The Green (17 page)

“Sorry, sweetie. Here, we’ll get you some
warm blankets. You should be able to get up and go to the bathroom
if you need to, but if you want help or need anything else, just
hit this button.” She pointed to a red button next to the bed.

She handed me a little plastic button that I
could see was attached to the IV bags that dripped into my arm.
“This is the morphine button. If you start to feel pain, hit the
button and it will send some into your system. They should be up in
a little bit with something for you to eat. Can I get you anything
else?”

“Could you tell me what day it is?” I
asked.

“It’s January second, dear,” she answered,
unfolding blankets that she’d pulled out of a cabinet. They were
toasty warm, like they’d been in the oven. She tucked them around
me and my sore body rejoiced at the heat. Everything else in here
was so cold and white.

“Do you know where my mom is?” My body
relaxed into the bed and my eyelids drooped.

“I believe the doctor was going to talk to
her and then she’ll be allowed to come in. Try to get some rest,”
she said, but she already sounded really far away. I had to try and
stay awake. I wanted to see my mom. I wondered how she was holding
up. She had to be a wreck. My eyelids fell again.

I awoke to the sound of two nurses who’d come
in to check my machines and medications and to see how I was
doing.

“Ariceli,” one of the nurses said, “we need
you to wake up now.”

I groaned. My body was so stiff, especially
my chest. I gasped as I attempted to take a deep breath and my lung
expanded too fast. Pain shot through me once again and I grabbed
for the little morphine button.

Press.

Ahhhh.

My room was full of balloons and flowers.
Jesus, how long had I been sleeping for?

“What day is it?” I asked again.

“January second,” a nurse answered, making
notes on my chart. “Your dinner is on its way up. You must be
hungry.”

I hadn’t eaten in awhile, but I wasn’t really
hungry. I guess I’d been a little busy. The nurses walked out the
door and immediately I was bombarded.

“Mom!” I said, as she came through the door.
She was followed by Tia Maria and Tio Beto. She rushed to my side
and threw her arms around me. It hurt but I didn’t care. I must
have cringed a little though, because she pulled back quickly.

“Oh, mija, I was so scared for you!” Fresh
tears rolled from her dark-ringed eyes. She held my hand so tight
she was crushing it. “I did not want to lose both my babies.”

She sobbed. Her heart broke in every breath,
a fresh crack bringing her new pain.

Tia Maria came to her side and led her to a
chair. “The doctor says you’ll make a complete recovery.” She
sniffled. “Your cousins are all waiting outside. If you’re feeling
up to it, I’m sure they’d love to see you.”

“Sure, okay,” I said.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a
dark blue shadow in the doorway.

“Excuse me, I’m Detective Ortega, Chicago PD.
They said you were awake, Ariceli. I’m glad to see you’re feeling
better. Do you mind if I come in and ask you a few questions?” he
asked politely.

“Okay,” I said. I wasn’t sure if I really
wanted to talk about what happened. I didn’t really know.

“What I really need to know Ariceli, is if
you saw anyone. Could you tell us what you remember?”

“I don’t know if it’ll help, but okay. I was
at the party with Javier. We were leaving and I saw Nando, my
brother, coming through the door. I was mad at him. We’d gotten
into a fight a few months ago. I started hitting him and yelling at
him. Then I heard something. I thought it was fireworks, honestly.
But then Nando fell on top of me and I was stuck there until the
paramedics came.”

“So you didn’t see who shot either of
you?”

“No. I didn’t even know I’d been shot. Did
anyone else see anything?”

“Right now, no one is talking, but we have
reason to believe it was drug or gang related. Are you in a gang,
Ariceli?” he asked.

“No, sir. I’ve never even been to a party in
the city until that night. Javier was a friend of my brother’s. I
didn’t know anyone else there. I never thought something like this
could happen. Where’s Javier? What happened to him?” I asked,
searching Detective Ortega’s face for a response.

“Javier is in another room under police
watch. He was shot as well. He and two other men from the party ran
out into the street and attempted to shoot at the perpetrators.
They suffered multiple gunshot wounds, but from what I understand,
they will recover. They will be facing charges as their weapons
were not legal and they have no license to carry a firearm. Did you
know Javier had a gun?”

