He scooted his chair up to the side of her bed. “Does it hurt?”

“Not right now,” she said, and she took his hand. “They gave me the good stuff, so I’m feeling great.”

“You sure? What happened?”

She waved at him. “Ay, it wasn’t that bad, nieto. Took a wrong step in my kitchen, and down I went.” She laughed at herself. “I’m mostly glad no one else was there. Can’t have any of you thinking I’m not all suavecita.” She brushed her hair back dramatically.

It made Héctor smile. He knew which side of the family had given him his flair for drama.

“Now there’s that beautiful smile of yours,” said Abuela, and she reached out and brushed her fingers over Héctor’s face. “You don’t like it here, do you?”

“Not at all,” he said.

“It’s basically a sprained ankle,” she said, patting her injured right leg. “What, did you expect something worse?”

Héctor wasn’t particularly embarrassed by emotions; he channeled them all the time when he was performing. But when his eyes stung with tears just then, he turned his face away from Abuela. He didn’t want her to see this.

But she did. “Ay, niño,” she said, and she reached for him, and he fell into her arms. “It’s okay. I promise. I am okay.”

“I just got scared,” he said, and it was like there was a stone in his throat. “I don’t like it here.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t have asked you to come.”

He pulled away from her. “No!” he said forcefully. “No, I’m glad I’m here.”

Abuela let the silence grow. “Why does this place make you uncomfortable, Héctor? It’s not like you’ve ever spent a lot of time in hospitals.”

That was true. But he hated the smell. The way everyone avoided eye contact. The plainness of it all.

But it wasn’t just that. Sitting there, staring at his abuela, he couldn’t stop thinking of Mike. Héctor was nowhere near school, and that boy was now invading his thoughts. Sure, things had gotten better in many ways, and he was so happy about his growing friendships. But it was all still a secret, wasn’t it? And here was the one person, more than anyone else, that Héctor wanted to talk to. About everything.

So why couldn’t he bring himself to tell her the truth?

He realized it wasn’t the right time. He had helped Juliana, then Sal, and now? Héctor wanted to make Abuela proud by solving his problem by himself, just like she’d done.

It all fell into place then.

“When Mami texted me, I was scared,” he finally said, after an uncomfortable silence. “I just kept thinking that something worse would happen. That you weren’t going to be around anymore.”