My Skater Boy // V.H.

62-Reunion

The explosion was louder than I anticipated. It shook the entire tunnel, causing debris to fall onto the Jag. I turn back around, not being able to see anything due to the heavy black smoke. Tears pool in my eyes as I clench my fists in my lap. "It's done." Velian says and then Dante merges quickly and gets back off the highway.

I look out the window, seeing that the black smoke has covered the CCTV cameras along the highway, giving us the perfect getaway. I watch numbly out the window as Dante turns corners sharply so that we are back on the main road. I can't tell exactly where we are headed because the tall LA skyscrapers begin to turn into hilly green mountains.

"Where are we going? This isn't the way to Casa de Ana." I look over at Dante where he drives with one hand on the wheel and one hand on the consol.

"We're not going back to Casa de Ana." He murmurs.

"What do you mean?" I sat up straight and reach for my gun, cursing silently when I realized I left it in my jacket in the Audi.

"All of your questions will be answered, Estella. In time." Dante answered. And then with a swift move of his finger, a cloth comes around my head and holds me there until my vision goes blurry and then dark.

++

My head pounds rhythmically before I even open my eyes. A steady beeping is on my right and it feels like a fifty blankets are on my body.

I try to peel my eyes open but it is so bright in the room, it is painful. I go to move my hand to cover my eyes but it stops about five inches from my leg. I yank and look down, seeing handcuffs attached to the bed I'm lying in. My arm throbs from the glass, but a fresh bandage is covering the wound. The blood that was once streaming down my arm is now absent. I can feel a bandage on my forehead too, holding together the skin.

I look around the room and my heart sinks. No way of seeing where I am. The white walls, white floor, white ceiling. Nothing in the room except the bed and the heart rate monitor machine to my right. Then, out of the corner of my eye I see a woman.

Her back is to me so I can't see her face. "Where the hell am I?" My voice is scratchy, like I've been screaming for hours. My throat feels dryer than the Sahara. The woman doesn't move at first but then she turns.

All air leaves my lungs as I take in the woman in front of me.

My mother.

"Hello, Esty." Her voice hits me like a ton of bricks. She doesn't look different. She's as beautiful as the day she left us.

I open my mouth but no words come out. Tears burn. My wrist aches from where I pull against the bed.

"Here." She moves over to my left side and unlocks the cuffs, careful not to touch me. "I don't know why she did that. She can be a little overbearing sometimes." My mother laughs softly as if this is simply brunch with her girlfriends.

"Mama?" I finally find my voice and she smiles down at me. She cups my cheek, lightning going through my body as I stare up into her green eyes. The same green eyes I have and...

Dante.

"Mija." She muses as she strokes her thumb down my cheek and brushes away tears. "It's good to finally see you." She pushes my hair behind my ear and sits on the space beside my bed.

"Where- Where am I?" I move, suddenly feeling like the room is closing in on me. "Where's Dante?"

"Your brother will be here soon." She nods. My brother.

"Sam?" I say. I know she's talking of Dante, but I just want to hear her say it.

"No, mija." She laughs to herself. "Dante." I hold my breath as I take it in.