A/N: Another short story, this time in 2 parts. I've been feeling really inspired to write lately, so I hope you enjoy! Please review/give constructive criticism, it's always welcome!

BLOOD FEUD

Part 1 of 2

It was Saturday afternoon and Maria was sitting outside on the deck in her backyard enjoying the sun, when she heard a clattering of noise coming outside of her neighbour's house, followed by a scream of pain. She knew that miss Aurélia Lowman, or Mama Aurélia as she was called, was living next door, and that the elderly woman had been having trouble walking. Mariam didn't hesitate to get over to her neighbour's house because it sounded like the woman was in trouble. When Maria finally made it to the kitchen in the small house, she found Miss Lowman on the floor, whimpering in agony.

"It's alright Mama Aurélia, I'll call an ambulance. Don't move, and don't force anything!" If the woman was relieved that somebody was there to help her, she didn't show it. "No, no ambulancia! No health care!" Aurélia said, and Natalie felt bad for the lady. "That's okay, mama, I can pay for you. No es caridad. Soy tu vecina y yo te ayudaré." (It's not charity. I'm your neighbour and I will help you.)

Maria had a good relationship with the woman 40 years her senior, so she knew how stubborn she could be. After calling 911 and reporting the accident, the man on the other line said it should be about 15 to 25 minutes. Maria hung up the phone and brought her attention back to the suffering woman on the floor. She knew better than to try and move her, as that could not only increase her suffering, but her injury could also increase. So instead, Maria walked to the living room and grabbed a decorative pillow from the couch. It was a good thing that Mama Aurélia kept her house spotless, so Maria didn't feel bad to put the pillow on the floor and softly move it underneath Aurélia's head.

"The ambulance will be right here, Aurélia, I will make sure you'll get all the assistance you need." Maria told the woman. Aurélia slightly nodded in gratitude. "Gracias, querida. (Thanks darling.) Call Happy, he will want to know." "Si, por supuesto." (Yes, of course.)

Happy. Maria had known she was forgetting something, and it made sense that it was Happy. Even though he was not someone you would forget after you'd seen him, he wasn't in Bakersfield too often to visit his mother. He was part of a motorcycle club, up in Northern California, or maybe even way up north in Washington. Either way, he was on the road a lot, not being near his mother as often as Aurélia would have liked. But unfortunately for her, Happy had inherited her stubborn genes, and he simply did what he pleased. This resulted in Maria spending many hours over at the Lowman residence, listening to Mama Aurélia talking about her son, and how he never came home.

Maria had seen Happy occasionally, and she was as far in his good books as one could get, simply because she made sure to look after his mother. He had moved her over to Bakersfield a couple of years ago, because she needed a house that was a little bit more accessible. Because he couldn't afford much, they had eventually settled for a small, one floor house with two bedrooms, a kitchen large enough for her to cook comfortably, but small enough not to become a nuisance. Mariam remembered the day the truck parked in the driveway, followed by a convoy of bikers. She didn't offer to help unpack, figuring that the men would be more than capable of moving stuff, but she decided to make a pie when she realized that the elderly lady who was escorted inside would be the one making a home of the house.

"I'll call Happy when we get to the hospital, okay? I don't want to deal with him before I've dealt with you, and I actually have something positive to tell him." Aurélia smiled at Maria's response. The younger woman had had her run ins with her son, and Aurélia was glad to see that she had understood how best to handle him with such delicate matters.

After what seemed like a miserable eternity to Aurélia, the ambulance finally showed up. The emergency personnel were working quickly. "What happened?" One of the women asked. Maria explained what Aurélia had told her before: she had lost her grip on the kitchen counter, stumbled forward and then had fallen hard to the ground. The paramedics established that Aurélia Lowman had most likely broken her hip. "Are you family?" One of the other paramedics asked her. "I'm her neighbour, I'm often looking after her. Is it okay if I ride with?" Mariam asked, really hoping they would allow that.

"Of course, we'll need you to fill out some of her forms." Maria nodded, "I'll just go grab some of her paperwork and her passport." While the paramedics moved Aurélia onto a gurney, Mariam went to the cabinet where she knew Mama Aurélia kept her documentation. That would be important, before they started to assume she was in the country illegally, which was not the case.

When she had everything, she grabbed the keys from the little bowl in the hallways and locked the door behind her. Then she quickly ran to her own house to do the same. Finally, Maria was ready to go.

When Mama Aurélia's paperwork had all been filled out, and she had been assigned a doctor and a room, Maria took a 5-minute break. It was busy at the hospital, and people were shouting and running all around her. When she sat next to Mama Aurélia and held her hand, the now tranquilized woman was smiling back at Maria in a sate of slumber. They stayed like this for a couple more minutes, until the doctor came in. "Hi, my name is Doctor Ricardo Larrea, I'm on duty today in the ER, and I have miss Lowman's X-Ray's here with me. She has a femoral fracture that occurred in the proximal end of the femur, a very standard break for someone her age. However, she will need surgery to replace the femoral head. She is scheduled for that surgery early tomorrow morning. I understand you will be covering miss Lowman's medical costs?" Doctor Larrea asked Maria. "Yes, that's correct." "Okay, we'll need you to go over some more paperwork, if you could please follow me."

Maria took one more look at Mama Aurélia, and then followed the doctor. When Aurélia was out of ear shot, the doctor continued his questions. "Does she have any family or relatives who can take care of her?" Maria shook her head. "She has a son, but he lives up north in Washington. I'm going to call him in a bit, let him know what happened and that I've got it covered." The doctor looked at her confused. "Why are you doing this?" Maria started to feel a little uncomfortable with the questions, but she shook it off, under the impression that it was part of the doctor's job. "She a kind woman, she doesn't deserve to suffer for the rest of her life because of some medical bill." The doctor nodded. "You do realize that it won't just be the bill for the hospital though, right? She will have to go through physical therapy to get walking properly again. There's a good live-in clinic here in Bakersfield, but it'll be pricey. Will you or her son be able to afford all the care she needs?" Maria nodded. "Si, money is not a problem." "Bien, then please fill out this paperwork, miss..."

Realizing he was fishing for her last name, she gave it to him. "Alvarez, my name is Maria Alvarez."