June let out a sniffle, wiping her jacket sleeve underneath her nose. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying so much and her lips had been trembling for the latter half of two hours.
I couldn't really blame her for that.
Her left leg was bandaged tightly and propped up on a pillow. She was laying on a bed in a plain, boring room, and apart from her and me, there was nobody else in here. Regina and Archer had left a few minutes ago to go get coffee from one of the vending machines in the hallway.
When we had arrived at the urgent care center, June had been seen right away by the on-call doctor. He'd taken one look at June's leg and immediately announced that she was going to need stitches. June for the most part had stopped crying by the time we got there, but the second those words left the doctor's mouth, she had burst into tears all over again.
It was heartbreaking to watch as she threw her arms around Regina and started sobbing, begging her not to make the doctor come near her with a needle.
But luckily the three of us had been allowed to stay in the room while the doctor cleaned June's cut and began to work. She ended up needing eleven stitches. The doctor also explained how it was important that we watch June closely for the next few days for symptoms of tetanus. At five years old, June had never had the vaccination for tetanus, and because she'd gotten cut by a piece of old wood, the doctor was concerned that something bad could arise from it.
When I'd heard that bit of information, I had more or less curled up in a ball in a chair and tried to keep from being consumed by overwhelming bouts of guilt.
If it wasn't for me sticking my nose into things that didn't concern me, June wouldn't be in this situation. She wouldn't have had to have eleven stitches and be on the watch for tetanus.
As much as this was painful to watch, though, if I hadn't started butting my way into this, Archer wouldn't be here in a week. He would be dead.
Regina knocked on the door before stepping in, a styrafoam cup clutched in her grasp. Her eyes were fixed on June and she bit back a sigh, seeing how June was still crying.
"How are you feeling, June?" Regina asked, sitting down on the bed beside her.
"Like poo," June said, sniffling. "I want to go home."
"I know, sweetie, and we will soon," Regina said sadly. "We just have to wait for the doctor to come back and say it's okay to leave."
June nodded, but she didn't look too happy about it.
"Say, Regina," I said, glancing around. "Where's Archer?"
Regina glanced over at me, her lips tightening into a thin line. "He stepped outside for some fresh air."
Fresh air, huh?
I got to my feet and excused myself before leaving the room, walking down the hallway towards the front entrance of the place. I was blasted with a waft of icy air when I pushed open the doors that instantly made my teeth start chattering. I couldn't understand why Archer would have wanted to go outside now, when it was so freaking cold, but this may be the only time I'd get to be alone with him again this entire weekend.
I found Archer sitting on a stone bench a little ways down the sidewalk. He didn't notice me as I sat down beside him, and I made no move to say anything.
"You're right."
I looked at him in surprise. "Right about what?"
"About me," Archer said bitterly. "About everything."
That was basically the last thing I was expecting to hear.
"What do you mean, Archer?"
Archer blew out a harsh sigh before getting to his feet, turning his back to me. "I'm a coward, Hadley. That's what I am. I'm too afraid to face everything, to admit that I fall apart all the time and don't even take my freaking antidepressants. I don't know, maybe I am a masochist."
I just sat there, my hands folded in my lap, waiting for him to continue speaking. I doubted I could say anything to him that would make sense, anyways.
"I don't like the way I am," Archer continued in a heated voice. "I think you already know that. But I've been this way for the past six years and I don't know anything else."
"It's never too late to change," I told him quietly. "People change all the time."
"It's not that easy, Hadley," he sighed. "If I could change, believe me, I would. But I'm just...just..."
"You're just what?" I whispered.
"I'm scared."
I sucked in a deep breath, rubbing away a few tears that had started falling. "Scared of what?"
I was afraid to say anything, to break whatever had come over Archer so unexpectedly. I knew he'd never done anything like this before, and while it wasn't easy, some weight would have to be taken off his shoulders by getting everything off his chest. He may not see it, but it'd do him good.
"I'm scared of ending up like my father," Archer answered, his voice barely above a whisper. "I'm scared that one day I'm going to look into a mirror and see him staring back at me."
