Page 94 of For The Days We Can't Forget

She beamed. “Sure, that’s one way to put it.” She shook her head and snorted. “I actually feel sorry for you guys when I start cashing in on all those debts you keep piling up.”

She did seem to have a lot of credit over their heads.

After a while, they stood up to hug us goodbye, under the promise they’d check on us again. Ben assured me the girls would come to visit me as soon as they could, since Izzie and April were crazy busy at Beans and Haley was watching the kids, and the three of them wanted to give us time to rest. I missed my best friend, and I was excited about the prospect of spending time with my new friends as well.

One by one, they left—not before Sonia hugged me tightly another time. Mia stayed behind, so Sonia and Ben said their goodbyes to her as well. He squeezed her into his chest, both of them too caught up with emotions over the last several hours, Ben’s death scare, and what that day represented.

After they left, she walked to the bed. “How are you guys really doing? Today was intense for you.”

I shrugged, unable to come up with the right words for a while. “It was so scary,” I admitted softly.

She nodded in understanding. “A situation like that can leave marks. And sometimes it’s hard to talk about them with people who don’t understand those kinds of trauma. If you need to talk about it, vent, or just scream atthe world, you can always count on me. God knows I have my fair share of screaming to let out,” she joked, although the truth behind her words couldn’t be hidden. She peered at Danny. “The same goes for you. You almost lost two of your favorite people in such a short time.”

“What about you,cariño? Today can’t be easy for you.”

Her shoulders sagged as she looked down, biting the inside of her lips, and the tip of her nose turned red. “I can’t believe it’s been a year,” she whispered. She tried to conceal her pain behind a weak smile. “Knowing Matias is dead helps, though.”

“But it’s not enough,” Danny assumed.

She shook her head, and my heart constricted at the sorrow in her eyes. “Nothing will ever be.”

Even though I was a part of it, that conversation seemed private, so I let Danny lead it.

“I worry you’re seeking some sort of closure that’ll never give you the peace you need.”

“This has been going on for far too long,” she countered. “Look at what happened today. Look at what’s been happening for over a year. They won’t stop until they’re stopped.”

“It doesn’t need to be by you,” he stressed.

“But I need to do my part. We’ve been tiptoeing around it for a long time. Enough is enough. It’s past the time to end this at its root.”

He sighed in defeat, understanding as I did that he wouldn’t change her mind. “So, you’re going there again?”

I didn’t know where “there” was, but it sounded important.

“I am. But not for the next few days, though.” She took off her glasses to rub her eyes, while she expelled a heavy breath. “Tonight...I wanted to be there for Haley. I needed to...cuddle Gabe and play with the kids. I wanted to curl up with Hugo and just...” She looked around as she shrugged weakly, and her eyes turned glassy and red. “I just need not to miss him so much. Yet tonight, I feel like I should. But I’m here, so being with my family and going back to that place will have to wait. Besides, I’mexhausted. I feel like I could sleep for days on end.”

“Hypothermia will do that to you.” Danny stood up from my bed. “Come here,cariño.” He pulled her into his chest, engulfing her small frame in his big arms. And I used that moment to push away the tears I couldn’tcontain before she saw me crying. “Don’t wait for tomorrow to rest, okay? Take the time you need. And count on me. This isn’t solely your battle.”

Before any of us could say something else, her phone rang. She made a guilty face when she checked the caller but answered whomever it was with extra cheer. “Hey, Ariel.” She paused to listen. “Of course, I didn’t leave my room. I’m resting, as you ordered.” Another pause as she scrunched her nose. “Okay, I’m not inmy roomright now, but I’m just taking a walk down the corridor. You know, to exercise and all.” She listened to the beautiful doctor and raised her free arm at her side with indignation, although Dr. Miller couldn’t see her. “I’m not venturing into other patients’ rooms, I’m just walking. I’m down the hall. How can you not see me? I’m waving at you right now.”

Danny and I were trying to contain our chuckles, trying not to get her in trouble, when Dr. Miller opened the door with her phone pressed to her ear and a stern look on her face, although the corner of her lips was tipping up.

Mia’s eyes rounded, and she looked around as if in shock. “Oh my God, how did I end up here?”

The doctor disconnected the call and addressed Mia. “You need to rest. Go back to your room.Now.” Even though her words were sharp, her tone was friendly.

Worried about her, I asked, “Couldn’t she stay here with us? She shouldn’t be alone.”

“She won’t,” the doctor assured me. “Aar—” she cleaned her throat, “hum, Scott told me he’ll stay the night to be with her, in case she needs something.”

Mia threw a knowing smile her way but didn’t say anything. She walked to my side of the bed to kiss my cheek before leaving, holding her cup.

Noticing it, Dr. Miller pointed at the beverage. “How did you get that?”

“Danny’s mom smuggled some illegal stuff for us into the hospital.” She waved one last time, and we heard them talking as they walked away. “And I’m drinking it all. I’m more scared of her than of you. Sort of.”

Danny and I were left alone, and the silence was comfortable between us. But it still carried our worries.

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