Chapter 34 - Carmen's Release Approaches
The shelter thrived over the next year. We helped dozens of women secure restraining orders, file for divorce, and find safe housing.
But as the seasons changed, I received a phone call from Hector, the prosecutor, that sent a chill down my spine.
"Valeria, I have some news regarding Doña Carmen," Hector said.
I sat back in my office chair, closing the financial ledger I was working on. "She still has three years left on her sentence."
"She does," Hector confirmed. "But she has been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. The prison hospital cannot accommodate her declining state. Her lawyers have filed a petition for compassionate release. The judge is likely to grant it. She will be transferred to a hospice facility in the city to die."
I stared at the wall. The woman who had ordered my torture, who had smiled as I gasped for air, was dying.
"Are they asking for my input?" I asked.
"No. It’s a medical mandate," Hector sighed. "I just wanted you to hear it from me first, so you weren't caught off guard."
That evening, after putting Mateo to bed, I sat in the living room with my parents, telling them the news.
"She is getting exactly what she deserves," my father growled. "A painful end in a lonely bed."
"I feel nothing," I admitted, looking at my hands. "I thought hearing her name would make me angry, but I just feel completely empty."
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"That is a good thing, Valeria," my mother said softly. "It means she holds absolutely no space in your heart. You have filled your life with too much light to care about a dying shadow."
I nodded, realizing she was right. But a small part of me knew I needed to look the shadow in the eye one last time.
