3 Chapter three: Nightmare

"Please, I promise it will not happen again," I beg.

"It's the third time this month, Nora," Frank answers with a tired tone.

I look at the ground helplessly. I can't lose this job, not with all it cost me to get one, not when it's all I have to pay for my expenses.

I hear him sigh.

"This is your last chance," he warns

Unable to avoid it, I let out a squeak and jump to hug him. Frank is the restaurant owner, but despite being our boss, he is quite kind and understanding.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you..." I hear him laugh.

"Go go and serve the customers before I regret it," He says, gently pulling me away.

I nod my head repeatedly while still smiling and then head over to the table that was now occupied by a mother and her son.

__________________

Finally, my lunch break is coming. My stomach has been growling for about two hours from lack of food, and I don't think I can go much longer without eating. In front of me, I have a plate of potatoes with a grilled breast. I think the only thing I like about this job is that I can eat these delicious dishes. I am about to put a potato in my mouth when Camille's voice interrupts me.

"Guess who came," she says, sitting in front of me and raising her eyebrows up and down.

.

I frown, and she points with her mouth to one of the tables behind me. I turn slightly in my seat and see Kevin sitting at one of the tables waiting to be served.

"Your admirer," She squeaks excitedly.

I roll my eyes and turn back to start eating, trying not to look excited about his visit.

"He's not my admirer," I say with my mouth full, and she makes a face of disgust.

"Of course, it is. It always asks you to attend him" She sighs in love and recharges her chin in one of her hands, looking in his direction. "It's so cute. I wonder when he will dare to ask you out."

Ha! As if I had time for that.

"Nora," One of the new guys whose name I don't remember stands next to us, "The man at table two wants you to attend him."

"I'm in my lunchtime."

"That I told him, but he said that he would wait for you to finish" Without saying anything else, he leaves.

"Awww, I told you!" Camille says, hitting my arm gently

"Camille is Nora's lunchtime," Frank scolds her coming out of the kitchen" Wait tables if you don't want me to deduct it from your pay," He warns

"Yes, sir," She says, jumping up and takes one of her hands to her forehead as if doing a military salute.

Frank ignores her and turns to go back to the kitchen.

I roll my eyes with a smile and keep eating. When I finish, I go to the bathroom to wash my hands and do my hair a little, thinking about Camille's words. I leave the bathroom, and I try to control my nerves while I go to the table where Kevin is, looking at his phone.

"Hi," I greet him nervously but without bothering to do the presentation protocol because he is a regular customer.

He looks away from his cell phone and gives me a cute smile that makes my nerves get on edge.

"Hello freckles" I feel my cheeks heat up from his nickname, so I look away.

"The same as always? " I ask with the notebook raised as if that prevented him from seeing the red of my cheeks.

"Of course..." He answers without erasing his smile

"Right away," I turn around to go behind the counter and walk through the door to the kitchen.

"The same as always?" asks the chef.

"Yep"

I keep tending other tables, getting tips, and putting them in the pot. Sometimes, without being able to avoid it, my gaze collides with Kevin's. He smiles at me every time that happens, and I can't help looking away, embarrassed.

"The pasta is ready," They yell from inside.

I took the plate, and I serve the ice tea that I prepared in a glass.

"A chicken pasta with alfredo sauce, without chives or tomatoes" I put the plate on the table," And an ice tea."

I'm about to leave to tend other tables, but his hand on my wrist prevents me. I look at him with a frown, and he scratches the back of his neck somewhat nervously.

"I know you're busy..." He starts to say, "I was just wondering if you wanted to go out with me one day."

I look at him for a few seconds in silence. The truth Kevin was quite an attractive boy. He had brown hair, thick eyebrows, green eyes, and a smile that makes you melt with tenderness. Not to mention, every time he arrived, he made my workday more fleeting, but I had no time for relationships or dates. My self from a few years ago would have accepted without hesitation for a second, but my current self had become an old soul locked in the body of a 19-year-old girl.

"I would love to, but..."

"But she can't wait to go out with you!" Camille interrupts, taking me by the shoulders. "She has the weekend off. What do you think?"

"Camille, I really can'..." I whisper in her ear, but she makes a shhh with her lips

Kevin looks at us for a few seconds without knowing what to say...

"Well, I think it's perfect," He finally says with a smile. "Could you give me your number so we can agree?"

"Hmmm... of course," I answer without knowing how to refuse

Camille leaves to tend other tables. I give my number to Kevin, and then I get on with my work.

