Another week, another round of Alicia pointedly ignoring her phone and Ricardo watching as she excuses herself, coming back with a little stumble to her step. He's not sure what to do, how to help her that she will hopefully respond to better than she has WWE's higher ups' attempts.
He leaves early in the morning, needing some air, and finds himself at Alberto's, struggling to find a smile for Sofia, who stares worriedly into his face and lightly squeezes his hand. "He will be awake soon," she tells him, ushering him into the kitchen and pouring him a mug of coffee and pushing a plate of scrambled eggs and toast in front of him. He hasn't been hungry in days, maybe even longer than that, medicine and just the general stress of things taking away enjoyment for a lot of things from him, but she looks so hopeful, and it does smell kind of good that he takes a few bites, nodding in appreciation at her.
He's chewing on some toast when Alberto comes in, sleep mussed and barely aware of Ricardo sitting at his table until he sits across from him and looks up, blinking owlishly. "Mi hermano?"
Ricardo waves awkwardly, lips twitching up into a faint smile. "Hola, El Patron."
Alberto squints at him as if he's a mystery that it's too early in the morning for Alberto to decipher. "Are you well? Why are you here?"
"I'm fine," Ricardo says half-heartedly. "I'm not... I'm not here because of me," he continues on, fidgeting as Sofia reaches around him and collects his dishes, putting them in the sink as she loiters around to listen, wanting to help take that haunted look off of his face as well. "I suppose... you both have read the rumors," he breathes out, his suspicions confirmed when Alberto and Sofia exchange almost guilty looks. He swallows hard and looks away. "El Patron, I don't mean to dredge up your own bad memories, but... I'm aware when we weren't... as close... you had your own fair share of rumors."
"Si," Alberto says, his fingers tensing against the handle of his coffee mug, Sofia pausing again while going to get the carafe. "What of it?"
Ricardo stares at his hands, not wanting to face Alberto's anger ever again, but aware that he needs to know. Has to have some clue to help Alicia. "How did you overcome it?"
Another shared glance between Alberto and Sofia and they sigh almost as one, Sofia giving up on breakfast for now and sitting next to Ricardo. "It is brutal," she informs him softly. "Sometimes you want to help a person, but can't. They, mi hijo, need to want to help themselves. If they can't, or won't, nothing you say or do will change their mind." She lightly cups his face and smiles sadly at him. "Sometimes the kindest thing you can do is let them hit rock bottom, so they realize what they're sacrificing and claw their way back into the light. It is painful, and you will feel guilty and disgusted with yourself, but it's the only way for some to realize how important life is without addiction weighing them down." She rubs circles against his cheeks with her fingers. "Alright?"
He shudders, hating the sound of it, the thought of abandoning someone to the disease rampaging their body and mind, but when he looks up, Alberto is staring at him with a grim understanding in his eye. He nods to show his agreement with Sofia's claim, and Ricardo nods back, forcing himself to accept their words for the truth that they are.