PART 2 — THE MESSAGE
Helena kept talking.
“She always does this. Crying, fainting, making everyone feel sorry for her.”
I couldn’t answer.
My cheek was pressed against the cold floor.
My hand trembled beneath me.
Victor turned toward his mother.
“Should I call a doctor?”
Helena laughed.
“For what? She’ll get up when she’s hungry.”
Then something inside me changed.
I remembered my phone.
The broken phone Victor had thrown against the wall.
The screen was shattered.
But it wasn’t completely dead.
A tiny light blinked.
One message had gone through.
Help. Please.
I had sent it to Alex before Victor smashed the phone.
And underneath it was one word I had managed to type before everything went black.
Kitchen.
I didn’t know if he had received it.
I didn’t know if he would understand.
I didn’t know if I had enough time.
Then I heard a sound outside.
A car door slammed.
Victor froze.
“What was that?”
Raul stood up.
“Probably the neighbors.”
Then came three hard knocks.
BANG. BANG. BANG.
Everyone went silent.
Victor’s face changed.
The front door opened.
A voice thundered through the house.
“WHERE IS MY SISTER?”
Alex.
Victor immediately dropped the stick.
PART 3 — ALEX
Alex entered the kitchen and stopped.
His eyes moved from Victor…
to the wooden stick…
to the blood on the floor…
and finally to me.
His face became completely expressionless.
That scared Victor more than shouting would have.
“Alex,” Victor said nervously. “You don’t understand.”
Alex didn’t answer.
He walked straight toward me.
He carefully knelt beside me.
“Hey, little sister.”
I tried to speak.
Only a whisper came out.
“Baby…”
Alex immediately placed his hand near my shoulder.
“Don’t move.”
Then he looked at Victor.
“What did you do?”
Victor backed away.
“She fell.”
Alex looked at the stick.
Then at the bruises on my legs.
Then at Helena.
“She fell?”
Nobody answered.
Alex took out his phone.
“I already called 911.”
Victor’s face went white.
“You had no right—”
“My sister is six months pregnant and lying on the floor covered in blood.”
Alex’s voice remained calm.
“You lost the right to explain anything when you picked up that stick.”
Victor suddenly became aggressive.
“You’re not taking my wife anywhere!”
Alex stood.
“You’re right.”
He looked toward the doorway.
“She’s going to the hospital.”
“She’s my wife!”
Alex stared at him.
“And she’s my sister.”
PART 4 — THE AMBULANCE
The paramedics arrived minutes later.
They examined me immediately.
“Pregnant, approximately six months?”
Alex answered.
“Yes.”
“Any abdominal trauma?”
I nodded weakly.
The paramedic’s expression changed.
“We need to move now.”
They placed me on the stretcher.
Victor tried to follow.
A police officer stopped him.
“You’re staying here.”
“But that’s my wife!”
The officer looked at the broken phone on the floor.
Then at the blood.
Then at the wooden stick.
“You’ll have plenty of time to explain yourself.”
As the stretcher passed through the front door, I heard Helena screaming.
“This is a family matter!”
The officer replied:
“No. Domestic violence is not a family matter.”
The ambulance doors closed.
And for the first time in years, I felt safe.
PART 5 — THE HOSPITAL
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