When there is no one in the room, I go to Camille, clean one of the tables.

"You are crazy? I don't have time for dates."

"Relax" She walks to the sink, and I follow her. "You are always working, and you are not even going to have a drink with us when we invite you. It would help if you relaxed a little

"I don't even have to wear," I say

"That's not a problem," She dries her hands after washing the dishes. "I'll give you my address. When he calls you, you can go home to borrow some clothes."

I think about it for a few seconds and finally, acceptance. There was nothing wrong with taking a day to myself and even less dating a guy like Kevin.

The restaurant was not so busy today. Most likely because it is Monday, so Patrick let me leave earlier. Weekends are when most people go out, and the restaurant fills up. I take advantage of the fact that it is still six in the afternoon to visit my parents and then go to the hospital, but first, I stop at a small flower stand.

"How much does it cost?" I ask, taking a beautiful bouquet of white roses.

"25 dollars," Answers the man.

I grimace and put the bouquet in place. Then I see some loose red roses.

"Those are at a dollar each," Says the man when he sees me take one

"Give me three," I ask with a smile.

I keep walking until I finally reach the city cemetery. It's right on the way to the hospital so it won't be a problem to go to both places. I sigh several times, building up my courage before passing the gravestones and graves. I stop when I reach two gravestones that are next to each other.

Marco García "03/24 / 1976-12 / 20/2017"

Tamara García "06/10 / 1978-12 / 20/02017"

"I regret not come earlier." I bend down in front of both tombstones and take out the wilted flowers to put a red rose in front of each one. "I know your favorite is the white ones, mother. I promise that one day I will bring you a beautiful bouquet of white roses" I smile sadly.

This place fills me with a lot of nostalgia, the pain of losing them is still there as the first day, and I don't think it can ever go away. I'm talking to them for a while about how my week went and that I hope to improve soon and become a successful person as they wanted. I leave there and head towards my next destination. I walk through the doors, and I cursed under my breath as I realized I forgot to bring a coat. The emergency room is the coldest in the hospital, so after giving my ID card and saying the room number I'm going to, I tried to walk as fast as possible to get to floor 3. Seeing him in that bed, all white, haggard, and connected to hundreds of wires, breaks my heart. He is the strongest person I know, and I hate to see him like this.

"I know you are very male for flowers, but I do not care," I say, entering the room and leaving the rose next to his bed.

I sit in the small chair next to his bed and take one of his hands in mine. A nurse comes in and looks at me with a sad smile.

"You should disconnect it" I ignore her. I was already tired of everyone telling me that "It is very likely that he will not wake up."

"I don't care," I mumble. "I know he's going to wake up."

"Nora has been like this for almost three years."

"I pay for him to be here, and while I'm doing that, no one can tell me they'll pull the plug," I look her straight in the eye. "Now, if you don't mind, I want to spend some time alone with my brother.

I watch her go, and with my free hand, I brush the strands of hair that fall down his forehead.

"Ignore them. I know you'll wake up," I kiss his hand.

The hours go by slowly, but I don't want to leave him alone. So I stay until one of the nurses tells me that visiting time is over. I kiss him on his forehead with regret, and I leave, promising that I will return to visit him soon. I look at the time, and I see that I lost track of time. It's almost eleven at night. I must run to the bus if I don't want to miss it. I arrived just in time and took a seat. As always, at this time, there are not many people, but this time the road seems calmer than the last time.

"Where the hell were you?" The annoyance is noticeable in his voice

His tone of voice throws me off balance. He has no right to speak to me like that, but I try to reassure myself by telling myself that he was only caring about me.

-I went to do some things after work, and I lost track of time- he tried not to give details of what I was doing

-Well, you should be more careful, don't you know how dangerous the street is at this hour? And more for girls like you

I want to tell him that he shouldn't worry about me. For three years, I have been taking care of myself, and he has no right to interfere in my life, but I only dedicate myself to pass by him in silence to serve me some water.

"You will not say anything? Do you think you can disappear all day just like that?" I clench my fists at the sides of my body

"I am very capable of taking care of myself," I turn to him to face him. "I already told you that I only asked for the notion of time; that happens to anyone" I shrug my shoulders. "Also, you are nobody in my life to question what I make."

My words take him by surprise, and I can see the vein in his neck is marked.

"You're right. I don't know why I was worrying all night about a little girl who thinks she can take care of herself" He takes his backpack and goes to the door.

