Chapter 5

"We've arrived, sir; since you haven't answered and it seems your mind is far away,"he said, looking at me,"Is there anything I can do to help?"

“If you know how to change a woman's mind, you'll solve all my problems. I don't know why they're so determined to tie a man down.”

“My friend, that's harder than rebuilding the Berlin Wall and getting Greeks and Trojans to sit at the same table without fighting. Why? Is Miss Bianca pressuring you, or has another young lady come along claiming a piece of you?”

“Who wouldn't want a piece of this hottie? I thought there was no woman in this world who could make me romantic, confident, and much less faithful enough to be more than a few nights.”

“Who knows, my friend, there must be a woman out there waiting for you, she'll be the one to change your life.”

“No, if there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that I prefer to be with thousands of women who know they're just for the moment than one who seems like a saint but is worse than all of them put together.”

There's a saying that goes,"Every king has his queen,"only you haven't found yours yet, but when you do, you'll know. You can feel it, believe me, I know from experience.

“Well, then let's wait for the queen who's going to squeeze every last penny out of my accounts and leave me like a deer in a pen.”

“Why do you think that way about women? I know you have many, I've witnessed it, I know you treat them specially, maybe one of them is yours and because you think that way you don't see her, don't be surprised if it's even Miss Bianca.”

"Of all those women, tell me, who was the first to say no to me, or who had any trouble opening her legs to me? They're all the same, every single one, some more than others, but that's what they're after: money, fame, pleasure. And they disguise themselves as innocent, defenseless Samaritans. Bianca is the expert at that, so if she's supposed to be my queen, I'd rather stay as we are. And I'm leaving now, it's getting late. Pick me up in three hours."

"Yes, sir, but don't forget what I told you. Later in my office, I was reviewing the notes Leonardo made when he went to Kronenberg Medical Center to check on the progress of the construction. I was supposed to go myself, but I have more important things to do than supervise a hospital, so I sent Leonardo. After all, it was your wife's idea, wasn't it?"

"Hey little brother,"I heard Helena's voice from the back of the room. She was standing in the office doorway and looking at me in a very strange way; she seemed angry.

“Hey Leni, what are you doing here? Why do you have that grumpy face?”

Nothing, it's just that I found out my husband missed his doctor's appointment this morning because he had to supervise a construction project that I thought my brother was supposed to be in charge of. Could you explain that to me, Adrian?

First: sit down, standing there reminds me of Dad when he used to scold us. Second: I didn't know Leonardo had to go to the doctor; is he feeling unwell, is something wrong? And third: I had business to attend to, Helena couldn't go.

“But you promised you would go, when people see you they are afraid of you because of how imposing you are, therefore, they know they have to go faster, they don't try to be clever and you are the best architect I know.”

"Fast? But they've already made a lot of progress in less than six months, Helena. Leonardo knows how to do his job, or don't you trust your husband?"

“Of course I trusted him, but I wanted you, not him, to see the facilities and interact with the doctors so you could see why I want to do this project. Don't think I didn't realize you didn't like the idea of me making this donation.”

My sister knows me very well, she can read my thoughts, I couldn't lie to her, it's true; when she started describing her ideas about the project at the hospital I thought it was just some simple consultations, donating a few small things and then moving on to another project or foundation, that's why I told her to bring me the plans to help her, but when she showed up a few days later at my office with them, ideas, budgets everything changed.

I hadn't seen her so excited since my nephews, Mila and Jonas, were born. Leonardo was very happy to see her like this; it was very strange. They exchanged glances as if they were sharing something between them that no one else knew. I knew that for some reason this project meant a lot to them, especially to my sister, but seeing the budget for everything it was going to cost us, the time it was going to take, all the materials that were going to be requested, I didn't expect it, and apparently she realized it.

“It's not that I don't like it, I support you, it's just that I have things to do, Leonardo was more excited to go, so I let him.”

"Adrian, I know Leonardo likes the idea and he'll see everything as fine, but I want you to supervise. You'll be much more objective than he is. I don't want them to take advantage of his feelings about this. So promise me you'll go."I know there's something behind those words that they haven't told me, so I did what any brother and friend would do.

