When We Met

CH 46 Logan

We head to the hospital, and it's the most nerve-wracking thing I've ever experienced. I keep pacing and turning, unable to sit still. Noah and Maria are huddled together, their faces etched with worry. I know Maria and Rosaline have grown close to each other, but the person I feel most sorry for is Alejandro. His brother and, technically, his sister—if not by blood, then by bond—are in there. He's known them all his life, and I don't think he can survive without them.

I crumble down to the floor. Until now, we don't even know where my parents are, but I say good riddance. I'm just trying to distract myself. Rosaline can't leave me. She just can't. We finally have something real. She is my first and will be my last. I see a future with her. She is my world. How would I survive if she's gone?

As I put my head on my knees, I feel a soft hand squeeze my shoulder. I look up and find Maria there, tears undried in her eyes. She lowers herself beside me, giving me a tight hug. "They will be fine. Mateo is going to be okay and will come back to be the control freak I've come to know him as, and Rosaline will be fine. She will come out swinging," she says.

We both chuckle, but it feels forced, hollow. "I just want them to be okay. I want her to be okay. We finally won, but it feels like I lost everything I could ever want. I just can't breathe. I can't eat. I can't feel. It's like she is my addiction, keeping me afloat in this world. I need her by my side to survive. I need my angel, Maria." My voice breaks at the end as she hugs me fiercely.

Then I hear footsteps and look up to find Alejandro and Noah making their way to us. We all huddle together. "Well, this is definitely not macho—the don-to-be and his right hand cuddling. Now that should be kept secret, under lock and key," Noah says with a tiny chuckle. We all burst out laughing, then fall silent again, but it's a silence I can live with.

A few hours later, no one has come to speak to us yet, and everything is a blur. It's been more than 48 hours since we left to commence our plan, and none of us have slept or eaten. We are all exhausted, but no one wants to leave until we know what's happening with them. I sit down on one of the waiting chairs, and Alejandro comes to sit next to me, patting me on the back.

"Thank you for not being like your father. You are a good man, and if we all get out of here okay, then you definitely have my blessing with Rosaline. Although I did have a small crush on her when we were younger, I always saw her as the sister I never had." He smiles at me, and I return the smile.

I open my mouth to say something when we hear footsteps coming from where Mateo and Rosaline are. I exchange glances with Alejandro, and we both jump up to talk to them. The doctors look like they've just come out of a war, blood staining their gowns. My stomach flips, and I can't keep my focus, but I have to be strong. We all walk towards the doctors, and Alejandro doesn't give them a chance to talk.

"How are they? Are they okay? What's going on?" He asks a million questions, and the doctors just wave their hands for him to stop.

"Sir, please take deep breaths for us. All of you should, as we have some upsetting news. I'm sorry, but..." The doctor's words blur, and I start hyperventilating. I can't breathe. I can't hear. I stumble back, and Noah holds me up. That's when I start hearing the end of their news.

"I'm sorry, but we lost Mateo during surgery. The bullet caused too much internal damage. We did everything we could, but he didn't make it."

A sob escapes Maria's lips, and she collapses into Noah's arms. Alejandro's face turns pale, and he looks like he's been punched in the gut.

"And Rosaline?" I manage to croak out, my voice barely audible.

The doctor's face softens a little. "Rosaline is stable for now. She lost a lot of blood that her body want into shock and her heart stopped while we were in the surgery, but we managed to stabilise her. She's not out of the woods yet, we have put her into a induced coma to help make her healing faster we just need to amen sure she wakes up, but she's fighting."

A wave of relief but terror washes over me, but it's tinged with even deeper sorrow of losing Mateo. We gather around, holding each other, trying to find comfort in our shared grief and the small glimmer of hope for Rosaline.

"We need to stay strong for her," Alejandro says, his voice thick with emotion. "She's a fighter, and she needs us to be here when she wakes up."

I nod, gripping Alejandro's hand. "We'll be here. We'll always be here for her."

Hours pass in a haze of waiting and whispered conversations. Finally, a nurse comes to tell us we can see Rosaline. We walk into the room, and seeing her lying there, pale but alive, brings a sense of relief.

I sit by her side, holding her hand. "You're going to be okay, Rosaline. We're all here for you. I love you, and I'm not going anywhere."

As I look around the room at my friends, my family, I know that we'll get through this together. The road ahead will be hard, but as long as we have each other, we'll find a way to heal.