TRIGGER WARNINGS:
EXPLICIT LANGUAGE
SWEARING
VIOLENCE/GUN VIOLENCE
DRUGS
BLOOD/DEATH/GORE
"Stay with me. Stay with me. It's all right. You're fine, you're fine." I gulped as I held my bloody hand behind her head. I was consoling myself more so than her. I pressed my other hand down over the gunshot wound, where the blood was spilling out from. It wouldn't stop. She was getting paler by the second. She smiled and brushed my hair with her hand. "I love you." She coughed and wheezed. Isabella rushed to her side and started crying. She held Lira's hand. "Don't cry Isa-" Lira chocked out before she coughed some more. More blood spilled from her mouth and she soon closed her eyes.
I held a breath and felt a harsh shiver run down my spine. I can't lose her.
Twelve hours later, I paced the hospital corridor. Mom and dad watched me with concern. Uncle Mariano paced, his hair a mess. Isabella was checked over, she was completely fine, she just wanted some food. She was resting in the other room with her mom and dad who were worried sick. Raf was in surgery, getting stitched up and fixed.
The nurses pulled Raf out from theatre and wheeled his bed to a private room next door to Isabella. We all rushed to see him. He was asleep. Under the influence of heavy drugs. His chest was bandaged with his body being dotted with hundreds of black and blue bruises. His arm was up in a sling and his left ankle was surely broken. Fuck.
His dad sat on the chair beside him and held his hand. My parents stood in the room, with mom placing a gentle reassuring hand on uncle Mariano's shoulder. "I'm so sorry..this wasn't supposed to happen." I breathed out as I walked closer to Raf. I gulped and looked down. "Going there alone was stupid..but you did save their lives." Uncle Mariano spoke up. I was stupid. If only I had planned it better. But my thoughts were fucked up. Shit.
"I'm not mad Enzo, Raphael will be fine. This is nothing but a good life lesson. What's a few broken bones. Besides you're both young. You have a lot to learn...I'm glad you killed him." Uncle Mariano smiled at me. I think he was being too nice, too easy on me. I think he knew I was torturing myself with guilt. My stomach twisted in knots every other second because Lira was still in surgery. She might not even make it. Fuck! I hated thinking like that. If she were here she would tell me to shut the fuck up and she would smile at me with those perfect lips of hers.
I sat down beside Raf's bedside. I owed him so much. I explained to everyone how I knew where James was and what we had planned. Everyone definitely thought I was a fuck up. Mom and dad would never have let it happen. Shit.
I felt mom sit on a chair beside me and she placed her arm around me. "It's all right. You're all safe. And don't worry about Lira. She's a strong woman." She said quietly. I felt tears form and I hugged her tightly, placing my chin on her shoulder. "I was so stupid..it shouldn't have happened. I put everyone in danger." I gulped as I inhaled her subtle perfume. She shushed me and rubbed my back slowly. "What's done is done. No one blames you. These things happen. It's all right." She whispered. I sniffled and let go off her.
"Enzo?" Isabella's voice called out. We all turned to see her in the doorway. She walked towards me with her parents coming into the room. The whole family was here apart from Mara and her parents. The guards were all dealing with the mess and I specifically told Sergio to place James' body into a coffin.
I looked at Isabella and she walked over to me. I tried to subtly rub away my tears. She looked at the bed. "Is Raf okay?" She asked no one in particular. Mom smiled and picked her up onto her lap. "He's fine. He's just sleeping." She replied and held her close.
"Bella I'm sorry. I'm sorry those bad men took you. You must have been so scared..and I'm sorry you saw me..punching that man." I gulped as I looked into her brown eyes. She smiled. "I was only a little bit scared." She said as she held up a pinch. What a liar. "I was scared when you hit that man but he was a bad man. I love you! Thank you for saving me. You're like a hero." Isabella smiled warmly. She doesn't even know how close she was to dying. Fuck.