“No, I’d never seen one,” I answered, leaning
back into the pillows. Shot and facing charges. Thank god they
didn’t know about his drugs. Thank god this detective couldn’t read
my mind or feel my clammy palms.

“Thank you for being so cooperative Ariceli.
We’ll let you know when we catch the guys. Sorry about your
brother.” He reached out his hand to me and I shook it.

“Thanks,” I said weakly.

He crossed the room and shook my mother’s
hand.

“My condolences, ma’am,” he said.

She nodded, dissolving into sobs again as Tia
Maria moved in to put her arms around her sister. I wished I could
hug my mom and comfort her. I wished I could take it all back.
Yeah, I’d hated Nando, but I didn’t want him dead. He was my
brother. There had been times in the past, when we were younger
that we’d gotten along. Played together, watched movies together.
That had changed so much, but as I thought back to those better
times my heart began to hurt and tears slipped from my eyes. Was
this my fault? If I’d let him further into the house, maybe they
wouldn’t have hit him. Or maybe if he’d been shot in a different
place it wouldn’t have killed him.

My Tio Beto, moved to my side, patting my
hand. “It’s okay, honey, it’s okay.”

Why do people say that? It wasn’t okay. And
it wasn’t going to be okay. My life was a mess before, now it was a
disaster. A nurse brought in a tray of food and moved my table
up.

“Here’s your dinner Ariceli. Try to eat
something.” She smiled stiffly.

“Thanks.” When she left the room, I pushed it
back. I didn’t want to eat anything. I wanted to sleep forever. I
hit the morphine button and relaxed as the drugs raced through my
veins, dulling the pain, even though this time the pain wasn’t just
from the gunshot. I lay back in the bed and drifted away into a
fog.

Sun gleamed through my window, extra shiny
because of the snow and ice outside. I looked around the room.
Everyone was gone, at least for the moment, except for my mother,
who was curled in the chair in the corner, fast asleep.

A nurse came through the door, carrying
another tray of food.

“Breakfast, Ariceli!” she said brightly. “You
didn’t eat anything last night, so hopefully you have an appetite
this morning. If not, the doctor still wants you to eat, so take a
few bites of something, okay?”

The scent of bacon and eggs wafted into my
nose. It triggered something in my stomach and my brain pushed my
hand out to pull the lid off the tray. All of a sudden I was a
hibernating bear enjoying my first meal after waking up. It didn’t
taste awesome, but it was good enough. I was halfway through my
eggs when my mom stirred on the chair.

“You’re finally eating, mija. I was worried.”
She rubbed her eyes and then her face.

“Mom, I’m so sorry. Are you…okay?” I
asked.

“It’s okay baby. We can’t change it. I loved
your brother so much. I didn’t know what he was doing. He never
told me anything. He just got mad anytime I tried to tell him
anything.” She kinda stared off into space. I was a little shocked
to see she’d stopped crying. But I suppose you could run out of
tears, right?

There was a light knock on the door. A girl,
a little older than me, stood with a little girl, maybe four years
old, clinging to her leg.

“Mrs. Pisa?” She looked at my mom
expectantly.

“Yes?” Mom tried to smile.

“And you must be Ariceli,” she added,
stepping into the room, the little girl following closely. She had
dark, flowing hair that hung in waves past her shoulders. Large
earrings peeked out from behind it. Her curvaceous body was covered
in tight jeans and a low-cut top. Her high-heeled shoes were
clearly expensive and trashy at the same time. She was beautiful,
though with her light skin I could see the circles under her eyes.
The puffiness indicated she’d been crying as well.

I nodded.

“I’m sorry, I’m Natalie, Javier’s wife. He
wanted me to come down and give his condolences, well,
since…since…” she dissolved into tears. My mother rose from her
chair and crossed the room. She put her arms around her, wrapping
her in a big hug.

I was glad she was crying and distracted. I
could feel my body stiffen all the way to my toes. My face was
stone.

Did I hear her right?

Wife?

Javier was married?!

That would make the little girl his daughter.
Oh god. Oh god. My chest squeezed tight as I tried to take a deep
breath. It didn’t work, I couldn’t breathe. He was a married man
and I had kissed him. The anger came next, rolling through me like
a wave. That asshole never told me about either of them, not when
he pounced on me, not when he gave me his old girlfriend’s car. I
wonder if Natalie knew about the old girlfriend. Was I meant to be
the new girlfriend? When it reached my heart I couldn’t take it any
more and a sob escaped my stone lips, overrunning them like a river
that burst its banks.

