"I can't hear him, (Y/n)." Dolores whispers, bringing her hands to her ears. "Either he is not in the Encanto, or he's unconscious."
"But you didn't hear anything before ? Nothing suspicious ?"
Dolores bites her lip, shaking her head. "I was in my room, I only got out a few minutes before you called me. It's soundproof."
Lucía whines next to you. You had gone home, finding Dolores who had hurried there when she heard you scream, your parents and Bruno who was originally here to have lunch with them.
"Where are you, mijo..." Your father runs a hand through his hair, sighing.
"We'll find him." Your mother states, cold as ice. She was as scared as you, but didn't show it at all. She had to stay strong so that Lucía especially, but also your father and you, trembling in Isabela's arms, would not break down in tears.
You were thinking as quick as your anxious brain could go. "We need to search outside of the Encanto. But also inside, he could be unconscious, even though I don't know why he would be, right ?"
You couldn't think of Jorge being hurt. Isabela strokes your hair, murmuring in your ear. "He's fine."
"The town's people are here to help !" Bruno bursts the door open. "It was hard to get them to listen to me, but I did it !"
Luisa enters behind him, searching the room for you. When she spots you, she snatches you off Isabela's arms to give you a bone-crushing hug.
Somehow, this wakes you up.
"Mom, I'll let you organize the searches. I have to talk to Jorge's friends. Maybe that'll lead us somewhere."
You exit your house, breaking through the crowd waiting outside for instructions. You knew everyone of them, from the shop, but also the days of the rebuilding of Casita. You had spoken to each of them.
Isabela, Luisa, Mirabel and Dolores followed you. On the way, you meet Alma, Pepa, Félix, Agustín, Camilo and Antonio. Julieta had stayed home to prepare arepas, in case it would be needed.
Pepa hugs you tightly. She couldn't contain the grey cloud that hovered over her head, even with Félix's help. She gives you words of encouragement, before hurrying inside your house to listen to your mother's instructions. Agustín pats your shoulder and tells Isabela to take care of you.
They all enter the house, except Camilo and Antonio, who follow you as you head over to the spot all of Jorge's friends are waiting in nervously. They are a group of five : Esteban, Jorge's closest friend, Marta, his twin sister, Jaime, Samuel and Theresa. You knew Jorge really liked Theresa.
"Guys, (Y/n)'s coming." You hear Samuel say. "Look, it's the Madrigals."
"Hola, Esteban." You greet the boy that walked up to you. He gives you a worried smile.
"Hi, (Y/n)."
"I was wondering if you guys had any clue where Jorge was. I know you were probably already asked that, but even the most improbable place could be right."
They look at each other, apparently clueless. "We don't know, (Y/n). We already told your mom every place we know." Marta says with a worried frown.
"What about... That place you were talking about before we came up to you ?" Dolores asks. "You were saying maybe you should tell people about it." She looks at Theresa. "And then, you..." She points to Jaime. "...said you would get punished if we found out about that."
They all go silent. You look at each of them. "Please..."
"You know that if Jorge is in danger, in that place you don't want to talk about, and that something happens, it's your fault, right ?" Isabela steps in.
"You don't want to hurt your friend, don't you ? I would never hurt my friend. What about you, Mirabel ?" Camilo adds.
"Never." His cousin answers, dead serious.
Luisa stands there menacingly, nodding at every sentence. Antonio slips his hand in yours to reassure you. "Don't worry, (Y/n)." He whispers. "I sent my friends looking for him."
You smile at him, half relieved that Antonio's animals were helping, half worried that even with that, you hadn't found Jorge yet.
"It's probably not that anyway." Samuel argues. "He was too scared to go there."
You laugh. "So that's what all this is about ? You guys discovered some place that seemed unsafe, and called my brother a coward for not wanting to got there ?"
"Yes." Marta answered shamelessly.
"Well, he certainly went there. So you tell me where this is now, or I swear I'll kidnap your paren-"
"Yeah, tell us now. Jorge may be in danger !" Dolores interrupts you before you threatwn something you can't accomplish.
"Guys." Theresa speaks up for the first time. Tears were flowing down her cheeks ever since you talked to them. "Come on, this is serious."
"Theresa, you don't know if he's really in the-"
"I don't care ! Can't you guys listen for once ? This is dangerous !" She snaps, making all of them go quiet. "A week ago, we discovered the cracks of the breaking of Casita had opened a passage to a cave. It's pretty deep, and we wanted to explore it, but Jorge thought it was too dangerous. We went without him, but not too far, because I slipped and almost fell in a big hole. When we got back up, Jaime, Samuel and Marta..." She glares at them. "Thought it would be fun to call Jorge a coward, and they didn't stop all week. I tried to tell them to stop, but-"
She stops as you put a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you for telling us. Where is that cave ?"
"It's not that far, in the forest behind Jaime's house. The crack is small, but you can't miss it."
