40. Relieved tension and broken bones

Bruno had spent a lot of time with his family recently.

There were ten freaking years that they had to catch up on. He made sure he always had at least one family member close by him at all times. A majority of the time it was Julieta, but the others were there as well. He had helped prop up a wall with Luisa, had designed the garden with Isabela, painted with Antonio and Camilo, filled the music room with Dolores, and drank his first alcoholic beverage in years with Felix and Pepa.

But there was one person he hadn't had the guts to spend any time with. Agustin. Bruno's cuñado didn't seem ready to punch Bruno any time he saw him anymore, and had actually spoken a few brief words to him every now and then, but they weren't on... good terms with each other.

Bruno didn't really mind how little of Agustin he saw. It was easier to just ignore it. Like an impending vision. Of course there was Mirabel's voice in the back of his mind, scolding him and saying, Papá. Don't run from your problems. Face them head on like a man!

But Bruno wasn't a man. He was just... Bruno.

So he did what Bruno did best. He hid from his problems. It wasn't difficult. He always had the excuse of being busy, or overwhelmed, or tired. And for the most part that was true.

Until the accident at least.

They had about a week left of the project. They were working on furnishing the rooms. Finally the familiar-yet-different building was starting to feel like the home Bruno had grown up in.

Part of him really wanted to make the house look exactly like it had when he was a child. Back before he felt the pressure and stigma from the town. But he knew that that wouldn't be fair to everyone else. It might be like the home he felt comfortable in, but it wasn't the one that his nieces and nephews would be at home at.

Luck was on his side though. Since in the ten years he'd been gone a lot had changed. Things had been updated for the new generation, and Bruno didn't recognize half of the things the townsfolk had remade for the family.

They were adding hooks to the ceiling to hang flowers. For as long as Bruno could remember there were flowers hanging inside of Casita, and the family wanted to keep it that way. The house wasn't as detailed and colorful as it had been originally, something they knew they could rectify as the years went by in their new home. But flowers would help make it feel like it once had.

Mirabel was better. After literally everyone in the family had told her how important and loved she was she was doing much better. She wasn't overworking herself like she admitted on doing before her panic attack two weeks before.

They had ladders to get to where they needed. And Mirabel innocently asked Bruno if she could help hang the hooks. The ladders were tall, but the height wasn't that dangerous. So Bruno agreed. Why not? It wasn't like anything bad would happen.

Mirabel was up high, Isabela next to her, the two of them making sure that the hooks were the correct distance apart. Bruno was across the room, chatting with Pepa as people moved around them.

No one knew why the ladder fell. But everyone heard Mirabel's scream, and the horrible breaking sound as she hit the hard floor.

Bruno was sure his heart would beat out of his chest the second he heard Mirabel's scream. His brain played the sound of her body hitting the ground on loop, the terrible cracking sound screaming in his mind over and over again.

For a moment he stood there, frozen in pure shock. His eyes widened as he stared at Mirabel's body, lying on the ground limply. He stared at her, unable to move a muscle. Then he found his body dashing to her side before his mind could.

How could this happen? This was all his fault! How could... how could this... No! He should never have let her do this! He should have known better!

In a second Isabela slid down her ladder and was kneeling next to him. Bruno looked at her, and was about to order for some of his sister's cooking, but he knew that Julieta didn't... couldn't heal her.

He pulled Mirabel into his arms, feeling bile rise in his throat when he saw Mirabel's left arm. It was pointed in the wrong direction. He had seen arms like this, in visions and present life. He had seen hundreds of teenagers throwing themselves towards his sister for healing.

“Mirabel?” he said, and she blinked up at him. “Pa... My arm...” Mirabel said, and she appeared to try to lift her left arm. Bruno shouted “No!” and pressed lightly on her arm to stop her. “Mirabel, Mirabel, you can't move that. Listen, it's gonna be okay... We're... Are you hurt? Besides your arm.”

