Page 66 of Sucker Punch Drunk Love

“It's Mónica. She's in the hospital. Ihaveto get back to Philly.”

* Sledgehammer in Portuguese

* She wolf

* She wolf

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Sierra

My heart was racing, chasing whatever time I'd have with Mónica if she didn't make it. I’d betrayed Josue’s rule of never crying so many times over, that if I hadn’t taken melatonin, I would have never gotten any sleep on the plane.

I kept thinking, why did I have to be so far away when this happened? Mónica probably felt all alone, despite being surrounded by a room full of professionals. It didn’t take long after offboarding the plan before Josue hit up the only open car rental service at the airport.

Jose drove the rental, racing to CHOP. Witnessing my hysteria, he opted to drop me off while he navigated the impossible task of finding a park. Checking in at the front desk, I all but ran to the food allergy center, where I was told she was being treated.

I texted Josue before my tears me consumed so much, I couldn’t see. It didn’t take long to find Sondra sitting in a waiting area.” Oh my god, what happened?” I cried my eyes out, looking for someone to blame.

“Gosh, Sierra. You couldn't have fixed your face a little before coming. You're covered in bruises,” she deflected, but I hadlooked much worse. Dismissing me wasn't going to give me any answers.

“Sondra,please.Just tell me what happened. Is she gonna be okay?”

“She didn't even eat anything with nuts in it. She just had a few maduros?* cooked in peanut oil, so I figured it was minimal risk. I thought it would be okay with her EpiPen?—”

“But that's not a reason to chance her life,” I interrupted. “I thought I made it clear. No nutanything. Not even cooking in oil. Her allergy at this age makes her in constant pain. If these are her last moments, all she’s going to remember is being in pain, and me not being there?—”

“Sierra, I'm sorry. I should have listened to you.” But at this point I didn't want to argue. I just wanted to see my daughter. Given her age and reaction, she was being monitored for the next few hours, and they wouldn't agree to me seeing her until I calmed down.

Josue had followed my instructions, and as much as I didn't like pulling him into my kid stuff, it was nice to see a familiar face.

“Got here as fast as I could. I fear parking in Philly’s worse than Jersey,” he dryly joked, as I stood and hugged him.

“How are we doing? Are we okay? Issheokay?” He lowered his gaze to look me in the eye.

“She was being treated earlier with a more potent dose of epinephrine to open up her airways. Stabilized her blood pressure. But they’re keeping her overnight, and since I missed visiting hours, they won’t even let me see her unless I calm down. But I don’t know how to,” I cried.

He soothed my shoulder with a nice rub and I admit, it did help.

Sondra cleared her throat, like she was expecting me to introduce them. She probably thought I had brought myboyfriend. “Sondra. This is Josue, my trainer. Josue, this is my daughter's paternal grandmother.”

They shared an “encantada?*” and an “el placer es mío?*” between each other, a simple handshake exchanged.

“I tried to get here as fast as I could. But a fight from Vegas isn’t exactly quick,” Josue defended.

“You got her here, that's all that matters,” as it took a minute for Sondra to fully regard Josue’s appearance. I’m sure when I spoke about my trainer, she wasn’t expecting someone as strapping or attractive, even despite his physical flaws.

“So, you're the one getting my son's ex into fights?” she challenged.

“None that she can't win,” he winked. “But do you guys like, need anything? A bottle of water, a bag of junk. It's too late for the cafeteria, but I'm sure there's a vending machine somewhere.”

I'm just gonna stretch my legs a bit. That’s if you don’t mind, Sierra. It’s been a long night,” she said, excusing herself to get some fresh air.

“Ex's mom?” Josue regarded, as she turned the corner. “That's gotta be rough.”

“She's actually a lot nicer, considering. Tonight is just a high stress situation, is all. If she hadn't taken her, I fear Mónica would have just fallen through the cracks of the system,” I admitted.

“That's good. At least in that regard you can trust her,” he noted, taking me in for another hug.