Living Without
Part Twenty-One
Danny finally caught a hold of his daughter and she fussed and fought him, trying to get out of his hold.
"What is wrong with you?! Would you be still??"
"¡Déjeme solo!" she yelled.
"I will not leave you alone and you will not speak to me in that manner! What's gotten into you? What's with the Spanish all of a sudden?"
"It's our language, isn't it?"
"Don't get smart with me, young lady!"
"Daddy! Daddy!" Michael came running into the house. "The pwetty lady die!! She dead! She no moving!" the child was frantic.
"Michael....Mikey!" Danny shook him into silence. "What are you talking about?"
"The pwetty lady! I shee her outshide! She on the floor!"
"Baby, calm down."
"I hope she's dead," Danielle mumbled under her breath.
"Don't talk like that!" Danny yelled. "I don't ever want to hear you talk like that about Michelle! About anyone! Do you hear me??"
"¡Ella no mi madre!"
"Are we back to the Spanish now? Come here!" Danny grabbed her before she could leave. "I need to talk to you..."
"Daddy, the pwetty lady weally die!!" Michael cried as he pulled on his father's arm. "All a body running to shee her!"
"Danny!!" Juan could be heard calling from outside and that prompted Danny to quickly dash out the sliding glass doors.
He looked left and then right, and upon sighting Michelle on the ground, he ran over to her, sliding half way to his destination. Juan was already there on his knees and he had his sleeves rolled up. He had two fingers on her wrist and his focus on his watch.
"What's wrong with her?" Danny asked, his eyes quickly darting from Michelle to Juan. "Come on!! What's wrong with her?! Is she breathing?" he questioned as he lowered his ear to her lips to check for any sign of life.
"Oh my God!" Graciela covered her mouth upon reaching them.
"Maybe she need Daddy fix like boo boo..."
"Michael, stay back!" Danny yelled at his son, who was getting too close.
"Me want help..."
"Aunt Gracie, please! Get him and his sister out of here!" Danny pleaded and the woman complied, taking the children into the house and his attention immediately returned to Michelle.
"What happened?" Gustavo asked. "You didn't club her, did you?" he asked and Danny gave him a look of disbelief.
"She's got a pulse," Juan told them. "We need to get her up from here and into the house." *
Danny entered the bedroom of the guest house with Michelle in his arms and cautiously laid her down on the bed. Everyone had followed him there, including the very kids he had wanted to be away from the scene. Graciela couldn't keep from panicking, so she came down to the house with them and they all flooded into the room.
Gustavo ran over from the main house with a first aid kit in hand and passed it over to Juan, who immediately opened and rummaged through it in search for one thing in particular.
"What the hell is that??" Danny asked when he saw what Juan had retrieved, and he stopped the man when he brought it within proximity of Michelle.
"It's smelling salt? You know. The thing Coach used to use to revive you all those times you ran into the field post during junior football?"
"Continue with what you're doing!" Danny pointed and Juan shook his head with a smile on his face as he waved the ammonia past Michelle's nose and she came back to them with a violent shake of the head.
"What...what's going on?" she asked with a hand to her head. "Why are you all staring at me? How did I get here?"
"She talking!" Michael joyfully exclaimed and there were sighs of relief around the room.
"What happened?" Michelle asked as she tried to pull herself up and Juan helped her.
"You fainted," he replied as she looked about her to find everyone there, and her eyes came to lock with those of Danny. He was standing at the foot of the bed and just staring at her.
"With all the stress you've been through lately, passing out was more than expected," Graciela remarked and Danny cleared his throat at her comment.
"Have you had anything to eat? Been to sleep yet?" Juan asked as he returned the smelling salt to the kit.
"No," she softly answered, her eyes still focused on Danny.
Juan looked away from her and up at Danny and the others followed suit.
"No wonder!" Graciela broke the short silence. "You've been running on caffeine and adrenaline since yesterday!"
"What?!" Danny glanced at his aunt and then back at Michelle, who had now diverted her attention from him. "You're doing this to yourself again?!" he asked and then stopped himself. "May we be alone, please?" he asked quietly.
