Promises

The usual silence of the parking lot is momentarily broken by the screeching of tires on the pavement.

Roberto, a young man of approximately twenty-six, steps out of the car in a hurry, completely forgetting to check that the door locks are properly set or to close the slightly open window on the driver’s side.

Roberto’s mind is hazy, lost in nebulous thoughts that overwhelm his feelings. A flood of logical thoughts tells him what to do in case the news is the worst he can imagine. Against those dark thoughts and Machiavellian imaginations, an equally powerful army of positive ideas and encouraging phrases arises from the deepest part of his soul to prevent him from losing all hope.

Walking barely conscious of his actions, he is about to reach the elevator when something in his pocket pulls him out of his reverie.

He quickly pulls out the vibrating object from his pocket and presses a button to read the message.

“Where are you?? She’s already in surgery”

The message was simple and clear. He put the phone back in his pocket and hurried toward the elevator.

As the elevator slowly moves toward the hospital lobby, Roberto begins to remember all the messages he had received in the last three hours, piecing them together into a sequence of terrible events.

“They called from the hospital, Amanda had an accident, she’s in the emergency room”

“I don’t know, I think she was hit, see you at the hospital”

“I’m already here, they say she’s in critical condition and needs surgery, that she might lose the baby.”

When that last message arrived, his foot hit the accelerator and he drove in a dream, recalling every moment he spent with Amanda.

The elevator door opens and his body is nothing more than a puppet controlled by invisible strings that guide him through the people to the waiting room in the emergency area.

When he arrives, his sister is there, standing in front of a doctor wearing blue clothes, white sneakers covered in fabric, a disposable cloth cap, and a mask hanging from his neck.

His sister’s face is framed by tears that are streaming down her cheeks. The woman’s look of desolation foretells the words he does not want to hear.

The doctor stares at him directly, not knowing what to say. He takes refuge in softened medical terms, citing the severity of the injuries, explaining the attempts to save her life and the subsequent failures.

But there’s no point in explaining anything. Roberto’s mind was absent, dreaming of Amanda’s smile that summer afternoon they met, the gleam of her eyes on her wedding day, the strong grip of her hand when they saw the first ultrasound images of their unborn daughter. Roberto’s body trembled, threatening to collapse defeated as his thoughts drifted into the scent of Amanda, into the softness of her skin, into the delight of her laughter, into the warmth of her skin.

Roberto barely heard the tragic ending in the doctor’s words. His mind returned a little to reality when the doctor started talking about his daughter, who was now in an incubator, delicate in health due to her rushed birth, but with great hopes of surviving.

A nurse approached them asking if he was Roberto, Amanda’s husband. Barely conscious, he nodded and the nurse placed a piece of paper in his hands while murmuring condolences.

His eyes looked at the weak traces of ink and recognized Amanda’s handwriting, trembling and imprecise, but with the beauty only she could infuse into words.

“The doctor says I have to be operated on, our baby’s life is in danger and we can’t wait.

I made the doctor promise to do everything possible to save our daughter, even if I have to die so she can live.

I know we promised each other many things, we promised to watch the sunset on a virgin beach, to travel to Andalucía and eat cheese, to ride on the back of a dragon.

If you’re reading this, it means we won’t be able to do any of this together, but there is one promise I have to ask of you. I want you to do all those things we promised to do together with our little Lucia. She needs a father who loves her and I’m sure you can make her twice as happy as I have been beside you.

Goodbye my love, remember that I will always love you and don’t forget any of our promises.“

Roberto’s knees gave way, crashing loudly against the hospital floor. A sharp scream filled the room, silencing all conversations and drawing the attention of everyone around.

And there, lying on the floor, Roberto couldn’t stop crying.