4.50 a.m.

Flavia opens her eyes in the dark, almost jumps up in the bed, heart pounding in her throat, pushed out of her chest by the aching inflation and deflation of her lungs. Her vision blurred, a sharp pain in her cheekbone, under her left eye. Trembling fingertips delicately touch the swollen flesh and they seem to belong to someone else, they feel numb and are freezing cold.

A rustle comes from her side and she starts to gain consciousness of where she is. She is in bed, in a dark room, but she is not alone. There's someone next to her, Dante? Panic takes over her, memories make blood run cold in her veins as tears and sweat moist the side of her face. She shuts her eyes, forces herself to calm down, to remember, to think. She remembers blood, a lot of, a broken glass, her head hitting the jamb, Dante shouting horrible things to her face, his eyes cold and absent. She takes a few deep breaths, if Dante is by her side she can't risk waking him up. She closes her eyes and prays, she buries sobs in her core and asks God to save her.

"Mi amor" a voice calls in the dark and it's warm, and it's feather soft. Flavia's fears melt with that heat, her whole body relaxes immediately as the duvet of room 24 moves a little more.

"Mi amor, ¿qué pasa?" Javiera whispers and Flavia finally opens her eyes to her reassuring face. She feels the other woman closer, she lets her own tired body be rolled on the side and held as loving kisses are pressed on her forehead and hair.

God heard, she asked for help and there it was, in the shape of an angel. The tenderness of that moment erase it all, her cry, her terror, her guilt, her shame. Memories fade in Javiera's smell, in the gentle grip of her hands, in the softness of her lips, in the comfort of her voice. A deep breath breaks in a sob and Flavia's muscles are sore but can't help spasming. She is safe and she can cry, she is safe and she can let it all out.

"Ya, ya, sácalo todo" she hears and tightens the grip on Javiera's tank top.

"Aquí estoy, mi amor, estás a salvo ahora, no te voy a dejar ¿Ya?" The police officer whispers tenderly, Flavia's tears making her top wet, her sobs inflicting a sharp pain to her heart. How can someone do something this bad to someone else? How could someone have beaten this woman down to this point? She holds her tight and for a second she fears she could break her, reducing this precious creature to a handful of shards. Javiera's heart breaks more and more with each of Flavia's sobs, rage spreading in her core. Years and years of abuses had almost turned a diamond into a thin glass, and it is such a waste, the most unfair and infuriating waste. How many times things like that must happen before something changes? How many women, men, wives, husbands, daughters, sons must suffer like this before the sun rises? How many cruelties have happened, how many are happening, how many will happen before it's over?

Tears come to Javiera's eyes and she needs all of her strength not to break down herself. She feels her own lips trembling against Flavia's forehead, she looks up in the attempt to hold herself from crying.

"No estás sola, mi amor. Nunca más." she says under her breath and she knows that she doesn't need to be any louder, Flavia's heart would hear anyway.

The grip on the fabric loosens eventually, breaths grow regular and slower as Flavia drifts off to sleep and Javiera finally lets a stream of silent tears moist the pillow.

9.30 a.m.

Flavia stirs underneath the disarranged duvet of an otherwise empty bed as she wakes up. Her brain seems like pounding in her head, her throat is so dry that she has to do more than an attempt to gulp. There's a high pitched hiss pinning her head and something aches somewhere, but she couldn't put her hands on where, exactly. She blinks a couple of times and heavily sighs, a tired smile creases her dry lips as Javiera comes out of the ensuite.

"Buenas días" she beams and Flavia thinks that the morning sun has never been brighter than today.

"Hola" The other woman manages to say. "¿Qué hora es?" She asks, noticing that Javiera is already dressed up and has had breakfast.

"Son las 9.30" Javiera smiles and sits on the bed.

"Ay perdona si me he despertado tan tarde, ¿por qué no me llamaste?" Flavia said, flushing a little.

"¿Por qué lo haría? No lo pasaste bien esta noche, tenías que descansar". Her care almost aches in the middle of Flavia's chest, shame for what happened last night does nothing but sharpen her discomfort, along with the guilt of pouring all of her misery on Javiera like this. A lock of hair is softly brushed from her face and Flavia ends up looking at the other woman.

