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Blink.
Blink.
Bright white.
Dark.
Blink.
Voices.
Twitch.
Gasp.
"Eloisa?" A familiar voice speaks through the heavy haze in my mind.
What's going on?
A loud sound enters my mind, the shrillness has me wincing.
My head is pounding.
"I think she's waking up, mamma!" A younger voice speaks.
Why are the voices so far away?
"Wha-" I croak, my mouth moving without my permission.
I tighten my body trying to open my eyes, flickering against the painful white light.
"Shit!" A female screeches, I wince at the sound. "You need to get here now, Xavi! She's waking up!"
Xavier...
"Where am," I pause and clench my fist. My throat is painfully dry, "I?"
"Eloisa, can you hear me? It's Oriana," She speaks.
Oriana...
"What?" The fog won't leave my mind.
"Doctor!" Oriana screams. "Thank god you're here. She's waking up, I think."
"Don't confuse her, she'll be very disoriented when she regains consciousness," A male says, his voice is strong.
Blinking, my eyes slowly focus on the situation in front of me. A woman with black hair and brown eyes is staring down at me, the fear in her eyes has me frowning at her.
The young boy standing next to her has the exact same brown eyes, he is tearing up and gives me a smile.
"Ms. Martinelli?" A voice to the left speaks and I look in the direction. My eyes have a hard time focusing, I blink the haze away and stare at an unfamiliar man in white. "You're in the hospital, you're okay."
"Water," I croak and he hands me a cup of water instantly, the sensation of it driving the hoarseness away has me relieved. "Hospital."
"Yes, the hospital, you suffered a gunshot to the stomach, but you are okay. Everything is recovering as it should, we're just happy to see you awake," He explains and smiles at the two people to my right. He turns to me again and grabs a flashlight from his pocket, "Can I check you really quick? I'll be out of here before you know it."
I nod and he lifts my eyebrow with his thumb, flashing the light into my right eye before continuing to my left and doing the same. Whatever he finds in my eyes has him smiling in reassurance, "Do you remember those two?"
He points towards the two other occupants of the hospital room, raking my hazy brain I squint my eyes in concentration. The woman grows concerned by each passing second, the panic in her eyes brings me back instantly and it hits me like a ton of bricks.
The attack, grabbing them and hiding them, getting shot, the assault afterwards.
"Shit," I say and this makes Oriana smile in relief, the child grabs my hand in his and squeezes. "Oriana and Santi. I'm tired so it took me a while."
"Great," The doctor says and continues asking me a few questions, he writes something down and leaves the room.
I turn towards Santi and Oriana, searching them for any injuries and coming up with none. "You're okay, right?"
She laughs, "That's your concern? We've been worried sick over you being in here, Eloisa."
"How long have I been here for?" I ask them, not recalling the doctor informing me.
"You've been in a medically induced coma for two weeks, you had us frightened."
"What?" I ask her in shock. "So what you're saying is, that I haven't brushed my teeth in two weeks?"
"They did it for you, don't worry," She laughs and Santi joins in.
Smiling down at him, "I hope you've been practicing archery. I'm expecting a whole ass performance once I get to go home."
His sheepish smile tells me what I need to know, "I didn't want to practice without you there."
"Nessun problema," (No worries) I smile at him. "We'll perfect your skills together then."
The door bursts open and Xavier is standing in the frame, his 6'6 body takes up too much space in here and I sigh in relief at the sight of him. Oriana and Santi leave the room and close the door behind them. It doesn't take him two seconds before he's right in front of me, his hands cupping my face in such a gentle manner.
"Eloisa," He breathes, leaning down he captures my lips in such a delicate touch. I grip his shirt and deepen the kiss, not truly wanting to understand how much I've needed this.
He leans his forehead against mine for a few seconds before he stands up again, his eyes gaze into my own with such intensity. I can read him, like truly read him. The relief flashing through his black pools is heavy and I tilt my head to the side.
"I thought you were dead," He says and sits down on the chair next to the bed, there is a sliver of concern written on his features. "Don't fucking do that again, okay? If you get shot, don't attempt to fight with a bullet in your body."
"I couldn't let them win, Xavier," I sigh and relax against the bed. "It wouldn't be right to leave the fight. Oriana and Santi needed me out there, they were scared."
"It's not like I can say that I don't care, because I fucking do," Anger moves in on his dark voice, frustration shining clear when he clenches his fist. "You drive me crazy, you do understand that, right? Something about you pisses me off so much, you're stubborn as shit, you're hot-headed, the sarcasm is truly irritating. You bug me, Eloisa."
"That's a nice welcome back to the world of the living," I say to him and cross my arms.
"And again," He groans, the frustration is humoring me. "Why do I feel so annoyingly attached to you?"
"I have no idea," My eyes cut into his. "This doesn't make any sense to me either, okay? You are a big fucking pain in the ass. You're dangerous, cold, annoying, you are the son of the murderer of my family. There is nothing between us that should draw me in, and yet here I am."
"You're coming home with me today, Eloisa," He states with such finality. "I won't leave you alone when you're in the healing process of a gunshot wound."
"Your place is shit with security, my apartment would be better than your entire team," I can't help myself.
His squinted eyes tell me that he isn't too pleased with my comment, "The mansion is just fine. I took my precautions after what happened, it won't happen again."
"Fine, Romano," I scoff. "If it does I will personally kill you myself."
He leans against the back of the chair and throws his head back, "You're infuriating."
Smirking, I throw my throbbing head against the head of the bed, "I'm delightful."