A little more than half an hour later, Mrs. Echave and Nicolas arrived.
The bodyguard obediently refused to let Nicolas in. Filled with guilt, his mind boggled by what Micaela had told him earlier and the tearful accusations his wife had just made to him, Nicolas did not insist on entering and took a seat on a bench outside the room….
Mrs. Echave entered and was disconsolate to see Moya sitting on her hospital bed with a strong sense of grief permeating her body.
-Moya…
Dona Echave sat down next to her and said slowly:
-Efraim’s operation went well, the bullet missed the vital point and did not endanger his life. Micaela’s grip on Carlos’ hand tightened a little, and hatred arose in her eyes, a hatred for him that completely surpassed her hatred for Natalia, because he wanted Carlos dead!
Mrs. Echave’s hand was on the back of Micaela’s, her voice full of helplessness.
-Moya, I know the whole story, this affair, in the end, is Nicolas’ fault, he failed the two women, he let Patricia go and die in a foreign country, he let his wife and children who were with him not receive enough love from him, Efraim is also mentally unbalanced, just now, he and Carlos together…. -On arriving at the hospital, Nicolas was the first to follow Carlos’ footsteps….
Micaela interrupted Mrs. Echave with a slightly agitated tone.
-Grandmother, I don’t care what reason Efraim has for doing this to Carlos, the only thing I know is that Carlos is innocent, if I had not come back I would not have come to Salamonsa at all and I would not have suffered these ordeals, and if anything happens to Carlos, I will do everything I can to make him die! –
After a second’s pause, she knew she should not speak to her grandmother like that and turned to take Mrs. Echave’s hand and look at her, her eyes slightly reddened.
-Grandmother, I’m sorry. I don’t want to talk about this now, you shouldn’t intercede for Mr. Nicolas and I’m sure Carlos doesn’t want to see him now either.
Mrs. Echave looked at the determination in Micaela’s clear eyes and finally nodded.
-Well, grandmother respects your decision. Micaela felt a little moved.
-Thank you, grandmother…
At this last moment, Mrs. Echave and Diego, Nilson voluntarily withdrew from the room, leaving room for them, except for the doctors who entered and left several times, all of them contacted by Nicolas, the medical authority of the Salamonsa specialists.
As she watched them examine Carlos, each one with a heavy expression on his face, Micaela did not ask a single question, because she was afraid to ask, afraid to hear another horrible answer, and she limited herself to repeating to herself that Carlos would wake up, that it was only a matter of time.
Diego, Nilson, Mrs. Echave and Nicolas, who was always on duty outside, immediately gathered around the doctors whenever they came out to ask how they were doing.
But each doctor shook his head with a sorrowful face and said that he could only leave it to fate, causing his spirits to sink again and again….
Micaela did not leave the room, she just stayed by Carlos’ side, talking to him and taking care of her son’s food and drink.
By then, the sun had already set in the west, and she remained bent over the bed, moving with more dexterity than in the morning to change Mike’s diaper, looking at Carlos beside her and murmuring to herself, trying to lighten her voice.
-Carlos, look how you’ve spoiled me, Mike is a month old and today I just changed his diaper for the first time, thank goodness I’ve seen you do it a million times or I’m so afraid I won’t be able to…. do it myself. Mike, now full of sleep, is lying on his bed with his little arms and legs up, enjoying his new mom’s attentions and making noises, apparently in a good mood.
-Mike, have you seen mommy?
Micaela tugged at the corners of her lips and greeted Mike, who was only a month old, but Mike’s pretty eyes were already cooing and he turned his head curiously when he woke up to look around, although he knew he probably couldn’t see too far yet either….
This time, when he saw his mother interacting with him, he immediately smiled at Micaela and made babbling noises, which calmed Micaela’s sad heart a bit….
It had always seemed to her that Mike had exactly the same character as Carlos, clean and cold, his mother and grandmother had come over several times, and when he was awake, there was no great reaction to any teasing, but in front of her, whenever she smiled at Mike, he smiled, and because of that, Carlos had even become jealous several times….
At that moment, looking at Mike, who was smiling at her, Micaela’s heart broke even more. She put on his pants, took him in her arms, sat down on the stool next to the bed, looked at Carlos, who was sleeping, and asked quietly:
-Carlos, I would like to contact Tomas personally later and ask him to also come to Ode Nation in a few days and bring Mike back to Anlandana, is that okay with you? Mike was born in Salamonsa, the sooner he leaves here the better for his safety….
He had long thought it was very likely that the three of them would be separated, but he never thought that day would come so soon, and in Carlos’ case….
Her heart was pounding with pain, how she wanted to stay with Carlos until she was old, how she wanted to see Mike grow up, why was it so hard….
Micaela, unable to hold herself up, rested a hand on the edge of the bed and collapsed, looking down at her well-behaved son in her arms, tears dripping again, heart swollen with reluctance….
She would rather give her life in exchange for her father and son being well….
All her calmness was feigned, she thought that if she was more optimistic in appearance, she would be more optimistic in truth, but it didn’t work at all….
Without Charles, she had no idea what she could do next, even if she kept hypnotizing herself that Charles would surely wake up, but what Efraim had said in Juzan, in the morning, a moment before she opened the door, the words of the doctor that
-It’s up to the patient to wake up, so be mentally prepared – all going round and round repeatedly in her mind….
The more Micaela thought about it, the more disturbed she felt, her hands clutching the sheets, fearful that her screams would frighten Mike, trying to stifle her voice, unaware that the man lying in bed was slowly opening his eyes….
Carlos, still dimly conscious, looked at the woman lying on the edge of the bed, but he felt that the image was extraordinarily familiar, and then he remembered it was that time, the time he jumped into the sea to try to save the girl and almost died, and was taken back to Anlandana, the time he woke up in the hospital….
At that moment, he didn’t remember the girl, but he had a glimmer of anticipation at the woman lying on the edge of the bed, and when he saw that it was Natalia, a real disappointment arose in him, just like it had happened to him three years before when he had woken up in the guest room of the Q&S Hotel and had seen Amelia sleeping next to him….
Because he, just wants to see his Micaela….
Consciousness becomes clearer, hearing gradually returns, hearing the girl’s cries and Mike’s voice, making his heart seize, slowly raising his hand, covering the girl’s head and rubbing it gently….
The pent up sobs end abruptly….
Micaela wonders if she’s hallucinating, but the touch on the top of her head is so obvious….
The next second, the large hand on her head is pulled away and she immediately looks up, tears still in her eyes, to see Carlos reach up and pull the oxygen mask off her face….
Micaela’s heart was beating so fast from surprise and joy that for a moment she didn’t know how to react and said unconsciously:
-Carlos, you are awake….
Carlos’ hand came up and wiped the tears from her cheeks, his eyes full of tenderness, his thin lips curved in a little curve, a sexy snore in his voice, and he spoke slowly:
-Little soulless girl, if you don’t wake up, you’re going to send me and my son packing.