Miguel felt his fingertips grow cold as the blood left his stomach.
In a way he was grateful that the man had only stabbed him once, and it was indeed an accident. The man just wanted Miguel's wallet, it could have been anyone else, and he turned out to be the unlucky winner.
Miguel opened his mouth, to find that his voice was gone. He had miscalculated how much blood he had lost, and now he wouldn't be able to scream.
He still used all of his strength and screamed as loud as he could.
He relaxed when he heard voices that grew closer to him. He couldn't recognize any of them, which meant that his family wasn't in there.
That gave him a sense of relief; at least his family wouldn't see him like this.
He closed his eyes and decided to save his strength, he only had to hold on a little longer, and then he will be in the hospital sano y salvo.
His thoughts focused on his little sister, Socorro, and he can only wonder what might have been.
He would have watched her grow up, through all of the good and bad that the world had to offer. He can only sigh and keep his hand on the wound to try to stop the bleeding.
Soon enough he feels himself drifting, and the voices sound further away. Now he's too weak to fight it and just lets himself go.
—
By the time he wakes up, he can already tell that he's dead.
However, he is not in a room, instead he is in a line. He looks around to find that he's near the bridge of petals that he crossed once before.
"Next" a male voice calls impatiently from the window.
Miguel's body reacts automatically and he steps forward.
The man seems tired and takes off his glasses to rub his eyes. "Name?"
"Miguel Rivera"
"The living boy?!" the man is suddenly awake and looking at Miguel from head to toes. "Ah. Lo siento" he manages to say and avoids eye contact with Miguel while reaching for a new form.
"Can you explain to me how does this work?" Miguel asks ignoring the man's comment.
"Just some paper work and then we'll assign you to your death counselor" the man answers, "cause of death?"
"Murder, I think" Miguel hesitates
"Why do you 'think'?" the man asks adjusting his glasses and finally looking at Miguel.
"I don't think he meant to kill me" Miguel answered, "He just wanted my wallet"
"Ah" the man responds and continues to ask him questions. Miguel can't help but feel confused, how did he die? He held on. Why didn't he survive?
"Niño?" the man asks, making Miguel snap out of his thoughts.
"Si? Perdón" Miguel responds automatically.
"Your counselor" the man hands Miguel a piece of paper, "follow the instructions and you'll get to her office", the man waves Miguel goodbye before calling to the next person in line.
—
Miguel can't recall how it is that he ended in the counselor's office. He was far too lost in his own thoughts to even comprehend what his counselor said to him.
"Miguel?" the counselor repeated his name calmly.
"Si?" Miguel responded
"Do you know where you are?"
"Your office"
"And what is my name?"
"You never told me"
"Maria Sanchez" Maria sighed and looked at Miguel's paperwork. This was going to be a tough case.
"Can I go now?" Miguel asked as he began to grow more aware of his surroundings and they slowly overwhelmed him.
"I just need to call your family" the counselor said and picked up the phone.
Miguel's body reacted automatically. He was not ready to see them.
"Can you please give me their address?" he asked, "I've been here before and I think I can find my way"
Maria sighed. Worst-case scenario he would run away. She probably had to give him some sort of power.
"Esta bien" she responded and handed him a piece of paper with the address.
She analyzed his body movements as he walked out, but she could only conclude that it was going to be tough.
Miguel hummed the only song he could think of: "Remember Me", as he walked on the streets he once knew. The humming settled the shaking, and he thinks of what he is going to say to his family.
His clothes are bloody, but he can't do much about that. The only thing he is certain about is that he needs to find Hector.
After walking around for what seemed hours Miguel spotted him.
Hector was on the plaza where they had once performed. He was sitting on the edge of the fountain with his eyes closed and his hands on the famous guitar. He wasn't performing, and showed no signs of going home anytime soon.
Miguel felt his body grow tense and he suddenly felt uneasy. Maybe he could find him another day?
Without thinking, he turned around and began walking the other direction, but he felt a strong hand stopping him suddenly.
"Hey niño" a police officer asked "why are you here all by yourself?"
"I'm not," Miguel, answered lowering his gaze to the floor.
Miguel could only assume that the police officer was concerned with his appearance. He was wearing the red hoodie he had worn before, along with his gray shirt, which was covered in dry blood with the hole the knife made.
"Who are you here with?" the officer asked without removing his hand from his shoulder.
"That man over there" Miguel pointed to Hector.
"Por supuesto" the police officer responded sarcastically "Did you just arrive to the land of the dead? Do you even know who that is?"
"Yes, he is my great-great grandfather" Miguel answered quietly.
"So you are the living boy?" the officer asked without removing the sarcasm in his voice.
Miguel forced himself to look at the officer in the eye to show him his face.
"Ay Dios" the officer responded "Niño you have to clean up" he said automatically and avoided Miguel's gaze.
"I just got here," Miguel, answered coldly.
"Lamento escuchar eso" The officer said and took his hand off of Miguel's shoulder, "go with your grandfather and clean-up" he ordered and began to walk away.
"Miguel?"
Miguel turned around to find that Hector was standing near him.
"H-h-h-hola Papá Héctor" Miguel stuttered.
Translation:
sano y salvo: safe and sound
Lo siento: I'm sorry
Niño (used many times) = male version of kid. (the female one is ´Niña´)
Esta bien: Alright
Por supuesto: Of course
Lamento escuchar eso: I'm sorry to hear that
