She picked a nice bouquet with daisies and a couple of yellow roses, which the flower seller tied with a ribbon for her, then rode the bus to the hospital. In the hallway outside his room she bumped into Leonora.
The women stared at each other.
“You’re here. I…howare you here?” Maite asked. She couldn’t think of anything else to say. She had not expected to ever see Leonora again. She was like a character from a story who has been written out, erased from the page.
This did not make sense. Yet, in certain melodramas, even the dead manage to rise from the tomb, cheating the afterlife.
“I saw the story about my uncle in the paper,” Leonora said. True enough, she was dressed in respectful, mournful black.
Maite was stunned. Her mouth felt dry. “But how did you know Rubén was in the hospital?”
“I called Jackie and she told me. Rubén looks ghastly.” Leonora grimaced. “Why are you visiting him?”
“Rubén didn’t tell you?”
“He said you were both looking for me.”
Maite supposed it wouldn’t have been in good taste to simply blurt out the whole story. Still, it irritated her that Rubén hadn’t even hinted that they were involved. “Yes, we looked for you. Where were you? You vanished. I waited for you with the cat.”
The young woman crossed her arms, rubbing them and looking at the ground.
“I was going to pick up my things and the cat, but when I was headed to the print shop I noticed someone was following me. I don’t know if it was my uncle’s men or someone else, but I panicked. I managed to lose them and I left the city. I tried calling back when I thought it was safe to do it, but you hung up on me.”
“Rubén hung up on you.”
“Well, it scared me even more. Then I read the paper and I decided to come back to the city. I went to see my sister, and she said our uncle was dead and Emilio had phoned and was looking for me. He told me the photos were destroyed.”
“Your uncle did that. It was all this fuss for nothing.”
“Yes,” the girl said, looking sheepish. “At least Rubén will be okay.”
“Look, I’m sorry, but I was dropping these off for Rubén, I need to put them in water,” Maite said, clutching her bouquet.
“Oh. Sure.”
Maite walked past Leonora and went into the room. She was annoyed to hear Leonora following her inside, but she put on a smile as she approached Rubén’s bed and showed him the flowers. He had a newspaper in his hands and tucked it away when she walked in. It was the evening edition. She wondered if Leonora had brought it in.
“Hello there, I hope you’re feeling better.”
“Maite. What, you bought flowers?”
“I thought they’d brighten the room, except now I’m realizing there’s no vase to put them in. Do you think a nurse might have one?” she wondered, and she set the flowers on the night table. “Leonora, maybe you could find a vase?”
Once the girl stepped out, Maite touched Rubén’s hand and smiled. “Feeling any better?”
“I’m getting discharged in two days,” he said, sliding his free hand across his chest.
“So soon! But I suppose that’s good. I was thinking…and it was thinking, but it’s a good idea…at least I’m certain it’s a good idea…Anyway, I was thinking you could stay with me. You’re going to need someone to take care of you for a little while. Your guesthouse won’t do.”
He looked embarrassed. She’d never seen him embarrassed. He’d paraded through her apartment without a stitch of clothing and didn’t seem to mind. Now he was blushing.
“That’s nice of you, but I’ll be leaving the city as soon as I can—”
“I thought you liked me,” she said quickly.
“I do. But it’s not like we have anything in common. You know how it is.”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t.”
