She tried to talk but nothing came out. After a small sip of water that burned all the way down, she tried again. “Day…?” “You’ve been with us for almost four weeks.” She knew the shock must have been written all over her face. “Don’t worry. You’re very much on the mend. You have quite the fan club.” She winked and started cleaning the bile from her hair. A warm and calloused hand stroked her head and she turned slightly to see her father. Cabral Hernandez was Superman to his daughters. Anything he put his mind to, he managed to accomplish. He’d instilled a willingness to work hard, every day, to accomplish their goals. “My Gabriella. How we have worried for you.” He bent to kiss her face all over then reached to pull her mother closer. Still lovely in her fifties, Tallila Hernandez wiped away her own tears. She was brilliant and people in the business world tended to underestimate her because English was not her first language and she’d been born in a poor village with no running water or electricity. She turned a firm look on her youngest daughter. “What have I told you about letting anything happen to my little one? Hmm? You are one of my two most precious possessions…you cannot allow even the tiniest scratch. Not the tiniest.” With their cheeks pressed together, she added in whispered Spanish, “You are never to scare me so badly again. I wouldn’t survive losing one of my girls.”
