~ Madison's POV ~

The next four days had been what I would call, absolute hell.

Santiago was still in the ICU for those four days as the doctors monitored him closely, coming in to check on him every hour, on the hour.

Unlike the first day when I got there and he could speak a little with me and the others, while also cracking some of his stupid jokes, for the next four days he was completely out of it.

He could hardly keep any food down so he ended up on fluids to make sure he didn't get dehydrated and he was asleep most of the time.

Although Arturo, Nicolas and Noah were taking turns to stay with him, rest and also take care of work now that Santiago was out of action, I stayed with him all the time.

The only time I left was on the second day to go back to his hotel room to take a shower. Other than that I brought some clothes with me and my toiletries so that I could stay in his room as much as I could.

I slept that on really uncomfortable chair every night.

I even had an argument with the nurses in the ICU who tried to give me that bullshit that I told my own patients about sticking to visiting hours. Of course, being a nurse myself I knew that it didn't really do any harm to have one visitor in the room during the night. Especially since Santi was actually sleeping and we weren't messing about or doing anything which could cause him harm.

I just wanted to stay so that I kept my promise to him when I told him I wouldn't leave him.

I wasn't about to let some bitchy nurse, who needed Arturo to translate for her, tell me what to do.

The language barrier was also another problem for me. Everyone here spoke Spanish and only a little bit of English, so if Santi was asleep and no one else was with me I either had to use google translate or hope they could understand me when I spoke a little slower.

By the sixth day, Santiago was finally cleared to leave the ICU although we were told he wouldn't be discharged from hospital for possibly up to a month if his condition didn't improve. There was also a chance he could end up back in the ICU if it got any worse.

But for now he was out of any immediate danger and I was grateful for that.

As soon as he was allowed to leave the ICU, Arturo had arranged for Santiago to be moved to a private hospital. Which basically meant it was more like a hotel than a hospital.

When we got there, I found the room had floor to ceiling windows looking over the skyline of Mexico City, a bed which was just a little smaller than a double bed and a flat screen TV across from the bed.

The only way you could tell it was actually a hospital room was the fact that there was a sink and hospital equipment and machines around the room and the bed had wheels. It was one of those electric hospital beds which could lie flat or sit up.

It was still a lot more luxurious than I was used to, even in an actual hotel.

But I wasn't complaining. That ICU room was so small and suffocating I was glad to finally be able to breathe again.

Once Santi was all settled in, which basically meant he was rolled into the room on the bed and hooked up to the machines and the drips, I was finally allowed in to see him.

"How you doing?"

As I sat down on the much comfier chair by his bed, Santi rose an eyebrow at me before letting a deep breath.

"I feel like hell."

"Well that's progress. Last time I asked you, you told me you felt like death." When I said this he just looked at me for a second before he rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

"I don't remember that." His voice was thick with sleep which just made it sound a lot more attractive to me - not that I would ever tell him that.

In stark contrast to the first day, for the four more days he spent in the ICU and the day he was transferred to the private hospital he had been in a very very bad mood.

He hardly spoke and he didn't smile or laugh which was probably a good thing since he couldn't stop coughing last time.

But I missed his smile.

"Are you tired? Do you want to sleep for a bit or shall I get you something to eat?"

"You know I'll just throw up if I try to eat. The medication and antibiotics..." His sentence trailed off as he let out a tired breath causing a frown to form on my face.

I hated seeing him like that - just being awake was taking so much of his energy.

"Just go to sleep then Santi." Leaning over, I gently placed a kiss on his cheek as I ran my hand through his hair to relax him. It didn't take him long to fall asleep after that and once again I was alone in his room.

The days continued like that for another three days as he struggled to gain back his strength, but slowly slowly he was starting to stay awake a little longer.

"This bitch is always here." At the sound of someone entering the room I lifted my head from my phone to see Arturo focussing his attention on me.

And like a mature person, instead of responding to his comment I just flipped him off.

"Don't call her a bitch." Arturo rolled his eyes at Santiago when he came to my defence as usual, taking a seat on the chair next to me.

"She is a bitch. She's the bitchiest little bitch I've ever met."