Mom ran over and grabbed my hand.

“Are you okay, mija? What’s wrong?”

“It hurts Mommy, it hurts,” was all I could
manage. It was true. I was so disgusted. With myself. With him and
his lies. He’d lied to his wife and daughter.

She pressed the red button and the nurse came
running in, asking Natalie and the little girl to wait in the
hallway. Good. I couldn’t stand to look at them anymore. It made it
worse.

“Where does it hurt?” the nurse asked.

“Everywhere. Just need more.” I grabbed for
the morphine button.

“Better give you two shots.” The nurse hit
the button twice.

The cloud came faster, double the dose. I
gasped as the pain subsided, but my heart still felt heavy. The
morphine couldn’t cure that.

It was hard to open my eyes this time. That
double dose had really knocked me out. The lids still felt heavy,
but I was hungry again. My stomach felt like it was eating itself.
I didn’t hear anything; the room was quiet. I hoped it was empty
for once. If Javier’s wife was still here, I think I’d have to
leave. I hoped I would never see any of them again.

On the table next to me was a huge bouquet of
flowers. As I reached for the card, I heard a voice. A very
familiar voice.

“You’re finally awake!”

I looked around the flowers and his face came
into view.

“What are you doing here, James?” I asked,
stone-face back on. I had to get him out of here. I couldn’t handle
any more drama. What, did he come here to tell me that he and Naomi
were running off to get married and going to the same university? I
didn’t want to know.

“I know, we need to talk.”

“I don’t want to talk to you. You can just
go.” I looked away. His eyes looked so sad, I couldn’t stare
directly at them. I didn’t want to let him off easy. He made out
with my best friend, his ex-girlfriend.

“Please Ari, you have to listen to me. Then
I’ll leave if you still want me to. Please,” he pleaded. He grabbed
my hand and the warmth and electricity trickled up my arm. I was in
danger of melting. I snatched my hand back like he’d burned me.

He sat down in the chair and rubbed his face
with his hands. “I think you’ve got this all wrong,” he said
quietly.

A picture of him and Naomi flashed in my mind
and I suddenly had energy. I wasn’t about to sit here and get shit
on by another guy. One per day was enough.

“I saw you. You kissed her. What else is
there to say?” I spat.

“You’re wrong. She kissed me. And there’s
more to the story.”

I pressed my lips together so hard I thought
my face would crack. Should I even listen? I didn’t say anything
for so long, he must have decided it was safe to proceed.

“Okay, so at the party, remember when we were
in the loft and you said that you wanted to find Naomi because she
was upset and drinking and I went to find some food?”

I allowed myself to look at him. Big mistake.
All my feelings for him came rushing back, flooding me. He was
looking right at me, searching my face with those warm, gorgeous
green eyes.

“Yes,” I said, realizing he was waiting for
me to answer.

“Okay, so you went and looked around and I
headed straight for the dining room. There was some commotion in
the three-season room, so I figured I better check it out. There
were so many people. By the time I got there Naomi was already down
to her bra and undies and was trying to go out the back door to the
pool because she wanted to go swimming. Gina was there and was
trying to convince her that she should stay inside because it was
freezing out there. Of course Claire was there, egging her on AND
taking video. It’s probably on Facebook already.”

“She’s such a bitch,” I mumbled, thinking of
stupid Claire.

“I know. I don’t know why anyone likes her.
Anyway, I went over to help Gina and we couldn’t find her dress so
we decided that it was best to get her upstairs. She was so drunk
she could hardly stand so we each took an arm and dragged her. We
figured it would be best to just get her into bed. When we got to
the top of the stairs, Gina went to open Naomi’s bedroom door and
make sure the bed was cleared off. I helped Naomi across the loft
and she started mumbling. I leaned closer to try and figure out
what she was trying to say and she kissed me. She tried to pull me
closer but I pushed her away. I couldn’t push too hard though or
she’d have fallen. I don’t think she was even standing anymore.
Anyway, Gina came back and helped me drag her into her bed. We
tucked her in and that was it.”