THE HOSPITAL

My breath was filled with the smell of antiseptics, and my eyes opened to a stark white room that felt like stabbing my poor heavy lids. The crisp bed was under my body, and the I V lines were beside me. I heard the sounds of the monitors tracking my blood pressure and my pulse.

I saw Dad sitting in the armchair right across from my bed in his sweatsuit, and Mom on a chair, holding my hand right next to me. She wasn’t wearing any makeup, and her eyes were red.

“Emily, sweetheart…” Mom whispered as she brushed hair from my forehead with a tender, trembling touch, like back in the days of my childhood. “You scared us,” she added.

Dad got up from his chair and came to my other side. “You’re tougher than this, Emily. But don’t do that again,” he said as he squeezed my shoulder. Being embraced by their love felt like a true blessing in that ER room.

My eyes scanned the room to find Eduardo, but he wasn’t there.

“Where is Eduardo?” I asked.

“What do you need him for? Do you need to ask him for his services for something?” my dad responded with another question.

“No, Dad! I just want to thank him, as he helped me in the first place.”

“Oh, that! He just left for the cafeteria. We forced him to go and get a coffee to refresh.”

A doctor and a nurse entered the room; she was holding a chart in her hand. “You are awake, Ms. Arquette. How are you feeling?” she asked.

“Weak and body sore,” I said.

“That’s normal since you had a severe fever. I could say it is likely viral and exacerbated by stress. We’ve stabilized you, but rest is critical.” She glanced at my parents. “She will recover fully, but keep her calm.”

Mom nodded, stroking my hand. “We will.”

Then she gave orders to the nurse about my medication and left him behind with us as she left. The nurse immediately applied my medication; he was all set, obviously. I had a weak smile because of the cartoonish scene before me. His swift and sure actions brought back Eduardo to my mind again. He had acted like that nurse. He definitely had trained for it. Although I was curious and had the excitement of a detective, my tiredness was heavier, so I faded out. Eduardo had wings of syringes in my dreams; that was so hysterical.

They kept me through the night, but in the morning, I was cleared to leave. Dad wanted to take me to the mansion at first. Then I threatened him with working at home, if he wouldn’t take me back to my island so I won; as usual!

Eduardo got off the seaplane first to greet me at the docks. “Miss Arquette…” he said with his formal but warm tone. “This way, please.”

“Thank you,” I said as I held his hand, with a faint smile. “Thank you for everything you have done.”

He ducked his head with a slightly shy attitude.

Dad clapped his shoulder. “Good man, Garcia! We owe you.”

“I have done what needed to be done, Mr. Arquette. Nothing more nor less…” he responded demurely.

“I should go upstairs and rest,” I said as I walked to the stairs. My legs got all weak on the steps. Eduardo scooped me up carefully with his muscular arms before I could protest. “No arguments,” he said with a teasing edge to his tone. He set me on the bed in my room. My parents came behind us. I caught Eduardo’s hand out of nowhere, and that surprised everyone.

“Don’t tell me that you were a doctor who happens to be a bodyguard; that doesn’t make sense at all.”

My parents were looking at us with concerned looks. To be honest, everything felt awkward at that moment. My question froze him, and there was a weird tension in his eyes.

Then he responded sharply, “Medical student. Senior year, UCLA. My uncle funded it; his scholarship kept me going. When he passed away, the money stopped. I couldn’t finish.” His voice was incredibly steady, almost robotic. “So I dropped out, took security jobs. Landed here.”

I squeezed his hand. “You’re still good at it; saving people, I mean.”

He chuckled, with a soft spark in his hazel eyes. “Just you, Ma’am!”

He paused for a second. Lucia came to ask Mom what to cook for dinner, and she went to the kitchen with her. My dad’s phone rang a few minutes after Mom left.

“I have to take this, sweetheart,” he said before he pressed his lips against my forehead.

Eduardo and I were alone in my room, and we were still holding hands. I don’t know if it was the dream or what, but I could stay like that with him forever. It was a shame he didn’t make it through graduation because he had the hands of a surgeon.

“You were screaming my name last night, you know. I thought you were in pain,” he said, probably finding the courage from our closeness.

The dream paced before my eyes all over again: his hands, kisses, masculine tone of whispers…

“Not pain…” I whispered. “I must have subconsciously known you were my savior,” I said with all my cheekiness.

“You know, I am flattered,” he said. “That’s my job, and it’s good to know that I am good at it,” he said as he gently brushed my knuckles while our gazes locked onto each other.

It didn’t take long, because he gently placed my hand on my lap and stood up.

“Please be advised that resting is the best idea for you right now. I will be at your service.”

“No, you need to rest too. Promise me you will take a rest, or I am going to command you.”

He smiled, and his lips had the look of a crescent over a clear blue sky.

He just nodded his head to confirm my order before leaving. I sank into the pillows after he left, and the dream flooded back: his raw touch, cold sand under me, the sound of the waves… It wasn’t real, but it felt like the truth and a desire I couldn’t get out of my head.