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The Center (Houdini and Nurse_K)

Elsa laughed when he lifted her up and kissed him back easily. This was the most difficult part, loving things about both Brendan and Carlos. She took his hand and followed him to the steps, grasping his hand tightly. "He's my boy." she teased him a little, glancing up and sticking her tongue out. "He grew inside me. And I'm pretty sure he prefers my milk above anyone else's." then she laughed, "but I think he might be a little bit yours too."
 
"Oh yeah?" Carlos challenged playfully. "I ain't got no milk, but he just like his daddy," he insisted, quickly pinching Elsa's hip as he challenged her. "You wait 'til he can talk. He gonna talk about his daddy all the time," he continued, heading for the door and pulling his jacket on. He tossed Elsa her jacket from the hook and headed for the car. He wondered if he should go into the hospital with Elsa when they got there. If anything, it would be to see Gui. He really wasn't in the mood to see Brendan at this point.
 
Elsa snorted when Carlos asserted that Gui would talk about his daddy all the time. "Oh yeah? You really think so?" she challenged right back, pulling her jacket on and climbed into the car next to him. "You think he's gonna be saying, 'Daddy, want milk' or 'Daddy, want cookies' or 'Daddy, want to play'. Are you gonna give him all of that, or am I? Hmmmmmm?" but she still reached across and squeezed his thigh.
 
Carlos snickered and bit his lip when Elsa teased him, reaching over and gripping the side of her neck playfully for a moment before letting go. "He know what's important. He gonna say 'I wanna be like Daddy' 'fore you know it," Carlos countered. "And 'give me them cookies, or else I'll ask Daddy,'" he added with a laugh. When they got to the hospital, he decided to go up with Elsa to Gui's room, which turned out to be empty except for Gui and a nurse who was just finishing checking on his vitals.
 
Carlos thought he was being playful, but his words actually chilled Elsa's blood. She didn't want Gui to be like that at all. She wanted Gui to be kind and loving, not harsh and manipulating. She would teach Gui to be good, to not be like his father, but to still be strong. To be like...Brendan. "My son is going to speak proper English, Carlos. That's one thing he's not going to be like you with," she said seriously as they walked into Gui's room. Elsa took her usual place right next to the baby, leaning down and whispering into his ear. The second he heard her voice his little eyes opened and Elsa grinned at him.
 
Carlos squinted his eyes a little and stopped when they got to the room, grabbing Elsa's shoulder and halting her in her path as she tried to start with the baby talk. "What the fuck you talkin' about?" he demanded as they stood over Gui's crib. He was really bothered by Elsa's insistence on finding some aspect where she didn't want Gui to be like him. He knew that Elsa was aware of his questionable career, and he didn't want Gui to have a life on the street, either. But it was too much to berate his speaking ability. "I do what I can do. I didn't grow up in this country, chica," he angrily pointed out. "He gonna speak proper Spanish, too. And that's one thing he ain't gonna be like you with," he went on to insist.
 
Elsa growled when Carlos insulted Elsa and her Spanish. "You can't speak proper Spanish, Carlos." she spat back at him, "You speak street Spanish. That's not the kind of Spanish children are taught in schools. If he learns Spanish it's going to be proper Spanish, just like the proper English he's going to learn. He's going to grow up in this country. He's going to be a legitimate worker. I don't want to know about your drug deals and whatever else, but you can't tell me that my son is going to grow up and do that too. Go ahead and hit me if you want to. That's how it's going to be."
 
Carlos was within a hair's breadth from hitting Elsa, and she knew it. He'd been standing opposite her across the crib, but with just the two of them alone now, he went around the crib and grabbed her by the shoulders, pushing her back towards the window and growling right into her face. Talking about whatever activities she assumed he was involved with in public was a major violation. "Don't you ever talk 'bout that again outside my house," he seethed. "And since when you all proper, bitch?" he continued, the steam from his mouth falling right on her face. "Since when you a language expert, and not some common jailhouse whore?" he growled into her face. "Yeah, that's right, you a convict. You think I'm a failure? If that true, you a failure yourself," he went on, pushing her back and banging her shoulders against the window frame before letting go of her shoulders.
 