"Yes, you may," Gustavo said and he pulled on his wife to come along, but she seemed to be glued in place. "Graciela," he gave her a tug and her feet took a few steps backwards.
"Ms. Lady, you no die?" Michael came over to ask and Michelle gave him a small sweet smile as she smoothed over his hair and then his face with her hand.
"No, I no die," she imitated. "I wouldn't leave you so soon."
"You get boo boo like me?" he asked, leaning on the bed in an effort to find her troubled spot. "Daddy put Band-Aid where he hurt. Shee?" he showed her his wrapped toe. "Daddy no hurt. Right, Dani?" the child looked for his sister to confirm what he had just said, but the girl was mute.
"Michael Antonio, let's go get the nice lady something to eat," Gustavo said to the boy while extending his hand.
"We bring it back to her?"
"Maybe. Danielle, you come too," Gustavo said, motioning for her to follow and she left the room with them.
"Try to sleep," Juan said to Michelle as he stood up from the bed. "If you're having difficulty..."
"I don't need any of your sedatives. Thank you," she was quick to tell him. "They knock me out more than is necessary."
"For you maybe..."
"I don't know how you slipped them to me the first time. I was out of it for over 14 hours! What, were you trying to turn me into a log?"
"Just helping you get some beauty rest," Juan remarked and both Danny and Michelle looked at him skeptically. "Well, that and keeping you from fighting me on the way to the airport, on the plane, in the car... Look, it was either that or the cuffs and gag! I mean, if you wanted to be kinky, all you had to do was say so," he said and Michelle rolled her eyes as Danny roughly pushed him towards the door.
"Get out of here," Danny told him and Juan let out a laugh as the door was slammed behind him.
Danny turned to face Michelle and he stood by the door as silence enveloped them. He approached her after momentarily remaining in his place and carefully sat down on the bed.
"Danny, I'm fine," she spoke before he could.
"Like hell you are! You've been starving yourself! Again!"
"I just haven't had an appetite..."
"Haven't had an appetite," Danny repeated as he glanced down at his watch. "And you didn't feel the need to sleep either?"
"It's not as bad as Graciela was making it out to be. Yesterday was just a few hours ago..."
"When did you wake up?"
"What?"
"When did you wake up yesterday?" Danny asked again. "It's a simple question, Michelle."
"I don't remember," she said.
"Was it at the crack of dawn? Some time later in the morning? The day? At night?"
"Could you stop badgering me?! I said I don't remember!"
"And I think you're lying!" Danny shouted before calming himself. "Michelle..."
"I'm fine!"
"You're not."
"I'm breathing, aren't I?"
"So are the people on respirators! You passed out, Michelle! AGAIN!" "I'm awake now," she told him. "Why are you making such a big deal about this? It isn't like I was shot! You don't have to act like you were so worried, alright? No one is here anymore to witness your performance."
"Riiight. My first act of the day. I can't believe I tried to slip that one by you," he spoke sardonically and then forced a smile. "You know, Michelle, you're something else. You're....you're something," he said, an adjective best suited to describe her not coming to him fast enough. "Simply amazing."
"Stop being sarcastic, Danny."
"Sarcastic? Me?? You think I'm being sarcastic? No, Michelle. None of that lives in me. Nothing does. I'm an ice cold bastard, remember? I am completely devoid of any emotion!!" he shouted and they and everything around them went quiet.
Danny scattered his curly locks in frustration and ran his hands down his face. "You should rest," he started up again. "Yeah, you should rest."
"Danny..."
"My aunt should have something ready for you to eat soon," he said as he headed for the door. "I need to go check up on our children."
"What are you going to say to them?" Michelle asked.
"Just what they need to know," Danny replied with his back to her.
"I want to be there..."
"You'll have your chance."
"How are they ever going to understand anything if we don't-"
"You need to rest! End of discussion," Danny asserted and Michelle held back her words. "We're all returning to the main house, so no one will be here to bother you. Everyone and everything will be very quiet, okay? Okay," he answered his own question and twisted on the door knob to exit.
