-Vincent-
My eyebrows furrowed as sniffles and silent cries littered my ear drums. Slowly, I peeled my eyes open as I looked at the empty spot next to me on her bed. I raised up from my laid position as I looked over at the bathroom where the orange glow of the light lit up the dark hospital room.
"Emmy," I called out, pulling off the covers as I got out of the bed. I walked towards the sounds of her crying as I placed my hand on the door. I pushed it open, my eyes scanning the room for her before I seen her sitting next to the toilet, tears streaming down her face.
"Baby, what's wrong?" I asked, walking over towards her as I crouched down. I looked at the toilet to see that she had thrown up, and I sighed.
"Come on." I whispered, wrapping her arms around my neck as I helped her stand up. She grabbed onto my shoulders as I walked her over to the sink where I helped her rinse out her mouth. I brushed her hair away from her face to hold it back before grabbing a towel to dry off her mouth.
"Why didn't you tell me that you needed to use the bathroom?" I asked, leading her back out into the room as I helped her get into the bed.
"I didn't want to wake you up." She said softly. I pulled the blanket back over her, shaking my head before heading into the bathroom to clean up after her.
When I was done, I turned off the light and closed the bathroom door. A frown graced my features as I looked over at her. She was just staring up at the ceiling while tears rolled down the corner of her eyes. Getting back in the bed with her, I wiped away her tears as I brushed her hair out of her face.
"Did you have a bad dream?" I asked, her head nodding as she sniffled again. She never tells me what her nightmares are about, but I know that they're of the things that happened to her in the apartment.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked, placing a kiss on her forehead as I rubbed her stomach. She shook her head no, and a smile slowly played on my lips as I looked down at her.
"Do you want to cuddle?" I asked, watching her as she laughed softly before nodding her head. I picked her up in my arms as I held her closer to me. It was hard to cuddle with her considering I didn't want to trigger any pain from her surgery, but we managed to make it work.
I rubbed her back in soothing motions to help her go back to sleep as I placed a kiss on her forehead before moving down to her nose then her lips.
"I love you." I whispered. She gave me a small smile before her eyes shut as she nuzzled her face into my chest, mumbling the words back sleepily.
-
Emilia had slept in this morning since she didn't get much sleep last night, which allowed me to slip away and take care of things that I've been meaning to do since the night I first arrived back home.
Getting out of my car, I stared up at the suburban house in front of me before taking my gun out of the waistband of my slacks. I closed the car door behind me, checking the chamber for bullets as I stepped up onto the porch.
I clicked it back into place before running my hand through my hair. My arm extended out as I pushed the button to the doorbell before placing my index finger over the peep hole.
Moments later, the sound of locks unlocking had sounded the area around me as the door pulled open. Tony's smile immediately fell as all the color drained from his face.
"Surprised to see me?" I asked, my jaw clenching as I kicked the door wide open. He stumbled backwards and I slammed it shut behind me before smashing my fist into the side of his face. He tripped over his rug and fell to the floor with a groan.
"Mr. Fontana, wait-"
"Shut the fuck up." I spat, kicking him in the face as his head knocked back. Blood instantly came out of his nose as he tried to get up, but my fist coming in contact with the side of his face put him back down onto the floor.
"Do you know why I'm here, Tony?" I asked, taking a few steps closer to him as I snatched his hair. I crouched down next to him as he stared up at me with guilt inside of his eyes.
"Oh, so you do know." I grit, my eyes flickering with anger as I bashed his face into the corner of his coffee table. He yelled out in pain before I pulled his head away.
"Vincent, let me explain." He begged as I shoved him to the ground.
"You of all people should have known better than to betray me, Tony. We were like family. I trusted you enough to put her safety in your hands, and you sent her back to a place where she almost died!" I yelled at him as my fist repeatedly came in contact with his face.
It was happening again. That adrenaline rush that I get right before I'm about to kill somebody came back as I seen red. The feeling of his warm blood on my knuckles was barely enough to pull me out of my trance as I stared down at the mess I had made.
"Please," He said weakly as I stood up, cocking the gun. My jaw clenched as I clicked off the safety.
"I hope betraying me was worth it." I spat, placing my finger on the trigger.
"Papa?" Suddenly, my finger froze as I slowly turned my head to look at the little boy who was standing at the end of the staircase, staring at the both of us. He looked at me and then back at Tony who was on the floor, covered in his own blood.
"Ready or not! Here I come!" The sound of a little girl giggling littered my ear drums as her small steps thudded down the staircase.
"Found you!" She chirped, tagging her brother who was still staring at me. My eyes connected with his that were like a mirror. Only this time, my reflection resembled Orlando.
"Hey buddy, take your sister back upstairs and go hide. I'll be up to look for you in a minute." Tony instructed, my eyes shifting over towards him and back at the kids.
My gaze fell upon the gun that both of the kids were staring at, and I immediately came to the realization of what was happening as I tucked it into the back of my slacks.