Elsa hated it when Carlos brought up the fact that she was a convict just like him. She thought herself far above Carlos in almost every way and when he brought up their equalizer it pissed her off like no other. "Fine," she growled at him, wincing a little when he banged her against the walls. "Fine. I'm a common jailhouse whore. Guess I'll just go and fuck all your little goonies. How would you like that, huh? That's what whores do. That's what Erica does. I'll just go suck Alex's dick, or let Luis fuck me in the ass. If all I am to you is a good fuck, then I don't need to respect you anymore."
 
Carlos had turned his back, but wheeled around to face Elsa again when she started talking about fucking the other guys. "Don't talk 'bout respect," he shouted. "You ain't never respected me," he went on, slapping her forcefully across the cheek. This outburst got the attention of a nearby nurse, who popped her head into the room just too late to see him slap Elsa. "Sir," the nurse called out courageously. "You need to leave this room." Carlos completely ignored her for the moment and kept after Elsa, but avoiding striking her again now that someone was watching. "Go fuck 'em all," he sneered, knowing his own men would never go near her out of fear. "Don't make it seem like it's all 'bout me gettin' off. You know I give you what no other man can give you. So go 'head if you think they can. Spread your chocha wide open for all of them," he finished with a sneer, turning back away from her.
 
Elsa whimpered when Carlos slapped her. Her neck twisted and her eyes squeezed shut. She let her face stay turned to the side for a couple of moments, her face stinging. She slowly turned her face back to look at him, her eyes brimming with tears. "Carlos," she whimpered to him when he turned away from her, "Carlos!" she whimpered again, louder. She was still angry at him, but she knew that she needed him. She grabbed at his arm and she rushed towards him, trying to get him to turn back around. "Carlos, I'm sorry! I just...I just...I don't know. I was stupid. Please, you know I'd never do that!"
 
Carlos ignored Elsa, shaking her arm loose and continuing to walk out of the room before turning down the hall. The nurse had alerted two orderlies to check on the room, but as they approached and saw Carlos leaving, they looked at each other and decided not to investigate any further. He didn't bother to turn back and look at Elsa, knowing the sight of her eyes welled up with tears might soften him a little, and that wasn't what he wanted now.

Brendan had been a little dejected for the last twenty-four hours or so, but was determined to show up at the hospital again. Elsa was worth anything to him, and he wasn't going to let his pride come in the way of trying to bring her home to him again, even though he was shot down by Carlos the previous day, and he knew Carlos would like to do the same again. But he held off on showing up until the afternoon, so was still on the way there when the eruption was going on between the other two-thirds of the love triangle.
 
Elsa ran to the doorway of the room when Carlos walked away from her. "Carlos!" she called after him, but wouldn't leave the room. She was here to see Gui. She couldn't leave him now. So she took a deep breath and turned around, running back to the chair and sitting down beside Gui. She snuggled her face into him and started to cry. "Oh, Gui," she murmured to her baby, "I would do anything for you. I will do anything for you. Just...just get better soon."

She wanted Brendan to get there soon. But until he got there, she would try to patch things up with Carlos. She dug her phone out of her purse and called him, hoping that he would pick up. When he didn't, she left him a message. "Hi Daddy," she murmured softly into the phone, "I...I'm so sorry. I just got heated up. You know I don't want Gui to be a failure like I am. I want him to go to school and college. And I just...I say stupid things some times. When...when can I come over again? I'll miss you tonight." and then she pulled the phone away and hung up.
 
Carlos just left in disgust. He didn't see the point in talking to her any longer. After all, she wasn't coming home with him after visiting time anyway. He didn't even know when that might happen again. He ignored the phone when it rang, and happened to pass Brendan in his car in the parking lot, but both of them were so preoccupied that neither noticed the presence of the other as their paths crossed, and before twenty minutes had passed by, Brendan was pacing up to the room, anxious to see if Elsa would be alone. He let out a deep breath when he saw that she was, but wasn't surprised to see her looking upset. "Baby," he called out as he strode over to her. "Is it Gui?" he asked softly, wrapping his arms around her, suspecting that the reason she was upset was somewhere outside the confines of the hospital. Just then, Brendan heard Elsa's phone ringing. Carlos had listened to her message and softened a little, deciding to call her back.
 
