Amore Mio (#4)

Chapter 36: And Then I Lost

          Luci and I never traveled together for safety concerns, so I couldn't confide in him about how wrong all this felt. I was alone in this right now. But I guessed he was already at the hospital.

          When we reached the destination, Jacopo and a couple of other soldiers who had come with us from Sicily surrounded me for protection as they always did in public settings. The sun was already bright and people were out and about to start their normal lives.

We walked into the hospital that was under our protection. The elevator took us to an almost empty floor. Only our men stood guard at every exit and entrance. Some nurses and doctors rushed around.

It all felt... daunting. Hospitals were never a place I enjoyed visiting at all, but the current situation made everything sadder. Like something was going to happen. Or already had.

I was escorted to a waiting area and left alone. I sat on one of the many chairs and waited. Morning news played on the TV, but I couldn't pay any attention. Time on the clock ticked by and I was growing restless with each second.

          She had to be all right. Leona Bonferroni was too strong to ever fall ill or worse.

          Shit! I wasn't going to think about it. She'd be fine.

My father's men were present with the royal guards from the castle right outside the waiting room, but my father was nowhere to be found.

Where the fuck was Luciano? Wasn't he supposed to be here before me?

Maybe he was already seeing Mamma. I wanted to see her too.

A few more minutes passed by when Jacopo finally showed up again and took me down the hall to a room.

I opened the door slowly and entered alone. My eyes immediately landed on my father's hunched back. He was leaning over the bed where Mamma was laying, but his body blocked my view of her. Only the shape of her legs under a thin white sheet was visible.

          The door swung shut behind me and that was the final sound that echoed in the room.

Complete silence never scared me until now. It was torture. Not even the monitors or the other medical machines made a single sound. Not a beep from them. I was too scared to even move my feet.

          "Leonardo," Father's rough voice broke the silence startlingly, but he didn't spare me a look.

          "Father," I made my presence known, and even that was an effort.

My mouth was so dry all of a sudden. Throat felt constricted. Stomach hollow.

          "Come closer." The seriousness in his voice didn't sit right with me, but I obeyed as I was always taught to do so.

          With heavy feet, I took several steps, each one more dreadful than the previous. But I reached the bedside where I finally laid eyes on my mamma, resting peacefully. Father stroked her pale cheeks in slow, gentle circles.

          "Please tell me she's sleeping."

My voice wasn't my own. It was distant and echoed back into my ears oddly. As if I was slowly falling into a trance.

This had never happened before. It couldn't be happening.

"Leonardo." The tone he used to say my name was my answer—the one I didn't want.

"You lie," I whispered.

No. No. No. Sick fucking joke!

Father got off of the stool he was sitting on so I could see her properly. I neared her slowly. Her skin was pale as it had been back at the castle, but it looked somehow thinner. I could see faint lines of her veins beneath her eyes that somehow seemed to have sunken.