Chapter 2
Time seemed to move slowly for everyone in the room. Isabela didn’t act quickly enough to catch her sister. By the time she realized she was falling and her vines reaching out to grab her, it was too late. Mirabel collided with the ground shoulder first, then head and elbow. A sickening crunch filled the air as her arm collided with the tiled floor. Mirabel was completely still, and no one in the room even breathed.
Isabela stared in shock at the still body of her youngest sister. She didn’t know how much time had passed before she was shoved out of the way by her sister. Julieta rushed to her youngest daughter's side and knelt down at her side. Luisa shoved passed Isabela and out the door, likely to get the town doctor. Isabela couldn’t move, she just allowed people to shove past her and away from her sister. She could barely register Abuela grabbing her by her arm and demanding answers. She didn’t respond, instead, she jolted away from Abuela and ran to her room and shut the door.
Luisa burst through the front door, the doctor and all his supplies over her shoulders. Like everything. He looked scared and was still in his night clothes when she put him down, but all confusion quickly turned to panic. He grabbed his bag and knelt down and began examining Mirabel. He felt around her arm and shoulder and moved them just a little. Yup, definitely broken. He carefully turned her head and looked at the back, no blood. That’s good. He cracked her eyes open and reached for his light. Unresponsive. He leaned in to hear her breathing. Irregular. He pinched her. No response.
Just as he feared. He sighed and looked over to Julieta, “Perhaps we should set up an office here. Since Luisa was so kind as to bring everything here, I might need to set up a space for all the equipment so I properly monitor her.”
“But what’s wrong with her? What’s wrong with my baby?” Doctor Manuel sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “From what I can tell, she’s in what we call a coma. It’s what happens when someone suffers a severe head injury and it renders them unconscious for an uncertain amount of time. If at all.” The family remained silent before Julieta burst into tears. She clutched onto Mirabel's arms and begged her to wake up. Pepa leaned down and wrapped her arms around her sister and whispered in her ears, “It's okay. It’s okay. It’ll be okay.”
“From what I can tell, her entire arm is shattered. Her head suffered the most amount of damage, and her shoulder appears to be fractured as well. We’ll need to move her now so I can make sure there isn’t any last damage to her arm. Maybe her room will be better?” Luisa rushed and grabbed everything and raced up the stairs to the nursery. Agustin and Felix helped the doctor move Mirabel onto a stretcher and with the help of Casita she was moved upstairs to her bed. Julieta trailed after them, tears streaming down her face as she wept silently. Abuela breathed shakily, her legs felt like they were about to give out on her. Casita rushed a chair over to her, “Thank you, Casita.” She was alone in the courtyard, she replayed the night's events over and over again in her head. She stared down at the piles of clothes strewed across the floor, the satchel of food, and what looked like climbing gear.
What did a young girl need with all this? It was almost like she was-. Abuela gasped abruptly and placed her hand on her heart. She was planning on running away, wasn’t she? Abuela looked around the floor, her eyes filling with tears. Her pequeña mariposa was running away. She felt someone put their hand on her shoulder. It was Pepa. She had forgotten she was there. “Mama. What happened?”
She kept silent. “Mirabel, she… She fell from the roof.” Pepa gasped and placed her hand on her heart. Her cloud darkened and the wind whipped around them.”Oh my, what was she doing up there? What was doing? Was Isabela trying to help her? Why are all her clothes out here?” She paused, “Was she trying to run away?” Pepa was hyperventilating now. Oh her precious nube. She knew that it was hard for Mirabel, but did she really think that running away was the answer? She already had one family member leave us, and Julieta couldn’t handle another one, especially her own daughter.
Felix came rushing downstairs, Antonio in his arms. “The room’s not big enough.” “What?” Felix explained that the Doctor thought Mirabel had her own room, and that he would be able to monitor her without interruptions, but he didn’t expect her to be staying in the nursery with a child. Abuela rushed up the stairs to the nursery. “Doctor, what is the problem?” Doctor Mandez looked at Alma as if she were a mad woman, “The problem is that there is absolutely no room for any of the equipment that is necessary to monitor Mirabel. There are two beds in here, one for a four-year-old. He could damage the equipment and cause some damage to Mirabel’s recovery. If we can’t get a bigger space for her, I will have to take her to the office to be monitored there.”
