She stood up and pulled up her shoulders to give herself even more stature.
She really does think she is a queen, I thought.
“I’ll make arrangements immediately. Get yourself prepared. Go back to speaking Spanish.”
She turned to leave.
“The truth in any language is still the truth, and the truth is that you are the one who suffers, Tía Isabela. You have no family. You will suffer all three deaths the same day your body dies, but don’t worry, I’ll light a candle for you.”
She glared back at me and walked out.
It didn’t make me feel any better to say these things to Tía Isabela. Whether I was able to pierce her armor and reach into her heart or not no longer mattered. I certainly didn’t feel as though I had accomplished anything or got the better of her. Events in our lives had seriously wounded us both, perhaps fatally. The truth was, she and I had more in common than she would ever admit or realize.
I was anticipating someone coming for me as quickly as she had promised, but no one came to tell me to get ready to leave all afternoon. Finally, right before dinner, Dr. Jensen stopped in to see how I was and told me that mi tía Isabela had seen the chief administrator, and I would be leaving the clinic sometime late in the morning.
“You’re off all of the medication, Delia. There’s no need for any drugs. You’ll be fine, I’m sure,” he said. “Are there any questions I can answer, anything else I can do for you?”
“No, Dr. Jensen. I am grat
eful for what you have done already. Gracias.”
“You can still make a very good life for yourself, Delia,” he said, and patted me on the back of my hand.
“Not only for myself now,” I reminded him.
He smiled and then thought about another patient and left. I sat staring out the window until I was told to go to the cafeteria for some dinner. I went and ate, thinking that now I should try to take better care of myself. I could see from the way the staff looked at me that news of my pregnancy had spread quickly.
After dinner, I tried to distract myself by watching some television, but I found I was too jittery. I had so much to think and to worry about very soon. Exactly what arrangements would Tía Isabela be making for me? Would she give me any money when she sent me packing off to Mexico? Would I be simply dropped over the border? I had to think about who might take me in and what I might do to keep myself from starving.
I wondered if Tía Isabela would tell Edward about my pregnancy. If Sophia knew, which I suspected, she would surely enjoy calling him to tell him. Would it make him angry, or would he feel sorry for me?
Every time I heard footsteps in the hallway outside my room, I anticipated seeing Edward in the doorway, but he did not appear. It grew later and later, and finally, I was too tired to stay awake and went to bed.
I dressed quickly in the morning, anticipating a long day of travel. It was overcast outside and quite a gray morning. Lights were still on in the hallway. No one came before breakfast, but just afterward, I heard male voices in the corridor and thought about Edward again. I smiled in anticipation of seeing him, but the figure who appeared in the doorway, shrouded for a moment in shadows, was older and broader in his shoulders. The shape of his head was familiar. For a moment, I thought I was about to confront a ghost, and then he stepped into the light, and I gasped.
It was Señor Bovio.
He stood there looking in at me and then took off his hat.
“Do you mind if I come in?”
“No, señor.”
“Gracias,” he said, and sat across from me. He gazed around the room and nodded. “Your aunt put you in a very fine clinic, and a very expensive one, I might add.”
I didn’t want to say anything bad about Tía Isabela, so I just nodded.
“I know your doctor. I saw him before I came to your room. He says you’re doing well.”
“He’s been very kind,” I said.
He nodded and tapped his hat on his knee. “You know I stopped campaigning after Adan’s death.”
“I am sorry, señor. Maybe you would still win.”
He shook his head. “I wasn’t doing that well before Adan’s death. As hard as it might be for you to believe, I’ve been outspent. Television advertisements, campaign committees, all of it goes into the millions and millions. My opponent is up to thirty-two million.”
My jaw dropped, and he laughed.