Page 96 of Scoreless Nights

“Cruz asked for our blessing and had us flown down here. Unfortunately, even that fancy plane couldn’t come straight through the weather near Jacksonville, so we had to divert and got scared we wouldn’t make it.”

“Thank you,” I cried into his chest. “Thank you for being in my life and bringing Cruz with you. Thank you for loving my mom and coming around to who Cruz and I are as a couple.”

“Gloria and I have had a lot of talks in the past year, and we both know that you two are exactly what you should be to each other.”

Still in Ivan’s embrace, I looked around at Mariana laughing with Erin. Simone was giving Cruz shit for something and making him roll his eyes. My mom was standing to the side with her hands together, as if in prayer, only her eyes were open and she was looking at everyone.

“She’s happy,” I whispered.

“And probably thanking your dad for looking out for all of us.”

* * *

2 years later

Cruz

“Calm down,” Lily whispered to me as I held her hand.

The sound of the hospital was all around and it felt like sensory overload when all I wanted was peace and quiet to think about my wife. She had been admitted the night before after she passed out in the living room. I rushed her in since she had been weak, tired, and barely able to hold her head up.

“Cruz?” She whispered again. “I’m okay, I’ll be…” she never finished her sentence before her hand weakened on mine and her head fell to the side.

“Lily?” I jumped up, scared. “Lily?”

A nurse came running in and checked her, before gently tapping my arm. “She’s okay, Mr. Martin. We gave her something to help her rest, and she just couldn’t hold her eyes open anymore. I promise she is in good hands.”

It had been two years since the last time Lily was in the hospital for her heart. That was the night I walked out thinking that was what she wanted me to do. I didn’t stick around and figure out how it all worked and what happened while she was there. It was a decision I had regretted before, but now I almost hated myself for it.

Luckily, Dad and Gloria had moved to Miami over the summer and were only a phone call away. Since the sun was coming up, I expected them to be joining us as soon as visiting hours started.

Since I had been up all night, I laid my head down on Lily’s hand and closed my eyes. I fell asleep to the sound of her heart beating steadily on the machine.

“Cruz?” I heard my dad’s voice and felt his hand on my shoulder. “Wake up.”

Lifting my head, I saw Gloria in a chair on the other side of Lily’s bed, looking down at her daughter with a soft smile.

“What time is it?”

“Ten,” Dad said behind me. “We got here at seven but didn’t want to wake you until we had to.”

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, the nurse just came in and said the doctor would be here in a few minutes to update us and let us know when we can get her out of this place.”

I rested my head back down and squeezed my eyes shut, holding back tears that I never cried. The only time I had ever cried was the moment Lily came through the double doors of the Catholic church we got married in. She looked so damn beautiful that I nearly fell to my knees.

My dad escorted her to me and when the priest asked who gave her away to me, he spoke proudly and said,“Her mother and I.”Then he gave me a wink and her hand, and it took five full minutes before I stopped my eyes from leaking. I nearly started again when she was saying her vows, but added in how she would be my Sister Lily forever, and I laughed instead.

Fuck I loved her so much. “How did you do this for so long?”

My head was still down, and neither Gloria nor my dad answered right away, but when I glanced at Gloria she simply shrugged and said, “I just lived my life in fear. Smothered her. Protected her the only way I knew how. But no matter how much I did, we still had these moments, Cruz. You will always have these moments, and I wish I could say it got easier but it doesn’t.”

As she finished speaking, Lily started stirring and her eyes fluttered open. Once she was focused on the room, she gave us all a small smile, and then looked at me. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t,Señorita.” I tried to smile, and reached up to run my hand over her cheek. “We will get home soon. Definitely before your exhibit opens next week.”

Her smile got wider as she remembered her exhibit. Lily still worked at David Castillo Gallery, and once they realized how talented she was, they decided to dedicate a wall for her sketches. She took some of her older pieces and did a few new ones for the display, and I had never seen her more content. It was incredible watching her work with such passion.

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