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The Center (Houdini and Nurse_K)

Just when everything seemed to be going well between them, this happened. Brendan thought once they were (mostly) rid of Carlos, nothing else could put a wedge between he and Elsa, and the love they shared. But now Gui was badly ill, and it made Brendan feel helpless. If it was his son, he could get insurance for Gui, but Gui wasn't his own son. And while it wasn't her fault, Brendan subconsciously had been taking his frustrations out on Elsa as of late. After pacing outside the room for a while, he gathered his thoughts and decided to try to mend things a little bit, although he wasn't really in a great frame of mind. "I love you," he said under his breath to Elsa, as he took her hand in his next to the little bed, stroking at her finger with the ring on it.
 
"I love you too," she murmured to him, squeezing his hand gently but keeping her eyes on her sleeping baby. Elsa loved Brendan with all of her heart, yes. But Gui was a piece of her soul. Gui was half of her and without him, she didn't think that she would be able to live. The idea of losing Gui tore her apart more violently than anything between Carlos and Brendan could've. And she knew what she had to do. Gui needed the best care, and she needed money for that. Carlos had money.

"You know I have to tell him," she said to Brendan softly, knowing that he would be aware of who she was referring.
 
Brendan knew what she implied was the truth, but he'd almost rather die than admit it. Having his woman go to Carlos to ask for money was akin to an admission that he wasn't even a man at all, in Brendan's estimation. "There must be some other way," Brendan insisted, letting go of her hand gently. "If I owned a house, I'd sell it. I'd do anything," Brendan said. "The hospital won't kick Gui out. Maybe we can wait a little and see what happens," he suggested. It wasn't much of a plan, but he was at wits end and didn't want to agree to have her go to Carlos.
 
"We can't do that, Brendan." she insisted, a little irritably. "We can't just let him stay in the hospital and rack up bills with no way to pay for them. We could get sued. Or they might not give Gui the best treatment." she almost couldn't believe that Brendan would even suggest that. How could he, even for an instant, sacrifice Gui's health in the smallest way? That was unfathomable to her. "I have to go to him. He'll give me the money. Gui is his son."
 
Brendan's mind was in a fog. He just didn't want to go to his nemesis Carlos, hat in hand, begging for help. That was the worst thing he could imagine. But he knew Elsa was right. "Okay," he reluctantly conceded. "But I want to be the one to go to Carlos," he insisted. He leaned over and put his arm around Elsa's shoulder, although she seemed to bristle a little at that. He didn't want her to see him. He had a feeling that sex would inevitably be involved, and he couldn't being to accept that. "I'll go to him man to man and talk to him about his son."
 
Sometimes Brendan could be so naive. He still seemed to think after all this time that anything he said to Carlos could really matter. Elsa knew by now that Carlos never listened to anything that Brendan said, and probably still wouldn't, even if he thought that Brendan had some dirt on him that he really didn't have. But even so she nodded dismissively, agreeing to let him go talk to Carlos man to man. If it would make him feel better, then she would let him do it.
 
Brendan gulped and nodded, effectively agreeing to meet Carlos. He couldn't see any way this would go well. Needless to say, things were a little strained between Elsa and Brendan the rest of that night. The next morning, Brendan got up, and reluctantly went off to try and be determined about this, knocking on Carlos' door at a late enough hour that the gangster should at least be up. He knew better than to ask the favor without agreeing to anything in return.

"What the fuck do you want," Carlos seethed when he opened the door.

"I... There's something important you need to know about," he began. “And Elsa thought it would be best if I told you." When Carlos just stared with his bulging eyes, Brendan continued. "It’s your son. He has a bad infection and he's going to need to be in the hospital for some time." Looking up at Carlos, there actually seemed to be some emotion showing now in the man’s face.

"Where he at? And why you tellin' me this?" Carlos demanded.

"Elsa's concerned that he won't get the best care unless someone can pay the hospital bills," Brendan explained. He hoped that Carlos would recognize his fatherly responsibility to take care of this, and accept it in stride.

"Okay," Carlos said carefully, thinking out his next steps. "I'ma go to the hospital today to talk to his mama. But I don't want you there," he warned, pointing a threatening finger at Brendan. Brendan nodded and turned to leave, heading straight back to the hospital to tell Elsa what happed, heading up to Gui's room once he got there. Entering the room, he cleared his throat upon seeing Elsa at her familiar post.
 