The thought of pulling that trigger any second later made me unsettled. I would have been exactly what I have been trying to destroy my entire life. I would have been no better than Orlando. They would have grown up with one parent just like I had. They both would have witnessed their parent die-just like I did.
I ran my hand through my hair as I looked at Tony who was staring up at me with desperation in his eyes. Then, my eyes flickered over towards the kids as the little girl hid behind her brother, fear settled in her blue orbs as she stared at me.
"Are you going to take away my papa?" She asked quietly, my heart twisting inside of my chest as I shook my head no. I walked over towards them as I seen them slightly back up from me. Slowly, I crouched down, looking up at the two.
Tony used to tell me about his kids all the time. From the moment he and his wife first found out that they were having twins, not once had he ever stopped talking about them.
"Your papa and I just had a little misunderstanding, but everything is okay now." I gave her a small smile and I refrained from moving back as she placed her tiny hand on the scar that my father had given me as a child. She frowned as she palmed my cheek in her delicate touch.
"Do you want a bandaid? My papa says that when you are hurt, you need one to help heal all of your ouchies." She said, a small chuckle escaping my lips as I gave her a simple nod.
"Stay right here." She ordered, my head nodding as I watched her and her brother fight their way up the stairs to see who could get to the bandaids first. My smile fell into a cold glare as I stood back up, staring at Tony who was looking at me in relief as I grew closer towards him.
"Thank you, Vincent." He said, my jaw clenching as I punched him hard in the stomach. I bent down next to his ear, gripping his hair in my hand as he groaned.
"I didn't do it for you." I spat, shoving him off of me before opening the front door as I slammed it on my way out.
-
I squeezed and unsqueezed my fist as I observed my bruised knuckles that were covered in Tony's dried blood. They were still in the process of healing from the mirror I'd recently punched, and from the severe beating I had given Orlando.
Sighing, I ran my hand through my hair as I headed for Emilia's room. My eyes fell upon the open door to see her fast asleep with the blonde snuggled right beside her as they cuddled.
Silently, I entered the room to make sure that I didn't wake them up. I turned on the bathroom light and washed all of the blood off of my hands while I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I zoned out as my hands continued with the motions before I heard the sound of Emilia sniffling.
Shutting off the water, I dried my hands off before turning off the light as I stepped back out. I walked over to her as I seen her laying in the bed, staring at the ceiling while tears left her eyes.
"Hey baby," I whispered, brushing her hair out of her face along with her tears. She looked over at me with a saddened look in her eyes before she broke down into tears silently. I scooped her up into my arms as I held her tightly, placing a kiss on her head.
"Another nightmare?" I asked, her head nodding as I rubbed her back in gentle, circular motions.
"You're okay. It was just a dream." I reassured her as she grasped my shirt tightly, almost as if she were scared that I'd disappear right before her very own eyes if she simply let go.
"You're okay." I repeated, rubbing her back as she cried into my chest. I rest my chin on the top of her head before the sound of a throat clearing caught my attention. I looked over at the entrance of the door to see Salvatore standing there. He called me over with a nod of his head and I looked back down at Emilia. I didn't want to leave her like this.
"Go, I got her." Amara insisted, pulling Emilia into her arms as she slowly let go of me. I gave her an unsure nod before placing a kiss on Emilia's head. I hesitated to release her before I walked over towards the hallway where Salvatore was standing.
"What?" I asked, already wanting to go back and comfort Emilia who was crying in Amaras lap. Salvatore crossed his arms over his chest as he stared at the two, except there was no emotion on his face.
"I've decided to take over for you while you focus your attention on Emilia. You can't search for Bruno and care for her at the same time. Right now, she needs you to be with her more than ever, Vin. You just got her back and more importantly, she just got you back." He said.
"She should be your main priority right now. I will handle everything else, but you need to stay here and just be there for her." My eyes tore away from Emilia as I couldn't bring myself to watch her fall apart anymore.
I looked at the vacant look on Salvatores face as his jaw ticked every so often. I could tell that he was still thinking about what I had told him yesterday.
"Okay." Was all I could say. There was no point in me trying to argue with him because he was right. As much as I wanted to find my father, my number one priority was Emilia right now. She will always come first before anything.
"I overheard Emilia talking about the miscarriage. I'm sorry." He said. Salvatore was never really one to comfort people whenever they were going through tough times, so this was surprising to hear coming from him.
In all honesty, I was more surprised that he was even talking. I would've figured that he would have shut down just like he did when he was little after finding his dead mother in my arms.
"You would have made a great father." He added, my head slightly nodding as a strange silence fell upon the both of us. We both just watched as Amara held Emilia in her arms, rocking her back to sleep.
"Anyways, I'll start the search for Bruno and keep you updated." He said, patting me on the back as I gave him a single nod, never tearing my eyes away from Emilia.
And just like that, our conversation was over.
♠
Chapter 39! Done! Wooh!
Thank you for reading chapter 39 of Emilia <3
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!!