DREAMS, II ✦ MARCO ASENSIO

CUATRO

December 13th, 2018.

Marco sighed to himself as he helped Mattia get into bed. He covered her with the duvet and pushed her hair out of her eyes. Marco kissed her forehead and smiled, "Good night, amor," he whispered softly. Marco grabbed the baby monitor and exited the room quietly. He went downstairs to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of wine. Just as he was about to lift it to his lips and take a sip, he heard someone ring the doorbell. Marco sighed and put the glass down.

He shuffled out of the kitchen until he reached the door. Marco opened it, expecting someone lost to be asking for directions, someone at the wrong house, or something like that. But, instead, he was faced by his one and only ex-wife. Marco's eyes widened when he saw her face. Her bruised, sleepless face.

His first instinct was to pull her inside to shelter her from the harsh snow outside. Marco didn't even know what she was doing in Spain, and for her to come in this weather must've been pretty serious. He was starting to get angry more and more each second he looked at her face and noticed all the fresh cuts, bruises, and dried up blood. But, he didn't want to jump to conclusions, he decided to talk to her calmly instead.

Adelina choked on a sob. She shook her head, already starting to regret why she came there, but then she remembered that she came to him because she needed someone. She did what her mind told her to do, she threw herself in his arms and hugged him for as long as she could. Adelina wasn't going to lie, she felt safe in Marco's arms. Like he was going to protect her from every one out there who was planning to hurt her.

"I'm sorry," she sniffled and shook her head as he held her. Marco rubbed her back, he gently led her to the stools in his kitchen. Marco grabbed the nearby first-aid kit and set it beside her on the counter. He filled a glass of water for her and lifted it to her lips carefully. Marco put it in the sink and grabbed the alcohol spray to clean her wounds.

"What happened to you?" He sighed quietly. Adelina flinched and hissed when the alcohol landed on a cut. Marco shook his head, "No, stop it, don't move. What happened to you, Adelina? How can you do this to yourself?"

"I'm sorry," Adelina whispered repeatedly. She shook her head and lowered her gaze to the ground. Marco tilted her chin up and for the first time since she's arrived, he stared in her eyes and noticed all the pain she was feeling.

"Come on, we should take you to the hospital. You probably have a broken bone or something, we better check just to make sure you're fine," Marco said. "Just wait here until I get Mattia from upstairs. I'll get you a coat, too, I can't let you go out again in this weather with these clothes."

Marco turned around without saying another word. He went to his bedroom and grabbed a coat from the dressing room. Marco gently picked Mattia up with her little blanket and headed downstairs to the kitchen again. Adelina let out a muffled gasp when she saw her daughter, a light smile grew on Marco's face. "Put this on. When we're back from the hospital, I'll let her sleep beside you. I bet you've missed her."

He put Mattia in her car seat and helped Adelina to the car afterwards. He fastened her seatbelt and they left for the hospital. The only sounds in the car were the sounds of Mattia's light snoring from the backseat.

"So... are you going to tell me what happened now?" Marco broke the silence as he focused on the snowy roads in front of them. "Or should I just wait until the doctors tell me? It's up to you, because I'm going to find out either way."

"It's pretty obvious, don't you think?" Adelina sighed. Marco raised his eyebrows at her and she closed her eyes and threw her head back. "Go ahead and take a guess, Marco."