I settled myself on the chair next to Carlos for I don't know how long, keeping my gaze on the rhythmic rising of his chest and wanting nothing more than to rest my head on his chest for the warmth of it,
I've almost forgotten how it felt to hear his heartbeat or the feeling of his warmth against my skin.
I hated that I couldn't touch him, or feel that he's still there, that he's alive and I'm not hallucinating.
"Carlos, it's me...Eva, and I don't know if you can hear me but, I'm here, and I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I wasn't here, I'm sorry I spent all those times hating you instead of being here."
I jumped slightly when I heard the door open.
I quickly wiped my tears and turned to look at the intruder.
"Eva, this is Dr. Shaw." Luis said as he walked in with a man.
The doctor walks over to where I was, staring at me expectantly,
"You're in the way."
"Oh, sorry.." I got up and hurried out, plastering myself against the wall so as to stay completely out of his way.
The doctor raised the glass, beginning his regular check while Luis stood on the other side of the bed.
He offered me a small smile as he caught my eye, although it didn't reach his eyes. He looked dull and worried.
He crossed his arms across his chest as he looked back over to Carlos and the doctor that was very gently probing at the area around his chest.
"Eva?"A deep smooth voice called. Allowing my hand to fall to my side, I turned around to face the person who had called my name and froze.
Miles stood inside the doorway fuming,
"Come with me."
I took a quick glance at Luis but he sighs and looks away.
I snorted and followed Miles out to the hallway.
"I've arranged for a car to take you to the airport, it's waiting outside as you speak, I've also arranged some money to compensate for the troubles but, your work here is done and you to need leave,"
I almost laughed at his audacity,
"I'm not going anywhere. "
"I'm not asking."
"I'm not asking either. . I'm not going to leave when he's like this. "
"Eva. Just get in the car."
"If you think I would just walk away seeing the condition he's in, think again... "
"I'll hate to drag you out of here.."
"No, I'm not going anywhere until Carlos wakes up and asks me to leave himself, till then you would just have to deal with it.."
"Joe?" He calls out one of the guards, "Escort ms. Green to the car." He says and turns to leave.
"Yes, sir."
The guard grabs me without warning,
"Get your hands off me. Miles...You have no right, no right at all." I screamed and fought as he yanked me off the floor, "Let me go." The guard carried me all the way to the gate when--
"Put her down." Came Luis's throbbing voice from a distance, "Don't make me repeat myself, Joe, let her go."
"This was an order..."
"Now I'm giving you mine, let her go...now!"
The guard sighed and let me down, I shoved him and ran to Luis's side,
"You okay?"
I bit my lip holding down the tears and fury I felt.
"Miles has gone too far."
"I know. ..He's being defensive."
"I get it, my actions precede me but, this time all I want is for Carlos to be okay. I'm not the enemy here."
"I'll talk to him. In the meantime let's get you inside, it's freezing." I followed Luis inside and he escorted me to a room, "Freshen up, I'll have someone bring you some warm clothes and something to eat."
"Thank you." I smiled besides Carlos, Luis as always been very true to me,
"You're welcome--"
I jumped when the door suddenly stormed up open and Miles raged in,
"What do you think you're doing?" He howled at Luis, "She needs to leave."
"We need her, Miles." Luis growls at Cole, elbowing him out of the way as he makes his way towards me, "None of this is her fault." He barks at Miles. "She's not the enemy here. You don't get to blame her anymore for what's happened, if you're looking for someone to blame, blame Aurora, she's the enemy. Eva is innocent, treat her with some respect, if not for anything do it because she means so much to Don. If you have even an ounce of respect for him, you'd have some for her too. He'd kill you if he knew you hurt her or made her cry, you know he would."
"We don't need any more problems and she's clearly not to be trusted."
"Right now we need all the help we can get, keeping him locked and key is clearly not the solution anymore, remember what the doctor said, he needs a stable environment so his body can heal faster. And, I know you hate to admit it but, he loved Eva, more than anything, so having the woman he loved stay by his side isn't the worst thing in the world, perhaps she's the strength he's been waiting for." Luis says to Miles, who's accusing glare slowly turns into a frown.
He turns away from me and walks away. I just burst into tears.
"Eva, don't cry. Miles is just upset."
"He's right, It is my fault."
"This is not your fault, you had no idea he was in this condition."
I look up into his eyes, tears falling from my face onto the bare skin of my collar bone, and I shake my head at him slowly.
"Don't patronize me, Luis. It's all my fault and you know it, if I hadn't been an idiot, If I hadn't fed him all those pills."
"Those were years ago."
"He's weak, and I know weakness should never be a word to describe Carlos knight but, let's be honest, he's this way because of me, I did this to him, me and no one else, and Miles hates me for it... I swear if something happens to him, I won't be able to forgive myself, I can't.." I choked.
Luis reached out and wrapped his arms around my shoulders in a brotherly manner, whispering in my ear.
"Carlos is a strong man, the strongest I've known, believe me, Eva, this is not the hardest thing he's had to go through by himself, he's been through much worse in the past and he's always managed to pull through effortlessly, I always admired that about him, no matter how long it takes, I know he will make it through." Luis said, and tugs me into him, patting my head softly as I hunch closer into him. Allowing his brotherly comfort to calm me and eventually stop my tears.
"He's going to be fine, I promise." he mumbles softly, unwrapping his arms from me and allowing me to pull away.
He reaches into his pocket handing me a white-colored handkerchief, with a soft smile and I grab it from him offering him a nod in gratitude.
I wipe my tears with it, brushing it against my nose as I sniffle.
"I'll wash this and get it back to you when I can." I mumble to him into the handkerchief and he nods, patting my head once more before leaving me to thoughts.