Katarina rose to her feet with a burst of anxiety.
-I’ll be right back.
She hung up the phone and looked at her father….
-Miss, if you want to go home to see Madame, come back, I’ll take care of this.
The janitor spoke.
The caretaker, a professional referred by the hospital, was very attentive and Katarina calmed down, picked up her bag and nodded.
-When my father woke up and asked for me, he told me he would be home as soon as I took a nap and would be right back.
The janitor nodded and walked her to the door.
Back in the living room, she pulled out her purse, took out her cell phone, dialed a number and said quietly:
-They’re all gone, so you can come along.
Katarina returned to the Carballo family villa, where her mother sat on the sofa in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows and shed tears.
Marisa has been on medication for a few days.
When the maids were cleaning up, they found a large amount of medicine at the bottom of the garbage bag.
Katarina sat down next to her mother and hugged her.
-Mom, you want to go to daddy, don’t you? How can you forget about that? What do you want me to do?
Marisa burst into tears instantly.
-Katarina, it is very hard for me to see your father in so much pain, he is gone and I don’t want to be alone in the world…..
Seeing the despair in her mother’s eyes, without any feeling of survival, Katarina felt sad and angry at the same time.
-Mom, you still have me! How can you leave me like this? My mother-in-law doesn’t seem to like me very much, and when I have a baby later on, she won’t like me either, and I’m counting on you to take care of my baby! Don’t you dare do anything stupid.
Seeing that her mother was still lifeless, Katarina got angry and stood up crying.
-Mom, how can you be so selfish and care only about your own sadness? Antonio and I are already exhausted and you want to add to the mess this way, do you want me to die of daddy all at once and then immediately die of mommy? Have you ever considered my feelings? Do you love me or not? I am your only daughter.
Breathless from crying, Marisa hesitated and stood up, hugging her daughter.
-I’m sorry Katarina, mom was wrong, I’m so sad, so upset, I’m sorry for you, I’m sorry for your father…..
Katarina helped her sit up, wiped her tears and said firmly.
-Mom, dad was gritting his teeth even though it hurt him so much because he didn’t want to leave us, and we had to be stronger than him to make him feel calmer, you know, why dad insisted that you go home to rest? It’s because he doesn’t want you to see him suffer. When you are well, you can go back to the hospital and take care of daddy, so he will be happier when he sees you smiling!
Marisa was moved to think that when she was young, Kimberly surrounded herself with her and liked nothing better than to see her laugh, even after thirty years of marriage, he liked nothing better than to make her laugh, leaving no stone unturned in this life to cure her, and only thanks to her perseverance did her health take off, and now he was giving up his painstaking care….
Marisa wiped her tears.
-Renata, bring me my medicine, I’ll take it now.
The maid who was keeping watch nodded happily and immediately went to fetch the medicine.
Katarina was also relieved, and Marisa looked at Katarina with eyes full of determination.
-Katarina, mom will take her medication properly and in a couple of days, no, tomorrow, tomorrow I will be in the best possible shape to see your father.
Katarina put her arms around her mother and rested her head on her shoulder.
-That’s right, it’s important to have a positive attitude, if you are positive and optimistic, no problem will be too hard for you, look how optimistic daddy is, he never gives up, we have to learn from him, okay?
Marisa nodded her head vigorously.
After reassuring her mother, Katarina left for the hospital, drove the car back to the subway parking lot, clicked the lock and turned to head for the elevator when an unfamiliar but familiar male voice rang out.
-Katarina.
Katarina stopped, turned and looked at the man, who had handsome features, smiled at her, wore a black suit and, instead of looking as thin as she remembered, seemed much taller….
-Don’t you recognize me? At least I was sad to see you react like that after chasing you for so many years back then.
The man flirted.
Katarina smiles.
-Wow, Mr. Zorita.
-My name is Samuel Zorita, not Mr. Zorita.
Still smiling and not dwelling on the title, Katarina asked.
-How did you get here?
Samuel came a few steps closer.
-My wife gave birth here and today she was discharged, she left something in the room and came back to pick it up.
Katarina was inexplicably relieved.
-Congratulations on becoming a father, is it a boy or a girl?
Samuel asks instead of answering.
-A rare coincidence, a place to sit for a while?
Katarina is a little undecided….
Samuel smiled, his eyes full of sincerity, as if he had just met a girl he hadn’t seen in years, a girl he had loved in the beginning, and simply wanted to catch up.
-What, are you afraid I’ll eat you? There’s something I haven’t told you and I’m quite sorry, I’m going back to Yakydiza in a few days and it will be hard to see you again, are you sure you don’t want to give me one last chance?
Katarina thought about her father and was still trying to find a reason to refuse, when Samuel added.
-It’s about Antonio, are you really not curious?
About Antonio?
Katarina was curious and pulled out her cell phone to call her father’s caretaker first.
A moment later they picked up the phone.
-Hello, Miss.
-Aunt, is my father awake?
-No, no, I slept well enough.
-Well, I’ll come back later, my father will call me when he wakes up.
-Okay…
Seeing Katarina hang up the phone, Samuel smiled and made an inviting gesture.
The two went to a coffee in the courtyard.
The coffee is discreet and simple in its decor, a comfortable place for the relatives of the sick people admitted to the hospital to relax.
They sat down and ordered two cups of coffee. Samuel then spoke of his recent situation. After graduating from Cambridge, he did not return home and stayed abroad to set up his own business, and got married last year. Although he was abroad, he did not ask for Yakydiza’s nationality and insisted on returning home to account for his son Anlandana, so he had recently brought his wife back to await the birth.
Katarina admired him for his patriotism and, hearing him talk about his past, she unconsciously let her nerves get the better of her and talked to him about her school days, and soon Samuel got to the point.
-I didn’t know until I came back this time that my uncle was so seriously ill that I realized you had married him in the end. But I knew you and he would definitely work out. From the way he looked at you then, he already saw you as all his. It was in the steadiness of his eyes that I was defeated at that moment.
Katarina’s mood sweetened a little more and she asked curiously.
-How do you know Antonio?
It was clear that she herself had not even played face-to-face with Antonio at Cambridge, only that he was a notoriously low-profile figure at the school.
Samuel laughed.
-He really, really beat me up and blew two teeth out of my mouth, just because I was persistent in pursuing you then and you promised me-
Katarina stopped abruptly, remembering that Antonio had told her that the boys she was in love with had given up on her because of her?
Katarina asked, increasingly curious.
-What did he do, at the time, to stop you from coming near me?
-He said you were his sister and that I wasn’t allowed near you.