Sixty Days (26 page)

The only thing my stomach seemed to be able to take was pancakes. But
, even those eventually came back to bite me in the ass. Mickey has been begging to take me to the hospital ever since I woke up, but I had refused repeatedly. Mama and my mom joined in, but, I also told them no, insisting that I’m fine.

Now, here I am,
once again hugging the toilet. I am not fine. There is nothing left for me to throw up, yet I am. As soon as my dad found out about my situation, he had also insisted that he take me to the hospital. But, I refused again, even though, by this point, I knew I really needed to go. If Kevin were here he would have also been up my ass about it. Luckily, he, Mary, and the guys had found out about this ‘amazeballs’ NYE party down at a hotel in the city and were staying there in order to attend it. They had left earlier this morning.

“That’s it
, Laylah! You’re going to the goddamn hospital,” Mickey says, picking me up bridal style after I almost faint.

“I’m fine,
” I weakly mumble as I start to lose consciousness.

Before I actually
drift off, I hear my dad arguing with Mickey, telling him that he and my mom should be the ones to take me. Meanwhile, my mom is telling him that I’m in good hands and they had a commitment they couldn’t exactly back out of. My parents had decided to throw their very own NYE party. The whole family and neighborhood are set to attend.

Eventually
, my dad gives up. But, not before warning Mickey that he better be sure everything goes well and that he will be coming around as soon as he’s done getting things ready for the party. I feel my mom kissing my forehead and telling me to get better before I finally pass out.

I wake up to the sound of a beep and the smell of disinfectant, everything is white.
As soon as my blurry vision clears, I can see the IV bag connected to my hand. A hand that is currently being held by Mickey.  When I look up, I am met with his teary eyes.

“Hey…” I groggily tell him and rasp my throat clear.

“God, Laylah! You scared me to death. For a moment there, I thought I had lost you,” he says starting to kiss my hand and moving up to kiss every inch of my face, “Don’t you dare to do that again to me. I felt lost without you, my heaven,” he whispers and I nod.

“What happened?” I ask trying to sit up but he won’t let me.

He lies next to me in the bed and starts to caress my messy hair, moving it away from my face and behind my ear. “The doctor said you’re dehydrated. After explaining to him everything you have been going through for the past two weeks, he said he was going to run some test to make sure it’s nothing too serious. They’re working on it as we speak.” He kisses my forehead again.

“And my parents?” I ask
, looking for them.

“I
convinced them to stay and continue working on the preparations for their party. Told them I would call if there were any complications. Speaking of, I should probably call them now and tell them you’re awake. If I don’t, I’ll be a dead man and you’ll be a widow at such a young age.” He winks at me.

“
We wouldn’t want that, would we?” I tease.

“We sure wouldn’t,
” he says as he gets up to call my family.

A while after Mickey had ended his phone call the doctor came in to check up on how I was doing and to tell us what the test results had shown. Turns out
, aside from my dehydration and the flu, I’m okay. I’m better than okay. I’m beyond okay. And, I can just tell that Mickey is too. The doc told me that he would like to keep me overnight for observation. It’s not exactly my cup of tea but, due to everything that has happened, I agree to it. Not that I had that much of a choice.

“Guess, I’ll be saying bye, bye t
o the year from my hospital bed,” I mutter once the doc is gone.

“It beats not being able to say
goodbye at all,” Mickey says. I sigh, knowing he’s right.

“On a scale from,
‘bloody hell not sure’ to ‘extremely sure’, how sure are we about this?” I ask him, changing the subject to our earlier discovery.

“Extremely sure,
” he confirms before he kisses me, which is good, really good, both the kiss and our level of sureness.

A few hours later
, half of my family comes in to my room to see how I’m doing. When I say half, I mean each and every one of them except for the four who are currently having the time of their lives at a hotel NYE party. When they all ask me how I’m doing, I look at Mickey with a knowing smile and tell them that I’m doing great. They stay for a couple of hours before they have to reluctantly leave for the party. I had to remind them of it, otherwise they would’ve never left.