"Archer Morales, you will never be like that poor excuse for a human being," I said in a harsh voice. I stood up, gripping his shoulders and spinning him around to face me. I grabbed his face in my hands and made sure our eyes were locked. "You by far are the most amazing man I have ever met. Nobody can come close to doing what you do every day and come out of it completely sane. Believe it or not, Archer, but you're actually a big softie. You care about people. I've never seen somebody love their family so much as you do. Sure, you may put up a good front and rarely ever let your guard down, but I can tell. I really am sorry that you've been through everything that you have, but you need to realize that it's okay to accept help from others. And who knows? Maybe actually taking your antidepressants will help you."
Archer was staring down at me with a baffled look on his face, his hazel eyes wide, his mouth open in surprise.
"You know, for such a small girl, you've sure got a big mouth," he finally said, completely surious.
I blushed bright red, rolling my eyes. "Yeah, well, until further notice, you're stuck with it. Whether you like it or not, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."
"You'd just stick around, whether or not the rest of us were miserable or not, right?" Archer said, half-teasing.
"Sweetheart, don't you forget it."
We both managed small, rather pitiful laughs, and for the moment, it seemed like we'd forgotten everything that had occured these past few days, and then it was just the two of us, stading outside of a hospital building in the freezing cold.
I looked up towards Archer expectantly, waiting for him to say something. He was just starting down at me, lips pursed, before he let out a sigh.
I jumped a little in surprise when he reached out a hand and brushed back a strand of my hair from my face.
"You scare me, Hadley."
"I scare you?" I gasped. "What do you mean? What have I done to - "
Archer cut me off with a small laugh, clapping a hand over my mouth. He didn't say anything at first, instead leaning down until he was closer to my level and then said quietly, "You kind of make me feel like myself." He sounded pretty embarrassed, but the words had actually come out of his mouth.
I couldn't say anything. My tongue was glued to the top of my mouth and it felt like there was sandpaper in my throat.
"Boy, I really have messed with your life, haven't I?" I finally sighed, thunking my head against his chest.
Archer laughed. "Lasciate che accada quel che accada."
I leaned back and stared up at him, my face resembling a question mark. "Translate, please?"
"It means let come what may," Archer said, giving a crooked smirk.
Let come what may? That sounded like some song from Moulin Rouge. But he did have a point. Maybe the Powers That Be were sending me a message - and at least it wasn't another one from Havoc - that maybe everything was going to turn out alright in these last few days.
It was wishful thinking, sure, but I allowed myself only a momentary bit of hope.
"We should probably go inside, huh?" I said, stepping back from Archer.
"Right," he agreed quickly with a nod.
I started making my way towards the urgent care entrance and had almost made it there, too, when Archer called me back.
"I swear, Hadley, if you tell anybody about what I just said, I'm going to - "
"Archer, you've got to trust me," I cut him off. "If you hadn't noticed, I don't really talk to anybody else at school."
"What about that girl? The one with the blonde hair that always shrieks 'Ohmigod, Hadley!'all the time."
"Taelor is a good friend, but I'm not stupid."
Well, that was beside the point, but he didn't need to know that.
Archer rolled his eyes as he followed after me. "Right. I'll take your word on that."
We went back into the urgent care building together. Archer made to head back down to the room were June was, but he stopped when he noticed I wasn't following him.
"Coming?" he asked, arching a perfect eyebrow.
"Uh..." I was floundering for an excuse. There was something I had to do, and Archer couldn't be around for it. Most definitely. "I have to pee!"
Archer seemed completely unphased while I just stood there and blushed like a maniac.
"Okay," he said. "Have fun with that."
And then he turned and walked down the hallway, not looking back at me once.
That had been totally embarrassing. But it had to be done.
I quickly walked my way over to the front desk of the place, where a chubby sort of guy was sitting in blue scrubs.
"Howdy!" he chirped when I approached. "What can I do for you?"
"Hi. Can I make payments here?"