"¿Cómo estás?" She asks tenderly and Flavia fleshes a shy smile.

"Mhh...mal" she answers as pushing herself up against the headboard.

"Me encantaría no sentir este lado de la cara y este dolor de cabeza me está matando…" she sighs and can't help another smile at the loving gaze of the woman before her eyes.

"Nada de esto es tu problema, perdón...no te preocupes por mí."

Javiera gets serious immediately and moves on the bed in order to properly face the other woman.

"Obvio que me preocupo, Flavia. Me importa de ti, siempre me voy a encargar que tu estas bien."

She says as delicately playing with a lock of Flavia's hair. Flavia stares at her fingers. When they move up to comb some other hair behind her ear, she lets her gaze run along the muscular surface of Javiera's arm, up to her shoulder, through her hair, shining in the sun, to her lips, to her eyes. Flavia feels a little embarrassed, she is not used to this care, she likes it but she doesn't know if she is allowed to like it this much.

She realises that she is biting her lip only when she notices that Javiera is looking.

"¿Quieres comer algo, así puedas tomar una medicina para el dolor?" She asks, unable to look away from the other woman's lips.

Flavia nods, a little loss of words in this overwhelming comfort. She watches Javiera standing up and calling the room service then hanging up and taking a glass from the nightstand.

"¿Quieres un poco de agua?"

"Sí" Flavia answers faintly so she takes the cold glass in her hands. The fresh liquid is more than welcome to her dry mouth and it makes it a little easier to speak.

"Gracias, Javiera" she says.

"Tu eres tan amable conmigo" she adds, unable to look away from the reflexes of the sunlight through the water and the glass.

"No veo razón para no ser amable contigo." She hears the other woman say and sees as her fingers silently ask for permission to take her hand. Flavia's heart thuds as tears come to her eyes. Is Javiera going to get tired of her, get annoyed by her too? Flavia knows herself, knows that she is hard to love, she made her husband, the father of her daughter, hate her. Is she meant to push Javiera to that as well?

She looks away and hisses, fights her tears and fails.

"Flavia...Flavia por favor, mírame." "¿Qué pasa?"

And Flavia sobs but doesn't turn towards her.

"No esconderte de mí."

Flavia sighs heavily, Javiera doesn't need this, doesn't need her silence, doesn't deserve it.

"Mira lo que ha hecho a la Miri, he sido capaz de hacer que mi hija me odie... y mí marido también. ¿Comò no ves una razón para no ser amable conmigo?" She lets out in nothing more than a broken cry and it smashes Javier's heart to pieces. Is she really convinced about it? How can she be this blind? How deep is the toxic spiral she has been drowning in for a lifetime? Is she really unable to see how much she is worth?

Javiera can't believe her ears.

"Flavia, ¡no! Nada de lo que pasó es tu culpa."

"Miranda no te odia. ¿De qué estás hablando?"

"Se ha ido de casa y no quiere verme." Flavia says, her lips livid and the glass trembling in her hands.

"Tu sabes qué no es así" "Miranda es muy frágil, todo lo que pasó en tu casa la afectó mucho, pero eso porqué te quiere, no porqué te odia."

Flavia finally manages to look Javiera in the eyes just to see them shiny with unfallen tears.

"Tu eres una mujer sensible, altruista, eres una madre increíble y si tu marido no se ha dado cuenta o se lo ha olvidado no significa que todos lo harán...no significa que yo lo haré." Javiera says as a single tear lines her cheek.

Flavia can't take the sight before her eyes, can't stand the pain in such a great woman, she can't and she won't. She can't allow herself to make her suffer anymore. She gulps and clears her voice. She takes a deep breath and nods. She has to make more than an effort to change her mind but at least she can try.

Room service is announced by a sudden knock on the door and Javiera does her best to clear her face as she greets the waiter and thanks him. She reaches for the bed again and puts the tray in front of Flavia, on the duvet.

"Gracias" Flavia says and takes her hand. She smiles tenderly and locks her gaze with Javiera so she sits down again. Flavia moves their faces close enough to make the tip of their noses brush.

"Gracias" She says again in a whisper.