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“I was going to say my sister-in-law, but that will do.” She shrugged. “Well, Mr. Torres, it's a pleasure to meet you, anyway.”

Derek agreed, greeting me with just a nod.

The signs of a restless night were obvious. After all, if I could barely fit lying down on that hospital couch, a big, muscular guy like Derek would have struggled even more.

“Well, I’m heading out. I’ll leave you with her, but call me if anything happens, Kendra,” Torres said, his face framed by dark circles. A guy who stayed overnight at the hospital for you deserved respect, and after that, my opinion of Derek became more positive.

“Don't worry, I will.”

The boy left and my mother followed him with her eyes for a moment.

“He's cute.” I wanted to laugh. “But I have the feeling that I know him from somewhere else.”

“He's from Chamberlain, mother. The Torres family. His uncle owns the construction company for the buildings in the northern part of the city.” I added the information she would understand. After all, there was no point in mentioning that he had been the school’s lacrosse star or that his sister was my rival—I didn’t think she paid attention to those kinds of details. Then Mackenzie caught me off guard:

“Wasn’t his sister the captain of the other cheerleading team in town? The one you hated and got into a fistfight with during a football game?” she asked, her curiosity bringing that memory back to me.

“Yeah… That’s her. In fact, we’re on the same team now—she’s on the Venenum team with me.”

“Hm, what a small world!” That was her last sentence before signing the papers so we could go up and see Colleen.

I was a little afraid of seeing my cousin, especially after the last day, when she kicked me out of her room and was left alone with her own suffering. However, I had a feeling that, with my mother around, her tone would be milder.

Mom knocked on the door and opened it, entering Colleen's room. The look of lethargy on her face was clear, as was the look of sadness.

Upon finding my mother there, she straightened up a little.

“Auntie… What are you doing here?”

“I heard about the accident and came to see you.” There was a lot of sincerity in that sentence. “Your parents couldn't... come.”

“Couldn't they? Really, Aunt Mack?” She rolled her eyes. “They never care enough. Maybe if I had gotten paralysed they would have been worried, but it was just a broken arm and some fucked up tendons.” Complained Colleen. Hurt and hatredmixed in every word that left her mouth and the tone was pure sarcasm.

“I'm so sorry, darling...” Mom came to the side of the bed and held the hand that wasn't in a cast. “But I'm here. Is that okay? Can I be enough, at least for now?” A sad smile took over her face.

And in that simple moment, so many other memories took over me, showing me that it was always Mackenzie who was there for Colleen and me. All presentations, all parent meetings, all important moments.

Mackenzie Winfrey didn't boast about her presence, she just showed up. And the conclusion made my eyes sting. It made me look at the woman there in the hospital room, caring for Colleen as if she were her own daughter, and I felt my chest filling with a strange sense of joy. Something I never allowed myself to feel before.

“Hey, Kenny...” Colleen called me and I sniffled, wiping away a stubborn tear that dared to run down my face. “I'm in a hospital bed all screwed up and you're crying?” My cousin mocked, treating me a little better than last time.

“It's just… I… I was scared of losing you…” I admitted, omitting the part that watching my mother be tender with her was the real reason for my tears.

Colleen smiled weakly.

“You're not going to get rid of me that easily, Kenny.”

I wanted to hug her tightly and never let go. I wanted to hold on to both of them.

“I hope I never get rid of you.”

Mom pulled me towards her, wrapping me in her hug as we both held Colleen's hand.

“My girls... Oh, oh...” Mom placed a kiss on each one's head. “I love you, both, and I hope you never forget that.”

I caught my cousin with tears in her eyes before nodding, while I just understood that this was the family I always belonged to. My father was a good father, but very busy with work. My cousin was my sister at heart and my mother was the hardest working woman in the world to keep that little space between us tight, so that we would never forget that this was a family.

The whole team felt a bit disjointed that day. Colleen's fall had left its mark on all of us, not just because of the fear of another accident, but also the pain of her absence while she recovered. Practice ended early, as even Karlee seemed shaken. We focused on the basics throughout the session, but it didn’t feel like we were meeting expectations. November had already arrived, with less than 150 days left until the competition, and we barely had the complete choreography for the entire performance.