Mirabel stared up at him, then shook her head. “My head hurts a little... but its mostly my arm. It hurts... a lot. I don't like it...” Bruno nodded, then looked at Isabela, who's face was pale.

“Isa, go get... Nevermind. Help me carry her.” Bruno said, pulling Mirabel up in his arms and starting to stand up. “Sure thing Tio.” Isabela said, sliding her arms under Mirabel as well, one hand propping up her head.

“Where... where are we going?” Mirabel asked in a dazed stupor. Everyone had heard her scream, so they let the three of them cross the room without getting in the way. Bruno stared at where he was heading, and answered, “To my mother. She'll know what to do.”

Abuela. Bruno hadn't been spending much time with his mother. A combination of him being busy, the emotional stress that both of them went through whenever they were in the same room, and the fact that Bruno... just didn't want to be around his mother much.

But he knew of no one else who could help right then. For nearly all of his life whenever someone was injured they'd just go to Julieta and get healed instantaneously. But that was a thing of the past. He could feel his heart racing with every yelp Mirabel let out when jolted around.

Abuela was at the Guzman's, talking with... Agustin and Julieta. Bruno had to push down his uncomfortable feelings when he saw his brother-in-law, choosing instead to focus on his mother.

The three Madrigal's on the Guzman's porch turned and looked at the three others as Isabela shouted for their attention. Instantly Agustin and Julieta stood up, the former dashing towards the group. Abuela stood up as well, a look of concern washing her face.

Agustin held his arms out, silently asking to hold Mirabel, but Bruno payed him no mind. “Isabela, what happened?” Agustin asked, his eyes fixed on Mirabel's broken arm. Isabela gulped, and answered, “We were up on ladders... putting in hooks... and she must have lost her balance...”

“Mamá!” Bruno called out, and Abuela walked towards them, a look of deep concern on her face. He looked into her face, begging silently for a second before saying, “You're the only one I know who can... Who can help. Please.”

Alma nodded, pressing the back of her hand against Mirabel's cheek. “Oh corazon,” she whispered, then motioned for them to follow her.

She led them inside, and motioned towards the Guzman's couch. Bruno and Isabela gently placed her down on the couch, then Alma said, “Bruno, you hold her hand. This will hurt. Isabela, get me a splint. Just anything straight and stiff.” Isabela nodded, and dashed out of the room. Bruno grabbed Mirabel's right hand, his eyes trained on his mother, waiting for instruction for the first time in weeks.

“Agustin, hold her down. She's going to naturally fight back. She needs to not hurt herself further.” Agustin immediately moved over to the couch and waited for Abuela to move before pressing his hands against Mirabel's shoulders.

Abuela took a deep breath, which reminded Bruno of what he did right before his visions. He squeezed Mirabel's hand tightly, and watched his mother carefully grab Mirabel's injured arm.

“This is going to hurt Mirabel,” Abuela warned, and Mirabel nodded deftly. Bruno took a deep breath for the two of them, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand.

In two quick motions Abuela seemed to snap Mirabel's arm once more. Mirabel let out a loud shout, trying to jerk away from Abuela, but Agustin held her still. Bruno stared at her face, and longed to pull her into his arms again.

Her arm was now pointing in the right direction, and Bruno felt like he could breathe properly again. In a matter of moments Isabela reentered the room, a bundle of fabric and a long stick in hand. Bruno watched silently as Abuela accepted the tools, and began wrapping Mirabel's arm up with expert hands.

After several minutes Abuela tied off the cloth, and sat back, watching her work carefully. Mirabel, who had her eyes squeezed shut, peaked them open, and stared at the makeshift cast around her arm.

“It's going to be a while before you can take that off.” Abuela said, standing up and motioning for Mirabel to do the same. Bruno released Mirabel's hand, and helped her sit up on the couch. Mirabel winced as her wrapped arm moved when she did.

“Will I still be able to help out at Casita?” Mirabel asked, a hint of fear bleeding into her voice. Bruno felt like burying his face in his hands. Even when she nearly died Mirabel was still trying to overwork herself.

