Chapter 4 Capítulo 3

♫ Sleep, sleep little girl

I'm here... ♫

Malú wakes up with the music she is very familiar with, especially with that beautiful voice. He looks around and realizes he's still in his mother's room. She turns around and finds Anna's serene face and smiles in relief. The mother smiles back and continues to run her hand through her daughter's hair, calmly.

- I had a horrible dream. – Malú comments, snuggling against her mother. She lets a few tears of relief flow from her beautiful blue eyes - I dreamed... dreamed... that I was gone... Forever

-Shhh... – Anna says, calming her daughter. She puts her arm around her daughter's shoulder and strokes Malú's head, while she sings her favorite lullaby again.

- I'll always be here... – Anna whispers in her sleeping daughter's ear.

***

- I will move heaven and earth, if necessary, but Malú will not leave Belo Horizonte! This I assure you!

- She is my daughter and will go with me to Curitiba.

- Only over my dead body!

-Please, I need you to keep your voice down, otherwise I'll have to call security. Do not disturb the patient.

-Sorry, but that man shouldn't even be here.

-You're the one who shouldn't be here!

- Silence. Look, she's waking up. Avoid any discussion, I'll call the doctor.

Malú opens her eyes, dizzy. He looks at the side of his bed and finds Aline with a red face, apparently she is very angry about something. On the other side is Thiago looking at her, worried. Close your eyes slowly, while your mouth feels dry. Then he faces Aline, tries to ask, but his voice doesn't come out. It wasn't a dream , Malú thinks, looking desperately at Aline who holds her hand.

- Calm down, Malú. – asks Aline, seriously - The doctor is already on his way and we'll soon find out what happened.

- I very much doubt that the doctors here will get an answer. – grumbles Thiago, receiving a smoldering look from Aline in return.

-Anyway, we're NOT leaving here until we have a diagnosis. – Aline comments, irritated.

- Good morning – greets the doctor entering the room. He has gray hair, not more than fifty years old, looks at the file in his hand and asks - Maria Luísa Braga de Almeida?

Malú shakes her head in confirmation.

- I'm a doctor Haroldo Benternianni, an otolaryngologist at the hospital, and I came to perform the routine exams before referring you to the specific exams that we will carry out in order to find out what made you become speechless. Is the situation still persistent?

-Yes. – Aline replies promptly.

The doctor approaches Maria Luísa, opens the young woman's mouth to examine, runs his hand over her neck, close to the tonsils and at the end nods his head, annoyed.

- Apparently, there are no secretions that indicate inflammation or any disease that could cause this type of sequel. – He looks at Aline and then Thiago and continues -I will refer the young woman for more precise exams and I ask, please, that the two of them wait for me here while we perform the necessary procedures.

Malú looks at Aline nervously, she doesn't believe that this is happening. Aline looks at Malú and holds her hand, squeezing it lightly, to cheer her up.

- Everything will be fine. - assures Aline, encouraging Malú - I'll wait for you to come back, I promise.

- I'll be here too... – says Thiago, trying to get Malú's attention. But she doesn't even turn her face towards him.

- Shall we go, Maria Luisa? – asks the doctor.

Malú nods and gets up from the bed following the doctor. Pray for that nightmare to end.

***

Aline was drinking her coffee when Malú returned to her room, accompanied by a nurse. The employee fixes the black–haired young woman on the bed and turns to the two saying:

- The doctor asked to inform you that the test results will come out tomorrow and that they will be able to meet you in his office. Miss Maria Luísa will be under observation until the doctors who will monitor her case report. In addition, the patient was asked to rest – informs the nurse

- It's okay, I'll spend the night with her. – says Aline. She gets up from her chair and goes to Malú.

- Me too... I can stay tonight too. – Thiago claims, getting up hastily - I'm sure she'll need my support.

- Sorry to inform, but only one will be able to accompany. Hospital rules. – Notify the nurse.

- Alright, I'll stay. – reinforces Aline, facing Thiago. She looks at Malú who is smiling at her - I'm sure that's what Malú wants.

- Does the hospital allow people who are not relatives to be companions? – asks Thiago to the nurse.

- Well... If the family members give permission, there's no problem. – Answers the nurse.