"Danny!" Michelle called, but he was already out the door. She growled in frustration as she pulled the comforter over herself and forcefully flattened it around her.
"You need your rest. End of discussion. Ugh!" she mimicked him. "Trying to pull rank. He can't tell me what to do!" she said and she flipped the comforter off of her body and swung her feet to the floor.
She slipped her feet into her sandals, stood up from the bed, and proceed to walk towards the door. Half way there, she experienced another dizzy spell and she immediately hurried to the bed and climbed back in. Maybe it wouldn't be so back listening to him after all.
Michelle adjusted herself on the bed, trying to find a perfect position. She fluffed a few of the pillows and laid back down, but she still didn't feel comfortable. She wasn't sure if it was the bed or the way she had blown Danny off that was bothering her.
She sat up, threw 5 of the 9 pillows to the floor and then one more and another and then the rest. She buried her face in her hands momentarily, letting out deep sigh before brushing her blond locks away from her face. She looked down at the bed and slowly lowered her body to it.
She stared up at the ceiling as a slew of thoughts whizzed through her head. She pressed her lids tightly shut and tried to make sense of one single thought; to concentrate on one thing at a time, but she couldn't. Her children took precedence over everything else. They were a part of every image that occupied her mind. And the look on Danielle's face when she overhead what she and Danny were talking about...
Michelle wiped at her tears that flowed freely from her eyes. She was trying to be strong about this...about everything, but there was always something that would shatter her wall of defense. First it was Rick and his lies, and then it was Drew telling her of Danny's upcoming nuptials...
Michelle curled herself up into a ball in the middle of the bed and clutched the comforter tight to her chest, trying so hard not to lose it.
Danny was getting remarried. Remarried. To another woman. Alejandra? Who was that? How could she have lost the one person who gave her reason to breathe each day, her soul mate, her one true love to some Alejandra?!
Who the hell was she and what kind of hold does she have on Danny? Maybe he got her pregnant. If the Daniel Santos that she knew still lived in the man who just left her, she'd say that a pregnancy was the case and being the good man that he always was, he decided to stick it out and marry her just to reserve her honor.
Yes. Good man indeed. He's so good that he moved on to someone else while she foolishly remained faithful to him.
Michelle took in a deep breath and then let it all out. She laid still in her curled state and silently sobbed. Before she knew what was happening, she had fallen asleep.
**
That evening: 8pm
Danny strolled into the room where Juan sat in front of the screen of his laptop, lazily pecking at the keyboard with a pencil. He'd been up longer than Michelle, but he wasn't ready to give up just yet. When he caught a glimpse of his friend, his lips curved into a mischievous grin and his eyes returned to his screen the instant Danny looked in his direction. Danny fell into the loveseat in the room and laid his head back on the cushioning.
"It's been quite a colorful day..."
"Don't speak to me, Alvarez," Danny cut him short and there was a brief silence between them.
"I did it for your own good..."
"I thought I told you not to speak to me!"
"Since when did I ever listen to you?"
"That's just it! You don't!" Danny barked. "Why am I even in here with you?" he asked as he got up from the seat.
"Daniel, she wanted to see the kids," Juan explained.
"That wasn't your call to make!" Danny told him. "You work for me, not her!"
"I work for no one but myself! I'm doing your ungrateful ass a favor! If it weren't for me, you still wouldn't know the truth about why you lost your wife," he said. "Don't you think she deserves to see them after all she's been through?"
"What she's been through?! You're talking as if she's the only one who's suffered in this!"
"Danny, I know more than anyone what you've gone through. I was there through it all. I am the very person who conspired with you to murder her, remember?" Juan remarked and Danny sighed. "Now that we know what actually happened, I thought it was only fair that she get to see that..."
"You don't think, Juan!" Danny interceded. "How you could have done this?? You should've let me know..."
"Right. And jeopardize your life and the lives of your children and Michelle. Besides, if I had told you, you would've turned me down."
"You're damn right, I would have!" Danny said. "You've gotten my uncle and his wife involved!"
"They are willing participants. They want to see this whole thing resolved as much as I do."
