I changed clothes and went to do my chores. When I was cleaning one of the downstairs powder rooms, I heard a scream and then the sound of many footsteps in the hallway. I stepped out to see Señor Garman hurrying past the kitchen on his way to the front entrance. Señora Rosario and Inez came hurrying down the hallway as well. Slowly, I walked out and saw mi tía Isabela rushing down the stairway.
“What’s happening?” I asked Inez.
“Señor Edward was in a car accident,” she told me. “An ambulance is taking him to the hospital.”
“Hospital?”
My blood chilled, and my heart began to pound.
“The car’s out front, Mrs. Dallas,” Señor Garman told her, and held the door open.
I watched Tía Isabela run out the front entrance. Señor Herrera came up behind us, and Señora Rosario explained why there was such commotion. He shook his head and returned to the kitchen.
“Where’s Sophia?” I asked, looking back up the stairway. “Isn’t she home yet?”
“Forget Miss Sophia, just finish your work,” Señora Rosario told me. “There’s nothing for us to do but that.”
My hands were trembling so badly I didn’t think I could do anything, but I returned to the powder room and washed the tile floor. Hours passed, and we heard nothing. Sophia didn’t return home, either. I showered and changed my clothes for dinner as usual and then went down to the kitchen, where Señor Herrera, Inez, and Señora Rosario were all sitting around the table talking. Nothing was being prepared.
“What’s happening?” I asked, my voice so thin and low it betrayed my fear of hearing the answer.
“Señor Garman called to tell us Señor Edward was seriously injured and is still unconscious,” Señora Rosario said.
“He may die,” Inez added.
Neither of them contradicted her.
“Señora Dallas won’t be home for dinner. You can get yourself something to eat,” Señora Rosario said. She was looking at me but really looking through me at the tragedy unfolding.
“I’m not hungry,” I said. “Thank you.”
“None of us is hungry,” Inez said.
“What should we do?” I asked.
“We can do nothing but wait,” Señora Rosario replied.
I thought about sitting with them but chose instead to return to my room, where I could say a prayer for Edward. Then I lay on my bed, looking up at the ceiling and listening to the sounds around me, the clock ticking, the murmur of the voices below, and the thump, thump, thump of my own troubled heart. Close to two hours later, I heard someone running up the stairway. My heart stopped and started. I sat up when my bedroom door was thrown open.
Sophia stood there, glaring in at me.
“What did you tell Edward this time?” she demanded, her hands on her hips. Her hair was wild, and her eyes were blazing as her nostrils flared.
“How is he?” I asked, instead of answering her.
“What did you tell Edward?” she screamed at me.
I heard more footsteps in the hallway. Señora Rosario came up beside her.
“What’s going on?” she asked me.
I shook my head.
“Ask her what she told my brother,” Sophia ordered. “Go on, ask her. Do it!” she screamed at her when Señora Rosario hesitated with confusion.
Then she spoke in Spanish. “What did you tell her brother?”
“I know what she wants. I understand. First tell me how he is now,” I insisted.