Chapter 185 Coming home - Miguel POV
"I would have liked it if you stayed for a little while longer." Dr. Hudson says as we take our daily stroll around the premises. "I don't think the thirty-day program is sufficient for years of trauma that you were suppressing."
"I told you I have a baby on the way, doctor." I smile, thankful that he helped me get out of the funk I was in. "I don't even know if my girlfriend wants to be with me since I disappeared."
"I think she would apprecoate that you left to work on yourself, don't you?" The smile on the doctor's face disappears, and I know he's about to bring up something serious. "Are you going to tell her?"
"I don't know." I still have this irrational fear that she might look at me differently. I know she doesn't like Craoline, but would she think less of me if she knew what happened? How will I be able to protect her and the baby when I couldn't even protect myself?
"Your therapy doesn't end here, Miguel." He reminds me. "I already contacted a very close friend of mine in New York who is willing to work with you. She's very discreet, and I hope you make use of her, especially since you're about to be a father."
"I will." I want to be better. I also know that I will be killing Caroline, the final act of revenge. No child of mine is going to live in the same world as her. I should've dealt with her a long time ago.
I'm seeing Lucille as soon as I've seen Madison, create a way to kill her that won't lead back to me.
I get all my personal belongings back when I leave the retreat, but I don't go to my Caloifornia house. Instead, I tell the driver to take me to the airport, and I call my mother on the way.
"Miguel!" She sounds surrised. "Mi hijo, when can I see you!"
"Soon." I promise her. "I was discharged today, I'm going back to New York. I will come see you after I see Madison, okay?"
"Mi hijo." She clears her throat on the other line. "Your father is here."
I frown. What is he stll doing there? She called him when she didn't know what to do with me, when I was just lying there in my bed contemplating death, but I thought that he has gone back to New York already.
I can't dwell on that now, I will cross that bridge when I feel it needs crossing.
The flight feels forever back to the East Coast, and I feel a tad bit unsure when I catch a cab and give Madison's parents' address. I could arrive there and she wouldn't want to see me, not after what I did. But I'm willing to beg and plead if I have to, even crawl if I must. And if she can promise that she forgives me and takes me back, I might end up telling her why I reacted that way.
There's not a life where I don't have Madison as mine anymore. People may have tried to keep us apart, but the universe gave us a baby together, growing inside her made with love when there were so much hate for us. We belong together, and nobody can convince me otherwise.
I use the security code I memorized to get to the front door at least, and Madison's mother looks surprised when she sees me on the other side of the door.
"Miguel! You're back!"
I wonder what Madison told them anout where I was. I wouldn't blame her if she told them that I strangled her. I deserve it if they hate me now.
"Mrs. Smith." I try to smile charmingly, it always works with the ladies. "Is it possible to see Madison, please?"
I feel somewhat like a teenager asking my girl's mom if she can go to the dance with me.
"She's not here, she's over at your house decorating." Mrs. Smith smiles. "You're gonna love the nursery, it's almost done. Miguel? Miguel!"
My heart is racing a mile a minute at her mother's words. She's at the house. The house that I bought. After all that has happened, she still wants to be with me.
I don't flag a cab. Instead, I run there, people happily making room for me to pass. By the time I reach the house, I'm dripping with sweat and out of breath, and I just take a moment standing in the front composing myself.
I feel slightly scared now that I'm here. She may reject me.
But she's here, at the house of my dreams, that I told her she should decorate.
I walk up the few steps and scan my hand, opening the door.
Everything looks different. The same, but different. The house is no longer just an empty space. Instead, it's filled with not just furniture, but also a warmth that wasn't there before.
I walk quietly through the house, wondering where she is. Some rooms still need to get furnished, and I check the master bedroom. It's no longer just the bed in the middle of it. No, there are loose rugs and a headboard. It loos exactly like I thought Madison would 7decorate it, with warmth, light and love.
She's not there either, so I walk very quietly to the room next door, and stop in the doorway where she is standing kooking at a wall mural, absolutely stealing my breath away.
"I hope you like animals, little baby." She speaks down to her bump that has gotten bigger since I last saw her.
"I like it."
She jumps around at my voice, her eyes widening hen she sees it's actually me, and that I'm here. "Miguel."
My feet eat up the distance berween us, and it feels like home when I scoop het up in my arms, and just hold her, the bump in-between us.
"I can't believe you're here." She says against my neck.
"I'm here, little mouse.And I'm never going away again."