Julieta lept forward, “She can stay in my room. Or we’ll make her a room.” Felix stepped forward, “Antonio will sleep with us, and we can move his bed out into the storage closet. It can stay there until Mirabel’s room is finished. Will that be okay?” Doctor Mandez thought for a moment before nodding. “That will do fine. Would you like help with moving the bed?” Luisa grabbed the bed and mattress and left to put it downstairs, Casita helped her when she dropped it on the floor and dragged it away. With more space, Doctor Mandez could move freely and properly set up. Nobody moved the doorway as they watched Mandz inject the IV into Mirabel's arm. Julieta cried into her husband’s chest, “How did this happen? How did this happen to my little girl?”
Abuela sighed and placed her hand on her daughter’s shoulders. “She fell from the roof.’” The room erupted in gasps and demands for answers. “What was she doing up there? How do you know this? Isabela was out there. Where is she?” Before Julieta could turn around, her mother grabbed her arms. “Isabela was trying to save her but it was too late. It shocked her and she ran.”
“But what about the bags and the clothes?” Abuela hesitated, “I believe she was trying to run away.” A cold chill ran down everyone's spine. The thought of Mirabel running away was possibly the worst thing any of them could think about, second to Mirabel never waking up or dying from her injury. Julieta collapsed in tears at the thought of her poor daughter running away, never seeing her again. She couldn’t bare it.
Doctor Mandez walked up to Abuela, “Her vitals are fine, but her arm and shoulder are completely shattered. Her arms and legs will need to be moved regularly, but the head injury looks worse than it actually is. Did you say her sister saw what happened? I would like to ask her a few questions, just to get an idea of how she fell.” Abuela waved him off, “Let's leave her be for now, please. I can answer any questions for now.”
Doctor Mandez gave her a look, but what other choice did he have? “How did she fall?” Abuela hesitated once again, “Mirabel was on top of the roof when I left my room. I heard a noise so I went to investigate. Mirabel was on the roof and Isabela was screaming for her to get down. She tripped, and Isabela didn’t have enough time to catch her.” The doctor nodded, “Where did she fall first? Was it head first?” She shook her head, “No. She hit her shoulder first, then her head and elbow. “
Doctor Mandez nodded. “Well, she’s stable for now. If possible, I would like to stay here a few days a week to keep an eye on her. I understand you and the rest of the family want to keep her close, which is fine. However, I would like for the number of people who visit her to be limited to about two or three people at a time. If I am not here, someone needs to move her limbs and head to prevent clotting. I will be back every day to change her IV bag. Be very careful with her right arm, until she regains consciousness and Julieta can heal her properly, do not move her arm too much, and do not try to feed her anything solid or liquid, she could choke.”
Abuela made a mental note of each rule, all while sneaking glances at Mirabel as if to make sure she was still there. “I understand perfectly Doctor. Thank you. We will arrange a place for you to stay. Would like to go retrieve a few of your things for your stay.” “Yes thank you. I will be back.”
Abuela went back to the family, ready to address everything to everyone. “Everyone. The doctor has just left, but he has given a few rules to make sure Mirabel’s recovery can go smoothly. Firstly, only two to three people are allowed to stay in the room with her. I assume either Julieta or Agustin will be with her at all times so it will be up to them who will come it. Next, we will need to move her arms and legs every so often to keep the blood from clotting. Finally, I know that however tempting it may be, we cannot give her any healing food. It may cause her to choke. So we will wait until she wakes up to properly heal her wounds.”
Julieta and Agstin nodded, they both would stay with Mirabel and Luisa firmly planted herself on the floor next to the bed, a silent statement that she wasn’t leaving any time soon. Everyone else slowly trickled out of the room, giving tearful glances to Mirabel and words of encouragement to Julieta, Agustin, and Luisa. Abuela was the last to go. She ran her palm over the back of Mirabel’s hand and whispered an apology to her before leaving. She closed the door behind, just in time to hear her oldest child break down in sobs once again.
She stood outside the nursery door for a moment to collect herself, silently replaying that moment over and over again in her head. She was so lost in thought that she hadn’t even noticed Camilo walk to her. “Oh, mi camaleon. Aren’t you supposed to be in bed?” Camilo shifted his feet and rubbed his hand over his arm. “I know, Abuela. I just wanted to know: will Mirabel be okay?” She thought about it for a moment and rested her hand on her grandson’s shoulder and pulled him to her side. “I don’t know mijo. But we will not lose hope. Mirabel is strong, we know that. Know off to bed.”
She could tell there was something behind those eyes of his that made her feel a little scared. As he walked to his room she could tell that he was angry, that he blamed her. He had always been protective of his prima, they were born so close and were basically twins. As he closed the door to his room, she felt an unfathomable amount of anger rise within her when her eyes drifted to the door next to his. Isabela’s door.
Slowly started her way towards it.