The Moon And The Stars

CHAPTER 39

Adelyn gives my hand a comforting squeeze as she parks in the carpark of the hospital. I try to force my heart to stop beating to fast, but nothing stops the thoughts racing through my mind. Nothing stops the fear which encapsulates my entire being as my best friends life remains in the hands of whatever God is out there.

I never considered myself religious, but now I find myself praying to anyone who will listen; heal my best friend.

I get out of the car and Adelyn comes around and slips her arm through mine, her body trembling as her face is plastered with concern. I know she's trying to be strong for me, trying to hide her nerves, and I appreciate it, but she needs to know that she's allowed to be weak too.

The journey to the elevator and into the waiting room is silent, both of us too nervous to say anything, partially due to the shock of everything, partially due to the fact that neither of us know what to say, worry consuming both of us.

We walk up to the front desk and the lady there smiles, "Carlos Salvatore?" I ask, and woman's shoulders tense at his name. I try not to roll my eyes, Carlos has this reputation of being one of the most ruthless and callous Mafia Dons, overthrowing his family and everything, but in reality he's the biggest softie you will ever meet.

"Uh, he's in surgery right now, his girlfriend is helping prepare his hospital room though, so you can wait in there. It's room 46," she smiles at us, and Adelyn thanks her as we go down the long corridor.

"They think Lia's his girlfriend," Adelyn chuckes, although her voice contains not a drop of humour, "I think he'd like that," I murmur, as we turn down another corridor containing rooms 40-50. Adelyn hums in response as we locate room 46, lightly knocking on the door.

"Come in," a cold, almost unrecognisable voice says, and I open the door to see Ophelia sitting in a chair beside a neatly made bed. I'm almost taken aback by the sight of Ophelia. She's not the frantic and stressed girl who was crying less than 20 minutes ago, she's cool and collected, not one ounce of emotion in her eyes as she looks at us. Her eyes are dull as she stares at Adelyn, who almost shrinks into me at the sight of her cousin.

"Lia are you ok?" Adelyn asks, walking up to Ophelia. She nods and removed Adelyn's arms which are now around her, "I'm fine," she says quietly. I almost wince at the rejected look on Adelyn's face and I quickly intercept this cool exchange of words.

"How long has Carlos been in surgery for?" I ask Ophelia, the way she looks at me sending chills down my spine. There is nothing in her eyes.

"He was taken into surgery the minute we arrived here, the nurses said it'd take a while because they need to get the bullet out of his stomach and he lost a lot of blood," she tells me, her tone indifferent as she tells me about the danger my best friend is in.

I nod and sink into a chair seated around a small table near the window. I look out over the view, the small city bustling below, not a care in the world as the ant-like people go about their days as normal, not aware of the terror this room possesses.

Adelyn walks over to me and sits in the chair beside me, reaching over to rest her head on my shoulder. "I'm worried about her," she whispers, and I nod, "Once Carlos gets out of surgery she'll be better," I assure her, hoping she's better by then, Carlos will be stressed if Ophelia acts the way she is now, towards him. He doesn't need anymore stress.

Adelyn hums and closes her eyes, and I lean down to press a kiss onto her temple, "We'll wait it out together," I tell her, linking our pinkies together. Adelyn smiles up at me and kisses my knuckle, "Always."

————

The sound of someone opening the door to our room wakes me up from whatever unconscious trance I was in, my eyes snapping open to see a nurse walking into the room. Alone. Without Carlos.

"Where's Carlos?" I immediately ask, not wanting to hear the response which I think is coming. "He's still in the surgery," the nurse says quietly, "It's not looking good so I thought I would come in and let you know, just so you don't get your hopes up," she finishes off, her voice coming to a stop when she sees the look of my face.

"If he dies, I will kill every person in this hospital and burn it to the fucking ground," Ophelia says, her voice shaking, dripping with venom as she spits out every word like it's poison.

"M-miss, please don't threaten us," the nurse stammers, looking at Ophelia with wide eyes, "We are trying our best,"

"If he dies, I kill everyone in this god forsaken building," Ophelia repeats herself, her eyes growing wild as she laughs in the nurses face, "Do you understand?" she says, and Adelyn winces at the laughter in Ophelia's voice, "If he dies so do fucking you!" she laughs again, a sick smile playing at her lips as she stares at the nurse, the crazy look still in her eyes.
"Miss y-you can't threaten th-the hospital staff," the nurse stutters, backing away from Ophelia. I almost gasp when Ophelia takes out a pocket knife and flicks it open, "Oh sweetie," she says, her voice dripping with fake sympathy, "Why can't you understand this? If you let Carlos Salvatore die, I will ensure that you die. Along with everyone else who was too pathetic to save him, ok?" her voice is sickly sweet as her dangerous smile continues to play on her lips, continuously flicking the knife open and closed.

The nurse stutters something incoherently before hastily getting out of the room, Ophelia staring daggers into her back.

"Lia how about you go back to the house and get some sleep? It's been a long day," Adelyn gently suggests, to which Ophelia shakes her head, her smile now gone.

"I'm going back to France," she says quietly, her eyes darting around the room, meeting anywhere but Adelyn's.

"What?" Adelyn's heartbroken voice makes my heart ache, "You can't do that," she says, her tone turning shocked.

"I can't do this, Adelyn. It's not fair on Carlos and it's not fair on me. I'm leaving," Ophelia says in a determined voice, as if daring one of us to challenge her decision. "Ophelia please just stay until Carlos is out of surgery, he'd really appreciate it," I say, hoping that maybe I can convince her.

To my disappointment she shakes her head, "I'm sorry," she whispers, walking up to Adelyn and wrapping her arms around her. "Please understand," she says, her voice barely audible. "I'm not angry at you Lia," Adelyn says softly, hugging her cousin back.

Ophelia breaks the hug and smiles at me, "Look after her for me," she says lightly, although her eyes bare into me. "Don't worry, she's safe with me," I assure her.

Ophelia gives us one last smile before walking out the door and closing it behind her. Gone.

Adelyn turns and buried her face in my chest, her arms hugging me closer to her, "She left," she says in a small voice, her shoulders shaking as she begins to cry. "I know baby, I'm sorry," I whispers, sitting down on my chair and taking her into my lap, hugging my arms around her as she cries. "Today has been so awful," she sobs, tears dampening my shirt as her tears start falling more rapidly. "I know, but we got through it together," I soothe her, lifting her face up to meet mine.

I give her a sad smile and kiss her nose, "Its just you and me Adelyn," I whisper, linking our pinkies together. "Forever?" she asks, looking up at me with worried eyes, "Forever," I say, kissing her knuckles.

She gives me a watery smile and snuggles into me, "He'll be ok, I know it," she says, hugging my arms tighter around her, "He has to be," she adds, doubt leaking into her small voice.

I hum in response and rest my chin on her head, "I need him to be," I whisper.

//

So I know that was a relatively short chapter so I'm sorry, but buckle up for the next few because I'm looking forward to them 🤭

What do we think about Ophelia leaving? I WILL NOT TOLERATE ANY LIA HATE. But yeah, I hope you guys understand why she left, it'll be spoken about more in their book (maybe 🤭)

Anyways, I'll post again tomorrow, but until then, have a good day/night and don't be a quiet reader!!

Abi <3