hidden // oscar diaz

T E N

ruby felt something up his nose and the air he was breathing tasted different. opening his eyes but quickly shutting them and wincing at the bright lights above him. his ears pricked up as he heard a beeping noise, and the low sound of the local tv news channel. slowly opening his eyes again he was confused on where he was and why there was pain that spread across his chest. as ruby looked around a little longer, all the memories of what had happened came to his mind. he started to cry and thrash around in the small stiff hospital bed. the monitor started beeping fast as his heart rate picked up. a few nurses rushed into the room to try and call him down. " olivia, where's olivia" ruby's said while crying, his voice slightly raspy. " sir you need to calm down we're sure oliva is okay" the nurses knew they were lying but wanted to calm the boy down. ruby slowly relaxed as he felt pain shoot through his body. all ruby wanted was to see his family and possibly athena.

the next few hours ruby was numb, he heard everyone but he wasn't listening. he felt annoyed of how much hugs and cries were in the room but he knew he needed to be grateful that he was alive. he realized his family was scared of losing him. he spent a lot of time silently crying, the love of his life was gone, forever. ruby was smart, he would only cry when he was alone or when everyone in the room was sound asleep. ruby felt as if his heart was ripped out of his chest and replaced with sadness.

the martinez family was told they had to keep ruby for a whole night and could be released the following morning, that's if no complication occurred during his night stay. ruby hoped that athena was come see him, given the fact that she was a nurse and worked the night shift, but ruby knew not to get his hopes up.

    ruby was completely bored out of his mind. he had no phone and visitation hours were over. technically they weren't but he just wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone so he let a nurse know he was feeling tired and would just like to rest. after flipping through every channel the small tv provided he settled on showtime. ruby wasn't watching the movie, judy staring blankly at the screen while his mind was elsewhere. hours had gone by but it only felt as if his mind was elsewhere for only a few minutes. he heard the door open and without moving his gaze from the door he spoke " I don't need anything irma, i'm okay im just tired and want to be alone" still not removing his eyes from the screen. "well sucks because your stuck with me until they find out i'm not doing paper work" a soft voice said with a laugh. ruby immediately looked at the beautiful woman in front of him. " athena, hay dios mío im so happy to see you" " I can tell little guy" athena said while the heart monitor sped up a little bit. " rubs you need to relax before irma comes back!" she laughed and lighting hit his leg. "sorry your beauty got me all riled up" he said smoothly while scooting over to make a spot for her in the small bed. " I brought us a wide variety of snack, drink and the code for the good channels" the excitement in her voice made ruby smile and instantly feel a million times better.

    all the snacks were gone, two movies later and athena had to go back to work. receiving a text from sofia letting her know she need to be back. lightly kissing ruby's head "I need to go rubs but i promise i'll swing by whenever I can" kissing his forehead again and leaving the small room.

    ruby enjoyed the time spent with athena. it's like the mother took all the pain and sadness away from his body. his heart swelled when athena showed him pictures of her adorable baby boy. athena baby radiated happiness even through a picture. he was lying if he said he wasn't upset that's athena had to go back to work.

   ruby was alive and well but the hole in his heart still remained.