I couldn't resist 👆 Draco looks so cute in this chibi fanart 🥺
And by God, the number of threats I got in the previous chapter *shudders*
Special long chapter!
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Third Person POV:
The Rossi family reached the hospital in record time. Soon, Chloe was loaded out of the ambulance on a stretcher and taken to an emergency room. Though Leonardo tried to cover his daughters eyes, Talia still caught a glimpse of her blood covered Unnie.
The 4 year old had frozen in horror. After taking her to a doctor to get her checked for any injuries, she had gone into shock. She was barely responding to anything.
According to the doctor, the sight of a blood drenched Chloe, had triggered her memory of her mother dying. To keep her safe from further harm, Leo had ordered the twins and Enzo to stay at home with her.
Chloe had two been shot two times, with one wound in her fatal point. So, she was in critical stage. After around three hours of surgery, she could breath, but not without the help of a machine. Turns out, the bullet had hit an artery, close to her heart and lungs.
Right now, she was declared to be in vegetative state.
Three weeks later
Adriano sighed as he climbed up the hospital stairs with Talia in his arms. The youngest Rossi had demanded to see her Unnie, no matter what condition she was in.
Thankfully, his father had managed to pull Talia out of her unresponsive state about a week ago. They had tried everything. They had brought her school friends to the house, they had blackmailed her with her favorite chocolate. Nothing worked.
She still remained passive. The image of her staring at a wall blankly was imprinted in his mind forever. He promised himself that he would do anything in his power to see her beaming smile back on her face.
After two weeks, his father had finally taken the initiative to try to talk to Talia again. Not that she ever responded. As if a miracle, five minutes later she had come bounding down the stairs with a determined look on her face.
Even though she wasn't smiling, he was happy to see her with at least a different expression. When he asked his father what had he said to pull Talia out of her unresponsive state, his fathers answer surprised him.
I just told her that her Unnie needs her.
Adriano marched into the heavily guarded VIP hospital room, armed with a child and a storybook. Turns out Talia wanted to read Chloe a story, because according to her, Chloe might be bored sleeping all the time.
"Stay here Tesoro. I have work to do. Levi and Enzo are sitting outside doing their homework. Tell them if you need anything, okay?"
The girl barely nodded at her older brother, before turning to her cousin. Adriano walks out with a troubled expression on his face. Holding her hand, she opens the book with her other one and starts reciting the story , 'Sleeping Beauty' to her.
Suddenly an idea strikes her. What if, she wakes up if a prince kisses her Unnie.
But there's no prince here.
Her shoulder slump dejectedly. Then her face lights up with an idea. She leans ahead and kisses Chloe on her cheek. She waits for two minutes, but nothing happens.
Why isn't she waking up?
Sighing, she gets back at reading to her Unnie. When she is at the part where the prince fights the dragon, the room's door opens. She frowns and turns at the source of interruption.
Standing there is a man, wearing simple jeans and a T-shirt. He has brown hair and dark eyes and looks to be about Unnie's age. He gives her a slight smile and walks towards the hospital bed.
She is about to tell him to stop when she spots a familiar face trailing behind him.
"Sese!", Talia whispers excitedly. Elise turns her head towards the voice and lets out a small squeal when she sees her bestfriend.
"Lia! How are you know?"
"I'm fine but what are you doing here?"
Elise smiles and points towards the man.
"That's my big brother, Elijah. He is Chloe Unnie's classmate in college"
Talia lets out a big 'oooh' and gives Elijah a peak before turning back to her friend, seeing as he isn't going to harm Chloe. Soon, the two friends are whispering and giggling together.
It was refreshing for Talia to finally speak to someone freely. She was only speaking and letting her guard down because she was satisfied that she could see her Unnie. But that was just for now. Her next step was to wake Chloe up.
Elijah Moretti was nervous. He had never been nervous. Not to this extent at least. He stared at the face that had haunted his sleep for the last three weeks. He hadn't want to come to see her, but was dragged here by his sister.
He wasn't sure what he would he do if he saw the state she was in. His fist clenches as he thinks that he should have been there for her when she was ambushed. His hand unknowingly moves and caresses her cheek.
When he had met her for the first time, her hair flying in all directions and her sleeves rolled up till her elbows, he had an immense dislike towards her. That was further proved when she yelled at him to get his ass back in class.
Turns out she was the school's head girl, while he had decided to skip class for that day. Only to be dragged in again by his ear. There hatred for each other was known throughout the school. When they moved to the same college, they were still at each others throat half the time.
He would never admit it but he had gotten his ass beaten by her on more than one occasion. God knows when, but somewhere along the way his feelings for her changed. Maybe it was the stolen kiss at the freshmen party or the laughter shared at their powerful families history.
Sighing, he raised his hand to see the time. Looking at her one last time, he lifted a strand of her hair he kisses her hair gently.
That little action though didn't go unnoticed by Talia. Her eyes widen as she watches him take Elise's hand and leave the hospital room, bidding her goodbye.
Getting down from the couch she was seated on with Elise, she runs towards her cousins bed and stares at her. Nothing. Sighing in defeat, she opens the hospital door to take a walk with Enzo in the hospital garden.
Later, when they come back and Enzo stays back in the waiting room, she sees a commotion outside Chloe's room. Frowning, she entered, only to see an awake Chloe.
"Unnie!"
"Hey baby! Missed me?", Chloe asks, her voice coming out a bit parched.
And just like that, she opens a dam full of tears. After she has calmed down Talia, Chloe turns towards the nurse and makes a drinking motion.
"Vodka, ma'am?", the nurse stutters. Chloe blinks a few good seconds before glaring at him.
"I'll go fetch a glass of water, ma'am", another nurse, this one female, standing next to him says, rolling her eyes at her colleague.
Chloe nods at her and turns her attention back towards Talia.
"I knew you would wake up if a prince kissed you!"
Chloe laughs at her.
"Oh really? Which prince kissed me? The one in your imagination?", Chloe teases her.
"No, it was Elise's brother", Talia replies shaking her head.
"Huh?"
"He kissed your hair", Talia giggles, "He had brown hair and black eyes"
A sudden feeling of wariness washes over her, "Honey, what was his name?"
"Elijah"
Only one person comes to Chloe's mind. Her eyes widen in astonishment.
"Son of a gun", she hisses under her breath.
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To all those people who thought I was going to kill off Chloe. Umm, are you kidding me?
I am a very emotional person and I'm always for happy endings. Sad endings just don't stick with me.
Take for example, 'The girl in the hoodie'. That book tore my heart right out. Don't even get me started on 'Avengers: Endgame'. It's been more than two years and I'm still not over it.
So, I couldn't kill Chloe even if I wanted to 😌
And what do you all think about Elijah?
Hope you all liked this chapter. The epilogue is next!
Don't forget to vote and comment!