Julieta and Mirabel burst into Bruno's dark, cold, sandy room only seconds after his vision started. They stood about 10 feet away from him and watched as the man suddenly became very still and his eyes started glowing green. As his hands started trembling, sand swirled around him and his hair started to float above his ears. Green mist mingled with the sand. His hands shook more as seconds passed, but about 10 seconds after it all started, he became completely still again. The green mist faded and the sand dropped. Bruno's eyes stopped glowing. He looked at the two intruders and opened his mouth as if to say something, before his eyes suddenly rolled into the back of his head and he fell to the ground.

"Bruno!"

"Hermanito!"

Mirabel and Julieta rushed forward, but Bruno was already on the ground before either could attempt to catch him. Luckily, the ground was covered with plenty of soft sand to break his fall. He laid there as still as a corpse, and he looked to be as pale as one too. Julieta wasted no time in keeling down and gently lifting her brother's head onto her lap. She felt his forehead with the back of her hand and frowned. "He's very cold." She looked up at her daughter. "Mirabel, could you go back downstairs and brew your uncle some tea? It will warm him up a little and it should help his headache too." The one thing her food never helped much with was headaches, and she knew Bruno most likely had one by now, especially if he tried to suppress his vision. She'd helped him in the aftermath of these visions countless times when they were younger. "If anyone asks, don't mention his vision." She also knew that he tended to be embarrassed whenever he had one. Or at least…He used to. It had been ten years since she'd seen him like this, so she could only guess that he still felt the same way.

"Of course, mama. I'll try to be fast."

Julieta looked back down at her brother as she heard the door close. "Hermanito, can you hear me?" she said in a quiet voice.

No answer.

She ran her hand over one of his cheeks. He had dark, puffy circles beneath his eyes. Had he not been getting enough sleep lately? The thought made her frown. What about when he was living in the walls? Did he sleep enough then, eat enough? Get enough water when he needed it? Did he stay warm in the winters and on cold, stormy nights?

His face was thin and gaunt. Chances were, he only took the bare minimum of food and water. Taking too much could have alerted someone to his presence. Had he been starving all this time? He was far too skinny.

He didn't get enough sleep; he didn't eat enough… It made Julieta feel horrible inside to know that her brother…Her hermanito, hadn't been taking good care of himself. And who's fault was that, really? Wasn't that his family's fault? Wasn't it their family's fault for not looking out for their Brunito? Wasn't it their fault that he felt he had no other choice but to leave them?

When Bruno first returned, Mirabel told her how much he cared for the family. She told her how Bruno hid away to protect her…To protect them.

He never left because he hated his family. He loved his family more than anything.

He never turned his back on them. They turned theirs.

A single tear fell down Julieta's face. "Brunito, I'm so…I'm so, so sorry you've been alone all these years." She lowered her face until their foreheads were touching. She closed her eyes, holding her brother in her arms. "I'm sorry for every untrue thing that's been said of you. I'm sorry you thought we didn't care."

She wanted to tell him this months ago when he first came back. But now she could only say it as he laid there unconscious. She just felt too ashamed…Too ashamed of her own actions and the actions of the rest of their family. She couldn't even begin to imagine all the pain he'd felt over the years. How much it would have hurt everytime a "We don't talk about Bruno" was uttered. How much it would have hurt being so close yet so, so far.

Another tear fell. Then another. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I wish I could go back in time and change everything. I wish you never had to feel so alone." The tears wouldn't stop, and soon Julieta was shaking with silent sobs. "You never deserved any of it. Never again-never again will we abandon you, hermanito."

"You're um…You're getting my face all wet."

Julieta's head launched up in surprise and she met the gaze of her brother. "Bruno!" She quickly wiped her tears away, suddenly very embarrassed that he just witnessed that.

"Yeah, that's me-could you-could you um…" He shuffled a little and weakly lifted his head off his lap. "Sorry, I didn't mean to just-woosh-drop like that. I hope I didn't startle you."

"No, no, you didn't. Are you okay? Are you feeling okay?"

He shrugged and then winced a little as the action made his head pound. "Head hurts, but I'll be fine. You really didn't need to come in here. I can-I can handle these things on my own."

Julieta took Bruno's hand in hers and a concerned look came to her face. "But you don't have to anymore."

"But-"

"That's what your family is for; that's what I'm here for."

"But I-"

"Bruno." Julieta's tone suddenly became very serious. "We all care about you, and if we see you having a hard time-whether it's with a vision or something else-we're going to help you. Okay?"

"I…Okay…"

"Mirabel will be here with some tea soon. That should help your headache. Is there anything else you need?"

"No. I'm fine, I'm um…I'm fine, really. Please just, uh, please just go back to the party. Thanks for helping, but you should be out there having a fun time."

"You should too. This celebration is for all of us."

"No, I'd um…I'd rather not. Parties aren't really my thing, you know?"

Julieta nodded and squeezed her brother's hand. "You stay here and rest then. You look like you need it. Can you stand?"

The next minute or so was spent with Julieta trying to get her brother back to his feet. Having an involuntary vision always made him a bit shaky and tired afterwards, but it was always worse when he tried to hold one back. From what she could tell, it took him a lot of effort to hold one back, and the effects afterwards were never kind to him. She wished he would just let them come, it would be so much easier for him.

"Here, why don't you just sit or lie down instead," Julieta said with a sigh after Bruno's legs kept refusing to cooperate. "Where's your bed?"

Bruno glanced away and then awkwardly looked down at the ground. "I um..I don't have one in here. There was years ago, but after I left I guess the sand just started overtaking everything, ha…It's fine though, really. I can sleep anywhere, I'll just make a bed out of sand!"

Julieta frowned and tried to ignore how sad that sounded. That also led her to wonder-where did he sleep when he was in the walls? Surely there was no bed in there. "You need a real bed. We'll get you one, but in the meantime-"

Before she could finish her sentence, the door opened and Mirabel walked in carrying a cup of steaming tea. A smile came to the girl's face as soon as she saw Bruno was awake. She walked over and handed it to him. "Here's your tea, tio. Careful, it's hot."

"Oh, thanks," Bruno mumbled as he took the tea. His hands were still shaking slightly, so he held the cup with both hands to make sure it wouldn't drop. He blew on it, took a careful sip, and then looked up at Julieta. "You don't need to do that. Really, I'm fine without one."

"Bruno-"

"Without what?" Mirabel questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Julieta sighed again and ran a hand through her hair. "He doesn't have a bed in here. We'll get him one soon, but I hate the idea of him just laying on sand in the meantime."

"Oh…Well why doesn't he just stay with me in the nursery until then? He'll have to sleep on the floor, but we can pile it with blankets and it'll be better than sleeping with sand everywhere. Don't you think?"

"You don't have to-" Bruno started to interject.

"Are you sure that's fine?" Julieta replied to her daughter, ignoring Bruno.

"Yep! I'll go get it ready right now!"

"You really don't have to-"

"Shh Brunito, it's fine. Mirabel won't mind having you there for a night or two!"

"Yeah tio, it's no trouble at all!"

"Well uh…Well if you're sure." Bruno took another sip of his tea. "That'd be great then. Really."

The mother and daughter pair smiled at him.

"Just relax here for a minute then. And hermainto-you don't have to suppress any visions again, okay? it's not worth the pain it brings you." Julieta said. Bruno didn't reply, but he gave a subtle nod. "One of us will come get you when your bed is set up then. And make sure you drink all of that tea."

With that, the two of them left, leaving Bruno to sit in a pile of sand and drink his tea.