Neighborhood Music

Cortez Shoes Pt 2

Monse sat in the hospital waiting room holding Letty's hand and trying not to jump out of her seat every time a doctor or nurse walked by. Every minute felt like years. Between checking her phone for any news on Ruby and Olivia, and checking the faces of every employee who walked by, Monse was beginning to feel like she was losing it. Her breath started coming quicker, she could feel herself panicking, but she wasn't entirely sure why. 

"Uh oh." Letty said, beginning to rub circles on Monse's back, "It's ok! You're gonna be ok. Deep breaths." 

But Monse couldn't take a deep breath. She could feel the tears streaming down her cheeks, but she couldn't focus on anything. The room felt like it was shrinking and going fuzzy all at the same time, her heartbeat was so loud in her ears that for a second she thought she was having a heart attack. 

Letty knelt down in front of her and grabbed her face. 

"Chiquita, you are fine!" She snapped, "I need you to take a deep breath." 

With difficulty, Monse closed her eyes and managed to suck in a deep lung full of air. She held her breath for a minute, before slowly letting herself deflate. Letty encouraged her to do it again, so she did. Feeling the tension leaving her body a bit, she nodded at Letty, and the older girl returned to her seat. 

"You said he wasn't talking when you left him?" Monse asked 

Letty nodded, "He was probably in a lot of pain though." 

"Do you think Oscar will come here?" 

"If he does, I'll kill him." Letty replied 

Monse swore in that moment Letty was the most admirable woman she'd ever met. 

"What about you? You live with him, are you gonna go back there?" Monse questioned 

Letty closed her eyes to keep from crying, but a few tears escaped anyway. Monse felt guilty, she didn't mean to make her cry. 

"I've loved Oscar since I was 15. He's the only man I've ever loved. When he asked me to be his girl I felt like the most special girl in the world. We've been through a lot. I gave up everything for him. My family, my friends... my future." Letty sobbed 

Monse wrapped an arm around her and leaned her head on the crying woman's shoulder. 

"When he got locked up, I told him that I couldn't live like this, that I wasn't going to wait. I even got with a couple other guys, but it was pointless. I loved him too much. Everyone told me he was a monster, my mother, my father, my sisters... but I didn't listen to them. I swore to everyone that he was different with me, and even when he was an ass to me, I knew he still had some of that kid that I fell in love with left in him. I knew it because when no one was around, he'd bring that guy out for Cesar." 

Letty took a deep breath "Before today, I couldn't imagine him hurting that kid. He loves Papito so much. Or I thought he did." 

"Oscar's messed up." Monse agreed

"He's not Oscar anymore." Letty said, "I always said I'd stay until Spooky took over completely. Today he did." 

"Who's with Cesar Diaz?" A nurse said, standing at the entrance to the waiting area. 

Monse stood up quickly, and Letty joined her wiping her face off quickly. 

"We are." She replied 

The nurse nodded at them, "Follow me."

Quickly, the two women walked behind the nurse down a long hallway of hospital rooms. Finally, she brought them to one with a closed door. Pulling it open, she held her hand out and motioned them inside. Monse went first, both eager and terrified to find out if Cesar was ok. The Moment she locked eyes with him, she burst into tears. 

"Hey." He whispered, reaching out to her with the hand that wasn't wrapped in a cast, "Come here" 

Monse walked over to the bed and let Cesar cup her face. 

"Don't cry. I'm alright. I'm going to be fine." He told her

Monse sobbed, "I'm so sorry." 

"Don't. You didn't do anything cariña." He insisted

Letty came around the other side of the bed and put her hand on his leg. 

"How do you feel Papito?" She asked 

Cesar turned to her and nodded, "I little better now. They gave me something for the pain." 

Letty looked like she was going to ask more questions, but just then, the doctor joined them. 

"Hi there, I'm Doctor Eddy Kent." The tall man said offering his hand to Monse and then leaning over to shake hands with Letty as well. 

"This is my sister Letty," Cesar spoke, Monse could tell that calling Letty his sister had meant the world to her. 

"And my girlfriend, Monse." He finished 

Doctor Kent offered them a smile before he spoke. 

"I've already explained to Cesar what's going on, but he felt like you both would like for me to fill you in as well." 

Letty nodded, "Yes, please." 

"His left arm is broken in two places. I've already rest it and he's going to be in a cast for the next 6 to 8 weeks, but over all no major damage there. We have also taped up his ribs. We've got two fractures on the left side and one on the right, but no internal bleeding or damage to any of his vital organs." The doctor explained

Monse let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding, and Letty did the sign of the cross twice, kissing the tiny crucifix she wore around her neck.  

"My real concern is that the MRI is showing some serious bruising on the left side of his brain, and there is some swelling in the spinal column. Basically, he has a concussion and potentially some complications that I would like to keep him in here for a few days to monitor. Just to make sure we don't have any problems." 

Letty nodded, "How many days?" 

Doctor Kent looked at some papers on his clipboard and squinted for a moment. 

"I don't know for sure. I think we keep him here till Wednesday for sure, and then we will do another MRI to see where we are at." He replied 

Monse grabbed the large chair from the corner and dragged it over to the bed. "Sounds good to me." she said. 

Sitting down, she checked her phone for news about Ruby. She was shocked to see she had a missed call from Jamal. 

"What is it?" Cesar asked, looking at her face

Letty and the doctor stepped out into the hall to keep talking, so Monse didn't feel like she was being rude. He showed Cesar her phone. 

"Jamal called." she told him 

Cesar squinted a bit, "Call him back, he might know something about Ruby." 

Monse agreed. She tapped his contact and put the call on speaker so that Cesar could hear as well. She hadn't realized how nervous she was until she heard the phone click. 

"Monse?" Jamal asked

 "Hey Mal, it's me. I'm with Cesar. Have you heard anything about Ruby" she asked 

There was a long pause before Jamal spoke. 

"Yeah. I talked with Abuelita this morning. Ruby is alright, he's out of surgery and recovering fine." Jamal said 

Cesar nodded, feeling relieved. 

"What about Olivia." Monse asked

She could hear rustling as Jamal moved the phone around. 

"Olivia died, Monse." he finally said 

And then Monse passed out.