Page 55 of Bella Rosa
The last few moments suddenly crash back into me. "Lorenzo." I should never have gotten attached. I should have never opened myself up to this pain again.
Luca appears from around the corner. "Thank fuck I found you two. I've been looking all over. We need to get going. The traffic will be horrible this time of night." He looks down at me. "What happened? Are you alright?" He looks over to Juli. "Is she alright?"
"I'm fine." I call on all my strength to push myself up off the ground. I sway for a moment before I regain my balance. Luca and Juli exchange a look of concern before Juli grabs my arm and leads me to Luca's car.
I sit in the front seat and glare out the side window for the entire forty-five minute drive. I am barely holding myself together. My thoughts bounce back and forth between wanting to be there for Matteo and trying to keep the memories at bay.
When we finally pull into the hospital we are all on edge. We haven't heard from Matteo since he left in the ambulance. I can see Alda’s car a few cars down. I’m glad she’ll be able to be here for Matteo.
Luca parks and the two of them rush out of the car. I open my door, but as soon as my feet hit the ground I sink down to my knees and sob.
Juli kneels down in front of me, compassion all over her face. In between sobs I manage to say, "I can't watch him lose his dad. I'm not strong enough."
Juli looks up at Luca, "Go on. We will be right behind you." I hear him run toward the emergency room door. Juli sits next to me and leans back against the side of the car and gently rubs my back as I sob.
Matteo
I'm sitting on the floor somewhere in the hospital. I couldn't even tell you what floor I'm on, only that my dad disappeared through those doors almost an hour ago. I've been sitting here ever since. They took him straight to surgery after we arrived.
I've never been so scared. When I sat and watched my mom OD, I didn't even cry. That sounds awful, but it's the truth. I sat there and watched her pass out before I called 911.
This feeling of hopelessness is gutting me. I lean my head back against the wall and look up at the ceiling once again. I wish Rosa was here. As much as I hate how dependent I have gotten on her. I guess I should get used to taking care of myself again.
I hear frantic footsteps coming around the corner. I jump up expecting to find a nurse coming with an update. Instead I'm met with Luca running down the hallway. He sighs when he sees me. "Thank fuck. I've been searching for almost 20 minutes. Didn't you get my calls?"
I shake my head. "No cell signal."
He puts his hands on his hips. "Shit. Have you heard anything?"
I shake my head once again. "No. Hopefully soon. The doctors said it should take thirty minutes to an hour. Where is Rosa?"
"She's downstairs. I found Alda in a waiting room downstairs. I told her to stay put until I could find you."
The double doors open and a nurse walks through. "Matteo?"
I turn and raise my hand. "I'm here. How is he?"
"I'm the nurse that's been assigned to your father’s case. Follow me this way."
Luca moves to follow us, but the nurse stops him. "Only one family member. Sorry."
Luca pats me on the back. "I'll be here if you need me."
I nod as I follow the nurse through the doors. "Your father just got out of surgery. We only had to put one stent in, so that's good news. He's in recovery now. He was already starting to wake up when I left." She looks at me and smiles. "He's going to be okay."
I feel tears form at the immense relief I feel. I follow her through the halls until we reach the recovery unit. We finally make it to my dad's room. She opens the door and I see him sitting up in the bed. A smile takes over my face when I see him trying to work the remote.
When he sees me, he smiles. "Ah! You're here. You don't happen to have my glasses do you? I can't see these darn buttons."
The nurse laughs. "I see someone is feeling better." She looks over at me. "I'll leave you two alone. He should rest tonight. The doctor will be by to talk to you in the morning. You can stay as long as you'd like."
She closes the door and I go over to sit on the edge of the bed. My dad is still examining the buttons on the remote. I reach out and gently grab the remote so I can lay it on the bed. "How are you, dad?"
I can tell he is tired, but other than that he looks pretty good. He yawns. "I'm just tired." He pats me on the arm. "No need to fuss. I'm going to be just fine. I had to get a few stitches on my head. Apparently when I fell, I hit my head on the counter. I've got a pretty big knot to show for it too."
I reach out and grab his hand. "You scared us half to death, dad."
He smiles at me. "Scared me pretty bad too. I'm glad things weren't too bad." He looks around the room. "Where is Rosalie?"