“Okay, I'll go to the next one, I'll talk to whoever I need to talk to, I'll give my observations and I'll relieve whoever I need to, okay?”

“Yes, wonderful, when you go you're going to love everything that's planned, what's more, I have a hunch that you're going to end up more in love with this project than I am, I assure you.” She gives me a kiss and leaves.

“Helena...” She turns around with that fresh smile -you know we need to talk, about why this project is so important to both of us, right?

“Someday, little brother, someday.”

And so he left my office, confirming to me that this project is not something common for them, it deserves my effort.

I was leaving the operating room area; I had an emergency with one of my children. Because every child who was born or admitted to the hospital, I felt them as my own. I'm crazy, I know. The attending physicians or heads of the service keep telling me that they aren't mine, that I shouldn't be attached to them, but I can't help it. I feel committed when they come into my hands; I fall in love with them.

It had been a very difficult shift; we hadn't stopped working since we received the shift at four in the afternoon and it was already six in the morning. We hadn't had dinner the night before, much less breakfast. There were four of us on each shift team. They had brought us a two-year-old child who had fallen from the bunk and received a very hard blow to his head.

The hospital wasn't the best for dealing with trauma situations; the trauma and neurology services helped a little, but you always have to argue with them.

We are the only nearby hospital in the Santa Clara Parish located in the city that could serve the inhabitants of the areas; we did a lot with the little we had.

The mother came in carrying the child in her arms. There was blood all over his head, neck, and part of his chest. As soon as I saw him, I knew it was a traumatic brain injury (a blow to the head). I instructed one of the interns to interview the mother while we attended to the child. We found a small but very bleeding open wound in the occipital region (the lower part of his skull). We inserted an IV to administer treatment. When the intern arrived, he told us that the child had fallen from a bunk bed and hit his head. He had been unconscious since then, so we ordered a CT scan of his head. It's not very reliable, only works when it wants to, but at least this time it worked.

We realized he had a hemorrhage; it was mild, but it could spread and cause permanent damage, so he had to be taken to the operating room for surgery. Everything had gone relatively well, but we were called a few hours later notifying us of complications with the child. We had to operate again, and we realized that another hemorrhage had developed, causing severe bleeding, and now he was under observation.

That made me feel frustrated, in a bad mood. I didn't like it when a child had to fight for their life. The worst part was seeing their parents' faces when I gave them bad news; I hated that.

It was dawn and I had to hand over the shift to the incoming medical team. I hadn't even finished the night's progress notes for the patients in the critical care area. I was stressed, worried, and about to explode.

But there was my great and beautiful guardian angel, Thiago; saving my skin once again. I finished my notes and his, and he also had my respective hot chocolate to wake me up; some people drink coffee, I drink chocolate, I don't know what I would do without him, I adore him.

“My angel, thank you, you didn't have to do that, you should have gone to rest.”

“Don't worry, my sweetheart, I knew you were busy. By the way, how's the baby?”

“Well, she has a hemorrhage, we managed to reduce it, but she isn't out of danger yet and is now under observation; her parents were devastated.”

“Don't get upset, it's part of our job, good days and bad days, don't get too close to the children, we've told you.”

“It's not that easy, they are so fragile and defenseless, I feel that if I don't take care of them I'm not doing my job.”

You can't save everyone. You'd better go take a bath; I'll hand it over. I'm staying on this duty anyway.

He winks at me, and I insist I don't know what I'd do without him. We get along so well that sometimes I understand why people think we're more than that.

After taking a bath and changing, I felt like new. I was on my shift and thank God there weren't many patients, which meant I could leave early. I was falling asleep in every corner; every post-shift is horrible.

"Maya, wake up,"Camila told me."We're almost finished with the magazine, you look exhausted."

“The guard duty was anything but calm, I feel like a rag doll being carried around, my body feels heavy.”

"Do you know what you need? Maya"- that was his nickname for me, he said I looked like the protagonist of children's cartoons, so I stayed like that.