Katarina hung up the phone, grabbed the car keys and walked out the door, so anxious that she didn’t even change her slippers, still with Manuel’s voice in her head.
-We had hoped to return the day after tomorrow, but the president had to come back tonight….
Of course, she knew why Antonio had to come back tonight, because tomorrow was the baby’s third trimester maternity check-up….
Tears blurred her eyes and Katarina blinked hard to force them back…. No tears, no tears, no tears!
Why cry if you don’t know anything yet?
Sitting in the car, it occurred to me to call him first, maybe if I did that I would get through?
I got so happy that I couldn’t get through to him before I realized he had turned his phone off, and I hated myself for that moment.
Self-condemnation was about to overwhelm her and she hurried to take his number off the blacklist and dialed again, after a long and deep silence, the mechanical female voice kept indicating that she couldn’t be reached….
Katarina put down the phone, took a deep breath, tried to reassure herself, to keep calm, and pulled the car out of the garage as her mother’s anxious voice came from the second floor window of the chalet.
-Katarina, where are you going at this hour?
Katarina slammed on the brakes and pulled over, grateful that Moontime was covering for her and she didn’t have to worry about her mother seeing her expression, she took a deep breath, adjusted her emotions, rolled down the window, looked up to the second floor and answered her in the softest tone she could muster, loudly.
-Antonio has returned from a business trip and I’m going to pick him up at the airport.
A dull ache in his chest as he pronounced the words….
Marisa, standing by the window, smiled and asked uneasily.
-Wouldn’t it be okay to let Ramon go?
Katarina’s hand was ready to close the window, forcing herself to answer again.
-No, I’m on my own.
Then she quickly pressed the button to close the glass window, one more second and she wouldn’t have been able to hold on….
Antonio doesn’t know what’s going on yet, don’t let mom worry….
The car pulled out as soon as the accelerator was pressed.
The phone rang again and, startled, she hurried to look at the name on it with a pang of loss: it was Manuel.
-Madam, I contacted the person in charge of the accident, the person in charge said that the accident is still being rescued, some of the injured have been sent to a nearby hospital, but I’m not sure if the president is there, why don’t you go to the hospital and I will go to the accident site and split the search.
Katarina agreed in a shaky voice.
At this moment, I can’t think of anything else to do but to look for Antonio, okay, he must be fine….
This bastard, he told her not to show up in front of her, and really half a month he didn’t show up, clearly this is what she wants, but she’s so lost….
One hand on the steering wheel, one hand on her stomach….
It’s been more than three months, I have a good appetite and my tummy is already a little rounded to the naked eye….
Honey, don’t let anything happen to you or your father….
The car was driven as fast as possible to the hospital, where the entrance was already surrounded by lights and noise, with angry curses, screams and wails….
The overpass collapsed, there were cars on it and cars under it, it would still be rush hour traffic, the accident was tragic as you can imagine….
Katarina parked the car in a random spot, ran in, grabbed a paramedic and asked.
-Where are the victims of the Double Rainbow Bridge accident staying?
The paramedic was so busy that he knew it was another family member who wanted to approach and casually pointed to him.
-The non-serious corridor is bandaged, the surgical serious side, the critically injured are in the intensive care unit, and the dead are in the temporary morgue.
Then they hurried away.
Those last words made Katarina’s heart sink hard and she took a step back, almost losing her footing….
No, she won’t….
Katarina limped, her whole body shaking uncontrollably, and panicked as she walked in the direction the man had given her, surrounded by wounded in bandages with light wounds, shockingly red, the deeper they went, the worse the wounds became, Katarina covered her mouth and carefully identified them one by one, she was not Antonio….
I have never been so divided in my life, wishing to see him and fearing him….
It was not until she went to the intensive care area that she still did not see Antonio, she asked in the few operating rooms that were still working, Antonio was not there, Katarina was getting weaker and weaker, she was shaking and calling Manuel, the answer was also negative, they had not seen him at the place of the accident…
Further ahead is the morgue, where heartbreaking screams are heard….
Katarina was afraid to go on, and her mind went back to the last message he had sent to herself when she had driven him away.
-Katarina, I told you, whatever you want, as long as you don’t leave me, and I waited for you to discover that you, like me, can’t live without me.
Can’t she live without him?
No, she can. She’s had a good life for half a month, hasn’t she?
Hands on the wall, and forehead against the wall, panting, legs weak, tears cascading down?
What to do, what should she do, didn’t she pick him up, how should she answer when mom asks?
She deliberately pushed him away and did not see him, to resist the wrong affection…..
In fact, she knew that, in the last half month, Anthony had come back, each time in the middle of the night, in the room to watch her for a long time, and then left secretly, she knew all that, she even deliberately left the door unlocked, as usual, the bedside lamp was on, and the blanket he had covered had never been taken to wash….
I was so hurt, so sad, it was wrong, their blood relationship did not allow them to have such emotions, I was conflicted as I rationalized to interrupt the mistake, but I could not help but hope so much…..
I can’t help it if my heart beats for you…..
He experienced at that moment what Antonio said he felt….
Compared to the most terrible outcome, the distance that separated her from that person forever, she suddenly felt that it was no big deal to cross that hurdle….
As long as he is well and alive, she….
-Katarina…
The familiar voice I don’t know if it’s coming from behind my head or not far away….
Katarina stood up and put her hand to her chest, finally knowing why Antonio does this from time to time, because it really hurts his heart too much….
-Katarina, I’m here….
The voice became a few moments clearer and Katarina turned in a dazed, disbelieving trance to look over….
Antonio was standing a few paces away, his hair a little disheveled, his black suit jacket crumpled, the cuffs of his white shirt stained bright red and dried blood stains on his hands, his deep-set eyes full of worry, pain and self-condemnation….
Katarina slowly took a step closer to him, her heart beating violently, tears in her eyes, blinking hard a couple of times to get a clearer view, measuring him up and down, carefully, the blood on the cuffs, wasn’t it visible on his body because he was wearing black?
His throat was blocked by the cotton, he couldn’t say anything and didn’t know what to ask, he even wondered if he was dreaming, bitterly repressing the urge to throw himself into her arms….
Antonio looked at Katarina, blinking unwillingly, and whispered.
-Katarina, I’m fine, the lot where the accident happened was a bit far from me and everybody spontaneously went up and volunteered to rescue the injured, and I went too, with blood all over the injured….
I just saw Katarina’s car outside when she was transporting the wounded for the second time, then I excitedly went inside looking for her and finally found her here….
Katarina slowly digested his words and, half relieved, nodded numbly and let out a few words.
-Go home then.
She was about to pass him when Antonio stepped forward and blocked her way, looking at her with a note of caution in his voice.
-Katarina, can I hug you?