Elsa hardly left the hospital room. She really only left when she had to use the bathroom, and even then she sprinted down the hallway and back. The nurses came in every once in awhile, many of them the same ones that had been there when Elsa'd given birth to Gui six months ago. Brendan brought her food and a blanket and a pillow and the nurses brought her coffee. Everyone seemed to understand that just like a mama bear protecting a cub, Elsa was not going to leave Gui's side.

She looked up when Brendan cleared his throat, her eyes wide with anticipation. "What'd he say?" she murmured.
 
Brendan walked over to Elsa and set down the muffin he'd quickly stopped and bought her on the way over. Standing behind her, he placed his hands on her shoulders, knowing this was no time to squabble. It was a time to show solidarity as an engaged couple, a time when Elsa's most prized thing in the world was in danger. "I think he'll do it. He said he's coming here today to talk to you about it," Brendan explained, rubbing at her shoulders softly. "He doesn't want me in the hospital, but I'm going to stay nearby. I won't show myself if everything goes fine," he sighed. As he looked down at her modest ring, he had his fears about what Carlos would expect in return for this.
 
Elsa's love for Brendan surged when he came over to her and told her everything. She very reluctantly let go of Gui's little hand and stood up, turning around to wrap her arms around Brendan's neck gently. "Thank you, baby," she whispered into his ear, tightening her arms around him to try to keep herself from crying. "I love you. I love you, I love you." she unwrapped her arms and pulled back, looking him in the eyes and giving him a tiny smile, "I know this is the right way to go. It will be okay."
 
Brendan felt a tiny bit better when Elsa told him how much she loved him. He still had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, but he felt nothing but respect and admiration for Elsa. He took a glance down at the sickly looking Gui and knew this was the right thing, as he rubbed Elsa's back soothingly, leaning in and kissing her forehead. "I love you too," he said firmly.

He sat with Elsa and talked for another hour or so, but then decided to remove himself to a waiting room in case Carlos showed up, and it was a good thing. About two hours after Brendan had arrived at his door, Carlos strolled into the hospital, a slightly concerned look on his face, and marched up to Gui's room once he got the information at the front desk. "Why didn't you tell me before?" he questioned Elsa in a sort of greeting, walking over to the bedside.
 
Elsa tried to calm herself down once Brendan was gone so that she wouldn't be too hysterical when Carlos arrived. But she started to fall apart again anyway when he came in. "I was hoping it wouldn't be bad," she said to him honestly, "I was hoping it was an easy fix....but he's sick, Carlos. He's really sick." without asking permission, Elsa reached up and took hold of his wrist gently, but it was obvious that she needed to hold on to something to try to steady herself.
 
Carlos frowned down at Elsa when she explained herself, reaching out and feeling his son's cheek and forehead. Once he'd examined Gui to his satisfaction, he looked back at Elsa. "So you need some help with this?" he asked Elsa, wanting her to admit it herself. "I thought you was planning to cut me out and take care of my son yourself in your new life," he commented, glancing down at her hand on his wrist.
 
She nodded again when he asked if she needed help with this. "I need help," she almost sobbed, feeling the tears of anguish for her son come rising up inside of her again. "You know I can't pay for this. And neither can Brendan," she gripped his wrist a little tighter and even looked up into his eyes as he glared down at her, "I was planning that. To cut you out...but..." this was the hardest part for her to say, even though she knew it was the truth, "I need you."
 
Carlos nodded and squeezed her hand when she admitted exactly what he wanted her to admit; that she needed him. "I can probably get something together," he remarked, "though business is slow." He looked around, as if to make sure no one else was around. "And then you gonna come home and be my woman like you should'a been all along, right?" he asked a little sternly. He wanted his son to live with him, not some man who he didn't even see as a man, and he was going to seize the opportunity to make that happen.
 
Elsa doubted that business was slow. Carlos was in the drug business and people always needed drugs. He was just saying that to make her more desperate for him to pay the money. When he mentioned moving back to his house (or 'coming home'), she bristled a little bit. At first she didn't know what to say but then she realized she had the perfect excuse. "Are you sure that's safe?" she whispered to him, her hand still clinging to his, "What about...you know...that problem you had before?" she pretended that she didn't want to say it out loud in case there were any listeners.
 
