chapter 2

Isabella

"Honey, it's just rain."

"But it's loud," Leo's tiny voice murmurs over the phone.

I rub my hand over my eyes. "Why don't you wake Abuela?"

"She's sleeping," he says emphatically. "Snoring. Her snoring scares me."

"Leo, Mami's at work, okay? You crawl into bed with Abuela and she'll protect you from the rain, okay?" Curse these rare desert rains. They scare the crap out of kids and dogs alike. Of course, it had to happen in the middle of my shift too when I only have a couple of minutes. "You're brave, Leo. You went all the way to the kitchen to get Abuela's phone, didn't you?"

"Yeah," he says, fear still in his voice.

I smile, tucking myself further into the alcove to avoid the eyes of a passing nurse who might tattle on me to hospital administration for taking a call during my shift. "Then you can face anything. A storm? That's nothing."

There's a roll of thunder outside, loud enough that I can hear it outside the hospital and through the phone. Leo cries out.

"Hey, listen,