Isabela takes your hand to squeeze it tightly. The cave was in the Encanto. It meant that if Dolores couldn't hear Jorge, the only cause now was that he was unconscious.
___
Theresa and Esteban had led you to the crack, the rest of the kids going home to speak to their parents. Dolores had stayed in town, so that she could hear you if you ever needed help and tell someone. Camilo, Mirabel and Antonio were gone to find your or their parents, to inform them of the cave.
Now, you were standing there, with Isabela, Luisa, and two kids, trying to distinguish something in the darkness of the cave. Pepa's cloud had gotten larger, covering the whole city, and the sky was now darker. The atmosphere was heavy, and you could hear people calling your brother's name from afar. Dolores must be suffering.
"I can't see anything. How are we going to get down there ?"
"We climbed down this way last time." Esteban shows you.
Isabela stops you before you can start to get down. She puts her hand on the cave's wall, concentrating. A bunch of vines, on which grew fluorescent flowers, sprouted from her fingers.
"Luisa, stay with the kids. Go tell someone if something goes wrong, I don't care if Dolores can hear us. Find someone nearby." She says, then wrapping an arm around your waist. "Be ready."
You nod, holding onto her as she grabs one of the vines and lets it grow down until your feet safely touch the ground of the cave. It is slippery, just like Theresa said. You look around, the light of the fluorescent flowers not being enough for you to see clearly.
"Theresa said there was a hole she almost fell into." Isabela states, looking for it as it became evident Jorge wasn't on this level.
You approach a dark area, Isabela immediately growing more flowers. You stop at the very edge of a huge gap. You don't need to look at Isabela for her to grab onto you and use the same method you came down with to reach the bottom of the hole.
"Jorge ?" You call quietly as the fluorescent flowers fill the cavern. Finally, you distinguish a figure laying on the ground. You run to it quickly, falling on your knees next to it.
It was Jorge. He had probably fallen down from up there, breaking a few bones. His left arm was positioned in a weird angle. Maybe he had hit his head, too.
"Jorge, mi sol. Wake up." You check his breathing. "He's still breathing, Isa. He's alive. We have to get him out of here."
"What if moving him makes it worse ?"
"We can't get your mom's arepas here in time."
"Luisa !" Isabela exclaims, her voice echoing through the whole cave. "We found him ! We're coming back up !"
A faint 'alright' is heard, after which Isabela grows a thick layer of vines under Jorge's body, lifting him up carefully. He groans when his arm gets moved by the vines, but doesn't wake up. Maybe it was better for the time being, since you had to get him back up. That would be painful.
You hold onto Isabela as she takes the both of you up, slowly, so that you would stay near the net of vines that carried your brother.
When you reach the exit of the cave, Luisa gasps at the sight of Jorge. His head was bleeding, meaning he really hit it. The Madrigal carefully takes him into her arms, and you all start running towards Casita. A drizzle welcomes you in town and you see Pepa, Félix and Dolores run to you. Your best friend must have told them what she heard.
A thunderbolt strikes as Pepa sees your brother in Luisa's arms. You're out of breath, but still running as fast as you can to keep up with her.
"Camilo went to tell your parents, (Y/n) !" Félix exclaims, out of breath as well.
The nine of you burst into Casita, only to find a couch ready in the kitchen, Mirabel and Antonio sitting next to it. Julieta is sitting at the table, a plate of arepas waiting to be eaten.
"The birds told me !" Antonio says as Luisa settles Jorge on the couch, you dropping next to him and holding his hand. He had to wake up now, he had to eat.
Julieta brings the plate of arepas. Isabela takes it and hands you one.
"Jorge, hermano. You need to wake up."
Esteban and Theresa look over your shoulder, visibly worried. Pepa sits at the table, Félix rubbing her back as rain starts pouring outside and above her head. Dolores covers her ears, waiting for something to happen. The doors open wide, revealing your parents and Camilo. Behind follow Alma and Agustín.
Julieta keeps them from approaching, at the same time motioning Esteban, Theresa, Antonio and Mirabel to give you some space. Jorge needed calm.
You squeeze his hand tightly. "Come on, mi sol. Wake up just a few seconds."
His eyes stay close, and you feel like breaking down. Isabela wraps her arm around your shoulder, stroking it.
"Pequino."
"Don't...don't call me that." Jorge opens a lazy eye, wincing at the brightness of the room. Julieta turns the lights off. "Oh, that hurts ! (Y/n), my arm hurts. Make it stop ! Please !"
You don't say a word, instead bringing the arepa to his mouth. He weakly opens his mouth, taking a small bite of it. Everyone keeps silent as he eats, slowly at first, then the whole rest of it in one bite. The bruises slowly disappear, his arm turning back in the right angle. The only visible trace of his fall was the dried blood in his forehead and dirty clothes.
Your brother falls back into the couch, sighing in relief as the pain went away. You stare at him, expressionless.
"Jorge Hermoza, you are no coward. You're an idiot."
___
words : 1965