Strangling Vines

Chapter 7: A Savior Unexpected

One week later... 

  

  

It has been days since Maya's last encounter with Isabela, but it felt like decades. She was so close, yet miles away, only discussed in conversation and only heard her coughs, but her presence weighed heavily. It was though she was a ghost rather than a living human being clinging to life. Staying away was a grueling task but something she wanted to do for the girl, to give her mercy. 

From what she heard; the woman's health did not improve in the slightest since she stopped visiting her. She was to the point of being bedridden and her family desperately wanted surgery though unfortunately there weren't any surgeons anyone knew of in or outside of the Encanto. Julieta, Agustin, her sisters, and her own mother were the ones that kept her company the most, doing whatever they could do to get her to smile. 

They started to sadly expect Isabela's end, but Maya didn't. 

Her patience wore thin as the days went on, the idea of losing the woman she was supposed to reconcile with twisted her core. Her hushed "I love you" before indefinitely shutting her out haunted her. She was tired of being stagnant. 

  

  

After the families finished putting the lasting touches on Casita, they walked back to her house expecting to give the news that their beloved home had been finished. She hoped that Isabela would be able to see her rebuilt home until she witnessed her mother standing outside with the door open and a somber expression. 

Her heart sank before her mother spoke to them all, mainly Casita's residents. 

  

"You need to come see Isabela, she's dying..." 

Those words sent unforgiving chills down all their spines as the family members rushed in along with Maya. 

  

The bedroom door was soon jerked open by Luisa and Mirabel, as Maya approached the doorway, she could hear the cries of Julieta and Agustín. Her heart pounded as she slid past a distraught Pepa and Dolores to get closer to a sight that would be forever burned in her mind. 

There lay Isabela, her body twitching, gasping desperately for an ounce of oxygen, her eyes teary, swollen and partially closed with a blueish tint. Vines accompanied by thorns and bright geraniums grew out of her mouth, tangling themselves around her neck. Maya stared at her, the voices of family members talking all at once fading from her mind as she stepped closer to the bed. 

  

She softly put her hand on the woman's wet cheek as water welled up in her own eyes, she saw Isabela glance at her, running out of strength to fight for her life. 

In that moment, nothing else mattered but her. If she was going to let her truth out, this was it. 

  

"I love you too Isabela." 

Maya confessed before softly kissing her hand, praying that she could spare her this painful, harsh death. 

   

After a few moments, the woman's sharp breathing returned, her eyes opening with the same twinkle as before. Maya placed her hand and an ear to the woman's chest, hearing her rapid heartbeat and the sound of branches receding. 

In determination, she turned to see the shears Agustín was holding and gestured towards them. 

She slipped her fingers under the tight vines around her throat to give space before Isabela flinched in hesitation.