"Where are you going?" I ask, walking behind him

"I told you I was leaving today. Do not worry about me. I am nobody in your life or you in mine" He uses my words against me, and I feel like the guilt of having said that invades me.

I stay silent, watching him walk towards the door. I check the time on my phone and see that it is too late to go outside. Instead of leaving early, he was waiting for me all day, worried that he would not come home. Thinking about it made a warm sensation invade my chest. Someone has not cared about me in a long time.

"Wait!" When I see him open the door, I say, "Is that..." the shame of what I will say makes me look at the ground. "For a long time, nobody cared about me and me..." I shrug my shoulders. "I'm not accustomed to that."

He is silent for a few seconds but then closes the door and walks towards me with slow steps. He reaches up to me, and I look away from the ground, but he takes my chin between his fingers to force me to look at him. His almost black eyes meet mine, and I can swear I stopped breathing for a few seconds. I don't think I'll ever get used to having him this close.

"You are the angel who saved my life. Of course, I care about you."

I feel my heart flip at his words.

"It's too late," I say, moving away from him. "You can stay one more night if you want."

''Now, are you the one who cares about me?" He smiles arrogantly, and I roll my eyes

"Well, if you don't want to, you can go," I turn to go to my room, but he takes me by the wrist.

"I'm just playing Angel," he says, smiling at me.

I am sure that he has made many women fall at his feet with that smile, but despite being a guy who appeared to have womanizing skills, he had not tried to seduce me at any time. He had just taken it upon himself all along to make it clear to me how grateful he was to me for saving him.

Perhaps because he sees you as a little girl and not as a real woman.

My conscience is always in charge of putting my self-esteem on the ground, but who would think that a guy like him would notice someone like me? It's not like he interests me that way.

"Well... I'll get some blankets" I get out of there and go to my room to look for them. "Take" I'll give to him. "Do you need anything else?"

"I think that with this, I survive the night."

"Well, whatever, I am in my room," I point to the door that is more in front.

He nods, and I head towards my room.

__________________

"Come on, Nora, I did it because I care about you," He says, taking off one of my headphones. That guy is an idiot. He doesn't deserve you."

"You have no evidence, Nick," I answer, annoy. "You had no right to hit him like that."

"And what do you want? To invite him a few beers while he is treating my sister like a fool?

"I want you to stay out of my life," I say, putting the hearing aid back in my ear.

"When you finally realize that he is cheating on you, do not come to me crying," He says, releasing the clasp of his belt and moving to the seat in the corner.

I roll my eyes at the childishness of his gesture.

"Guys, stop fighting" Dad turns to shoot a warning look at both of us.

"Watch out!"

Mom's scream is the only thing I hear before I feel Nick's arm on my chest, and then the car goes off the road, and a loud bang right next to the driver makes the car turn completely. Broken glass, screaming, and smoke is the only thing I remember before falling into unconsciousness.

Nora! Nora! Nora!...

I snap my eyes open with a cry, tears run down my cheeks, my breath is ragged, and beads of sweat run down my forehead and back. I feel someone hugging me from behind as he speaks to me, but it takes a few seconds for my ears to understand what he is saying.

"It was a nightmare," He says in my ear without stopping to hug me, just a nightmare.

I want to tell him that it was not just a nightmare, that everything was real, but I can only cry. He doesn't let go of me at any point until he finally calms me down.

"Everything is fine," He says, stroking my hair. "It's over.

When he sees that I am calmer, he carefully walks away from me and leaves me lying on the bed. I have no idea how we ended up on the floor. He is about to get up, but I take his arm. I don't want him to leave, I don't want to be alone, I don't want to close my eyes and relive everything again, but I don't dare ask him to stay.

"Do you want me to sleep with you until you fall asleep?" He asks as if he reads my thoughts, and I can only nod my head

I make space for him on the bed, and he lies down next to me. We stare at each other with some space between us. His hair looks darker than normal because of the room's darkness that is only illuminated by the pole next to my window. I close my eyes for a few seconds, but I open them without being able to fall asleep. He continues with his eyes open and his gaze on me. Suddenly he puts one of his arms around my waist and brings me closer to him, close enough for our breasts to touch. His bare chest exudes heat, and I can't help but get nervous from being so close to him in a bed, but the closeness of him also reassures me. The scent of him intoxicates me, and without realizing it, I find myself burying my face in his neck.

"Rest, angel," He whispers and kisses my head. "I take care of you."

And that night, I felt safe in the arms of a stranger.