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“Thank you.”
“Okay, well,” she replied and lifted her hand in a small, awkward wave, “I’m heading that way.” She gestured with her head behind her in the direction of the house.
I took a step forward as she turned, lifting my arm to squeeze her bicep. It was a move I’d done a million times in the intimacy of that hospital room, the darkness of those days enveloping us and keeping us separate from the world in our own bubble. But today, in the stark daylight, she froze. And I froze in response.
Her gaze snapped to mine, her posture stiff in front of me.
I dropped my hand and said, “See you later.” Then I turned on my heel in the opposite direction of where I should be heading because… fuck.
14
FRANCISCO
The third time it happened,the storm was loud. Compared to those first times, where lights flickered in warning and they were back on within a few minutes, this was much more momentous. One second, the lights were on. The next, it was pure darkness.
Darker than those times.
But thunder rumbled and lightning promptly lit the sky like in an end-of-the-world movie. And everything shook in this small town.
That night, on New Year’s Eve, Lucía had immediately noticed something was wrong. She walked towards me, bypassing her family and her friends to talk me out of it. My thoughts immediately took me to that time many years ago when everything was dark and scary.
I had worked for years to get over my fear. And all my effort was paying off. I was slowly inching towardsmanaging my triggers like an adult. But then my sister died, and everything went to shit. Because not only had she died, but then many things happened in succession, and a lot of family things were unearthed after she passed.
I found myself sitting alone in the middle of the empty house, paralyzed by the darkness, unable to move even to grab the matches to light some candles. I was getting ready to go for a run, something I had been doing frequently to both get out of my thoughts and to get to know the town better. There were a few trails along the hillside that I saw when I went for that walk with Lucía. But the storm and the blackout that followed took me by surprise, and I didn’t know how to react or what to do.
I turned on my heel, keeping my breaths even and focused on the things I could see—Victoria’s plants in the corner of the living room, the small entry table with the bowl on top for keys, and the wind blowing outside, making the leaves move in synchronization to the noise it was making.
I knew that if I walked out that door and headed left, I would eventually make it to the big house, and the chance that she was there was pretty high, considering she had mentioned multiple times that she had not a single plan during her time off this month.
So I took a shot in the dark—literally—and walked in the direction of her house, uttering a silent prayer that she would open the door. It was raining hard. My whole body was soaked the second I stepped outside Santiago andVictoria’s house. My running shoes squelched on the pavement, and I could feel the slosh under the bottoms of my feet. It was, luckily, calming to focus on something else and not the darkness around me.
The house was completely black except for a dim white light coming from a window in the upstairs of the house, right above the front door and visible from the driveway. It was slightly open, and the curtain inside was moving with the wind blowing inside.
I walked fast up the driveway and right to the covered porch, knocking loudly once, twice. A clap of thunder followed the knock, but I waited for a minute. Water was coming down hard, my calves getting splashed despite being under a roof. The entry porch was small, just enough for a few people to stand at the same time and as wide as the double front door. There were bushes on either side of the house under the large windows.
I knocked again, this time harder than I intended. Goosebumps erupted across my spine because this was taking much longer than I was comfortable with. If she didn’t open the door within the next few seconds, I would have to run back to Santiago’s house alone and stay there until the lights came back on.
“¿Quién es?”I heard from inside the house, the voice a little weak and weary.
“Lucía?” I croaked, my body deflating with relief. I rested my forehead on the door, taking a deep breath.
“Jesus,” she said, her eyes widening as she took me in. Iwas smiling uncomfortably and dripping water from everywhere on my body. The force with which she opened the door made her hair move, a tendril landing in front of one of her blue eyes. “What are you doing here?”
I startled her; it was clear by how she was blinking. She moved a hand to her chest, touching above her heart. It was the second time I’d seen her do that same thing. Like every move I made took her by surprise. Her other hand went to her hair, tucking that lock that had moved and was blocking her vision behind her ear.
“I went for a run and got caught in the rain,” I said, lifting my shoulders nonchalantly. “I couldn’t find my way back to Santiago’s house in the dark,” I blurted without taking a breath. Then I smiled again, hoping to get a reaction, any reaction, from her. I’d never been happier to see someone in my life.
“Francisco.” Shegrinned, doing a once-over and looking at the whole scene in front of her, my hair soaking wet and dripping all over my face. “His house is literally two doors down! On this side of the block! It’s not that hard.”
I shrugged again. “Are you going to let me in or what?”
“Fine,” she said with a big smile on her face. “Did you have dinner yet?” She turned towards the house and moved to the side to let me in. Her hands were on the door, and she was standing partially behind it, getting ready to close it once I was inside. Even in the darkness of the house, she was shining. It was such a different scene to see here in her hometown. Her hair was almost always down, compared tothe many times I’d seen her at the hospital with her hair up, away from her face.
“No,” I replied, taking a few steps into the foyer. My clothes were dripping on the floor, and my sneakers squeaked as I moved. “I was planning to go to the hotel restaurant, but now that the power is out, who knows when it’ll be back.”
“There’s food here if you’d like,” she said, walking towards the back of the house. I followed. “I’m going to get you a towel.”
She turned her body once more and ran straight into my chest. I grabbed her shoulders to stabilize her, catching her gaze and her small gasp of surprise.
