Chapter 6

“Well yes, when you try sex all those ills will go away, exhaustion, even stress, but you are so demanding that not even the spirit of Christmas works a miracle for me, even though this year on your birthday we collectively wished that you would find a man.”

“I'm not demanding, I'm just clear about how I want things to be. Besides, not all men accept and understand our career. I also don't want a relationship right now. Men think that women should be at their beck and call, serve them, and give them explanations, and I'm not cut out for that, not at all.”

“Come on, if he doesn't have blue, green, gray, blond eyes and be a millionaire, he's no good to you.”

That's not true. First of all, it's not my fault I'm attracted to men with light eyes. Second, he doesn't have to be blond, he just has to impress me, sweep me off my feet, leave me speechless. And lastly, he doesn't have to be a millionaire, but he does have to be a stable, hardworking man who helps me, not someone who gets in my way, lazy and uninspired. And stop saying that part; anyone who hears you will think I'm a gold digger.

“Well, you always say he has to be a millionaire.”

“No, what I'm saying is that he can't be poorer than me, that he can't be on my level. I'm a professional, I've worked hard to achieve everything I have, to help at home. The least I expect is a man who's on my level, not below me. Now, if he comes with money, a car, and everything, it doesn't bother me. Even so, those kinds of people are complicated. They don't take anything seriously, they don't believe in love or any of that nonsense, and even if that were the case, I'm not going to become a kept woman or quit my job so that a man can solve my problems.”

“Yes, but you can't just sit there staring at the ceiling waiting for that man to parachute down at your feet or come and say,"Here I am.”

“Oh well, it'll come when it comes. Changing the subject, do you know who came to the hospital?”

I was looking out the window of the hospital ward, there were two identical black vans in front of the hospital, some people got out who must have been important because they even had bodyguards.

“No, why?” Approaching the window where I was.

“Wow, look at that, important people are coming to visit us.”

“He's definitely from the government, a minister or something, because they're the only ones who can afford to be so well taken care of.”

“Or the millionaires to watch their backs.”

“Yes, Camila, but I don't think a millionaire would come to this hospital that's falling apart when he could go to a majestic clinic, right?”

“You're absolutely right about that. Well, whoever it is, they're not coming for us, so let's finish up and see if we can leave early.”

“Yes, when we finish, will you accompany me to the observation room? I want to see how the child from last night is doing.”

Half an hour after fighting with the new mothers who wanted to leave without complying with the relevant schedule or the established laboratories, indicating care measures to those who were being discharged and making the last notes in the histories, admitting the new patients, we had finally completed the work.

“Okay Valentina, that's it, we're done so let's go before one of the older guys sees us and doesn't let's leave.”

"Aren't you the one who says you're not a slave?"I mock her."If you want, you can go ahead and we'll meet at the residence while I go see how the child is doing with the hemorrhage."

“You're the only woman handing over the shift, she's falling asleep, and yet before rushing out of here she wants to go and see how the other patients are doing.”

“I'm just going to find out about one that I attended to myself yesterday, so stop stressing.”

I said goodbye to the nurses on the floor and went straight to the pediatric observation room to see how my patient was doing; Camila stayed in the residence to get her things ready.

“*-.”

When I entered the apartment it was a disaster, there were so many people it looked like a council meeting, there were men in black suits who were scary, I could bet they were armed, that's when I realized that they were surely the men who got out of the vans we had seen in front of the hospital, suddenly I saw the director through one of the observation windows he was with two gentlemen.

They looked like very important people, and that must be because the director doesn't waste his time with just anyone.

One of the men was tall with light, almost blond hair, elegant, handsome, and his face seemed familiar, but I couldn't remember where I had seen him before. The other gentleman with them wasn't clearly visible from where he was, but I could tell he was a tall man with brown hair. He walked with impressive confidence and elegance. It was strange, but it sent a shiver down my spine that I couldn't explain. When I entered the room, Thiago was on the desk looking at the crowd visiting the children, and his face wasn't exactly friendly.

When I followed his gaze, I saw that man approach the bed of one of the children. He looked so fragile, connected to so many wires, oxygen, pale, that I almost started crying right there in front of those strangers. But that's not allowed, or at least not in front of the staff, patients, and especially not family members, so I held back my tears as best I could. When I saw that man bring his head close to my little one's, kiss his forehead, and then run one of his hands over his bandaged head, it filled me with such tenderness.

It's not very common to see a man of that stature make those kinds of gestures; neither the director, nor doctors or nurses do. I was impressed, I must admit. I wish I could see his face, but his back is to me. I wanted to see his expression, to know if he was only making those gestures because he had an audience or if it really came naturally to him. There were gestures that couldn't be faked, and I'm good at reading expressions.

"This is absurd,"I hear Thiago say."Can you believe it? He never comes to this area, he doesn't even care, and suddenly he shows up here with this whole battalion, pretending to care about the patients. It makes me angry. I want to punch him in the face to make him take things seriously."

“Calm down, angel, you know him, he's only good for showing off, giving orders, and making our lives miserable. Do you know who they are?”

"No, all I know is that they're the ones who came a week ago when the operating room area was closed to fix the pipes, or at least one of them,"the blond man next to the director said, pointing at me.

“Do you mean they're the ones from the bank? The ones doing the hospital renovations for the pediatric department?”

“It must be, sweetie, what are you doing here?” She says, changing the subject so drastically. “I thought you were in the house or that the visiting pass was over.”

“I finished a moment ago, there weren't many in the hospital this time, I was already leaving, but I went downstairs to find out how my little one is doing.”

“I should have known you'd come to ask, because it's still the same, there's no improvement, but it hasn't gotten worse either, it's just as you left it.”

“We spoke with Dr. Cárdenas to get a second opinion from neurology. He says he's coming to see him tomorrow. He wants to talk to you because you were the one who received and treated him.” He tells me, bringing me out of my daze.

"Oh, what were you saying?"I reply.

“What are you thinking about, girl? I'm telling you that Dr. Cárdenas is coming to evaluate him tomorrow and he wants you to be present because you know the case, you received him.”

“Ah, yes, that's fine, let me know when he's here so I can go down and talk to him.”

“What are you looking at so much?”