“Absolutely not!” Bruno and Agustin snapped at once, and the two of them shared a glare. Or, more specifically, Agustin glared, and Bruno looked somewhat shocked.

“Mira,” Bruno said, placing a hand on her shoulder. Mirabel's eyes were fixed on the cloth, which she picked at with her good hand. Bruno used his left hand to tilt her chin up, forcing her to look at him. “You fell a long way. I don't think its a good idea that you... do anything right now. Your body needs time to recover. Okay?”

Mirabel gulped, then whispered, “But Casita's almost done. I can still do something... right?” Bruno felt a smile creep up on his face, and he nodded slowly. “I promise mi vida. We'll find something you can do. It's gonna be a while before it feels like enough though.” Mirabel nodded, her head dropping as Bruno let her chin go.

“How did this happen?” Julieta asked, her hand on Isabela's shoulder. Bruno looked back at the others in the room, and he turned to face them. “Well... I let Mirabel... She wanted to help hang up the hooks... for flowers.” Bruno said, feeling awkward for the first time in a while.

“You let her do what?” Agustin asked, louder than what Bruno was comfortable with. Isabela stiffened, and Julieta let out a warning, “Agustin...”

Bruno straightened, feeling like a rooster introduced to a rival. “I let her help hang up things on the ceiling. There was an accident. She'll be fine.”

“She has a broken arm!” Agustin said, waving his own arm towards the teenager sitting on the couch. Mirabel shrank towards Bruno, making herself as small as possible. Bruno glanced back at her, then said, “And now she's gotten help!”

“Papá...” Mirabel said quietly, and Bruno looked down at her. Her eyes held a sort of strange fear. “Please don't.”

Bruno took a deep breath, then looked back at Agustin, his brow furrowed. The two men stared at each other for a moment, then Bruno said firmly, “Let's take this somewhere else.” Alma walked over to Bruno and placed a hand on his shoulder, but his eyes didn't waver off of Agustin's face.

Agustin's eyes flicked to Mirabel, then back to Bruno's face. “Let's.” he agreed, and the two men began marching out of the room. Bruno normally would begin sweating up a storm, but found himself still chilled from the events at Casita.

He entered the Guzman's dining room, and sat down on the first chair that he came to. He lifted his right leg and laid it over the top of his left, and folded his arms over his chest. He stared at Agustin as he sat down across the table from him.

The two men stared at each other silently, then Bruno sighed loudly.

“What happened to us Agustin? We used to be good friends.” Bruno said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Agustin glared at him, and snapped, “What happened to us, was you stealing my daughter!”

Bruno sighed once more. He buried his face in his hands, and groaned loudly.

When he looked up Agustin was still glaring at him. He sighed once more, then dropped his hand to his lap. “Still this Agustin? I thought Julieta explained this to you!” Agustin huffed, and Bruno was starting to find it hard to keep himself there.

“Because of you Mirabel is hurt.” Agustin snapped, and Bruno scoffed. “I made a risky decision in allowing her to do something dangerous, and it turned out badly.” Bruno said, finding it hard to keep an even tone.

The sound of Mirabel's bones snapping played in his mind, and the sight of her arm...

“If you think that I would intentionally hurt Mirabel then you are dead wrong.” Bruno spat as Agustin opened his mouth. He slammed a hand down on the table, and Agustin looked about ready to repeat the punch from a few weeks before.

“You know nothing of being a parent.” Agustin hissed, and Bruno felt his blood run cold.

There was a small gasp from behind him, but Bruno didn't look back at where his sister and mother were standing. Instead he stood up himself, drawing himself up to his, admittedly unimpressive, height.

“Oh. I know nothing?” Bruno asked, a bit of humor leaking into his voice. “Fine. I guess all those nights I spent lying awake at night with her, comforting her as she mourned the neglect the candle showed her doesn't count for parenting. I guess that, since I know nothing of parenting, that all those days I spent teaching her everything I knew, coaching her through difficult seasons, didn't mean anything.”

