Page 160 of That Last Summer

“Yeah, true,” says the blond. “I was pretty sure my brother-in-law would be here drowning his sorrows, and I couldn’t let the opportunity pass.”

“Asshole,” I blurt out to no one in particular. The word came out by itself. As far as I’m concerned, Adrián can go and drown in fucking hearts with his redheaded girlfriend and let me live in peace.

“Adrián, what’s wrong?” Carmen asks.

“Did my sister try to visit Alex at the hospital when he had the skiing accident?”

Sister. Hospital. Alex.My body freezes at those three simple words. What the hell does this mean, Adrián?

“What? What are you talking about?” the redhead asks.

The redhead? Damn, even Priscila’s way of speaking has rubbed off on me.

“I think my question was clear enough, Carmen. Almost four years ago, Alex had a skiing accident. Do you remember that?”

“Adrián, what is this about?”

“Answer me, please. Do you remember Alex’s accident? You worked—you still work—at the hospital where he was transferred.”

The two redheads exchange a look and I don’t understand shit about anything. Only three words are reverberating in my head right now, nonstop: sister; hospital; Alex. My heart starts beating hard. I know Adrián wants to defend Priscila, that it’s ridiculous to get my hopes up, but... my heart is throbbing.

“Yes, of course I remember.”

“And do you remember Priscila going to see him on January 6th?”

“No, that I don’t remember,” Carmen affirms without hesitation.

“Interesting. You talked to her and everything.”

“That’s what she says.”

“What she says? You don’t know where I got this information from. I haven’t told you.”

“I guessed.”

“Please, don’t guess. Although you’re right, she did tell me. So? Did you see her or not? Did you talk to her? Are you the only person, apart from Carolina, who knew that my sister had gone to the hospital to see her husband?”

Where are you heading with all this, Adrián? Suddenly, I remember something Priscila said when she caught her beloved brother, her favorite person in the world, in bed with a girl with orange hair: “There are almost four billion women living in this world and there are only two vetoes. That girl is one of them.”

I didn’t give it another thought. And now that everything has come to light, I understand her hatred towards Carolina—Priscila thought I was cheating on her with the redhead. But... what about the sister? Why do you hate the sister, Queen of the Desert? Why, if she had nothing to do with the fucking photo?

Adrián and Priscila haven’t been themselves for weeks, not how they used to be, and this girl is the cause. Priscila loves her brother above anything in the world, so she must have her reasons, strong ones. Carmen did something to her. Something terrible. And Adrián would never hurt his sister on purpose. Adrián has no fucking idea—had no idea—why Priscila hated his girlfriend. Fuck! Why the hell didn’t I think about it? Why did I let it go?

“A lot of people visited him, Adrián, it’s impossible to remember.”

“But she was his wife, not just any visitor; I don’t think it went unnoticed. In fact, it’s not just something I think. I’m sure.”

Too many beers for so many tongue-twisters. I remain silent. Right now I can’t seem to say anything coherent. Is there really a possibility that Priscila came to see me?

“Come on, Adrián, what difference does it make if she went or she didn’t?! It was like a thousand years ago; I don’t see the point in talking about all this now.”

Please, please, don’t,I beg my brother-in-law with my eyes, silently. Don’t leave it like that. I need to know.

“Carmen, I don’t feel like playing cat and mouse right now. I’ll get to the point. You saw my sister, you talked to her, and you are the reason she left her husband. I just want to know why.”

“I did no such thing!”

“Priscila says differently.”