Chapter 35 – Mateo
Chapter Thirty-Five
MATEO
The hospital’s waiting room is packed. Shoulder to shoulder. Boots tracking melted snow. Voices low, murmuring their concerns over what is happening with Analyse, what happened to Maya.
Lake City is a small town. And in a small town like ours, when someone gets hurt, the whole damn place shows up. Especially when that someone is Analyse. The entire town loves her and Maya.
Mari is pacing, arms folded tight across her chest. Anna sits beside her, wringing her hands.
Hilda hasn’t said a word since we got here, sitting in her seat, frozen in shock.
Every person is here. Teachers, parents, former students.
They’re all packed into this fluorescent-lit room that smells too clean and feels too damn cold.
And I’m sitting here with Maya curled into me, her cheek against my chest, wrapped in one of the hospital’s scratchy blankets.
She hasn’t said a word in over twenty minutes.
When we walked in, the doctor checked her out right away.
She had mild smoke inhalation and a few scrapes.
Nothing life threatening. They cleared her after a round of oxygen and a full exam. They said she was lucky. Real lucky.
Her little fingers are still clutched in the fabric of my jacket. I think part of her is scared that if she lets go I’ll disappear.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I whisper into her hair.
She doesn’t answer, but her body softens just slightly.
Seb is sitting across from us, elbows on knees, head bowed. Every so often he glances toward the doors, like he can will them to open faster. Like the next person to walk through might bring news that doesn’t hurt.
The fire’s nearly out. Andres texted me ten minutes ago. He said the roof held long enough, and Nathan’s already starting the damage report. But none of that matters right now. Not to me. Because she’s still back there, and I can’t touch her. I can’t hear her voice. I can’t do anything but wait.
A nurse finally walks out. Everyone jerks to attention, the air sucking straight out of the room. Then behind her, the doctor walks in.
“Family of Analyse Garcia?” he asks.
We all rise, but I step forward, Maya still tucked against me.
“She’s stable,” the doctor says immediately, holding up a hand like he knows we’re seconds from unraveling.
“She inhaled a significant amount of smoke, and she’s severely dehydrated.
Her leg took the worst of it from a beam falling on her.
She’s got a complex fracture of the tibia and fibula.
We’re prepping for surgery to stabilize it and insert a rod. ”
Mari lets out a sob. Seb covers his mouth. And I just grip Maya a little tighter.
“She’s conscious,” the doctor continues. “But in a lot of pain. We’ve got her on oxygen and fluids. Once we’ve completed surgery and she’s out of recovery, one of you can sit with her. But it’ll be a few hours.”
“Is she…going to walk again?” Anna’s voice cracks.
The doctor nods. “It’ll be a long road. But yes. She will.”
And with those words, the air shifts. Not joy.
Not yet; we’re not completely out of the woods.
But relief. Because she’s alive. Because we didn’t lose her.
Maya’s mom is still here. I glance down at the little girl in my arms and finally feel her exhale, like she’s been holding her breath since the moment we left the school.
“Can I see her?” she whispers.
I look to the doctor.
“Not yet,” he says gently. “But soon.”
Maya nods, curls falling over her eyes. Then she curls tighter into my chest, and I hold her like a lifeline.
Once we got word that Analyse would be okay, I convinced everyone to head home so that she wouldn’t wake up overwhelmed by visitors.
It took some effort, but Seb and Mari eventually took Maya back to their place for a bath and a real meal.
We promised Maya that I’d call them as soon as Analyse woke up—so she could see her mom.
The seconds feel like hours, the hours feel like days. But I’m a man that can’t be moved…not until I see Analyse.
The nurse finally calls my name. I’m on my feet before she finishes the sentence. The waiting room hum disappears, muffled by the pounding in my ears. I follow her through the hall, past closed doors and machines that beep in rhythm with someone else’s pain.
She stops outside the room and gives me a soft nod. “She’s awake. In and out, but coherent. Just a few minutes, okay?”
I nod, but my throat’s too tight for words. Then I step inside.
The room is dim, lit only by the low glow of the monitors and the fading light leaking through the blinds.
Analyse is lying in the hospital bed, pale against the white sheets, a nasal cannula under her nose, IVs in both arms, and bandages on her temple and leg.
One of her ankles is propped up slightly, and the monitor beside her chirps slowly and steady.
