Lucia didn’t move.

Not because he couldn’t… but because something in those words stuck in him deeper than tiredness.

“The one I’m carrying… is for you…”

The wind continued to blow, lifting small gusts of sand that struck her face, but she no longer felt them the same way. There was something else occupying her body now… something colder.

He looked at the old man.

Her eyes were closed again.

The breathing… weak, but steady.

For a moment he thought it had all been a delusion. The heat, the hunger, the exhaustion… playing tricks on his mind.

“No…” she murmured to herself. “He didn’t say that…”

But he had said it.

And the worst part… was the way he had looked at her.

As if it weren’t the first time.

He moved a little closer, hesitating.

“Sir…” she whispered. “What did you mean?”

There was no response.

Only the sound of the wind seeping through the stones.

Lucia swallowed. Her throat burned. She was out of water. Nothing.

She placed her hand on her stomach, seeking some calm.

The baby moved.

A small blow from within.

Strong.

Unexpected.

Lucia closed her eyes.

“Relax…” he murmured. “Everything’s alright…”

But he wasn’t.

And I knew it.

He tried to stand up, but his legs didn’t respond on the first try. He had to lean against the rock, pushing himself up with his whole body until he managed to get to his feet.

He looked at the horizon.

Nothing.

The same old emptiness.

But now… it felt different.

As if she were no longer alone.

He turned his gaze back to the old man.

Something didn’t add up.

It wasn’t just what he had said.

It was his presence.

The way they breathe.

The fact that he was still alive after lying under that sun.

And then he noticed.

Something I hadn’t seen before.

On his chest.

Underneath the torn shirt.

There was a mark.

Dark.

Like a burn… but too defined to be accidental.

Lucia leaned forward.

He hesitated.

But curiosity… won out.

She carefully moved the cloth aside.

And he saw it.

A symbol.

Traced on the skin.

It didn’t look recent.

But not old either.

It was… strange.

As if she didn’t belong anywhere she knew.

She felt a chill run down her spine.

And right at that moment…

The old man opened his eyes suddenly.

Lucia was startled.

“Don’t touch it…” he said, his voice no longer sounding so weak.

She stepped back.

—I… just wanted to see if…

—You already saw it.

His eyes locked onto hers.

And this time… there was no confusion in his gaze.

There was certainty.

“Who are you?” Lucia asked, feeling fear begin to take shape in her chest. “Why did you say you were waiting for me?”

The old man watched her silently for a few seconds.

Then… she looked at her belly.

Not by chance.

Not like someone who sees a pregnant woman.

He looked at her as if he knew something.

As if he were… recognizing it.

Lucía instinctively placed both hands on her abdomen.

“No…” she whispered. “Don’t look at him like that…”

“It’s not him I’m looking at,” the old man replied.

That took her breath away for a second.

—So… to whom?

The old man did not respond immediately.

He seemed to measure every word.

As if she knew there was no turning back once she started.

“You shouldn’t have found me by chance,” he finally said. “That was already decided.”

Lucia shook her head.

—No… I was just passing by… I…

“No,” he interrupted calmly. “You decided not to leave.”

Silence fell once again.

Heavy.

Inescapable.

And he was right.

She had been able to leave him.

I had had the opportunity.

And he didn’t.

Lucia felt a lump in her throat.

—I just… didn’t want to let him die…

The old man nodded slightly.

—That’s why it’s you.

That phrase… chilled her blood.

—“I am” what?

The wind blew stronger.

As if the desert itself were listening.

The old man took a deep breath.

—What I’m carrying… can’t stay with me.

-What is it?

He did not respond.

Instead… he tried to sit down.

Lucia hesitated for a second.

But he ended up helping him.

His body was still weak… but he no longer seemed on the verge of death.

That also worried him.

“Listen carefully,” he said. “Because I don’t have much time.”

—Time for what?

—So you understand… before there’s no way back.

Lucia’s heart began to beat faster.

-I don’t understand anything…

“And you don’t need to understand everything,” he replied. “You just need to decide if you’re going to carry this burden… or if you’re going to let it fall.”

Lucia frowned.

—Carry what?

The old man looked her straight in the eyes.

—With what someone else left behind… when they could no longer go on.

The air became heavier.

It’s harder to breathe.

“I don’t want anything,” Lucia said, taking a step back. “I just wanted to help…”

—You already helped.

—So that’s it… right?

The old man shook his head slowly.

-No.

That “no” wasn’t strong.

But it was definitive.

—Things like this… don’t stop just because someone wants them to.

Lucia felt how the fear was turning into something deeper.

Something I couldn’t name.

“I have a son,” he said, almost defensively. “I can’t get involved in… whatever this is.”

The old man looked at his belly again.

And for the first time… there was something like sadness in her eyes.

—That’s precisely why.

The baby started moving again.

Stronger.

Lucia gritted her teeth.

“No…” he murmured. “I won’t let anything happen to him.”

—You can’t avoid what already comes with it.

The world seemed to stop for a second.

—What… what does that mean?

The old man closed his eyes for a moment.

As if it pained him to say it.

—You’re not the only one who was waiting for it.

A shiver ran through his entire body.

Lucia took a step back.

Then another one.

-No no…

“I am only the end,” he continued. “But what follows… does not end with me.”

Lucia shook her head in despair.

—Be quiet… don’t say that…

—If you don’t take it… someone else will.

—I don’t want anything!

The scream came out louder than I expected.

The echo was lost in the desert.

The old man watched her in silence.

Without anger.

No urgency.

Just… accepting something.

—That’s exactly what the last person said.

Lucia remained still.

Breathing with difficulty.

—And what happened?

The old man took a while to answer.

And when he did… his voice was barely a whisper.

—He died… trying to let go.

The silence that followed was heavier than any words.

Lucia felt her legs tremble.

Not from tiredness.

From something deeper.

He looked at the horizon again.

Nothing had changed.

The same desert.

The same emptiness.

But now he knew… that it was no longer the same path.

He looked at the old man again.

Then… to her belly.

And he understood something that needed no explanation.

I couldn’t go back.

Not completely.

Not after having decided to stay.

He approached slowly.

Very slowly.

She knelt in front of him.

His hands were trembling.

“Yes… yes, I accept…” she whispered. “Will my son be okay?”

The old man looked at her.

And he didn’t respond immediately.

Because he couldn’t lie.

—He’s going to live.

It wasn’t the answer she wanted.

But she was the only one who mattered.

Lucia closed her eyes.

A tear rolled down her cheek.

Not out of weakness.

Parting.

Of the simple life that she was no longer going to have.

When she opened them again… something in her gaze had changed.

It wasn’t bravery.

It wasn’t resignation.

It was… a decision.

“Then…” he said, his voice barely steady. “Give me that.”

The old man watched her for a few seconds.

And then… he nodded.

He took her hand.

Her skin was hot.

Too much.

The mark on his chest… began to darken.

To beat.

As if it had a life of its own.

Lucia felt the heat rise up her arm.

Pain.

A deep pain.

Ancient.

As if it weren’t just his.

He clenched his teeth.

He didn’t scream.

He didn’t let go.

And at that moment he understood the hardest truth of all.

You don’t always get to choose what you get.

But you do get to choose whether you face it… or whether you let it fall on someone else.

And she… didn’t want to be the one who walks away.

Even if that meant… never being the same again.