Page 42 of One Year Ago in Spain
Prado Museum (although being in crowds might be bad; Claire imagined a tour group inside the museum walking straight through Matías, and how shocking that would be for him, so she crossed off museums from her list)
Hot air balloon rides (she would just have to deal with the operator thinking she was off her rocker for talking to herself, because the operator wouldn’t be able to see Matías)
Visiting Plaza Mayor
Wander through Sabatini Gardens, the botanical gardens next to the Royal Palace
Take in a flamenco performance
Explore Retiro Park
Evening stroll along Gran Vía
Check out Puerta del Sol, the Times Square of Madrid
The last one made Claire smile. She remembered Matías’s horror when she took him to Times Square for the first time and Elmo and Donald Duck cornered him.
Matías’s relatives cycled in and out of his room all morning and into the early afternoon while Claire browsed Madriditineraries and sightseeing guides online. Though at other times, she just watched Matías breathe, the oxygen cannula’s hiss as her constant companion.
Claire let out a sad sigh as she realized she’d become used to the hospital—the smell of bleach wipes and antibacterial floor cleaner no longer bit at her nose, and the open doors and nurses’ constant glances inside didn’t felt like breaches of privacy anymore. But she didn’t want Matías’s being in a coma to become the status quo, so Claire felt guilty, yet enormously relieved, when her phone’s alarm vibrated at a quarter to two.
Time to leave one Matías and hopefully find another.
—
“Una Coca-Cola, porfavor,” Claire said to the man at the drink kiosk. “Y…”