She glanced at Raf in the bed. "Don't worry uncle Mariano, Raf is a hero too." Isabella smiled. Uncle Mariano smiled back at her. I looked at uncle Kaden and bit the inside of my cheek. "Uncle Kaden I'm so fucking sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. I didn't mean to provoke you. I did it out of anger. I'm sorry." I apologised. I stood up and faced Isabella's parents. "I'm sorry Gabrielle. I put your daughter in harms way thinking I could save her myself. It sickens me to think of what could have happened." I spoke while looking at the polished linoleum floor.
"And uncle Kaden, you aren't a bad dad. I was stupid. I'm sorry I- I should have told you straight away when I found out where James was." I added. Uncle Kaden moved forward. He wore a T-shirt which showed his bandaged arm. "Enzo. It's fine. Everyone's safe. And you did save my daughter. And it was my fault, I let her get taken. So if anyone's to blame, it's me." Uncle Kaden spoke. He reached out and held his arms open to which I embraced. We hugged each other and I was glad our conflict was resolved. He was my favourite uncle and I would have hated being on shaky terms.
We pulled away and uncle Kaden smiled at me. "I'm sorry for punching you." He said as he looked at my lip. "What! Daddy you punched Enzo! That's so mean!" Isabella yelled and ran over to us. She looked at me and then at her dad. I leaned down and looked at her. "What did the men do when they took you?" I asked her. She hummed. "They took me to this room and made me sit there. Then they gave me a board game to play and I obviously couldn't play it alone. The nasty man came and he got mad at me when I asked him why he was so short and took the game away. But the other man was nice. He said his daughter was the same age as me!" Isabella said. I sighed, letting some of the guilt I felt disappear.
"Is Lira okay? I'm so sad. I don't want her to die." Isabella said with worry. I pulled her into me and hugged her. I couldn't offer any words to comfort her because I didn't want to give her false hope.
We heard a groan and we all turned to face Raf. I stood up and looked at him. He yawned and tried to move his arms. "Ah fuck." He swore, his voice raspy. He looked down at his body which was probably an aching mess. "Shit. That bad huh. I won't be able to fu- Isabella." Raf stopped himself when he saw Isabella. I shook my head at him.
"Raf are you okay!?" Isabella asked as she rushed to his side. She looked at him with a soft gaze. "Of course I am." He smiled and groaned when he tried to move. "Don't try to move too much." Mom spoke up as she smiled down at Raf.
"You absolute fu- stupid boy." Uncle Mariano scolded as he shook his head at his son. Raf looked at his dad. "Dad I'm fine. Why are you worried for?" He asked with droopy eyes. His bloodstream was still very much laced with morphine and heavy painkillers. "Worried? You sh- you almost died. God, you and Enzo, why the f-do you mess around." Uncle Mariano folded his arms as he looked at us both disapprovingly. I had to give it to him, he restrained himself more than I ever could.
"Yeah yeah..James never liked me so this was kind of expected." Raf blew out a breath. "Isabella, let's leave Raphael to sleep." Uncle Kaden spoke up. He looked at Raf. "You deserved this, with your big mouth." He chuckled making Raf roll his eyes. Uncle Kaden, Gabrielle and Isabella soon left. Uncle Mariano also left saying that he would be back soon with some clothes for Raf. My parents scolded Raf some more to which I tried to defend him. Mom gave in to my tear laced eyes more so than dad. They left too, promising to be back soon.
I sat down beside Raf. "I'm sorry Raf. It shouldn't have gone down the way it did. I shouldn't have allowed him to take you." I sighed and looked down. "Listen to me you stupid fuck face. You did what you had to do. And I knew that he would be pissed at me and so I did what I had to do. Do your think I'm angry at you? I'm not. You're my brother." Raf spoke. I looked up at him and smiled. He cleared his throat. "And sorry for being a bitch to you. I was stressed out. What can I say." He added.
