Central Hospital (Caracas, Venezuela)

Aníbal's friends were in the cafeteria of the hospital wearing downcast expressions and drinking fruit juice. Suhail and her friend Sofia sat at the corner of the table.

After taking a sip of her thick papaya milkshake, Sofía asked, "What happened Aníbal's mom? How did she die?"

Suhail looked at her with a severe expression. "Who s-s-said that?" "I don't reveal my sources," her friend replied.

"She d-d-died under m-m-mysterious circumstances."

"How so?" asked her friend raising her voice.

"Shhhhh!"

"Come on! Strange circumstances? What happened?" Sofía insisted, lowering her voice and glancing at Ronald and Javier, who were playing with Fat Jorge's cap, passing it between each other while Jorge was awkwardly trying to get it back.

"Well, t-t-there's not an o-o-official version. Aníbal told me that h-h-his mom woke u-u-up at midnight s-s-screaming because of a horrible n-n- nightmare."

"And? What happened next?"

"She was hospitalized for s-s-several months. The d-d-doctors couldn't f- f-find anything and thought i-i-it might be some k-k-kind of mental d-d- disorder. So, his dad d-d-decided to take her back h-h-home."

"And then?" Sophia insisted, glaring at Ronald, who accidentally let Jorge's cap fall in a Caesar salad and sprinkled its dressing over a child sitting nearby.

"One day, b-b-before Azael's birthday, she e-e-ended up in a comma. He h-h-had his fifth b-b-birthday in the same hospital w-w-where he is right now and he r-r-received the worst b-b-birthday gift: the death of h-h-his mother."

"Wow! I feel bad for Aníbal, he has suffered a lot!"

Suhail nodded, watching Ronald and Javier making fun of the enraged Jorge.