The Florencia Lozano Homepage - Fan Fiction
AFFLICTION
BY TROG |
CHAPTER
3 |
CHAPTER 3
When the elevator opened all anyone could see was a spray of bight, pink roses as Tea maneuvered the heavy vase with two dozen blossoms in her arms and carried a shopping bag in her hands. Carefully making her way down the drab corridor she pushed the flowers aside, as if she were peeking out from behind a rosebush, and finally saw Carlotta’s room in the distance. As she approached she noticed Antonio and Cris exiting her room and when they noticed her they smiled and walked over, taking the heavy vase from her.
“Thanks, Cris. How’s your mother today?” she asked.
“Okay...I guess. She looks a little pale,” he said, avoiding her eyes. “I think she could use some cheering up.”
“Well, that’s what I’m here for,” she said.
“Hey...I have to go to work. I’m really glad you’re hear, chica,” said Antonio, leaning in and kissing her good-by.
Cris carried the floors into Carlotta’s room for Tea and placed them on a table beside Carlotta’s bed. The hot pink color of the roses looked like a bright spot of life against the monochromatic white sterility of the room. Carlotta was sitting up slightly looking thin and pale--her hair matted, her eyes dejected. When she noticed Tea her face lit up immediately.
“Good morning, Mija...I’m so glad you’re here. I love the flowers...thank you,” she said, sounding a little out of breath.
Tea walked over, kissed her forehead, and embraced her warmly.
“Mommy, I gotta get back to the diner...I’ll come by later,” Cris said, leaning down and kissing his mother. “I’ll see you later, Tea.”
When Cristian walked out Tea grabbed a chair and sat by Carlotta’s bed, holding her hand.
“How do you feel...really?” asked Tea with deep concern.
Carlotta’s eyes filled with tears as she looked at Tea’s lovely face, so filled with sincere love and compassion.
“It hurts so much, Tea, I find I have new found respect for pain. It’s very humbling. And... I’m so scared I‘m going to die and that I won‘t see my children’s children. And...I feel...like a piece of me is missing. That part of me that makes me a woman. They took everything out of me, querida...my cervix...my fallopian tubes...my ovaries...and my uterus. All those medical terms, those parts of a woman’s body I learned about in school that were inside of me...their all gone. My uterus, Tea, where I carried my precious boys. I feel so empty,” she said, breaking into tears.
Tea hugged her.
“It’s okay...all that matters is that they got the cancer. That’s what’s important...your life. And you are not going to die, not until you‘re a hundred at least. Your uterus has done its job and not having one does not detract from who you are...the most incredible woman and mother I have ever known. Just look at those incredible sons of yours.”
Carlotta smiled.
“Yes...they are wonderful. I hope someday you’ll be as lucky.”
Tea’s eyes misted and she turned away quickly, picking up the shopping bag she’d brought with her.
“I brought you something that is guaranteed to cheer you up. It’s exactly what you need in your frame of mind.”
“What is it?”
“A woman’s best friend...make-up!” said Tea, taking a large make-up kit out of the bag and holding it up as Carlotta giggled.
“What you need is a little color to enhance that beautiful face of yours and you’ll feel much better.”
Tea placed some pillows behind Carlotta and started to apply some rosy blush to her cheeks with a large, fluffy brush.
“So, querida, tell me...how’s married life?”
Tea stopped for a second than pulled out some brown eyeshadow.
“It’s...different. Not what I expected,” she said, trying to sound cheerful, but Carlotta noticed the hesitation in the tone of her voice.
“That’s a strange description, Tea. You’re happy?”
Tea applied some color to Carlotta’s eyelids and combed her eyebrows expertly into a perfect arch.
“Of course! Who wouldn’t be happy with a man like Aaron. He’s perfect.”
“Yes, he certainly is, Mija. And he’s crazy about you...I could tell from you’re wedding day...the way he looked at you. Though you seemed very nervous and distracted.”
Tea twisted a golden tube of lipstick to reveal a lovely, soft red color. She applied it across Carlotta’s lips slowly being careful not to smudge it as Carlotta spoke.
“Well...it was sort of rushed. We put it all together in a couple of weeks. I guess I thought...something would go wrong. Anyway...I’m glad you were there as my maid of honor.”
Carlotta watched her carefully. Her long ,golden-brown hair spilling gracefully over her shoulders, her deep burgundy lips the shade of her sweater, her dark, luminous eyes avoiding hers.
“Yes...it did happen rather quickly, querida. Right after I told you about Todd remarrying Blair,” said Carlotta, watching her friend’s expression sadden deeply at the mention of his name.
Tea stopped working on Carlotta and got up quickly, turning her back on her. She fished through her handbag and dug out a hairbrush, collecting her emotions before returning to the bed.
“Mi amiga...your hair’s a mess,” she said jokingly, as she brushed Carlotta’s hair absentmindedly.
“Tea, you didn’t marry Aaron to forget Todd. Did you?”
Tea stopped brushing her hair and stared at the hairbrush, pulling hairs out of it and weaving them between her fingers.
“Carlotta...I gave up on Todd a long time ago...when I left him,” she said rather sadly.
“Then why do you look so sad...not like a new bride should look?”
Tea turned to her.
“Because my greatest friend in the world...the woman who is like a mother to me...just had major surgery and is looking at a long road to recovery. This has nothing to do with Todd. I’m just worried about you...that’s all.”
Carlotta touched her face affectionately.
“I’m so glad you’re here, Tea. And don’t worry about me,” said Carlotta.
Tea finished brushing her hair.
“There. You look lovely...as usual.”
“Thanks...I feel better already,” said Carlotta smiling as a nurse entered the room with an orderly.
“I’m sorry Mrs. Vega, but we need to take you down to radiology.”
Tea got off the bed.
“Carlotta, I’ll go and get some coffee and come back when you’re done,” said Tea as they wheeled Carlotta’s bed out of the room. Tea follow and waved to Carlotta then headed for a coffee vending machine at the end of the hall.
He watched her from around the corner, contemplated her slender softness in a wine-colored sweater and jeans as she bent down to take her coffee and began walking slowly toward a small lounge that was near-by. The last time he saw her, her hair just touched her shoulders, now it was long, the way he loved it. The sharp pain in his stomach ate ravenously away at him as he approached her.
Tea leafed through a magazine carelessly, before she looked up suddenly and turned toward the lounge entrance. Golden hair and hazel eyes leapt out at her from the doorway--Todd was standing there just watching her silently . The magazine slipped out of her trembling hand and fell to the floor by her feet as she stood up and faced him for the first time in two years--the first time since she left him.
to be continued...
2001 Copyright by Trog
FanFiction Home
Home
