Mafia's Princess

Chapter 104

I felt the tears dwell up in my eyes as I thought of her. Why did this have to happen? Why did it have to happen to our  Gabby? 

"Please say something" I begged, feeling completely miserable and hopeless. 

"I almost lost you, Chris. Please don't do this. Don't close yourself. Talk to me" I begged, feeling terrified of him returning to that dark place. It was all too familiar. I had seen this happen. He built these walls up around himself in order to push everyone away and protect himself from getting attached. From getting hurt. 

He became numb to everyone and everything around him. The fear of ever getting hurt, losing somebody drove him to insanity. He became cold. Ruthless. Sinister. Apathetic. He pushed all of us away from him and let the anger consume him. Gabriella was the only person who made him do things he's never done before. She made him smile. She made him feel. 

A terrifying thought ran through my mind. 

What if she died? What would be the end of my brother if he lost her? The source of light in his cruel world. Without her, he'd lose himself. We all would. We couldn't afford to lose her. The price would be too high to pay. 

Chris took a deep breath, slowly his chest rose up as his eyes finally stopped on my now teary-eyed face. He clenched his jaw, breathing out of his nose. 

"I don't believe it," He said after a minute of silence. I frowned, trying to understand him. 

"How-" He stopped to breathe again. 

"How could she?" He asked, cutting through the silence. I froze, trying to answer to him. 

"She wasn't alright, Chris," Felix said quietly as he too sat down next to us. The expression on my brother's face was too painful to look at. 

"I don't understand" I whispered. 

She seemed happy. She seemed okay. I could never imagine a strong woman like her crumbling down like this. I couldn't bear to even think about it. Was I the cause of this with my awful words? 

No, I shook my head. 

"Chris, she had PTSD. She hasn't been alright for a while now. We couldn't have changed that..." I said, trying to swallow the feeling of guilt inside of me. At my words his eyes darkened, his body stiffened. 

"I should've known" He whispered. 

"I SHOULD'VE FUCKING KNOWN!" He exclaimed, his voice cutting through the air. I closed my eyes. 

"It was obvious. So fucking obvious" He messed up his hair. 

"Her nightmares, the hallucinations. The things she'd say..." He exclaimed, clenching his jaw. I looked down, feeling horrible. " I should've fucking known!" 

"You couldn't have known, Chris," Felix said, trying to calm him down. Suddenly the door opened. Two of the nurses walked in. 

"How are you feeling?" One asked as the other one went to change the IVs. 

"Fine" He snapped. 

"Do you have trouble breathing?" She asked as she took out a notepad. He shook his head, making me shake mine. 

"Yes, yes he has" I replied instead of him, making him glare at me. I was far too concerned about his health to care about his glares. 

"Does the area around the chest tube hurt at all?" She asked. Knowing my brother would never admit it I spoke instead of him. 

"I believe it bothers him" 

"Chest tubes are usually uncomfortable" She gave me a small reassuring smile. 

"And he has been refusing to eat anything," I said quickly, using my chance. Before the nurse could say anything else Chris spoke. 

Well more like, thundered. 

Typical Chris. 

"Could we stop with the chit chat? Are there any news from my wife?"

The nurses gave each other a look, probably contemplating whether they should give us any information or not. I felt my legs weaken at the sight of their glances. Good Lord, please let her be okay. 

"Well?" Chris asked impatiently. 

"We don't have any information-" The first nurse said apologetically. The one fixing his IV turned towards me and gave me a small nod. 

"Bullshit!" Chris exclaimed. 

"You need to go for a checkup and an X-ray now. But I promise that I'll speak with the doctor and tell you everything I find out about your wife once you're back" She said calmingly. Chris wanted to argue but I sent him a look. 

"Let's get this over with." He muttered as the nurse began rolling his bed out of the hospital room. I breathed out, running a hand through my head. The second they were out of the room and we were alone Felix and I attacked the nurse. 

"Where is she?" 

"Is she alright?" 

She sighed, fidgeting. 

"We managed to save the girls life," She said, making a massive amount of weight drop from my shoulders. I felt my legs weaken in happiness. She wasn't dead. She was alive. Breathing. 

I would get to see my best friend again. 

"The doctors fought for her life. Were we a little bit later we would've lost her"  She said, making my stomach drop. Felix wrapped an arm around me, trying to soothe me. I could feel the relief he felt, the guilt he freed himself from. 

Gabby was alive...

"She's been awake for the past three hours-" 

"What the-" 

"She's been awake for so long and you haven't even said a word?" I exclaimed in pure anger, cutting Felix off. 

"Miss, you need to calm down and listen-" 

"No, I don't want to listen! I want to see her!" I raised my voice, my temper getting the best of me. Felix put his hand on my shoulder, giving me a small nod, telling me to let her speak. The nurse gave him a thankful stare as she began to explain. 

"Even though the girl has been awake I'm afraid she's not in a situation where she should be having visitors-" 

"Visitors?" Felix exclaimed this time. 

"We're her fucking family!" 

"Yes, sir I understand but you need to listen," she said. 

"She's currently in the ICU, under maximum security. Patients who suffer from PTSD need to be under intensive care and fulltime supervision. She suffered from a minor brain injury which could temporary effect her memory. Let's not forget the reason she's here in the first place. She's tried to commit suicide, therefore she's currently not stable. One wrong move, one wrong word and she could be breaking the windows once again" She said. 

"Patients who appear in the ICU due to suicide attempts are always at risk to try and do it again, therefore our number one priority is to keep her calm and away from any type of stress in order to avoid another attempt" She explained. At her words, I felt my knees shaking. 

"We didn't inform you about her being awake because we knew she needed some rest. We knew that if told you would run to see her and we believe it is best if she has a few hours to herself, perhaps to collect her thoughts and memories" 

"When-" I cleared my throat, swallowing against the lump in my throat. 

"When can we see her?" I asked quietly. 

"Give it an hour at least. And then you will be allowed to see her one at a time" She said.