"I also want a resolution, but not like this! I wasn't even ready."
"I don't think you can prepare for this kind of thing," Juan said.
"I could have had something to say to my kids and I didn't."
"What are you talking about? They don't know anything," Juan spoke and Danny reclaimed his seat. "Do they?"
"Danielle overheard a conversation Michelle and I were having...about them. About Michelle being their mother," he told him and Juan sighed. "My girl flipped out after that."
"Hence the reason she was acting up earlier..."
"I tried to explain it to both she and her brother, but I couldn't even find the right words to start," Danny continued. "I was going to do it without Michelle, but that was harder than I thought. I'm not even sure I'd be able to do it with her."
"I'm sorry," Juan quietly apologized. "I guess I didn't think everything out before I acted."
"Is this you admitting to a mistake?"
"I just said that I didn't think everything out. Not that what I did was a mistake," Juan spoke.
"Typical Juan Carlos. He's never wrong."
"You would've had to do this sooner or later, and sooner is always better."
"But I wasn't ready!" Danny told him.
"You haven't got much of a choice now," Juan remarked. "Suck it up and deal with it! Ready or not, the truth is out. The question is, 'how do you plan on handling it?'"
"I don't know," Danny stretched the words apart. "Maybe you can tell me, Mr. Wise Ass? You seem to have answers to everything! You threw me into waters I can't even swim in yet!"
"You can stand there and blame it all on me if you want," Juan said. "But the truth of the matter is that you're still going to have to deal with this. You were planning on one day bringing the kids to meet her, right?" he asked and when Danny just sat staring out at nothing, Juan exhaled. "I can't believe you."
"I don't believe myself either..." Danny remarked. "Michelle is your classic example of a damsel in distress with one terrible attitude. It's amazing how you and everyone else can make a complete 180 when it comes to her. At least my daughter and I still have our wits."
"Where the hell is all of this coming from??" Juan asked, clueless as to what he was talking about.
"No where," he simply replied.
"You're bitter and you've just contradicted yourself," Juan said and Danny looked up at him. "Alright, what did she do to you now?"
"I'm not even thinking about her," Danny replied. "I'm just worried about my kids. I'm thinking about heading back to Springfield tomorrow."
"Springfield. Hmm. Missing the fiancée already?" Juan asked.
"This has nothing to do with Alejandra."
"It just has everything to do with Michelle."
"Why do you keep sneaking her back into the conversation?" Danny asked.
"I never knew she left," Juan replied. "Did something happen between you two that you wouldn't mind telling me?"
"Oh, get your mind out of the gutter, Carlos!" Danny exclaimed, obviously becoming agitated. "Nothing like that happened."
"Nothing like what?" Juan continued, loving every moment of his torture. "What, did you two almost fuck or something?" he asked with a chuckle and when Danny didn't say anything, he stopped laughing. "Is that what happened?"
"Michelle is just full of shit and I don't want to go into it, alright?" Danny commented. "She's bitchy, unappreciative, judgmental, duplicitous, self-centered, and....like I said, I don't want to go into it."
"Oh-kay," Juan stifled his laughter by pursing his lips, but he couldn't hide his grin. "And your mood has nothing to do with Michelle at all."
"Nothing at all!" he said. "Nothing."
"Alright," Juan fought with his laughter. "Uh, the kids still awake?"
"I put them to bed a half an hour ago."
"That early, huh?"
"They've had enough excitement for one day," Danny remarked.
"Maybe you should go to bed too," Juan suggested.
"I can't sleep. I need to keep an eye on you. You may get the sudden urge to start World War 3."
"I'm just working on these disks," he said innocently and then paused. "You know, I only had the intention of helping both you and Michelle when your uncle and I concocted the emergency bit. I wasn't trying to make your life any more difficult that it already was. I just hated seeing you suffer, man. And after all that we've found out about this set up, I couldn't stand to continue watching Michelle suffer either. I may have overstepped my bounds...fine! I did overstep my bounds," he rephrased upon receiving a dirty look from Danny. "And I'm sorry. I truly am."