My dad is having trouble leaving, saying he doesn’t want to leave me alone. Mickey tells him he can stay with me, to which my dad completely objects. But
, with a little help from my mom, he reluctantly gives in. In an odd turns of events, he eyes Mickey weirdly and then thanks him for everything. My husband nods at my father’s words and smiles at him A smile that says more than a thousand words could ever convey.

“It’s time,
” Mickey says looking at his watch. “Are you ready?” I nod.

He helps me out of the bed
, so we can look out the bedroom window and watch the fireworks start. We start counting down to one together. When the clock finally strikes midnight, the fireworks start and my husband and I, give each other our very first kiss of the New Year.

“I love you,
” he whispers, joining his forehead with mine.

“I love you, too,
” I say back.

“This is our year, my heaven. No one can stop us. We have t
oo many things to fight for now,” he says kissing me again before he carries me back to my bed where we make love for the very first time of the New Year. I know we shouldn’t but we have reason to celebrate.

New things are
coming, new reasons to hope, dream, and fight; new chances for happiness and joy. As my husband said, this is our year. And I’ll be damned if anyone ruins it for me.

“Happy New Year, my heaven,” he says kissing the tip of my nose.

“It is indeed,
” I sleepily mumble before the sleep finally consumes me.

Chapter Sixteen

I

wake up to the feeling of someone giving me Eskimo kisses all over my face. I can instantly tell that it is Mickey by the feel of his growing beard, which instantly makes me giggle since it sort of tickles. “Good, you’re awake,” I can hear the smile in his voice as he whispers to me

“Mmm…” I sleepily mumble before
I finally decide to stretch and open my eyes.

“What?” he asks when he notices me looking at him, quickly checking to see if he has got something on his fa
ce. His reaction makes me laugh.

“I’m deciding whether
or not I like the five o’clock shadow that you have going on,” I tell him once my laughter has subsided.

“
I am offended, love,” he fake gasps at me and places his hand in his heart.

“Goofball,
” I mutter with laughter.

“
You love it,” he says with a husky voice as he lowers his head towards mine

“Oh
, yeah? Is that so?” I imitate his tone.

He shrugs and eyes every inch of my face as he moves some locks of hair out
of my face and behind my ear. “Yes, it is, because you love every single thing about me,” he whispers close to my mouth.

“Mickey…” I practically whisper so low that I’m not so sure he even heard
me.

“Hm
mm…” he looks at me with glossy eyes, I can feel his breath connecting with mine, as if we were each other’s life line.

“Shut up and kiss me already,
” I breathlessly tell him wanting to finally feel his wonderful lips on mine. Without having to tell him twice, his tongue starts to caress my lower lips while my mouth opens and bites his upper lip.

It’s a kiss full of need and want
, a battle of tongues and lips. I can quickly feel the heat that is growing between us. I have my hands on his lower back, lifting his shirt, while he has one of his on my nape and the other caressing one of my breasts.

The sound of the door opening makes us bolt out of our embrace.
We are both breathless and flushed.

The nurse comes in with a knowing but sorry smile on her face. “Nice to see you’re do
ing well, Mrs. Vega.” Mrs. Vega…I love my new name, I love hearing other people call me by it. It fits. “I hope you had a great New Year’s Eve,” she says as she begins to check my vitals.

I actually have the decency to blush whi
le Mickey gives a winning smirk. I roll my eyes at him. “Yes…the fireworks looked just lovely from here,” I tell her once the heat in my cheeks fades a little. Mickey stifles a laugh next to me, not missing my double meaning.

“Wonderful!” she says
, too involved in her work, making me come to the conclusion that she isn’t really listening. “Well, everything looks really good. The doctor should be here in a little bit to discharge you.”