- Did you hear Aline? – provokes Thiago - You need my permission to stay with my daughter.

-You wouldn't stop that, would you? – Aline asks, not believing Thiago's provocation - I have righter than you to stay with Malú. About sixteen years more.

-Only legally, I have the right. And I will stay with her. – Answers Thiago -Go home.

- I will not go! – Aline refuses annoyed. She looks at the nurse - Look girl, this man has never seen his daughter, the most time he spent with her were these last few weeks. I watched this girl grow up, it's not possible that because of an idiotic role, he can stay here and I can't.

-It's the norm, ma'am. –the nurse replies.

- Norm? He doesn't even know how many times she's had to stay in a hospital. How many sleepless nights we had because of bronchitis? From the effort we had to make when she hurt her foot? I went through all this and I won't let you accompany Malú.

- Stop throwing in my face that I didn't participate in Malú's life. I was prevented from meeting my daughter.

- Tell me another one! Don't come and play the poor thing, because you don't fool me. You've had sixteen years to show up here and you never have. Didn't even get any news...

Malú gets up from the bed, takes Aline's arm and then Thiago's. She leads them out of her room and closes the door. Can't bear to hear any of that anymore. It was too painful to have to remember all those years. She lies on the bed again and closes her eyes.

♫ Sleep, sleep little girl

I'm here... ♫

***

- See what you did? – shouts Aline leaving the hospital - Why don't you go back to Curitiba, huh? We're better off without you! We never needed you and even if it were the other way around, you would never show up.

-You could have told me! – Thiago explodes - But they didn't even give news! you hid her from me

-Don't talk about what you don't know! She tried! All these years, she wanted to talk to you, but your mother never allowed it. She's spent her whole life wanting to talk to you. Now you, engaged, are entering politics and all this time you never tried to talk to her. I didn't even want to know how they were.

- You don't understand... – Thiago begins nervously - I didn't know...

- Didn't you know she was pregnant? – Aline asks, disgusted - Funny, because she told me that you knew and left to see your father. Or rather, used this cheap excuse to get out of the commitment.

-I knew she was pregnant! – Thiago reacts - I just didn't know that... That Malú was alive and that Anna still lived in Belo Horizonte.

- Look, I don't believe you. – refuses Aline pointing the finger at him - I saw the day your mother ordered you to leave your apartment, by order of you. I know about the day you made a deal with Anna. Nothing you tell me will be worth it.

- Sure. You are a hardhead! – shouts Thiago - And it always will be! But what matters now is Malú and what I will do as her father!

-Anyone can be her father today. She's sixteen years old, she can walk on her own two feet, she can manage... It's easy to be Malú's father. – Ironizes Aline - But when she was a baby, when children were mean to her for not having a father... Then you weren't... You didn't even care. You didn't form her character, we did. We teach her everything without you. His attitude is that of a spoiled boy who doesn't know how to listen to no. You want Malú just to prove to others what a generous guy you are, to use her image in your campaign. Your good guy mask fell off many years ago, Thiago.

Aline turns her body and starts walking towards the taxi stand, when Thiago comments:

-But Ícaro's good–guy mask hasn't come off yet, apparently.

- Ícaro is not here to defend himself against your accusations. –Aline reacts, without turning around.

-Why isn't he here? – asks Thiago walking towards Aline - Where is the good Samaritan?

- Where are you going? – Aline asks, turning around - Now are you going to blame Ícaro for helping us, while you were enjoying life?

- He's not all that you think, I assure you. – alleges Thiago.

-Nothing that comes out of your mouth about Ícaro will change my opinion of him. – Aline retorts, staring at Thiago.

- Are you sure? – provokes Thiago.

- You don't know him – Aline replies - You don't know anything about him.

-I know him better than you can imagine. – Answers Thiago, enigmatic.

- Did you hire him to watch over us? – Asks Aline shocked. Although she doesn't want to believe it, she knows it would explain a lot. He feels a rage arise inside him. - That was it, right? That's your bond with Ícaro, isn't it?

- No. – answers Thiago - Our ties are not professional. And as far as I'm concerned, now there is no longer any bond.

- I don't understand... – comments Aline, confused.

- Ícaro is my brother – reveals Thiago.