"I got you those churros you were asking for." When I said this, pointing at a box on the table while I kept my eyes on my phone, he went quiet for a moment.

"Have I ever told you how much I love you Madison?"

I rose an eyebrow at Arturo who was now holding the box before he leaned over and pressed a kiss to my temple, causing me to let out a laugh.

Even though our relationship was...turbulent, to say the least, Arturo and I actually got along really well. I was already warming up to him after seeing him so often at Santiago's house while I lived there, but now that we see a lot of each other at the hospital and the hotel, we're even closer.

He was here for me whenever I cried while Santi was asleep, especially at the beginning.

Even though he called me a bitch most of the time, he actually really did care about me. He never let me go back to the hotel alone so even if he'd been awake all night working or with Santi, he would still drive me backwards and forwards from the hospital to the hotel.

"You want one bro?" Arturo held the box of churros out in Santiago's direction causing him to open his eyes for the first time since Arturo walked in.

He may have been awake but he usually kept his eyes closed to rest them.

"No, thank you." You could hear just how tired and weak he was whenever he spoke.

"He hasn't been able to keep anything down today. We tried some toast this morning but..." They both glanced over at me when I spoke before Santi just closed his eyes again.

"What have the doctors said about it?"

"I'm not sure, I don't understand much of what they say and Santi just keeps telling me they're saying he's fine." When I said this I saw Santiago's lips twitch up into a smile before he spoke.

"I am fine."

"No you're not, be quiet." Arturo just let out a small chuckle at this.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure I'm here tomorrow, then I'll tell you what they say." I gave him a grateful smile although I'm sure Santiago wasn't very happy.

He really was trying his best to hide exactly how unwell he was from me even though I was here throughout everything so I knew he wasn't fine.

"How's work going?"

In response to Santi's question, Arturo glanced at me before deciding to speak in Spanish instead of English.

"Todavía estoy tratando de averiguar quién era, pero todo apunta a Pedro." (I'm still trying to find out who it was, but everything is pointing towards Pedro.)

All I did was roll my eyes at their sudden shift to Spanish before turning my attention back to my phone.

There really was no need for them to switch to Spanish, it's not like I was going to tell anyone what they said.

"Quiero que lo maten." (I want him killed.)

"No te preocupes Santi, trató de matar a mi hermano. Deseará que su padre se quede con esos veinte dólares en lugar de gastarlo en un buen momento." (Don't worry Santi, he tried to kill my brother. He's going to wish his father kept that twenty dollars instead of spending it on a good time.)

Santiago nodded his head before he spoke again.

"¿Qué hay de los almacenes?" (What about the warehouses?)

In response to what seemed like a question, I saw Arturo shrug next to me before he responded.

"Nada. Nadie ha hecho nada. Quiero decir, incluso si el Dios del Diablo no existiera, esos almacenes pertenecían a alguien y, sin embargo, nadie ha hecho nada." (Nothing. No one has done anything. I mean, even if The Devil's God didn't exist, those warehouses belonged to someone and yet, no one has done anything.)

"Ellos podrían haber sido los que intentaron matarme." (They could have been the ones to try to kill me.)

"Ellos habrían asumido la responsabilidad." (They would have taken responsibility.)

Arturo shook his head as he spoke and then it fell quiet for a moment before I eventually spoke in a sarcastic tone.

"Are you guys done?" I rose an eyebrow at them causing Arturo to smirk at me. "¿Hay algún problema mi pequeña perra?" (Is there a problem my little bitch?)

Although I didn't understand what he said, from his stupid smirk I knew it was something bad so I just narrowed my eyes at him while Santiago let out a strained laugh.

"Stop it, leave her alone. Sorry Maddie, we're done." He gave me a small smile which I returned before I just stuck my tongue out at Arturo.

"If you wanted to kiss me you should just ask." He wiggled his eyebrows at me causing me to scoff.

"Go away."

The rest of the day went by like that with the three of us spending time in Santiago's room while he was in and out of sleep. After some hours of Arturo doing his work speaking here and there with Santiago about it, we ended up watching a movie on the flatscreen TV before he eventually left to go to the hotel to get some sleep.