“Thank You,
” Mickey and I say in unison as she walks out of the room and he reclaims his spot on the bed.

He then looks at me with a smirk that makes me
want to wipe it right off of his face. “Fireworks…huh?” he teases.

“Shut up,
” I grunt as he begins to lower his face to mine.

“I’ll show you fireworks,
” he huskily whispers. Just like that, we pick up where we left off. I would love to say that we made a repeat out of last night, but we didn’t. Keeping in mind that the doctor could come in at any time, we opt for an intense make out session.

“Hey sweetie, how are you doing?”
my mom asks as she and my dad enter my room. My dad looks mad or annoyed.

I’d been waiting for the doctor for
what seems like forever and I’m beginning to feel annoyed. “Horrible, I just want to go home and shower,” I practically whine.

“She’s
been like this for a while now,” Mickey interjects as he comes out of the bathroom.

“Don’t worry
, honey. Before you know it, the doctor will be here and you’ll be home in the comfort of your own bed,” my dad says coming closer to my bed and kissing my forehead.

“That’s what Mickey has been telling me for hours now.
So far, he’s lied” I give a sad smile. I’m all moody and my butt hurts from being in this damned bed.

My dad looks at Mickey,
finally acknowledging he’s here. “Miguel, I’m sure you want to go home, too. Why don’t you take off now? We can take it from here,” he says eying him, looking for something. I’m not sure what.

“Nah,
I’m fine here,” Mickey answers with a shrug. “Plus, I promised Laylah I’d take her to IHOP as soon as she’s discharged.” My dad simply nods at this and I think, that his scowl dies down a little.

“Oh, sweetie that reminds me! W
e brought you some clothes and necessities so you can shower and change here, since things might be at full swing when you get back,” my mom interjects as she plays with my hair.

Thanks to the lord, Jesus!
Amen.

“Have I told you how much I love you, lately?” I tell her
, my giddiness at the full potation. She laughs at my behavior.

My parents stayed for another
hour. After my father agreed to Mickey staying with me until I was discharged, they decide to leave so they can help Mama around the house in preparation for this New Year’s party. And, to add more surprising events, my mom and dad both hug Mickey and give him their respective thanks for taking care of me as they leave the hospital room.

“He called me
son,” Mickey says in amusement.

“He sure did,
” I tell him, not even believing it myself.

“I hope he doesn’t change his
mind when we tell him tomorrow,” he says now with a serious tone as he joins me in the bed. I just sigh at his statement and earn myself a kiss on the temple from my wonderful husband.

We are finally on our way home.
The doc finally decided to arrive to discharge me around eleven. The evil glare I had planned to give him until he left the room didn’t last long. He’s a good doctor and he took good care of me, I remind myself.

Since
the party wasn’t set to start until after we arrive home, I decided to just wait to take a shower in the comfort of my own room. I’m not a fan of hospital showers. Plus, Mickey didn’t have anything to wear after a shower and I sure didn’t feel like taking a shower alone.

As promised, Mickey took me to the wonderful
International House of Pancakes. Since my pancake obsession is in full swing and my appetite has returned, I ordered a stack of blueberry pancakes and a stack of buttermilk pancakes.

As soon as
we get home I am practically jumped by my entire family, all of them asking me how I’m feeling. After reassuring all of them for the hundredth time that I’m better, they finally let me go so I can take a shower and get ready. Luckily, Mickey had snuck up to my room while everyone was distracted and crowded around me. Once I got to my room, Mickey was already waiting for me. Straight to the shower it was.

After
showering, we quickly dressed. Since I had to dry my hair, Mickey went to the backyard where the people were starting to arrive for the party. Mama and Lola had practically invited the whole neighborhood.

When I got there
, the party was in full swing. It was a good thing I had already come clean with the whole ‘I dropped out of college and moved to Florida’ thing. It sure would have been a mess when all the neighbors recognized me and started asking how I was doing. Trying to explain that wouldn’t have been pretty with a party going on.