By the time we arrived back at Sophia and Marc's place it was nearing three in the afternoon. The entire family was gathered around on the front porch as Regina pulled the van up into the driveway.
"Ready, June?" Regina asked, twisting around in her seat to look at June.
June was slumped against Archer's shoulder, barely conscious, but she managed a small mumble of agreement.
I slipped out of the car as quietly as possible, trying not to wake June up. The Lord only knew the poor girl needed as much sleep as possible. She'd certainly been through a hell of a lot today.
Archer had gathered June up into his arms and she was curled up against his chest as we all made our way up the porch steps. I made sure to step around the gaping hole in the steps, silently cursing Havoc to the fiery pits of Hell were he belonged.
"How is she?" Karin, Sophia, and Victoria all asked in unison.
"Fine," Regina answered warily. "She ended up getting eleven stitches, and the doctor said the cut didn't look too bad. But he said we really needed to worry about June showing signs of having contracted tetanus."
John sucked in a breath. "Tetanus? Nasty stuff."
I sighed. Nasty stuff indeed.
We all filed through the front door one at a time. It was a relief to be inside and out of the cold. If anything, the temperature had only dropped in the past few hours.
"Poor June," Ana sighed, stroking June's hair as Archer sat down on a living room couch with his little sister still in his arms.
"She's an Incitti," Victoria barked loudly. Ever the pleasant one, she was. "She'll pull through."
"Ma, she's five," Vittorio said, rolling his eyes. "Cut her some slack."
Victoria responded to that statement with something in Italian that was definitely said with gusto.
I decided it would be better not to know what she said. The Incitti siblings all exchanged withering looks and collective sighs. Marc, John, and Ana just looked bemused.
"Alright, everyone, shut your mouth," Archer said in a firm voice. "I'm taking June upstairs to sleep. I'd prefer you didn't wake her up, otherwise sarò al tuo culo come la mafia."
I had no idea what Archer just said, but it'd made all of the little kids burst into giggles and the adults tell him to watch his mouth. Victoria merely gave him a glare. Archer, of course, just strode up the stairs without a reply.
I glanced over at Carlo slouched against a wall, who for once was quiet. "What'd he say?"
Carlo gave a devilish grin, cocking his head. "He told us he'd be on our asses like the mafia."
I couldn't help it. It was probably because it had been such a stressful day and I was seriously lacking sleep. I burst out laughing. Everyone in the living room stared at me and I quickly clapped a hand over my mouth. I really didn't want to wake June up, the poor girl. I didn't want to look insane, either.
"Come on, May, April," Regina said, looking to her daughters. "Let's go take a nap with your sister."
April and May got to their feet and followed after their mom with somber looks on their faces.
I always thought that whole thing about twins or multiples having some sort of telepathic connection was stupid. And while I didn't think this was this case with the girls, there was no getting around the point that April and May clearly felt the same pain as their sister did.
"Well," Victoria said in her commanding voice. "There's no point in moping around here. Karin, Sophia, Ana. Come help me in the kitchen."
Ana, Sophia, and Karin trailed after Victoria like they were asked, but they didn't look too happy about it.
Marc leaned over and muttered something to Mia, who was sitting beside him on the couch.
Mia let out a huge sigh at what he said, getting to her feet, throwing her arms in the air. "Alright, children. To the basement."
The little kids traipsed after Mia obediently down the stairs. Carlo gave a a sigh that was just as exaggerated as Mia's and then followed after them.
The only ones left in the living room now were myself, Vittorio, Marc, John, and Lauren. And then there was baby Isaac, too, sitting contentedly in Vittorio's lap.
"Here, zio Vito," Lauren spoke up, gesturing towards Isaac. "I'll take Isaac. I know you all want to have gentlemanly adult time together."
"Thanks, piccola," Vittorio said with a laugh. "Guys, how bout that game of poker now?"
John and Marc agreed wholeheartedly.
Lauren leaned over and scooped Isaac up into her arms, stroking his nose while he gave an adorable little giggle.