"I'm so hungry Maddie." Giving Santiago a sad smile I ran my hand through his hair from my place next to him.

"You want to try and eat something again?" At the mention of food, he shook his head, letting out a sigh as he spoke. "It hurts too much when it comes back up."

"Let's try again. If you manage to keep it down it will give you some energy to help you recover." I gave him a small, encouraging, smile as I stroked his hair and eventually he agreed.

After a few minutes I left him to go and get him some toast and some water before I returned and put the plate down in front of him.

"Can I do it?" His eyes flashed over to mine just as he picked up the remote that controlled his bed, before he handed it to me with an amused smile.

For some reason I got really excited whenever I pushed the button to help him sit up or lie down.

I was really in need of some more entertainment in my life.

Once he was sitting up, he stared at the toast apprehensively for a moment before glancing over at me.

"It's okay, it'll be okay."

"I blame you if it doesn't stay down." I couldn't help but laugh at his comment as I nodded my head. "Okay that's fine."

After a moment, he very reluctantly took a bite of the toast, chewing it slowly until he swallowed it. He seemed to wait a moment before he took another bite and then after a moment, another one.

"How is it?"

"Did you make it?" I nodded my head as I watched him take another bite. "You're really good at making toast."

His words caused a smile to tug at my lips as I shrugged my shoulders.

"Thanks, I just put it in the toaster and push the button down."

"No way." I rolled my eyes at his sarcastic reply as he finally took the last bite and then washed it down with some water.

"Now we just wait." I nodded my head as I moved the plate away from him and then sat back down on my chair.

"So are we just going to wait in silence or..?"

"What did you want to talk about?" He rose an eyebrow at me, waiting for me to come up with some kind of response.

It was that moment when I was left with a chance to finally speak to him that a question that had been on my mind all day came back to me.

"Do you trust me?"

My question caused Santiago to give me a confused frown as he nodded his head.

"Of course, why wouldn't I?"

"You were speaking in Spanish with Arturo." He frowned for a moment longer before he let out a sigh.

"I'm sorry about that, it was just work. It has nothing to do with trust Maddie, you know I trust you."

"Why?" My question caused him to frown once again. "What do you mean?"

"Why do you trust me? I broke your trust with that whole Asher thing."

As soon as I mentioned Asher, Santiago shook his head and a dark look overtook his expression.

"I trust you, I'm over that."

When I didn't respond to him, he took the opportunity to continue speaking.

"I'm sorry, for how I treated you back then. What I said was horrible...I was just so angry Maddie. I hate him so much, but that's not an excuse, so I'm sorry."

Is it bad that I didn't even care anymore that he called me a whore all those months ago?

Giving him a small smile I reached over and took his hand in mine.

"I forgive you, actually I think I forgave you a long time ago." He nodded his head without a word although I didn't miss the relief that flashed in his eyes.

It was moments like these that always gave me that small flicker of hope in my heart that he wasn't so far gone. That there was still a little bit of my bestfriend left inside him.

"Sienna told me why you hate him so much."

"She did?"

I nodded my head as my mind went back to that day three months ago, when she told me about how Asher had kidnapped her and basically turned her into a prostitute until Santiago saved her.

"She doesn't usually tell anyone that story."

"I don't know why she did, but when I heard it, I guess it helped me to get over what you said. I just...I can't believe I was so stupid to fall for it in the first place."

"Asher is a screwed up person Maddie. That's his job, he lures women in. He's a professional."

I nodded my head as I let out a tired sigh.

"You know, I've only had sex twice in the last five years. Asher turned out to own a prostitution ring and you...well you know how complicated our relationship is."

Even though I had absolutely no clue why I felt the need to share that information with Santiago, I definitely didn't expect him to laugh in response.

"Really?"

I nodded my head as he laughed again.

"That must be hard, I feel bad for you." He gave me a teasing smirk causing me to roll my eyes. "I'm sure you don't."

"No I do. I can't imagine having someone as good as me and then going so long without any sex then having Asher as the person to end your drought." He shook his head in disgust causing me to roll my eyes again.

"You're so humble." He glanced over at me with a small smirk as he nodded his head. "I know."

