Caballeros

Tragedies (Edited)

   

Jules

I scramble to my feet getting caught up in the blankets. I try to gain my balance so that I do not fall on my face. I go up to Joaquin and hug him from behind and he does something that floors me; he pushes me away. It makes me feel so sad that he would do that to me.

"Where is she? Who the fuck are you?" He continues to yell into the phone.

I go and find my purse and take out my cell phone and call daddy as fast as I can. He answers on the first ring and I am so grateful that he did.

"Daddy come quick something is wrong?" I cry out.

"What's wrong Mija?"

"I don't know; he won't tell me."

"I'll be right over." He hangs up.

My dad must have ran because he gets to our room so quickly. I open the door with tears in my eyes; he hugs me to him tightly. I always feel safe in my daddy's arms; it calms me down. We go back into the room and Joaquin is off the phone. His jaw is clenched tightly; his large hands are balled into fists. He takes his fists and punches the wall; luckily the punch did not ruin the wall.

"Hey!" Daddy yells. "What's going on?"

"Trinity is in the hospital she had an accident!" he yells into my dad's face. "You said that she would be okay; well she is not!" I go to comfort him and he backs away from me again making me feel like complete shit.

"I know you're upset but do not do that to her! She is all you got right now! Don't you ever talk to me like that ever again Joaquin. Ya hear me!"

"Yes Sir, I'm sorry," he says. He looks over at me and I'm a blubbering mess."Darlin' please I'm so sorry. I'm just worried about Trin." I look at him and nod.

"What did they say? Who did you talk to?" Daddy asks.

"It was one of Olivia's friends. They said that she was at Houston County. All they said was that she was in an accident. I asked where Olivia was but they had no idea."

"Let's get down to the hospital."

We go just how we are dressed; no time to waste. Daddy drives like a bat out of hell. I sit in the back with Joaquin; he puts his head in my lap and I feel his tears drip onto my legs. I run my fingers through his light brown hair. Please God let her be alright.

"We're here ya'll." Dad says.

Joaquin jumps up and leaps out of the car as fast as he can. We run after him into the hospital; we find that there is no one at the front desk. Joaquin is pacing like a trapped animal. A police officer approaches us and my stomach goes into my throat.

"Are you Joaquin Ortega?" he asks.

"Yes Sir," he says. "Can you please tell me what is going on?"

"I am Officer Garcia. I need you to sit down sir."

"Why! Please tell me she is okay," he pleads with the officer. Tears falling down his face and it shatters me to my core.

"Around midnight we got a call from a neighbor of Oliva O'Connor about a baby crying non-stop. She was concerned about the babies safety. We arrived at the residence to find the infant unresponsive and badly beaten."

"Oh my god, my baby," he wails. I sit and hug onto him crying just as badly as he is. "Please tell me she is alive."

"She is alive; she is heavily sedated. I'll take ya'll up now. We have arrested the person that was in the home; he was highly intoxicated. We could not locate her mother Olivia; the elderly neighbor is with your daughter in the room now."

"Who was it that you arrested?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"Arnold Vega; do you know him?"

"Arnie that fucking bastard, I'll kill him!"

"He will be going away for quite a while because he had a warrant for his arrest in Laredo. Can I ask why your daughter was in the care of Olivia?"

"Ask that bitch Judge Moreno she granted her visitation for three days."

"Babe," I say rubbing his back, He relaxes a tiny bit. "Can we see her now?"

"Family only ma'am." The officer says.

"This woman right here is my wife and she is Trinity's mama; her only mama." Joaquin says squeezing my hand. I kiss his cheek.

"I apologize ma'am; shall we?"

We head up in an old elevator; it is a scary elevator that looks like it will break down at any moment. Daddy is able to come up with us too; my stomach feels so sick and not from drinking either. We get out on the correct floor. There is a sign that says Pediatric NICU; Joaquin pulls my hand back a bit. He looks panicked and makes me feel horrible for him.

"I can't do this; I can't lose her baby. We can't lose her."

"I am here babe for the long haul and so is daddy. She is mine too." I say. A tall man in surgical scrubs comes out of the room.

"Mr. and Mrs. Ortega, I am Dr. Scott. I am here to fill you in on the medical portions. I need to let you know that she is really hurt but she is a fighter. She is very swollen and bruised so please prepare yourself before you enter the room. She has sustained many injuries tonight. She has a broken left arm and a broken femur we have placed those in splints for now. She sustained a cracked skull but luckily there are no brain bleeds. She has bilateral black eyes; they are swollen shut. We had to sedated her because she came to and began pulling out her tubes. She is intubated right now but I will be removing that as soon as I can see that she can breathe on her own."

"What does intubated mean?" Joaquin asks. He is trying to keep it together. Hell I am about to lose my fucking mind.

"It means that she has a tube down her throat breathing for her. I will start to ween her from the sedation now that you're here. Ready to go in?"

"Not really but I guess so," Joaquin says.

Dr. Scott opens the door for us; even though he warned us what to expect it's a horrifying sight. Joaquin screams out in horrible cry. Our poor baby has tubes all over her tiny body; her light brown hair is now black because of the dry blood in it. Her eyes are so blackened and swollen that it looks like her skin will burst. Daddy and I cry right along with Joaquin; I go over and hug him tightly. A nurse with comes in and looks at us with sympathy in her eyes.

"I'm glad ya'll are here. We have been calling her baby girl; what is her name?"

"Her name is Trinity Ortega." Daddy says.

"Do you know if ya'll have a picture of her we like to hang up photos so we know what these angels really look like."

"Yes I have one from this morning at breakfast," daddy says and he takes out his phone. She lets him print it out to put it on the machine next to her bed.

"Wow those eyes are simply stunning; she has your eyes daddy." She says to Joaquin. "Sir you can touch her."

He steps up to the bed and hugs her but he is careful to not move her tubes. He hums her song as his tears fall down his face.

"Come back to mama and I Trinity. Daddy will make this right baby girl. We love you so much." He begins to break down again.

Watching Joaquin with Trinity has been the most heart breaking thing I have ever seen. I say a silent prayer over and over again. The door double doors open and in saunters Olivia. Joaquin gets up quickly so quickly that we do not have time to react.

All I can think is that this is going to end horribly.

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Thanks for reading! This chapter was really hard to write!

Oh oh what you think Joaquin will do? what do you want him to do?

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