Agustin's eyes were still hard, grounded in his belief as Bruno edged himself closer to him. “I suppose then, that we can just throw all of those night I spent lying awake, worrying about Mirabel's future, worrying that I would be a bad father, just, out the window!” Bruno was now up in Agustin's face, which was slowly contorting into a strange sort of realization.

Bruno waved a hand around, his face turning upset rather than the blank it had been. “You know what Agustin! I never wanted to be her Papá! Do you want to know the truth? Do you want to know how that... that... falsehood came to be?”

Bruno leaned over Agustin, his face filled with a sadness that he rarely showed anymore. “It came from a small, scared child's desperation. It came from a little girl who couldn't see her family. From a girl who's only comfort and security came from the only person she saw. Me. And do you know why I let it continue? Why it was easier for me to just let her think that?”

Agustin stared up at him, his mouth half open. Bruno didn't wait for him to actually respond, and finished what he was saying.

“Because I was the only one there. And I thought that we could never go back. I thought she might never see you again.”

Alma stared at her two sons, one sitting with the most tense and upset face she had seen in a long time, the other sharing heart-breaking facts.

She had known that Bruno... hadn't wanted to come back. That much was obvious. She had known that he was gone, and that he had taken Mirabel with him. She knew that Mirabel thought of Bruno now as her Papá. She knew that they had lived a very different life than what she had planned for them. But hearing her son's words...

He truly had thought that he could never come back. And there was only one true reason that that was the case. It was because of her.

She had driven them out. This whole mess was her fault. They wouldn't be having this conversation if it weren't for Alma. The world had fallen apart because of her, and now Bruno had taken the responsibility of putting it back together.

It was good that they were talking about this now. Anyone could see the tension between Bruno and Agustin. But how Agustin was going on about it...

Alma understood. She understood being fiercely protective of your children. Goodness knows how protective over the triplets she had been in their earlier years. Both Bruno and Agustin had good reason to butt heads over this issue...

“And who's fault is that!” Agustin shouted, throwing his hands in the air and nearly smacking Bruno with them. Bruno backed up a step and stared at his brother-in-law. Agustin stood up, using his height to tower over the other angry man.

Bruno opened his mouth to respond, but before he could Julieta inserted herself into their conversation.

“It's mine.” she said with a force that made Alma feel more proud of her than ever. Julieta looked bone-dead tired though, and Alma could tell that this wasn't the first argument between her husband and brother that she had broken up recently.

“If there is anyone to blame for this situation it's me.” Julieta snapped, her eyes fixed on Agustin's face. Her husband opened his mouth, presumably to refute her claim, but received a finger to the lips instead. “I was the one who gave Bruno permission to take Mirabel. I was the one who was here all this time and didn't tell you. It if weren't for me we wouldn't be in this mess. Agustin...”

There was a level of tiredness in her voice that Alma hadn't heard before. It made her want to cross the room and wrap her daughter in a hug. She was surprised that neither man weren't doing so already.

“Agustin, please, Bruno was just trying his best. And... And if it weren't for him...” Julieta sniffed, bringing a hand up to her mouth and waiting a second before finishing. “If it weren't for Bruno stepping up, Mirabel would have had no parents at all. So please... Think of Mirabel.”

Agustin looked like he really wanted to refute what his wife had just said. His face wasn't as angry as before, but there was a simmering hatred in his eyes that he was directing at Bruno. Bruno himself was backing away slowly, and he turned his head and stared directly at Alma.

He walked away from his sister and husband, and came right up to Alma, holding a hand out and looking like a puppy that had just gotten scolded. “Mamá...” he whispered, then squeezed the hand she brought to him.

“I'm... going to check on Mirabel.” he said, not looking back at the couple standing behind him. Alma nodded, and as he left whispered, “You did a good job.”

Bruno glanced back at her, and whispered, “Thank you.”