His response caused me to let out a small laugh before it fell silent between us again.

"I can't remember the last time I had sex." When I turned my head to look at Santi he had a frown on his face as he tried to think back in time. After a moment I cleared my throat, mumbling her name.

"Katia."

"I told you, I didn't do anything with her." I couldn't help but roll my eyes at his reply causing him to narrow his eyes at me. "You're never getting over that kiss, are you?"

"She was such a bitch to me only a month before that. If I kissed someone you didn't like..." As my sentence trailed off, thoughts of Asher coming to my mind, Santiago let out a scoff.

"Exactly."

"Okay but that's not the same thing." As I shook my head, he glared at me.

"Of course it is. You knew I didn't like him in highschool."

"Santiago that was eight years ago. She called me a slut in front of you and not even a month later I found her on your lap."

This time, instead of arguing, he just shook his head and spoke in a tired tone.

"I didn't kiss her. ¿Por qué haría eso cuando quisiera besarte?" (Why would I do that when I wanted to kiss you instead?)

I didn't even bother to ask him what he said, knowing it was probably just him cursing at me or something in Spanish.

He probably wouldn't tell me anyway.

After a few minutes of silence, I turned my attention back to him.

"How are you feeling?"

It was only then that he seemed to remember he'd just eaten that toast and he thought for a second probably trying to determine how he felt before a smile tugged at his lips.

"Fine."

Even though we'd just argued, I couldn't help but smile too. It was a sign he was getting better - it was something at least.

"Do you want some more?"

He nodded his head causing me to stand to my feet, but just as I went to step towards the door to get him some more toast, his hand shot out to grab mine.

"I never meant to hurt you Maddie. I promise, I didn't kiss her, I wouldn't do that, not to you."

Taking a moment to look into his eyes all I saw was honesty shining in them and then, eventually I nodded my head.

"Okay. I believe you."

10 Days Later

"I am now back, you don't have to be sad any longer."

At the sound of my voice, Santiago looked up from his phone to give me a smile, showing off his perfect white teeth.

"Hey." I gave him a smile of my own as I sat down on my usual chair, placing the box of croissants on the table along with the two packets of cut fruit.

"You wanted water, right? I didn't get any juice." He nodded his head as I put my purse back down on the floor by my feet before opening up the food.

Ever since Santiago was able to start keeping down heavier foods which was two days after he ate that toast, I found this little French bakery a few minutes away from the hospital. So, I'd been getting our breakfast from there everyday since.

This may be a private hospital but they really needed to work on their breakfast choices - it was still disgusting.

Like every other day, we sat in silence as we ate our breakfast together before I grabbed my phone and shuffled my chair closer to him.

"Do I look okay?"

"They're four years old Maddie, they're not going to give a crap."

"Just answer the question!" When I snapped at him, he snapped right back.

"Fine! Yes, you look beautiful."

"Aw, really?" When I gave him a smile he let out a small laugh and nodded his head. "Yes, like always."

Giving him one more smile, I looked back down at the phone in my hand and dialled my mom's number, listening to those annoying FaceTime rings as I waited for her to answer.

"Maddie."

"Hi mom." I gave her a smile when she answered the FaceTime call.

"How are you? How's Santiago?" She still hated him for what he did to me eight years ago, but I guess since he's in hospital, she's been trying to be a little nicer.

We've only actually FaceTimed her and the twins three times over but whenever I called her over the past few weeks since I'd been in Mexico, she had asked about him.

"I'm okay and he's getting there. He's eating a lot better now but he can still barely move."

That operation really took a lot out of him - he hasn't left his bed ever since.

"How long do you think you'll be there?"

"I don't know Mom. They could discharge him in the next two weeks but they might not allow him to fly back to California for a while yet. We'll just have to wait and see."

At this news, she let out a disappointed sigh but nodded her head nonetheless.

"They're not causing you a problem, are they? I can come back if-"

"No! No of course not baby. I've loved having them with me." As she spoke a smile graced her lips, and for the first time since my dad passed away two months ago, her smiled seemed really genuine. "I just miss you and so do they."

