~18~

Marty's eyelashes curled against his tear-dampened cheeks, thick and dark, his full mouth plumped into a pout even in sleep.

Pilar's eyes fell on the silver frame clutched close to his heart and a soft sigh fell from her lips, "Mi hijo." She feathered her fingers tenderly through the sweaty blond strands against her grandson's forehead, wanting to soothe his sadness away. "Your papa loves you. Very much," she punctuated her words with a kiss to Marty's temple.

"You know I do, Mama." Luis stepped into the darkened room.

"I know," Pilar answered with a solemn whisper, torn between wanting to comfort her son and wanting to reprimand him for the way he'd handled things with Sheridan earlier. She remained silent, the best she could offer in the circumstances, instead letting Luis speak.

"I DO love him, Mama. You know that," Luis seemed to seek her reassurance on this statement, and at the nod of her head, continued, "More than my own life. I'd do anything for him—anything to keep him safe and from getting hurt. Sheridan hurts him, Mama. Every time she walks out of that door…"

And you, Pilar thought, studying her son's profile in the soft light provided by the lamp at Marty's bedside. Luis wore his pain like a heavy winter coat, his shoulders slumped under its weight. His eyes were dull, his jaw set in an unhappy, hard line.

"Each time is harder than the last," Luis rubbed a tired hand across his face. "Each goodbye is more painful. But the longer she's here, the more time she spends with him…it makes it that much more difficult to watch her walk away, to watch him watch her walk away," the admission seemed to tumble from Luis's mouth as he crept closer to the bed. Kneeling at its side and dwarfing Marty's small hands with his larger ones, he coaxed the silver frame from the tiny fingers and reached beyond his mother to place it on the bedside table. "I couldn't do it. I couldn't bear to see that disappointment in his eyes again as he watched her walk out on him. So I did what I did. And it nearly killed me when he looked at ME with that expression. But he still loves her and that makes it okay. "

"Oh, Luis." One look at Luis's glittering, moist eyes and Pilar cupped a palm around his cheek, tears coming to her own eyes. "It doesn't make it okay." She brushed the fingertips of her other hand gently across his cheek, both relieved and saddened that there finally appeared to be a breach in the dam and wetness met her touch.

"What can I do, Mama?" Luis asked a broken man's question. "To make things okay?"

Pilar pulled him into a fierce hug as Sheridan's sad blue eyes stared at Luis from the silver-framed photograph behind her. "Ask her, Luis. Ask her to stay."

So...after reading this chapter, who has more of your sympathy?

Luis?

Or Sheridan?

Marty's really the only perfectly innocent one in this whole mess.

Will he do it? Will Luis ask Sheridan to stay?

Will you still be reading to find out?

Feedback is much appreciated.

Thanks so much for reading!