Carlos looked down at Elsa and tried to size her up. He somehow doubted that she was completely in the dark about his 'problem'. "Funny thing, you know," he began slowly with a smile. "That seems to have just recently cleared up," he explained. He hadn't hashed it out with Brendan yet, but he knew that he could get Brendan to back off the blackmail if he was going to foot the hospital bills. "I got a good legal team," he snickered. "They know how to get a man off when he's just bein' persecuted."
 
Well, shit. She could tell that Carlos suspected her a little bit, but honestly, she had expected him to suspect her all along. So she rose up out of her chair and finally let go of his wrist, wrapping her arms around him instead and pulling herself close to him. She buried her face in his chest and clung to him as if she might start bawling at any moment, which she might. She nodded into his chest definitively, "Yes. I'll come home,"
 
Carlos nodded in approval and held her close, patting at her back. "Good girl. I knew you'd make the right choice," he commended her. "I got some business to take care of today. Looks like I'm gonna have to put in some overtime now," he remarked. "But tell Brendan to come see me," he instructed her, using Brendan's proper name, which was rare for him. "I gotta talk to him about some other stuff," he said to Elsa as he pulled away. "But don't worry. Gui gonna be okay, and then things gonna be right with us again."
 
This time when Carlos told her she was a good girl, she was comforted by it instead of angered. She actually whimpered a little bit when he started to pull away from her, her arms tightening around him. She'd forgotten how nice it could be to be buried in Carlos' chest. He was so strong and confident, it made her feel safe. She finally relented though and unwrapped her arms from around him, knowing that he had to go. She lifted her face up and then went on her tiptoes, giving him a gentle kiss on the mouth. "Thank you, Carlos. I....I..." she wasn't sure what else to say. There was so much she wanted to say, but she didn't know how. Then she thought of something he might like. "I'll make you your favorite dinner the first night. And every night after that if you want,"
 
Carlos smiled and kissed Elsa when she kissed him, but it really made him feel good when she said she'd make his favorite dinner. If there was a way to Carlos' often cold heart, food was probably it. That was one of the things he missed about Elsa. She really tried hard and did a commendable job with the Spanish cooking. He loved the sex, but that was physical. Food was emotional to him. It almost made him feel bad for beating her the last time. He wrapped her body up tightly in his arms for a few moments, and then patted her on the upper arm and pulled away, turning and leaving the room.

Brendan had been out of earshot, but from the room down the hall was constantly peeking his head out to check on what was happening. When he saw Carlos' back heading out of the hospital, he darted back into Gui's room. "What happened?" he asked his fiancee anxiously.
 
Elsa legitimately felt better after Carlos left. She knew that Gui would get everything he needed now, she didn't have to worry about that. And Elsa thought that she knew how to work Carlos, if she gave him what he wanted then he would have no cause to beat her. That was her hope anyway. When Brendan came back in she sat down and gripped Gui's little hand again.

"I have to move back in with him," she said to Brendan without looking at him, "And he wants to talk to you again."
 
Brendan probably should have seen this coming, but he hadn't. He assumed that Elsa was off limits now that they were engaged, which obviously was a wrong assumption. "What?" he exclaimed. But he knew that it wasn't up to Elsa to resolve this. He had to talk to Carlos man-to-man, and negotiate this with him. "You're not moving back in with him," Brendan insisted. "We're getting married. You can't live with another man. I know Gui's most important, but I'm talking to Carlos about this. I'll sell a kidney if I have to," he insisted, getting angrier and angrier.
 
"Well," she started, finally turning to look at him sadly, "He wants to talk to you. But I don't think he's going to negotiate it. He told me that's what he wants most. Is for me to live with him again. To cook...to clean..." she didn't mention the other things he wanted, that would just be cruel. "But there might be hope. He said he had 'other things' to talk to you about."
 
She didn't have to mention the sex for Brendan to think about it. To be honest, the thought of her cooking and cleaning for Carlos turned his stomach almost as much as knowing she was going to be his little submissive fuck toy. "Well, I'm not too hopeful," Brendan said a little sullenly. "I doubt he wants to talk to me so he can offer us an engagement present," he added. Something inside him seemed to tell him this illness to the boy was going to be the death of the two of them. "Nothing against you, but if you have to go back with him, I can't face you as a man again. Not as the future head of our house. I'll just have to disappear," he told her, before touching her gently on the back, feeling as if every contact with her might be his last, despite the ring she wore on her finger. "I guess I should go talk to him."
 
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