Soy Alícia Sierra

6. Broken Thread

Hello, there! Since last time it was a short chapter and I left you hanging, here is already the next one. Take a deep breath and get a tissue ;)

Madrid, July 2001

When Germán woke up alone the next morning he didn't know where he was and how much time had passed since the accident. It all felt like the distant reality of a stranger. Not his. "Please, let this all be nothing more than a nightmare," he prayed to himself. When he tried to stand he was held back by a bunch of cables and needles he hadn't realised were connected to him. When his blunt movements made one of them come loose, the machine it had been plugged to immediately started to beep. Soon after a nurse came to check on him.

"Sir, sir, please sit down!" She rushed in and tried to hold him back, but he wouldn't let her.

"Where is Alícia, where is she?" Despair was evident in his voice. "Please, why isn't she here? I want to see her! Where is she? Alícia!"

"Mr. Martín, I need you to calm down," the woman ordered vehemently. It took him all his self-control to fall back on the bed and let her speak.

"Mr. Martín," she continued firmly. "You suffered an accident last night."

"Joder, tell me something I don't know!" He made an effort to translate the screaming in his head into a polite question. "Is my girlfriend alright? We were together. Is she-" he gulped, trying to fight back his worst fears. "Is she alive?" It was all that mattered to him.

The stern expression he saw flash on the nurse's face terrified him. "Yes," she assured him. "The driver as well."

He didn't register her last words as he left out a breath he didn't know he was holding. However, his relief lasted only two seconds until he remembered they hadn't been alone in that taxi. "And the baby?"

The woman didn't say anything, but her sorrowful semblance made any words unnecessary. Germán knew their baby hadn't made it. Quietly he cried for it. For himself. Above all he cried for Alícia. She would be devastated. Did she already know?

"I want to see her," he demanded unexpectedly calm.

"The doctor will come soon to talk to you. I will let him know you are awake," was all she said before she hurriedly left the room.

He didn't want to believe it. Was it shock? He looked for any sign that indicated him it had all been a bad dream, but the cold, grey walls of his hospital room stared menacingly back at him telling him otherwise.

A male voice brought him back from his thoughts some time later.

"Mr. Martín, I am Dr.-"

"Germán," he merely looked at his new visitor. "Please call me Germán." He had decided not to ask any questions, as though it would delay his suffering, even if it was only by a few minutes, so he just let the doctor speak.

The man approached his bed and sat on the empty chair. "Ok, Germán. I am doctor Pérez. I have been taking care of you and Ms. Sierra, and-"

"Alícia," Germán interrupted without moving his gaze from the blank point he had been staring at in front of him.

There were no right words to say what he needed to tell Germán, so he simply went on. "Your accident was very serious. It is a miracle you survived it at all, and only with three broken ribs and a broken leg."

That is why it hurt so much when he breathed.

"And Alícia, she suffered a head trauma and lost a lot of blood." The doctor noticed the terrified look he got from his patient. Even though he had been doing it for many years, he never got used to the suffering he brought to people.