Alejandro was gone for nearly twenty-four hours.

“How is she?” he asked at the nurses’ station.

“Stable,” Carmen answered evenly.

A slight tightening in his jaw gave him away, though he quickly masked it. Lucía caught it when he entered her room.

“Love…” he said gently, approaching her bed. “You look pale.”

Lucía kept her breathing shallow, eyes barely open.

“I’m tired,” she murmured.