Danny stared at him for a long time, taking in a couple of deep breaths and then letting them all out slowly.
"You can shoot me now," Juan said when he saw that Danny was now smiling. "I'm not for this touchy feelly shit," he remarked and Danny burst into laughter.
"I don't know what I'm going to do with you," he said.
"I don't know what you could do without me," Juan remarked and Danny's smile widened.
"I hate you," he said to his friend.
"Yeah, I love you too, man," Juan replied and they both laughed. "If you're going to be here with me, you might as well take a crack at this," Juan said, turning the laptop towards him and Danny came to sit in front of it. "Still want to return to Springfield?" he asked after briefly pausing.
"We still have work to do," Danny answered quietly.
"And you and Michelle?"
"Things...things are different between us," he responded after some thought.
"You could get her back..."
"I don't want her back," Danny cut in. "A lot has happened in four years. A lot has happened in one week. We are two different people now. We mean nothing to each other anymore. This truth that we now know doesn't change anything. I can't prove any of it. Not that it matters because my marriage is going on as scheduled. If Ramírez wants to take over the family business, he is more than welcome. I don't care. Just as long as he doesn't touch Michael and Danielle, he'll be fine."
Juan patted Danny on the shoulder as he stood up and headed for the sofa. "Hang in there, buddy," he said. "No one is going to hurt your kids. You won't let them. And neither will I."
**
"Stop stepping on my feet!" Danielle yelled at her brother, who was following close behind her as she led them down the path with a flashlight, although there was ample lighting showing the way.
"Me scared."
Danielle stopped and turned to look at her brother. "Don't be scared. We're almost there."
"But you shay there funny man in dark."
"He only comes out on a full moon," Danielle remarked and Michael instantly looked up in the sky. "Rah!" Danielle yelled and her brother jumped and she broke into a laughing fit.
"No funny!" Michael slapped her arm. "Evil meany!"
"Oh yeah?" she darted for towards their destination and Michael went after her as fast as his little feet could take him. His eyes bounced in every direction, keeping a look out for the 'funny man,' his heart racing faster than his feet were.
"Aaow!" Danielle exclaimed when he ran smack into her, causing her to slam against the door. "Stop!" she told him as she twisted on the door knob to see if it was open. It was and she stepped inside, pulling her little brother in with her by the shirt.
They easily made their way to the bedroom and Danielle pushed the door open. Michael raced over to the bed and climbed onto it and settled himself next to Michelle.
"She's sleeping. Let's go!" Danielle whispered.
"Me want shee she okay," he told her.
"She is! Now let's go!"
"Michael?" Michelle barely opened her eyes. "Honey, what are you doing here?"
"Me want shee you okay," he replied and Michelle smiled sleepily.
"I'm okay," she told him with heavy eyes and she forced herself to open them. "How'd you get here?"
"With Dani," he pointed and Michelle turned to see her daughter standing by the door.
"Shouldn't you two be asleep?" she asked them and they were quiet. "Pweese, no tell Daddy!"
"I won't tell him. You two shouldn't be out in the dark alone."
"We sawee. You want we tell stowee so you sheep again?" Michael asked. "That what Daddy do."
"We can't tell her our story!" Danielle interjected. "That's a secret!"
"What makes it such a secret?" Michelle pulled herself up to ask and the girl just stared ahead of herself, acting as if she didn't hear.
"It about a fay-wee pwincess and a bad man," Michael said and Danielle came up and pinched him from behind. "Aahh!" the child shrieked and then started to cry. He turned around and attempted to smack his sister, but Michelle kept him from going after her.
"I want to know about this fairy princess story," Michelle said, her eyes on her daughter. "Could you tell it to me?" she asked her son.
"Daddy said not to tell!" Danielle was quick to say. "Mikey, you'll be in big trouble! You don't even know the whole thing."
"Then maybe you can tell it to me," Michelle said to her. "You can join us on the bed or you can pull that chair over. Please, tell me your bedtime story. I'd love to hear it," she remarked and Danielle stared at her for a while before moving from where she stood and climbing onto the bed.