Elsa had started to cry even more after she left Carlos the message. She barely looked up when Brendan walked in and she tensed up when he wrapped his arms around her. She just shook her head at him and didn't answer his questions, not wanting to have to explain herself to him. When she heard her phone ring she lifted up her head and grabbed the phone. She tore herself away from Brendan and ran to the window to see if he was outside.

"Hello?" she asked quickly into the phone, "Carlos?"
 
Brendan was torn apart when Elsa pulled away from him to answer a call from Carlos. He understood if she did what she needed to do for Gui, but she was clearly emotionally attached to this horrible man. That was hard to accept. At the least, Brendan felt like it was his turn with Elsa. It was a horrible way to have to think of things with the woman he loved, his fiancee, but that was the best he could get right now. His turn. When she picked up Carlos' call, Brendan left the room immediately before she noticed, and went back down to his car.

"Hey mama," Carlos began quietly after a moment of hesitation. "It's all good," he continued as he drove along.
 
Elsa, of course, did not notice when Carlos left. She gripped the windowsill and took a deep breath, trying not to sob on the phone. "Are you sure?" she whimpered, her heart beating at the speed of light. "I was thinking...I was thinking maybe I'd come see you on Friday. You could pick me up from the hospital. And then I could stay for the weekend."
 
Carlos listened quietly while Elsa spoke. Her message had melted him a little, and he couldn't be upset with her now. "Yeah, it's okay," he assured her. "I want the same thing for Gui. I know how you can be sometimes, and it's good with me," he went on, unwilling to admit any complicity of his own in the blowup. "Friday seems good," he agreed, a smile coming over his face. "Yeah, Friday."
 
A huge grin spread of Elsa's face when he said it was okay, and that he wanted the same thing for Gui. She sniffled and reached up to wipe her eyes free of tears. "Thank you Carlos," she whispered to him, her heart still racing. "Thank you so much. I...I..." she wanted to say something like 'I love you', but what she felt for him wasn't love. She didn't know what it was.
 
Carlos stayed quiet as Elsa expressed herself, only answering when she was finished. "That'll be nice. Friday..." he trailed off, rubbing the stubble on his chin and grinning. It somehow made him feel right now that things were set straight between them again. "You okay 'til then?" he asked. "Like now?"
 
For once she was glad that Carlos neglected to address his feelings, since she clearly couldn't address her own right now. "Yeah...I'm okay now. I was pretty messed up when you left, but now that it's okay, I'm okay." she breathed a big sigh and turned around, suddenly realizing that Brendan wasn't there anymore. "Ugh," she groaned, "I think Brendan is angry...I have to go...I don't know, see what he's upset about."
 
"Good," he answered her, pulling over in his truck for a minute just in case she was to ask him to return to the hospital for her. He was quietly happy of course, that Brendan was angry with her. "I'll get you at the hospital Friday. Maybe Gui can come home by then," he added optimistically. Brendan had left to go back home in the meantime, and was halfway there by now.
 
"I hope so," Elsa said softly to Carlos just before she hung up. After she did she went into the hallway to ask the nurse where Brendan had gone, but all she said was that he'd stormed out. She sighed, touched her swollen face gently and then dialed Brendan.
 
Brendan let the phone ring a couple of times before deciding to pick up, continuing on his course for home. "Hi," he said into the phone, not so much of an angry look as a sad on splashed across his face. He didn't know what there was to talk about. Elsa's actions had said it all. She hadn't seen him for two days, and she ignored him to take a call from Carlos. This wasn't about Gui; she was with Gui this time. It was about her feelings for Carlos, and he felt foolish for not deciphering those feelings before.
 
"You left me at the hospital. By myself. With no means of getting anywhere, Brendan." she growled into the phone. She had been upset that he left, but now he's angry. "Carlos hit me before you came. He threatened me. I picked up the phone when he called because if I didn't make good with him, he might not pay Gui's bills. But you left me here. Alone. I thought you loved me, Brendan."
 
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