“Let her see them,” Lupita said softly.
The paramedic hesitated, then nodded.
The box was brought closer.
Canela lowered her head and sniffed each puppy carefully. When she reached the pale one, she stopped for several seconds, touching its tiny nose with hers.
Only then did she finally lie down.
Sofía covered her face.
“She saved them,” she whispered.
Miguel looked at her.
“She saved you too.”
Sofía shook her head.
“No. I left them.”
“You came back.”
“Too late.”
Miguel had no easy answer.
Because sometimes coming back late did not erase what had happened.
But sometimes it was still the beginning of making things right.
At the hospital, doctors examined the baby while social workers spoke with Sofía. She answered every question honestly now. She explained the argument with her mother, the fear that someone would take her baby, the night she left the hospital, and the terrible decision to hide in the motel.
Nobody told her everything would be fine.
Nobody promised she would simply walk away with her daughter.
Instead, they told her what she needed to do next.
And for the first time in days, Sofía listened.
Miguel and Lupita waited in the hospital corridor.