After making my rounds to chat with everyone for a moment,
I finally ended up close to where Junior was telling his jokes. He had already had a couple of beers, so the great majority of his jokes were of the dirty variety. My uncle is a nice man and, when he’s not drunk, he’s actually pretty smart. He has a soft and calm way of speaking that reminds me of Mama. I think the fact that he was forced to grow up so fast did a number on him. He’s not really a drunk, but every holiday, for as long as I can remember, he has spent it with a bottle in hand.

“God, I love these parties,” m
y mom says as she sits next to me on one of the benches.

“I thought this wa
s our first one.” I turn toward her.

She shakes her head
. “It is. But, back when I was younger and we used to go to the Isla every late December, early January, our cousins back home used to throw parties like this one every New Year’s Day. They still do and they still invite the entire family too,” she says, a look of contemplation on her face.

“Sounds awesome,
” I tell her as I rest my head on her shoulder.

“It is.” S
he starts playing with my hair. “So, what are you doing here all alone?”

“Can’t really be next to
the person I want to be next to without Kev throwing a hissy fit, can I?” I tell her as I look over to where Mickey is talking to my brother, his brother, and Mario. As soon as he notices me watching him he gives me that one and only smile he always has reserved for me.

“That boy loves you
,” my mom points out the obvious, “and, once your brother sees that, he will accept it. Don’t worry about him, you just keep loving that man. Never let anyone tell you who you can and cannot love. A love like the one you both share doesn’t come every day, nor is it found easily. So treasure it.” She kisses my temple.

“I
know. It’s us against the world,” I confirm earning me a smile of approval from her.

After a while my mom heads
over to talk to one of the neighbors and I go to see if Mama needs any help in the kitchen. I find her there talking to Carla. Once I ask her if she needs any help she quickly puts me to work.

“How ar
e you doing, niña?” Carla asks in her thick accent.

“Never
been better,” I tell her without an ounce of sarcasm.

“That’s good,
” she says with a nod. “So, Mama tells me you’re the one responsible for the new turn around on Mary’s behavior,” she says, referring to the talk Mary and I had.

“If she says so, then it is, I
guess,” I tell her as I start cutting some tomatoes.

“No one can really disagree with her, can they?” she whispers and I shrug in
answer.

“I
’ve got them trained very well. If they do argue with me, then they better prepare for the repercussions,” Mama jokes. Who am I kidding? She’s not joking.

“Still, thank you, Laylah, for making that girl see the light of the day.
She’s been opening up more to us, to me.” She pats my hand and I smile at her in answer since I don’t really think there is anything I should be thanked for.

The decisions Mary has made have been
her own. Sure I talked to her and called her out on her behavior, but it was her decision whether to change or not.

They soon start joking
and speaking in Spanish. I try to catch up on what the hell they’re saying but I’m not as fluent as they are. So somewhere in the middle of the conversation, I get lost and decide to space out of it.

By four o’clock we had all gather
ed around in the backyard to eat, but not before someone says a prayer. “I just want to thank each and every one of you for being here with us today. Most importantly, I would like to thank mi hermosa familia for being here with me, for making one of my dreams come true. Los amo a todos por igual, never doubt it. You all claim that I’m your rock, but the truth is, all of you are
my
rock. I’m so proud of you all.” Mama says soon after finishing the prayer, showing her heart of gold, making my eyes all watery.

The food is organized
in a buffet style so everyone can choose what they want. Soon after they all have their food they scatter around the backyard to eat. The music has been turned down, so all you hear is the chattering of people as they ate.

By six thirty
the guests had already left. My family remains talking for a while and listening to Junior’s jokes. Angel, later on, brings out his guitar and starts to serenade the night away. We are all just goofing around. At one point, Lola and Junior get up and start dancing to one of the songs that Angel’s singing. Overall, everyone is laughing and enjoying each other’s company.