Camilo made it home to see his tia, sister, and two cousins waiting outside the house. Julieta helped Bruno down from the horse. The teen jumped down after and was able to carry his tio into the house. They ran to the kitchen and Julieta grabbed one of her obleas that she had made. Camilo set Bruno on the floor. She tore a piece off the wafer and sat on her knees next to her bother.
Blood stained his clothes as it slowly gushed from the knife wound. His eyelids were half open and his eyes stared at nothing, and she couldn't tell if he was even awake. It barely looked like he was breathing. "Bruno, honey," she called to him placing a hand on his cheek. His skin was clammy and cold. "Please, can you hear me?" She began to cry. She just needed him to eat her food and then he would be fine. But he wasn't moving or reacting.
Mirabel moved to grab the Mortar and pestle and handed it to her mother. "We can try to force feed him. Try crushing it up." Julieta broke the oblea in to smaller pieces and crushed them up.
Doroles led Antonio out of the room the moment he and Abuela walked in. Upon seeing her son, Abuela shrieked, "My baby!" She fell to her knees. She could not lose another family member to a violent death. She could not watch her son die like she watched the love of her life die.
The rest of the family burst in and began to panic over the scene before them. Felix led Pepa out of the room before she could create a storm in the kitchen. Luisa sobbed and Isabela tried to comfort her. Agustin joined his wife on the other side of Bruno.
She finished crushing the oblea as much as possible. "We need to try to get him to eat this.".
Julieta pulled Bruno's upper body up leaning him against her chest so he was in a sitting position. Agustin then leaned Bruno's head back and poured some of the food into his mouth. Mirabel passed over a glass of water which he used to pour water down Bruno's throat getting the food to go down.
Everyone watched in anticipation. His shoulder moved into place and the bruise on his face began to disappear. Agustin took that moment to pull the knife out making the poor man groan. The hole it left closed up and healed. Bruno opened his eyes to peer at his family for a moment, but with the pain gone and the lack of sleep over the past two days, his body relaxed and he passed out.
.=.
Agustin carried Bruno to the bathroom to get him cleaned up, and Felix followed behind to help. With the wounds healed, they wouldn't be able to know the exact extent of the damage he went through, but they still needed to clean up the dried blood and remove the stained clothes.
Felix started the water for the bath while the other man removed the prophet's clothes and bandages. When Bruno was lifted to be placed in the tub Felix noticed the blood on his backside. "Agustin, look." They laid the small man back down to inspect the area, the blood was not from the knife wound. "Why would there be blood there." A distressing suspicion dawned on them, but neither said anything and continued helping their brother-in-law.
.=.
After Bruno was cleaned up an placed in bed the in-laws walked into the sitting room to see Pepa chastising Dolores, Camilo, and Mirabel for running off on their own. Julieta stood next to her agreeing that what the three did was very dangerous. Felix could see the regret on their faces.
"How's Bruno?"Julieta inquired making Pepa stop to listen. The men looked at each other with worried expressions.
"Well," Felix responded apprehensively, "He's in a deep sleep. But, we're a little worried."
"Kids," Agustin addressed the three sitting on the couch averting their gazes. "Your tio was pretty badly hurt, did Andre hurt you at all?" He and Felix were distraught that if Bruno was in that condition, then something could have happened to their children too.
Felix knelt down at eye level to them trying to get one of them to look at him. "We can talk about this separately if you want. Just tell me if he touched any of you, even in the slightest." Dolores stare wide eyed at the floor for the longest time. She wasn't great at keeping secrets.
"He punched Camilo in the stomach," She stated quickly hoping that would be enough. A loud sound of thunder erupted in the room. Felix took her hand and rubbed it with his thumb to comfort her, "Did anything else happen?"
Camilo furrowed his brows looking away. He didn't want to talk or think about it. He wanted to go out, find Andre, and kill him. He crossed his arms and huffed. Pepa was unsettled by her son's mood. He he was almost never upset over anything.
Dolores didn't want to think about it; didn't want to talk about it. She tried not to remember the sounds. She hadn't seen much as she kept her eyes closed. But she heard everything and it was seared into her mind. She rocked back and forth a little to comfort herself. Pepa's anxiety worsened and she began to pet her own hair trying to stay calm.
Mirabel saw it all. She was forced to watch. She was able to push it to the back of her mind through the escalating events. Now that things had calmed down and they were on the spot, she couldn't stop thinking about it. Andre spoke to her as it happened. Her tio's face. Andre touching him. The noise her tio made. She put her face in her hands and began to cry.
This started a chain reaction of Camilo's lip quivering and then also crying, and Dolores getting up and vomiting on the floor before she could make it very far. Pepa rushed to her side and rubbed her back.
When they calmed down enough, Mirabel spoke for the other two and did her best to recount the events of what happened; from the moment Casita was able to tell them who took Bruno, to the moment the chase ensued. Pepa and Julieta could barley hold their tears and tried to comfort their children. Abuela heard everything from a distance and felt sick to her stomach.