Chapter 4
Chapter 4: The Countdown Clock
When my shift ended, I stripped off the driver's uniform and took two rundown buses back to my reality.
My house was located on the outskirts of Monterrey. The municipal water was cut off periodically, and the rusted corrugated tin roof creaked violently with every gust of wind. I pushed open the rusty metal door. The silence and poverty enveloped me, a stark contrast to the opulence I had served all morning.
"Papa...?"
A tiny, weak voice called out from the cramped bedroom. I threw my keys onto the plastic table and rushed in.
My little Sofia was lying in bed, her frail body curled up under an old blanket. She was only four, but her skin was pale and translucent as tissue paper. Her breathing produced a constant, rattling wheeze.
"I'm here, my little princess," I knelt beside the bed, brushing her thin hair. "Are you very tired today?"
"My chest hurts, Papa," Sofia blinked her large, innocent eyes. "Did Mommy send the animal cookies?"
My heart felt as if it were being crushed in a vice. Elena had always bought those cookies on payday. "Of course she did, my angel. Mommy sent them just for you," I forced a smile, pulling the small packet from my bag.
I prepared her medicine. Each vial cost a week's salary, but they seemed to be losing their effect. Last week, the doctor at the public hospital had looked at me with pitying eyes: "Her lungs were ruined in the womb by the toxins and the trauma. There is nothing more we can do but buy her a little time. You need to prepare yourself."
May you like
Watching Sofia drift off to sleep, every breath a desperate battle against death, I knew I was out of time. The hourglass of my daughter's life was running out of sand. The De la Vegas were living on beds of Egyptian cotton, while my daughter was paying the price for their sins.
"I won't let you leave in silence," I whispered into the dark. The game had to end sooner.
