey. She’s on her way.” Elaine confirmed.
“That’s a good thing, huh, Luke? Another Aunt here,” Kara smiled at Luke and patted his hand.
Luke nodded and climbed off my lap and into Kara’s. He curled up around her on the mattress and sniffled as he tried to control his breathing. “I know mom looks bad right now,” I said, trying to keep my voice even, “but she’s only going to look like that for another couple days. Doc Griffin is keeping an eye on her and giving her the medicine she needs to get stronger.”
“You promise?” Luke voice is so small, so soft, it broke my heart.
“Yeah, bud. I promise. Your mom is going to make a full recovery.” I could only hope and pray to God that I kept that promise to my son.
Jason
Ihadtoleavetheroom. There were too many people around. Even with Marcos in the bedroom suite with his sister and Luke and Elaine, it was too much. Nico hadn’t moved from the recliner besides Maya all night, except to hit the bathroom. Otherwise he sat silent vigil beside her, keeping her hand in his.
When Kara had shown up with Derrick in toe, I left the room. I couldn’t handle all the emotions flying around—not when my own were hanging on by a hair-trigger. Derrick took one look at my face and nodded toward the hall. I told Nico I would be back and then took off with the Ravager Knight.
Outside, in the parking lot, far from any doors or cameras, I pulled a joint out of the inside pocket of my cut and quickly lit it up. Taking a long drag, I sucked the smoke back before I offered Derrick the joint.
“How you hanging in there?” Derrick asked. He took the joint from me and puffed on it.
“Not good,” I spoke around the smoke I held in my lungs.
Derrick nodded as he inhaled the weed and handed me the joint. I exhaled a slow cloud of smoke, before I brought the joint back to my lips again. We stayed that way until the joint was finished: passing it and smoking, not talking.
