Pepa was the first to open the door, dark clouds were beginning to form above her head again from stress, as it had taken them 10 minutes to get Bruno to the house in his condition.
He began staggering once they got to the driveway, clutching his sides and wheezing.
"Bruno, are you ok?! Can you make it inside?" Pepa had asked, wind beginning to whip around her.
Bruno simply nodded in response, in too much pain to say anything.
He wasn't actually sure if he could make it inside. His ribs were sending shooting pains down his body and his head was pounding. He was hoping the girls hadn't heard his occasional pained gasps and whimpers.
The last thing he wanted to do was worry them.
But they did make it inside.
Dolores was holding Bruno up now as the two walked in the door. It was strange to see the seer pass under a doorway without bothering to hold his breath or cross his fingers. All he did was whimper softly and try to keep himself upright.
"Julieta!!" Pepa yelled, "Julieta! We need your help!!"
Moments later, she came running down the hallway.
"What? What happened? Whose-?!" She gasped when she saw Bruno, weakly leaning against Dolores with a bloodied forehead, clutching his side. He offered her a weak smile, but grimaced at his own attempts.
"Bruno! Come, come sit down! Don't say anything, don't even move! You can explain after I heal you." She quickly scurried into the kitchen to make something for Bruno to heal his wounds.
Dolores gently sat Bruno down on the couch. "Bruno.." she said softly, "I'm so sorry we didn't show up earlier."
The seer shook his head softly, straining slightly from the effort of getting to la casita. "Dolores it's ok. You-you helped me." He took a moment to himself as he waited for a sharp pain to go away. "You have nothing to worry about, we have a really good cook in the family after all." He said with a slight chuckle, then clenched his teeth when he realized that was a bad idea.
She placed a hand on Bruno's shoulder as Pepa ran out of the room to fetch something.
It was quiet for a moment before Dolores spoke again, softly. Now was the perfect time to ask Bruno about why he'd been acting so strange. It wasn't like he could run off to his room in his current condition and he needed a distraction from the pain.
"While we're here, I've been meaning to ask you something." Dolores lowered her voice even more than usual, "What's going on with you? Even when you lived in the walls you didn't mutter this much. I hear it all the time."
"Ah s-sorry-" Bruno said strenuously, "I-I didn't think- well-...it's not keeping you awake, is it?"
Dolores sighed, "Everything keeps me awake. What's keeping you awake?"
"Nothing, nothing. Everything's fine."
"If it's nothing why do I hear you pacing around your room at night? Or trembling? I hear you trembling sometimes and I'm just worried about you. And the other night you were muttering something about 'holding it back.'"
"Holding it back?" Bruno echoed. "...oh, right." He sighed. "Dolores, if I tell you, you have to promise you won't tell anyone."
Bruno wasn't sure why he had made the decision to tell her. People are more honest when they're tired and at the moment Bruno was very tired. That combined with the fact that Dolores was the reason he had gotten help probably contributed. He always felt he could trust her.
"I promise."
"Ok." Bruno said. "I've been having involuntary visions. They just come to me randomly and I can't- I can't seem to shake them off or fight them off. Whenever I try, it hurts, and they're always so scary-" he seemed to be panicked now, forgetting about his injuries, "They make me feel so tired and dizzy and I think maybe they are caused by stress or maybe me not using my gift for so long and I just wish they would stop because I never know when they're going to happen and I don't want it to happen in front of you guys-"
Bruno suddenly hunched forward in pain with a whimper, clutching his stomach.
"It's ok, it's ok, she's almost done. You'll be fine in no time." Dolores said softly, a look of concern on her face. "Thank you for telling me. I understand how stressful that must be..."
"Here!" Pepa popped in a doorframe, a dark thundering cloud following her as she leant down next to Bruno with a washcloth. She gently began washing the blood off his face with it. Even once Julieta healed him, he would still have the dirt and blood on him from his quarrel.
Mirabel and Abuela followed, hands over their mouths and eyes wide and sympathetic.
"Tio Bruno, I'm so so sorry, I didn't-I didn't think anybody would be out!" Mirabel exclaimed.
Bruno gave her a soft look that said "it's ok" wincing slightly as Pepa cleaned his face. He brought his hands up to stop her as Julieta entered the room, carrying a small quesadilla and a glass of water.
"Step aside, step aside, give him space." Julieta said, causing everyone to step away from their disheveled family member.
"Sorry I'm just worried!" Pepa exclaimed.
"I know, I know, it's ok. He'll be in top shape in no time." Julieta placed the glass of water on the wooden table beside Bruno, and gently set the quesadilla in his lap. "Go on, eat."
"Thank you Julieta." Bruno said softly, earning him a worried kiss on the forehead.
"Now you have many injuries so you will still be sore in the morning but this will help tremendously." Julieta said, urging him to eat the quesadilla.
She turned to face the others as Bruno shakily brought the quesadilla to his mouth.
"When it's just one injury, like a broken bone or swollen eye, I can easily heal them! But Bruno's got injuries everywhere so I'm afraid It'll take a couple days to heal him."
She turned her attention back to her brother, who had taken a couple bites. His eye looked better and the bruises on his arms had disappeared.
"You feel better Bruno? What still hurts?"
Bruno nodded his head and swallowed. "I..I feel better. Don't worry, I'm alright."
Julieta sighed in relief. "You have to be careful! You scared us so bad!"
The seer lowered his gaze, setting the remnants of the quesadilla aside and grabbing the water with stabler hands than before.
"I know, I'm sorry."
"It wasn't his fault!" Mirabel exclaimed, "he was jumped. Abuela and I told him to go on a walk for his mental health and...and Dolores said she heard something and ran out with Pepa and.." she turned to Bruno, "Tio Bruno I'm so sorry."
"It's not your fault. I'm alright, see?" He smiled at her and showed her his freshly healed arms and face, though his sides were throbbing with sharp pains she couldn't see.
Dolores glanced at him in worry, hearing the slight increase of his heart rate.
"Now you need to get to bed." Bruno said, "you shouldn't have stayed up so long worrying about me, I'm fine, we're fine. We're safe." He instinctively knocked on the wooden table and tossed salt over his shoulder, Dolores stepping to the side so it wouldn't land on her.
"It's only 9:30-"
"He's right." Julieta said, "Why don't you all go to your rooms so Bruno can rest?"
Mirabel exchanged glances with her family before they all dispersed, leaving Bruno, Dolores, and Julieta.
"You too Dolores."
"I'll walk him to his room." She said softly.
"Guys I'm fine." Bruno said, lifting himself off the couch with a strangled expression.
Dolores and Julieta exchanged glances. "Are you sure you don't need help to your room? I can tell you aren't completely healed." Julieta said.
"Yep, I'm fine now. I didn't mean to make the whole family worried, I feel much better. I'm just..tired, so I'm going to go to bed, ok?"
"Ok Bruno." Julieta said. "Good night, take it easy. I'll make something else for you in the morning."
The seer made his way up the stairs as Julieta eyed the half-eaten quesadilla.
"He's not fully healed." Dolores whispered.
"I know but there's nothing we can do about it right now. I'll help him more in the morning. I just hope he rests tonight and doesn't try to have any visions. He's seemed so drained after them lately." Julieta walked back into the kitchen to clean up the mess she'd made in such a hurry.
Dolores watched as Bruno carefully made his way to his room upstairs.
What was it he had said about his involuntary visions?
"I think maybe they are caused by stress or maybe me not using my gift for so long and I just wish they would stop because I never know when they're going to happen."
Dolores pursed her lips.
'I really hope the stress of tonight doesn't give him an involuntary vision. I don't think I'm sleeping.'