Page 134 of Stronger Than Fate

“How do you feel?”

“A bit sore. What happened to me?”

“What do you remember?” the doctor asked.

For a few seconds I said nothing and began to remember what happened with Sol, the images came to my mind like a movie and anxiety overwhelmed me. The doctor, noticing this, squeezed my hand.

“Take your time.”

“Someone pointed a gun at me and... I don’t remember what happened...”

“You were shot,” he replied, and added: “Do you remember that?”

“Yes,” I confirmed, and Henry began to stroke my hair when he saw tears flowing uncontrollably.

“It’s okay, it’s over now. I’ll explain what happened,” said the doctor, and began his explanation.

He informed me that I had been shot in the shoulder, which had damaged an artery and caused hemorrhaging. Everyone had acted quickly and they had successfully operated on me, and I was out of danger. He explained that I was on strong painkillers and might feel weak due to the large amount of blood I had lost, although I had already received a transfusion. I looked at Henry who was shaking his head and continuing to caress me while looking at me with anguish. His face reflected the horror he had lived through.It seemed like he hadn’t slept in days because his face showed the marks of exhaustion and distress.

The nurse returned with water and helped me drink a little.

“If you need anything, call us immediately. I’m here for whatever you need, Dalina. Now you need to rest. I’ll come by later to see how you’re doing,” said the doctor, said goodbye and left the room followed by the nurse.

As soon as we were alone, he sat beside me and hugged me.

“Without you, I can’t... I can’t do it,” he sobbed and pressed his forehead against mine again. “I thought I had... I don’t want to remember it.”

I stroked his hair with the hand I could move. Henry shuddered.

“Don’t leave me, please.”

At that moment my brothers entered accompanied by Niky.

“Dali...” she said, and rushed to hug me, but Henry didn’t let her.

“Be careful, Niky.”

“Sorry,” she said, and approached slowly and caressed my face while we both cried.

Niky and I had lived through that horrible situation together, and she had tried at every moment to stay by my side.

“Thank you for taking care of me. I already told everyone how brave you were, how you confronted that lunatic and how you tried to protect me the whole time. I’m so proud of you, I love you so much, Dali...” she affirmed, and rested her head on my stomach while I stroked her hair.

“We already spoke with the doctor,” said Bastián, and added: “Everything is fine, but you need to rest.”

“I’m going to stay with her,” Henry said immediately.

“We figured as much,” said Lolo. “But tomorrow morning we’ll be here and you’ll go rest, otherwise there’s no deal.”

“Lolo is right, my love. I need you to rest and take care of yourself, please,” I asked him.

“Alright, tomorrow when you arrive I’ll go out for a while.”

“How are you feeling, little one?” asked Bastián.

“A bit tired.”

“The doctor told us they were giving you strong painkillers and that you would probably sleep a lot.”