Chapter 2 - The Doctor Who Arrived Too Fast
Dr. Esteban Salazar crossed the street without hurrying.
That made him more frightening.
Valeria knew him as the polished orthopedic specialist who had treated her since the accident. He had attended birthdays. He had visited during difficult rehabilitation periods. He had once flown overnight from Madrid because Valeria had developed swelling around her knee.
Yet he had never visited Iztapalapa.
And nobody had told him they were here.
“Give me that component,” he told Julián.
Julián closed his fist.
“No.”
Salazar stopped.
Camila wiped her face.
“How did you find us?”
Salazar ignored the question.
“Valeria, sit down.”
She stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because standing without proper support could cause permanent damage.”
“I’ve been standing for five minutes.”
“You don’t understand your condition.”
“Then explain it.”
“This isn’t the place.”
Valeria almost laughed.
For nine years, every difficult question had received the same answer.
Later.
Not here.
You’re exhausted.
Trust us.
She suddenly hated those words.
Julián stepped between Salazar and the young woman.
“I adjusted one mechanical stop and her movement improved.”
Salazar’s eyes narrowed.
“You tampered with a medical device.”
“I repaired a mechanism.”
“You could cripple her.”
Julián’s expression remained calm.
“Was that what my father was supposed to do?”
Silence.
Salazar’s face changed.
Barely.
But Julián saw it.
“You knew José Mendoza,” he said.
“I knew hundreds of technicians.”
“You remember him.”
“No.”
Julián opened his hand.
Salazar saw the initials.
His confidence disappeared for half a second.
That was enough.
Valeria whispered, “You know what this is.”
Salazar recovered.
“An obsolete component.”
“With a date matching my accident.”
“Coincidence.”
“And Julián’s father died three days later?”
Salazar looked at Camila.
“Take your daughter home.”
Valeria flinched.
Not our patient.
Not Valeria.
Your daughter.
As though Salazar were giving Camila an instruction they had followed many times before.
Camila whispered, “Esteban, enough.”
Salazar’s gaze hardened.
“You called me.”
Valeria turned toward her mother.
“You called him?”
Camila said nothing.
That silence hurt.
“When?”
“When you went inside to use the restroom.”
“So you called him before Julián fixed my brace.”
Camila’s eyes filled.
“I was worried.”
“About me?”
“Yes.”
“Or about what he might find?”
“Valeria—”
“No.”
Valeria stepped away.
Her legs trembled, but she stayed upright.
For the first time, the weakness felt like hers.
Not the braces’.
That distinction mattered.
Salazar reached for the component.
Julián pulled it away.
“I’m keeping this.”
“You have no legal right.”
“It came out of equipment she’s wearing.”
“Equipment owned by Serrano Medical Trust.”
Valeria stared.
“What?”
Salazar froze.
Julián looked at her.
“You don’t own your braces?”
“I thought I did.”
Camila whispered, “It’s complicated.”
Valeria laughed once.
It sounded broken.
“Apparently my entire life is complicated.”
Julián led her toward a chair inside the garage.
She sat.
He knelt beside her, but this time he did not touch the brace.
“Before I do anything else, you need an independent doctor.”
Salazar scoffed.
“A mechanic giving medical advice.”
“No. A mechanic telling someone not to let a mechanic make medical decisions.”
Valeria almost smiled.
Even now, Julián refused to pretend he knew more than he did.
That made her trust him more than the people with diplomas covering entire walls.
“Can you put it back exactly how it was?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Don’t.”
Camila stepped closer.
“Valeria.”
Her daughter looked up.
“Tell me the truth.”
Camila’s mouth trembled.
“I wanted to protect you.”
“From what?”
No answer.
“From Julián’s father?”
Camila began crying again.
Salazar moved toward her.
“Camila, don’t.”
Valeria heard it.
So did Julián.
It wasn’t concern.
It was a warning.
Camila looked at Salazar.
Something shifted inside her.
Nine years of obedience to a secret suddenly met nine years of watching her daughter struggle to walk.
“José found something,” she whispered.
Julián went still.
“What?”
Salazar grabbed Camila’s arm.
“That’s enough.”
She pulled away.
“Don’t touch me.”
“What did my father find?” Julián demanded.
Camila looked at him.
“He discovered that Valeria’s original scans didn’t match the diagnosis.”
Valeria felt cold.
“What does that mean?”
Camila’s lips parted.
Before she could answer, Salazar turned and walked toward the sedan.
Julián followed.
“Where are you going?”
Salazar accelerated.
Then Julián heard a metallic crash behind him.
He turned.
Valeria’s brace had locked again.
She had tried to stand.
Now she was on one knee.
“Valeria!”
Julián ran back.
Camila screamed.
Salazar reached his car.
But instead of leaving, he opened the rear door and removed a black leather case.
Julián helped Valeria onto the chair.
“Don’t move.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
He inspected the brace.
His face tightened.
“What?”
Julián looked at the mechanism.
“The lock reset itself.”
“That’s impossible.”
“For a purely mechanical brace, yes.”
He searched beneath the housing.
His fingers found a thin wire.
Then a tiny electronic module hidden behind the metal frame.
A green light blinked once.
Julián stared across the street.
Salazar was holding something inside his hand.
May you like
A remote.
And his thumb was resting on the button.