It kills me to see her like this. I’d do anything in the world to trade places with her.
But her eyes are open. And my heart soars. I move to her side quietly, pulling the chair close, not trusting myself to speak. She looks at me for a long moment, lids heavy, lashes wet.
“Mateo…I knew you’d come,” she whispers, voice rough and paper thin.
I swallow hard. My hands are shaking as I reach for hers—careful, gentle, scared she might break if I hold too tight.
“I will always come running back to you, Lyse. Always. You scared the hell out of me,” I say, and my voice cracks.
She gently squeezes my hand. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“Baby, no, don’t say sorry. This isn’t your fault. There was no way you could’ve known that this would happen.”
“Where’s Maya? Is she okay?” Panic laces her voice.
“She’s okay, Lyse. Maya’s okay. I promise. She’s with Seb and Mari, but they’re going to come back as soon as she’s fed and showered.”
“She’s okay?”
“Yeah, baby. You both are okay.”
“Mateo…I know we were in a weird place before all this happened—”
“It’s okay, Lyse. We don’t have to talk about that right now.”
“We do, Mateo. We do. Because life is too damn short. I could’ve died today.
Maya could’ve died.” she says, her voice cracking.
“And I would’ve died without ever having told you how I feel about you.
How much you mean to me. I love you, Mateo.
I love you so much that it scares me. I thought I knew what love was.
I thought I understood what being in love meant.
But now I realize that I didn’t know real love until you came along.
You’ve changed me, Mateo. You’ve altered my chemistry in a way that I could’ve never imagined.
In a way that means my body could never be away from yours.
My soul, my heart, could never be without you,” she says, pressing a soft kiss to my hand.
“You asked me to tell you the truth, and this is it. I want you. I need you. You’re the missing part of my heart.
And I’d be lying if I said that the idea of you having so much control over my heart isn’t freaking me out, but one thing I know for certain is I’d give you my heart any day if it meant always feeling the love that you pour into Maya and I every single day. ”
Tears are streaming down her face, her big brown eyes staring back at me, and I know that this is it. She is it. Her and Maya are it for me.
I lean in and press the softest kiss against her lips, careful to not hurt her.
“I love you, too. You and Maya. I love you both so much. I couldn’t survive it if I lost either of you.
Chula, tu eres mi alma y mi vida. I’d run into that building all over again for you both.
Every single damn time, without a question.
I know it hurt you that Nico left, trust me, I want to lay that motherfucker out, but I need you to know that you’re not alone anymore.
Maya isn’t alone. I love that little girl like she’s my own.
She’s our girl. Our baby girl. And I promise you that I’ll be the father she needs, I’ll be everything you both need forever, if you’ll have me.
As soon as you’re better, I’m gonna make an honest woman out of you, because you’re mine. You always have been.”
“Are you asking me to marry you, Mateo?”
“You’re damn right I am, chula. I know I don’t have the big fancy ring and I’m not on bended knee, but I can’t live without you, Analyse.
I don’t want to go another day knowing that you’re not mine for keeps.
Hell, I don’t wanna go another second. Please make me the happiest man in the world and say yes. ”
We’re both crying now, her fingers threaded through mine.
“Yes.”
“Yes?”
“Yeah, Mateo. I’ll marry you. I want to be your wife. I want everything.”
I jump up in the air, let out a loud whoop, and run to the door and yell, “SHE SAID YES! THIS WOMAN IS GOING TO MARRY ME!”
Everyone begins cheering, and Analyse lets out a small laugh.
“God, I love you,” she says.
“Say it again.”
“I love you.”
“I’ll never get sick of hearing you saying that.”
“And I’ll never get sick of saying it,” she says sleepily, eyes growing heavy.
“Okay, time to rest.”
“I’m okay. Really.”
“Nope. You need your rest. And I’m gonna call Seb to bring our girl so she can see you. I know she’s gnawing at the bits right now.”
“Okay. Just a small nap before I see Maya.”
I lean in and kiss her forehead and turn to walk out the door.
The moment I leave the room, I let out a breath.
What a fucking day. But we made it. My girls are okay, and I’m going to marry the woman of my dreams. I saved them.
I did it. I did what I couldn’t for my family.
I fucking did it. Then I slide down the wall and begin to cry.