Doctor Engel [A Spanish bestseller now in English!]

CHAPTER 23

'Cesar,' I say whispering when we are apart. I don't want to stop.

'Shhhhh,' he says. 'You are shivering, and I won't let you get sick. We have to go.'

He stands up and offers me his hand. I take it and he helps me to get up. He is right. The air has become colder, and I didn't even notice. I'm freezing. When I move, my teeth begin to chatter. We decide that it's time to go home.

Cesar picks up the blanket, he shakes it in order to get rid of the dust and places it on my shoulders. I'm so cold that I don't want to take it off, so I give him the keys. He drives and we go back to the town. We see a couple of shooting stars more on the road, but we are so absorbed in our thoughts that we prefer not to say anything. We only watch them.

I moisten my lips with my tongue and I feel they are still swollen... I can still feel his flavor. My mind begins to spin around, thinking about what just happened up there. I'm somewhat confused. I don't know to what extent this has meant something to him. The first time, when we kiss in his car, he admitted that it was only an impulse that it meant nothing to him...

Perhaps this is only something ephemeral, an event of a night, or maybe a week. I have never liked that type of relationship. I can't help but think that perhaps he wants to have with me the same type of relationship he had with Erika. I'm afraid to wake up tomorrow and confirm that.

'Are you still cold?' he says while he moves the heating controls to point the hot air at me.

'Yes. The blanket is starting to feel heavy,' I take it off and throw it on the back seat.

He places his right hand over mine. It's so big that it almost covers my hands completely. I feel his warmth and the so familiar electrical current.

'Your hands are still cold,' he says looking into my eyes.

'Don't worry,' I shrug it off. 'Regardless of the weather they are always like that,' I place them in front of the heating.

We arrived at my parents' house, and as we have agreed he leaves me there and takes my car with him to the hotel. He refuses to let me go back home alone since it's too late. I open the door slowly, trying not to make a sound because I don't want to wake anyone up. When I walk through the hallway something calls my attention on one of the couches in the living room. There is someone sitting there, with the lights off. Without thinking I turn on the hallway light and see who is there.

'Is there something wrong, dad?' I ask him concerned.

'No, baby, don't worry. It's just that I can't sleep and I don't want to wake your mother.'

I'm not satisfied with his answer. I know that something isn't right, but he doesn't want to worry me. I turn on the living room lights to see him better. I find him pale and sweaty.

'Are you sure you are okay?' I say staring at him.

'Yes, yes. I'm going to have a glass of water and then go to bed,' he tries to stand up, but his legs are too weak and he has to sit down quickly to avoid falling.

'Dad?' I run towards him and my alarm goes off. Surely this has to do with his arrhythmia.

'So at dinner I must have been sitting wrong...' he says trying to smile to make me drop the topic.

'I need to go to the bathroom,' I say. But it's an excuse so he doesn't notice what I'm going to do. I know that he will be upset and will deny everything. I take out my phone and dial 112.

'Emergency. Hello?'

I tell them about what happened with my father. They ask me about the symptoms and I explain everything I see to them. A couple of seconds later they let me know that they have sent a doctor to our house, and that he should not take more than ten minutes. I go back to the room with him.