La Santa | Oscar Diaz

La Santa - Chapter Twenty Three

"It's a girl!"

Lee stared blankly, as her eyes began to fill with black spots.

Oscars joy turned into worry, as he noticed his girls eyes were opening and closing slowly. It was as if she didn't notice her baby was out and that she was being handed to her. She was just out of it.

"Selena?" Oscar's muffled calls were deafening, mixed with the heart monitor, the cheers of the doctors and the cries of her daughter. "Selena?"

"I'm not feeling too good." She shut her eyes, tears running down her face. "Help."

Her simple plead was enough for Oscar to begin panicking, calling every doctor and their sister into the room.

He was rushed out, leaving him with his hands on his head and a worried expression on his face.

Cesar stood from the plastic chair in the hallway. "Did she give birth? What is it? It's a boy right?"

Oscar was quiet, his lips tight together as he began to shake, almost falling to his knees.

Cesar caught him before he could hit the tiled floor. "Woah, woah. I got you hermano."

Oscar shut his eyes, mentally putting a sentence together before he spoke. "I just lost her, Cesar."

"What?" Cesar questioned, dumbfounded. "What are you talking about, Oscar?"

"I lost her too, Cesar." Tears began to pool in his eyes as he let himself slip down the wall and onto the cold floor from Cesars grip.

"What– I– nurse?" Cesar began pounding on the door, "doctor? Someone?" His calls were ignored, so he turned around, seeing how much of a mess his big brother was on the hospital floor. "Oscar, come here." He tried to help him stand, but he stayed in the same spot, leaning against the wall as he covered his face with one hand.

The door opened, and a group of nurses ran out, pushing a cart with a crying baby. Cesar ran after them, thousands of questions flying out of his mouth.

When none of them were answered, he yelled. "Yo!"

Finally, one of the male nurses stopped, shooing the other away. "I know you have questions kid, but we have–"

"Shut up!" The nurses mouth snapped shut, so he took the chance to ask one important question." What's going on?"

"We're not sure yet. Baby girl is healthy, mom is being tended to by the doctor." He sighed sadly, "that's all I can give you right now. Sit tight." He left him there, with his questions, as he began running after the other nurse.

Cesar sat next to Oscar, letting him fall into his lap and cry. The scene was all too familiar, but completely foreign at the same time. "I'm so sorry Mano." He wrapped an arm around him, "she's gonna make it, I know she is."

Fifteen, twenty, thirty minutes and an hour passed. No news, no movement.

It wasn't until a doctor came walking down the hall that Oscar removed his eyes from the same spot on the wall he had been staring at, it had grown so interesting.

"Sanchez–Diaz?"

Oscar stood, nodding. "Yes sir."

"Hey." He smiled softly, "there's someone we want you to meet."

Oscar nudged Cesar, who followed quickly behind as they took down the long hallway. They turned an infinite amount of corners, before finally stopping in front of a large pane of plexiglass.

The doctor pointed with his gloved finger, "baby Diaz."

It was as if he saw an angel, the way his eyes lit up. She was there, and she was healthy, and she was beautiful.

Cesar set his hand on Oscars shoulder, telling him silently he was there for him.

He blinked his glossy, tired eyes, mumbling. "My baby."

The doctor smiled, "you can hold her, if you want to go inside."

Oscar looked back at Cesar, almost as if he was asking for permission to hold his own daughter.

Cesar nodded, guiding his brother with his head to follow the doctor.

The last he heard was the doctor explain the precautions, like wearing a mask and a sani-suit for the other babies.

He took in a hard, sharp breath, biting the inside of his cheek as he watched his brother suit up to hold his baby girl. He worried deeply about Selena. He didn't want to think about what Rosario had told them all those months ago. Because the baby girl was healthy, but what about Lee?