6

When Lina came to me and looked at me with a tear rolling down my cheek, her eyes rolled back in frustration.

"What happened? Go inside, if you don't want to be next to my nani I will go."

"My mom is going to be transferred to intensive care, they are already going to do it. I really didn't want to stay here, but I have no other choice, since you don't have the authority to make decisions, nor are you good at it."

I didn't want to say anything to her because it wasn't the time or place to discuss. After a few minutes, they took her out to take her to that place, she was with her eyes closed and I was moving my eyelashes so as not to cry.

The rules forbid us to be there, so we stayed in the hallway with other people who had their relatives in the same place as my nani. I went to buy some things they asked us to buy and once I had them I gave them to the nurse. I had to go home because I had not bathed because of all the movement that had happened so early. When I arrived I told the little girl what was going on and she got upset.

"I'm going to work," she said and I denied.

"We are going to go to the hospital in the afternoon so you can look at my nani, you can't go to work like that."

I went to justify her at work, but before I said things as they were, Carlos told me to shut up. However, I didn't do it; I was incapable of lying just to make them feel good and give them false illusions. Deep down, I knew that if my nani was in intensive care it was for something and not exactly good. When I arrived at the school where the girl worked, I gave the justification and I went back to the hospital. Since only two family members could go in, I stayed outside. Lina and the girl went in while I took care of things.

"Carlos," I spoke on the cell phone. "Aren't you going to come? I could really use your company right now."

"I can't, I made plans with someone and I can't cancel them."

"I remind you that right now who is hospitalized is our nani and not an acquaintance. I can't understand what or who could be more important than her."

"The fact that I am here is not going to change anything, so stop bothering me."

Carlos hung up on me without further words. Honestly, it was something that did not surprise me coming from him, but at this moment it was not a good idea to discuss anything. I was optimistic and had in mind nothing else but that my nani was going to recover. We are going to be here for a long time, but she is definitely going to get out of this.

That day I stayed at the hospital and the next day Lina came to relieve me. I needed to rest, since where I slept was a bench that was more comfortable on the floor. But since we were not allowed to do this, I had no choice but to sleep in that place.

I arrived home and when it was time to go to the hospital I went with the chaparrita. We went to see my nani and when I saw her how she was, it really moved me. She was connected to machines that made her breathe. I approached her and when I touched her I felt her boiling. I looked at the monitor and she had a fever of 39 degrees. I knew perfectly well that if the temperature rose to 40 she would convulse and it would be serious for her. I had just thought of this when she convulsed and that's when I called the nurse and told her this. When they checked I was reassured that she had not convulsed.

Although I was not completely convinced, I decided to take advantage of the visit they were giving me and that it was very short. When the time was over I stayed on guard. The doctor called me to give me the state of my nani. He said several things that he knew were serious and I only asked him a question that I needed to ask. And although deep down I knew that it would end up destroying me, it was necessary to know his answer.

“How likely is my nani to survive?” I asked him with my heart in my hand.

“The probabilities of her dying are high,” he said breaking my heart and holding back my tears. “But God is the one who has the last word.”

He said this to make things up, but even though I knew that my nani was delicate and her chances of dying were high, I decided to hold on to a miracle that I hoped would happen.

That night I cried bitterly because of what the doctor had told me. I didn't want her to die, I needed her and I couldn't leave her alone. The day after, I told Lina what the doctor told me and she was optimistic.

“If my mother is so delicate, it is absurd to keep her here in the hospital. The best thing to do is to take her home and let her die there.”

“Have you gone crazy? For God's sake, we are talking about your mother, not about something that if it gets damaged it can be replaced.”

“She is not your mother,” she told me, making my heart ache. “I considered her my mother more than herself. The one who has the power here is me and you cannot intervene in my decision.”

“Well, I remind you that you are not her only daughter and to do what you want to do, you need her authorization.”

“You have no idea how I regret not having aborted you. Damn the moment I gave birth to you,” she spat angrily. “Maybe by now things would be different.”

“Well, you didn't and you have to put up with it. Now if you think of doing something stupid like taking my nani out of the hospital, believe me, I will ruin your life. I will see to it that you get fired from your job and I plan to ruin your reputation to the point that you won't find a job anywhere.”

“Oh yeah? Tell me one big stupid thing, how do you plan to do it?”

Some time ago, I had discovered some nude pictures of her. The fool left her social media profile open, and there I looked at what she hadn't even bothered to hide. When I showed them the evidence, she turned a thousand colors. She tried to snatch my cell phone, but she couldn't do it.

“If you dare to do anything against my nani, I'm going to go to the delegation of education and show it. Let's see if they dare to keep a teacher with so few morals to keep this kind of conversation with a guy named Juan.”

“The delegation can't kick me out for this,” she smiled victoriously. “So you can't do anything.”

“Do you really think so?” I arched my eyebrow. “Very well, you might be right. However, I wondered what is going to happen when the parents' meeting looks at these pictures.”

She looked pale. I had no choice but to threaten her with this, since I was planning to commit a low thing. I already knew that these pictures were going to be useful to me someday, and that's why I kept the disgust of having them on my cell phone.

I left there with my suitcase and left it. I did not like to resort to this, I sincerely did not

I want to get away from my nani, but I had to go to the university to receive my classes and pay the monthly f*e, because if I delayed a single day, I was going to end up paying arrears.

I didn't go home; I went directly to the university. Being there, I asked the teacher about some tests that my nani had done. Due to all the stress I was carrying, I had no head to remember the values of each analysis.

“It's CKD,” she told me, making me feel worse.

CKD is chronic renal failure, and very few people lived after this. A hope came after I left the university, telling me that the fever had gone down which was a good thing, and I clung to this. We started to do projects once my nani was out of the hospital.

“I have to go,” I left some things in the room. “Are you coming with me, Carlos?”

“I already told you no,” he snorted annoyed. “So stop messing around.”

I didn't want to say anything, since I would only end up fighting with Carlos. I took my stuff and left the house ready to go take care of my nani. When I arrived, I saw that Lina was talking to a lady. I stopped, but then I decided to walk in the direction where they were, and so did the little girl who came with me.

“We are leaving after the visit,” said Lina. “This nurse is going to stay.”

“No, absolutely not,” I got angry. “Someone has to stay today and I will not give in.”

“My mom is more stable so I don't see the need for us to stay, I feel too tired and you look the same?”