Booth Three

21

It's quiet. All we can hear is the sound of crying. It's been hours now. Oliver is still in surgery. Diego's been stitched up, but he refused to leave for a CAT scan. He has a concussion, but the possibility of bruising on his brain hasn't been ruled out. He may have broken his arm, too. The doctors want a full body scan, just to be sure his adrenaline isn't masking any pain and that he doesn't have any internal damage.

Every now and then the door to the surgical ward will open, or a doctor or nurse will walk past, but it's never any news for us. The whole family is stuck here... waiting.

Diego's barely said a word since the nurse left. He's been silent, staring blankly at the ground without making a sound. He's kept his hand on my thigh the whole time, keeping me close to him. I've placed one hand on top of his and snaked my other arm around his.

I don't like this. I don't like this at all. I haven't seen him like this before. I don't know what he's thinking, but it can't be good. Nothing about this situation is good. There are too many unknowns. The risk of too high. It doesn't matter how fit and healthy Oliver is, the likelihood of surviving his injuries is small — too small.

His head flew through the window on the way down and smashed into a rock as they hit the ground. His brain is swollen and bleeding. And that's just the beginning. Roman didn't give me much detail, but from what I understand, his arm was crushed beneath the car and might need amputating, and there's a tree branch impaled in his abdomen. His fractured ribs and surface wounds are the least of his worries.

I don't see how he can make it. He's not going to. He can't.

But he has to. He has to make it through. There's no way Diego can survive if he doesn't. There's no way his mother can. The whole family will fall apart without him. He's... He's everything to them.

They're not ready to lose him. They need him. He's the one person that can calm his mother down when she's upset. He still has to officiate Ivy's wedding and drive his youngest to hre first day of high school. He has to help Valeria and Roman build their own home, and he has to be there to watch his eldest, Maritza, become the first female Chairman of the Board. And Diego... He has to be here to keep him together.

Without Oliver, they'll be lost. He's the person they all rely on and he loves being that person.

All of a sudden, the door opens. Lucy Ferrari walks through it, clinging onto the side of a man I haven't met, but recognise. It's Diego's uncle, Kaleem Washington. He holds Lucy up by her waist, the poor woman barely able to stand. Her face is completely swollen. She's shaking and whimpering. The whole family turns their way, but Diego's the only one who jumps out of his seat.

"Mum?" he asks. She wails loudly, gasping for breath. "What is it?!"

"I'm really sorry, kid," Kaleem says. "He didn't make it."

He didn't make it.

He didn't make it.

The air shifts, the room suddenly feeling darker than before. All hope is gone.

He's gone.

He's gone.

"What?" Diego moves closer. "No."

"I'm so sorry."

"No, this is bullshit," he matches past his mother and uncle and tugs at the handle of the door. "Don't fucking lie to me!"

"Diego," Roman hurries over to him.

"I need to see him!"

"You can't go in there!"