I nodded my head, giving her a smile of my own.

"Can we speak to them?" When I mentioned the twins she let out a laugh and nodded her head before she went to go and find them. It wasn't long before I heard their laughter on the otherside, causing me to smile.

"Mama, daddy!" I held the phone as we watched Cameron take the phone from my mom, holding it really close to his face to be able to see us.

"Baby move the phone back a bit so we can see you and Kenzie." His eyes widened a little at Santi's words and he grinned before moving so that we could see Kenzie too.

"Mama! Hi!" I couldn't help but laugh when I saw my baby girl dressed in her mini mouse onesie and the ears she got from Disney World.

"Hello my baby."

"I miss you daddy." Santiago nodded next to me, giving the twins a smile.

"I miss you too. Mackenzie you look beautiful." When I turned to look at him, he was busy watching our daughter with a smile as she twirled around to show her outfit even though we couldn't really see much of it on the screen.

"You got me the ears, remember daddy? For my birthday." Santiago nodded his head at this.

"I remember." He gave her grin before turning his attention to Cameron. "Are you being good Cameron? You're the man of the house now."

"I am?" Santiago nodded his head, a slightly more serious expression taking over his features.

"Yeah. You're in charge of looking after Grammy and Kenzie while I'm not there."

"But I'm 4 daddy, you're 50."

As soon as he said that, I couldn't stop the laugh that escaped my lips. Santiago turned to look at me with a glare, causing me to my put my hand over my mouth to muffle my laughter.

"Sorry, Sorry."

"I'm 26, actually. But, being 4 doesn't mean you can't be big and strong."

"I'm not strong." He shook his head with a frown causing Kenzie to turn towards him. "Yes you are! You can play with Apollo."

As soon as she mentioned that stupid dog, I closed my eyes, knowing this was going to cause a load of shit none of us needed.

"Apollo?" Santiago's confused tone caused the twins to look back at the phone again. "Jesse's dog."

"Jesse?" This time his question was directed at me but instead of replying, I just changed the conversation.

"Have you two been eating healthy?"

For the next ten minutes, we talked with the twins about what they'd been up to since yesterday when we last spoke to them, before we eventually hung up.

Thankfully, this time I didn't burst into tears like I did the first two times we FaceTimed them. Maybe it was because I knew what was going to happen next.

"Who is Jesse?"

I let out a sigh as I straightened my chair up again, ignoring Santiago's eyes on me as I put my phone in my purse.

"A friend from college. I ran into him at the park and we met him a few times to play with his dog."

It was a simple and reasonable explanation, but of course Santiago being Santiago could see straight through it.

"You've always been a bad liar."

"I'm not lying!" He rolled his eyes at me before picking up his phone, indicating he was now done with the conversation.

For some reason that just annoyed. He didn't get to just ignore me like that.

"Fine, he's my ex. Are you happy?"

"Your ex? You let your freaking ex around my children?"

"Our children." He rolled his eyes at my response before putting his phone down on the table next to all the trash from our breakfast which I'd completely forgotten to throw away.

"Just tell me you didn't let him and his freaking dog into my house."

Oh.

"Well...just by the front door..."

Ten days has passed since our last 'argument' and this time, I could tell just from his expression that this one was a lot more serious.

Santiago clenched his jaw as he looked away from me, clearly trying to calm whatever anger had flared up inside him.

"I'm sorry Santi. I didn't invite them properly inside, I promise. I just didn't want to be rude." He just let out a scoff at my response before shaking his head again.

"How many times?"

"Only a few, maybe five or six, I can't really remember."

It fell silent for a moment before he spoke.

"Are you...do you still have feelings for him?"

"No, I don't." When my words came out in a confident, strong tone he turned to look at me, probably trying to tell if I was telling the truth. "I don't Santi. The only reason I even saw him again after the first time was for the twins because they loved his dog."

He listening to my explanation but he didn't reply to me for a moment, turning his head away from me .

"I'm going to sleep for a bit. You should go Madison, get some sleep or something at the hotel."

"Santi-"

"Just go."

They're so frustrating! 😭

Idk why I'm saying that because I wrote this but oh well 😂

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