How could I ever confront them? Neither of them will care about my anger and instead only be angry at me for hiding this. Not once, in my brief adult life, have I let them dictate what my life would look like—an ever-irritating sore on Dad’s side, and this will only give them more ammunition to try to convince me they know what is best for me.
I take a deep breath.Don’t worry about them until you have to. Instead, I focus my attention on my sister. I owe her an explanation. “Chema? Could you give me some privacy? I need to call Pilar.” He nods and is about to go on a quest for decent coffee when Mandy rushes into my room in a whirl.
“Is it true?” she asks hurriedly. She brushes the hair off her face and eyes Chema up and down with a glint in her eye. “You’re married? Way to keep a secret, woman,” she scorns.
“He’s not my husband,” I say and glare at Chema. “He’s my coach and more like family.”
“Then why does the entire oncology floor think you’re married?”
“I lied to be able to see her,” he admits and hangs his head.
“Is that right,” Amanda says, grinning at him and tossing her hair over one shoulder.
“Mandy! Stop it. You’re with Chris.” I can’t believe this woman. She flirts with anything that moves.
“It’s not serious, and we have never said we are exclusive,” she says to me but looks at Chema the entire time. I roll my eyes.
“Well, I’m in a serious relationship. Afraid I’m—”
“Taken,” I cut Chema off.
His eyebrows shoot up when he looks at me, but he extends a hand to shake Mandy’s, and her face falls with disappointment for a beat before she takes it. “Chema. Nice to meet you.”
“Yeah, you too,” she says.
“Mandy, I need to call my sister. Chema was on his way to search for coffee. Give him the lay of the land?”
“Sure,” she says and smiles encouragingly at me. I know she is happy I’m finally letting my family know.
The video callrings only once, and Pilar glares at me through puffy, red eyes that match Chema’s. She opens her mouth to speak, but I beat her to it.
“I’m sorry,” I say.
“We’ve been so worried, Tini. You have no idea.”
“I’m so sorry,” I plead.
“I knew whatever you needed the money for was important, so I gave it to you even knowing you were lying out of your ass. But I never imagined it was life or death or I would have—”
“Would have what, Pilar? Come to see me? To help?”
She crosses her arms and looks away from the camera. We both know that’s not an option, if her controlling husband has anything to say about it.
“I don’t know,” she says finally. “But I would have done something. You’re my baby sister. You are a big part of the tiny light that exists in my life. I can’t make it without you, Tini. Please don’t ever pull shit like this again. You hear me?”
“I hear you. I promise I won’t.” And for the first time, I mean it. The heartbreak evident in my sister’s eyes hurts more than any chemo and radiation side effects. She has been hurt enough in her life, and I can’t be yet another person to let her down.
“I’m sorry. Mom and Dad are on their way,” she says.
“I know you shield me from them as much as you can.”
“You’ve noticed that?”
I nod. “Pilar, if I’ve learned anything from all this, it’s that life is short. I hope I don’t die from this, but even if I do, as brief as my life has been so far, I got to do what I loved. If you were in my shoes and you were facing death, could you say the same?”
“So that’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to play the cancer card and hold it over everyone around you?”
“Only the ones I love,” I say and smile.