Fragile Desires (18+) (GxG)

Seventy-Five | Quietness

I was four, it was mid-day, and I could hear the ocean lulling in at shore.

The world was oddly calm for such a painful day.

A day when Natalia Ríos had been declared deceased at 3:44 pm.

She had been rushed to the hospital after I found her sprawled out across the floors of our two-bedroom sanctuary with a needle stuck in her arm.

One minute I was screaming at the top of my lungs for help.

The next I was mute, waiting in the hospital corridors for my father who had taken the next flight over to get me.

For days and weeks, I clung to that silence, a desperate plea to the universe.

If I refused to speak, refused to eat, maybe, just maybe, she'd return.

A childish rebellion against the cruel hand of fate.

But she never came.

I never saw her again.

Except in the faded edges of my memory.

And as I stand waiting for the news of someone just as close to my heart as my mom, I think back to that specific day.

I think back...

And I pray that I don't have to relive it again.

- Ren

♛Chapter Seventy-Five: Quietness♛

My heart was pounding—nearly on the brink of giving out depending on the words I heard next.

My instability was enough to make me reach out for Antonio, holding his arm for support—and when Antonio didn't hesitate to wrap his arm back around mine, I seemed to feel better.

Like I wasn't alone.

"Is she okay?" I whispered, my eyes frantically analyzing the doctor's face.

The doctor didn't hesitate to nod, "Yes, she's okay," he said with a reassuring smile.

And before I knew it, Antonio was pulling me into a hug—holding me like I was his only life source as his fresh tears began soaking into my chest.

My arms unconsciously wrapped back around him, somehow holding him tighter than he held me as I rested my head on his shoulder—crying from so much relief.

It felt like such a huge weight lifted off of my chest.

"She's stable right now, but we aren't sure when she'll wake up," the doctor explained to us as we slowly unraveled from the hug and wiped away our tears.

Antonio only shook his head, "As long as she's okay—as long as she's stable," he determined, letting out a deeper sigh as he looked at me with a slow smile growing on his lips.

"She did it," I whispered to him, feeling my own smile grow.

Antonio nearly grinned through his tears, "She really did," he whispered back.

"Would you both like to see her?" the doctor offered.

And almost immediately we were nodding—wanting nothing more than to see her alive and well.