Finding Ximena

0.31

Esmeralda tried to keep her tears at bay as her sons and daughter were being checked upon. Leroy, Loreto and Adan luckily didn't have injuries but the same couldn't be said for her sons. Gilberto didn't care about them because Adam was barely known in the underworld. Her sons were badly beaten by Gilberto and Avarez stopped breathing twice.

"Esmeralda, Fernando," Manuel nodded.

Bags lay underneath his eyes and he looked exhausted.

"They are fine. Avran and Alva have their left hands broken, Alarico's ankle is severely sprained but luckily not broken, Alverio's jaw is broken, Arrio has a severe concussion, Amersio has a dislocated shoulder," he paused then glanced at Adam who was staring at his wife "I'd like to talk to you two in my office,"

They nodded and followed him into his clean office. Esmeralda tried to smile as she noticed Jesselyn who was cleaning what seemed to be a milk stain on her shirt. Manuel had moved her things into his office so they shared an office. After expressing their attraction for each other he became possessive and when their little girl was born it became worse.

"Their report," she passed a paper to him and he thanked her.

Fernando sat in front of him and pulled Esmeralda into his lap. She didn't resist him and relaxed into his touch.

"Avran and Alva's hands should heal in three to two weeks. Right now we are putting them into splints. It shouldn't be removed until I say so," he narrowed his eyes at the couple who were alarmed.

This was the first time any of their children had such serious injuries.

"With Alverio's broken jaw he will have jaw pain, he may feel uncomfortable and won't be able to open his mouth full way and will have speaking problems. We wanted to ask for your permission before giving him a tetanus shot," he elucidate.

"Give it to him," Esmeralda nodded.

Jesselyn immediately left the room.

"We wanted to do manual repositioning but thought it would be best to treat it with a barton bandage. A bandage has been wrapped around his jaw and around the back of his head to keep it in place while he heals. Don't move him too much. He can eat but only soft foods. His jaw should take four to eight weeks to heal but in some cases, it might take several months to heal," he explained.

"Since Alarico's sprain is severe it should take twelve plus weeks to fully heal. He should not move his feet unless it's necessary. I think it's absolutely cruel that Gilberto sprained both his ankles. He tried to break them. The swelling can be controlled by ice, compression can be used also to reduce swelling and immobilize the injury and elevation that props," he delineated.

"Amersio will have to wear a sling for about twelve to sixteen weeks to completely recover from a dislocated shoulder. He should be able to resume activities within two weeks but he should avoid heavy lifting and sports involving shoulder movements for about six weeks to three months," he explained.

"Due to his concussion, Arrio might feel sluggish, confused, dizzy, pressure in the head, double or blurry vision. He might even face memory problems, he might also be bothered by light or noise and may feel nausea and vomit from time to time but he will be alright within seven to fourteen days. Sadly he has a grade three concussion and may experience speech difficulty and amnesia for more than 24 hours. What I'm afraid of is that he may be suffering from Traumatic Brain injuries which can cause Brain damage. The X-Rays should be in in a few hours," he mumbled sadly.

Fernando rubbed his wife's back as she choked on her tears.

"Can you leave for a bit Manuel" Fernando whispered, his voice barely audible.

"Of course," Manuel nodded and quickly exited the room, leaving the devastated couple on their own.

"I-I can't Fernan-" he shushed her by placing his lips on her's.

"It'll be fine," he cooed "They'll heal."

"Mentally?" She asked softly.

He remained quiet making her tear up even more. He didn't know the answer to that question.

                                                           *

"Avarez was badly beaten up," Manuel coughed awkwardly "his ribs are bruised and his arms and face are bruised. His wrist and ankle are sprained as well. He's been a fighter since the day he was born, that I can assure you. He's alive and breathing. The bruises should be gone in two weeks but I suggest you use Aloe Vera or Vitamin K cream,"

"Amertio is better. His nose is broken but within three weeks I can assure you it will be healed completely. He was punched in the face several times and has several huge cuts everywhere but he will be fine," he paused "Mena is just as bad as Avarez is. She has a huge gash at the side of her head and at the back of her head which has been disinfected. Her nose is also broken and she has cut all over her arms and legs. Her stomach has several bruising wounds on them. Her arm is slightly dislocated like Amersio but not as serious. She'll pull through,"

Esmeralda nodded meekly as she continued to hide her red puffy face in her husband's chest.

"I uh," Manuel glanced at his table, "I noticed some odd bruises on their inner thighs and too close to their private areas for comfort most especially Ximena,"

That caused Esmeralda to lift her head quickly.

"Avarez and Amertio have similar ones on their inner thighs, jaws and chests," he explained slowly to the couple who were shocked.

"We need to run a rape kit on them and the others as well" he explained making Esmeralda choke on her sob.

Fernando tried to calm her down but she simply wiggled away from his grasp and hugged her body tightly.

"Esme it'll be alright," he tried to soothe her but anguish and grief were detected very clearly in his voice as well.

A rape kit? What did that monster do to his children?

"Don't say that," she yelled making both men wince "Don't say that because you and I both know it isn't true. It won't be alright. It can't,"

Her chest burned with fury and sorrow. How could Gilberto do that to her children? She was surely never letting them out of her sight again.

She cried as she ran her hand through her hair making Fernando's heart clench.

"Run the tests" he spoke softly "On all of them"

Manuel nodded and left the room.

Esmeralda finally broke down. She slid onto the floor, her arms wrapped around her body as tears rolled down her cheeks and scream escaped her lips.

"Esme I-" she cut him off.

"Don't lie to me Fernando," she whispered hoarsely.

He nodded and slid onto the floor beside her. He wrapped his arms around her body and pulled her into his lap. There they both cried.

For their children who were already broken.

They cried for the safety they failed to secure them with.

If only they could leave.

If only.

                                                 T H E        E N D

                                                               *
Hi. This is sadly the end of “Finding Ximena” but don't worry. There will be a sequel. I will release it some time next week. It may be slow because I'll be resuming school next week as well but you'll surely get a sequel. Please don't give up on this book. I can assure you the sequel will reveal everything in due time. It will be action packed and very enjoyable. I will surely release one or two bonus chapters so stay tuned. There will be definitely one or two clues in them ❤❤❤.