A tribute

FORTY-EIGHT| Bad and worse

I shake my head before she gets to pull out the tupperware. "Water's fine. Thank you, baby." I take a sip of the water, looking at the IV pierced in my vein, infusing the chemotherapy drugs.

Second session and the nausea and fatigue is even worse than the first time.

She slips her hand in mine, sitting in a chair next to my seat. "Hi! Sorry for bothering but, your beanie is so pretty. Where'd you get it?" Isabella asks the boy in the seat next to me.

The boy touches his grey donut patterned beanie and slightly smiles, an IV attached to his hand as well. "Thank you so much. It's from amazon."

Isabella then eagerly looks at me, an excited smile on her face. "You want me to get you one of those? It'll look really cute."

Please don't. I, however, just nod my head, humming under my breath as I lay my head on her shoulder and shut my eyes.

"Yeah I'll get him one of them. He'll look so cute in it." And with her comforting voice I fall asleep.

I fall asleep for god knows how long until I'm woken up with a gentle touch on my cheek. "Gio... wake up, pretty boy."

My eyes flutter open, my mind foggy as I look around. I look up to see Isabella smiling down on me. "You're done, baby. You feelin' okay?"

Fuck no. "Yeah," I nod as I sit up straight.

She helps me up and then we're on our way home. She clutches my hand tightly as we walk to the car.

"I told you, you shouldn't have parked the car so far." She looks up at me with slight amusement in her eyes. "Are you sure you're okay to even drive?"

I am a little dizzy and nauseous but I can get us home safely.

"Yeah, don-"

I don't even get to complete my sentence because in a blink of an eye the rings of gunshots are all that go through my mind. Isabella screams in shock, her eyes shutting frozen as the raining bullets land on the car next to us.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

My face drains of blood as I attempt to think on my feet. I pull her behind the car, huddling over her protectively. What the fuck is happening?

Rivers of tears stream down her pale fale, her quiet whimpers being the only sound or movement on her body.

Sharp, loud pops crowd my mind like a blaring alarm. Do something. Fucking do something, Alessio. I pull out both of my guns, taking the safety off.

"Isabella," I disclaim. "I know you're scared but you need to listen to me." All I get is a shake of the head. "Listen to me, baby. Open your eyes." I force her hands around the grip of the gun.

"Hold this." I pull back a little, I peek my right arm out from behind the car, firing a couple shots at the distant figures that shoot bullets at us.

"Isabella, fuck! Baby, open your eyes. I need you to focus." At my urgent tone her bloodshot eyes snap open.

"Good," I let out a breath. "You're doing so good, baby. Now hold the gun tightly and I need you to shoot. If anything happens to me just shoot okay?"

Her body trembles in fear, yet she nods her head in approval.

God, please. Please don't let anything happen to her.

The world blurs, doing a spin around my head as I clamp my eyes shut, forcing it to snap out of its dizziness. I hear a few approaching footsteps and cover Isabella's motionless body with mine, serving as armour, a barrier between her and the darkness of the mafia world.