I sat myself on the couch beside Lauren while the men left, rubbing my temples.
"Did everything go alright?" Lauren asked, bouncing Isaac in her arms.
"Fine," I repeated. "June didn't want stitches, of course, but it turned out alright."
"Poor June," she sighed. "Bad things always seemed to happen to them."
Another wave of guilt crashed over me at Lauren's words. Everything that happened to the Morales family these past two weeks was entirely my fault.
"So this Don Vito's place," I said, changing the subject. "What's it like?"
"Oh, God," Lauren gasped. "It only has the best pizza on the entire east coast."
I loved pizza. This sounded like it would be a good place for dinner.
Isaac let out a squawk when I opened my mouth to ask Lauren if she wanted to head downstairs with the others, and he leaned over and wiggled his fingers at me, giving me a gummy smile.
I turned to Lauren in confusion. "Uh, what-?"
"He wants you to hold him," Lauren said with a laugh.
Before I could even say anything Lauren plopped Isaac into my arms and them said she was going to help the women in the kitchen.
I stared down at Isaac nervously. He blinked up at me and then gave another smile.
Don't get me wrong, I loved little kids and babies, but...well, this was the first time I'd ever even held a baby. Even when Taelor's little sister Daphne was born a few years ago, I'd never held her.
I wasn't afraid of holding a baby....I was just kind of nervous about the entire thing.
"So much for looking after you, huh?" I said to Isaac, blowing out a sigh.
Isaac didn't say anything - just leaned forward and thunked his head on my shoulder, sighing heavily.
I got up from the couch, cradling Isaac carefully, and bounced him a little in my arms while I walked around the living room. So far this wasn't so bad. Isaac wasn't crying or anything.
"Life's probably easier as a baby, isn't it?" I asked Isaac, running my fingers over his messy hair. "I wish my life was a little easier. But I don't think I'd take anything back so far, you know. You have a pretty awesome family, too. I sure as hell don't."
Okay, so I probably looked a little insane, standing in an empty room, talking to a baby. But it was sort of nice, just talking about what had been going on lately in my life. I couldn't really talk to anybody else about this. And it wasn't like anybody was around to hear me. Isaac certainly wasn't going to say anything to anyone else. Sure, I felt a little crazy, but my life was crazy. Anybody could attest to that.
"Do you often talk to babies in your spare time, or is this a one time thing?"
I just about jumped a foot in the air at the voice that had spoken out of nowhere and spun around to see Archer was standing on the stairs, watching me with a sort of wondered expression on his face.
"I'm completely sane, if that's what you're asking," I said, scowling.
"Well, I already know you've completely lost it," Archer said with a smirk, stepping off the stairs. "But then again, so have I. Otherwise, you know, I would've stopped talking to you weeks ago."
I rolled my eyes, forcing out a sarcastic laugh. "Very funny, Morales."
Isaac caught sight of Archer then and let out another squeak, wiggling his fingers in his cousin's direction.
I'll admit that I was shocked to see Archer reaching out to take Isaac, tucking him up in the crook of his arm. Isaac let out another squeak and then buried his face in Archer's shoulder.
Looking at Archer holding Isaac like that? I couldn't imagine that he would ever turn out like his dad.
There was no denying the fact that today had been more than I'd been asking for. For the first time ever, Archer had been completely honest with me. He'd told me something he'd never told anybody before. He'd said that I made him feel more like himself, who he really was. That was about as close to him telling me he had feelings for me - I'd certainly already blurted that out today - and I felt honored he told me that.
I wasn't so sure if it was a good thing the day wasn't even over yet.
"Stop using your brain so much, Jamison. Frowning doesn't become you. I think they're watching How To Train Your Dragon downstairs, so if you'd kindly get a move on."
I gave Archer a surprised look. "You like kid movies?"
"Oh, come on, like you don't like that movie," Archer snorted.
He was right. I did like that movie.
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I updated kinda early for me with this chapter, but I've been writing like crazy, so....:D
Let me know what you guys think! Please and thanks (: