4
After showering, I took a pillow and blanket into Brandy’s room and lay on the floor beside her bed. Every cell in my body hurt. I needed to talk to my husband, but Salvador was in Mexico with his grandmother. The two of them were visiting relatives and collecting ingredients for the new location of our Mexican food restaurant.
Hot tears stung my eyes. Because of what happened tonight, nothing would ever be the same again. How would I live without my sister? How would I—
A noise outside the window put me on high alert. My pulse raced. Was it just the wind?
At some point, I must’ve nodded off because the ringing of the phone jolted me awake. Sunlight streamed into the bedroom through a crack in the curtain.
“I’ll get it. I’ll get it.” Shouting at the top of her lungs, Brandy jumped out of bed and ran down the hall.
My body was stiff and sore as I pushed myself off the floor and followed her into the kitchen. Standing on a chair, Brandy clung to the phone. “Mommy? Is that you?”
My stomach twisted.
“Ruthie? Yeah, Ruthie’s here.” Brandy thrust the phone at me. “It’s for you, Aunt Ruthie.”
I took the phone from her and helped her climb off the chair. “Hello?”
“Ruthie?”
“Salvador.” Everything inside me broke at the sound of my husband’s voice. “Oh, Salvador.”
“What’s wrong?”
I squeezed my eyes tight, a futile attempt to fight back tears. Turning away from Brandy to protect her, I told my husband what happened, spelling out a lot of the words.
“Oh, Ruthie.”
I swiped at my tears. “Can you come here? Today?”
“I’ll be on the next flight.”
I leaned against the refrigerator, relieved. While it might take him a while to book a flight out of Mexico, he was coming.
“Are you okay?” Salvador asked. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
I hesitated a beat, then I lied. “No, he didn’t hurt me.”
“And the baby?”
I placed a hand on my stomach. “I don’t know.”
“Aye, cariño.” Salvador pushed out a slow breath. The two of us wanted a baby more than anything. We’d already lost several. I didn’t want to lose another one.
“Did you go to the doctor?” he asked.
“Not yet.”
“Go, okay? You’ll feel better once you know everything is okay.”
“All right. I will.”
After the call ended, I studied Brandy, hoping she hadn’t heard too much. Eventually, someone like my dad or her own dad would have to tell her everything. It wasn’t my place to do so.
“Shall we make breakfast?” I asked in an overly cheerful voice that sounded nothing like me.
“Yes.” Brandy slid a chair across the floor to the counter. “I help. Okay, Aunt Ruthie?”