Chapter 10: Chapter 10: Introductions

My head leaned against the cool glass window as Giovanni drove.

I had given him the address to the hospital my brother was staying in, and he’d looked at me wide-eyed before trying to cover it up.

But I caught it, and when I asked about it he completely shut me down.

“Do you not want to meet him?” I whispered, keeping my gaze out the window although my eyes wouldn’t focus on my surroundings, as if I were half-daydreaming.

“No, ~piccolo~, of course I want to meet him. It’s nothing, ~tesoro~,” he said before taking my hand in his.

I looked at him, and he gave me one of his dazzling smiles before parking the car. I turned my head and looked out the window, finally realizing we were here.

I looked up at the big white building and bit my lip nervously as Giovanni came around to open the door for me. I stepped out, and he locked the car as soon as my door was closed.

He slid his hand in mine and smiled reassuringly at me before squeezing it softly and starting to walk toward the building.

I was nervous, to say the least, and I had no idea why. It wasn’t like my brother could say he didn’t like him. I giggled and cringed at my own joke.

“Stop freaking out. It’s going to be okay,” he said softly before placing a soft kiss on my temple. He wrapped his arms around me, and I couldn’t help but smile to myself.

We finally made it inside, and I smiled at Matt who sat at the front desk.

“Back again, beautiful?” Matt asked, smiling wildly at me.

Matt was cute. He had sea-green eyes, clear cream skin, a hundred-watt smile, and stood at six foot one, but he wasn’t who I wanted—ever—and he was kind of creepy.

Giovanni tensed beside me, and I squeezed his hand gently before putting it on the desk for Matt to see.

“Yeah, but it’s me and my boyfriend today,” I said with a tight smile.

Matt looked from me to the intertwined hands on the desk and then finally to Giovanni. “But Luna, that’s—he’s—” Matt cut himself off as he looked between the two of us.

“Can we get the passes to go see my brother?” I asked, starting to get irritated.

“Your brother?” Matt asked, finally looking back at me.

“Yes. Why are you so shocked?” I asked.

“Well, because your parents stopped paying for your brother’s treatment,” Matt said softly, scrunching his eyebrows together in clear confusion.

“What?” I croaked.

“I’m so sorry, I thought you knew. I thought—I thought you were here for me,” Matt said, looking down.

I ignored him and pulled my phone out before dialing my parents’ numbers repeatedly. After about the fifth time, I gave up and snatched the hospital phone before calling my parents.

They answered after about the third ring, and I couldn’t help the hurt that I felt.

“Hello?” my father said gruffly.

“You cut off Alex’s treatment?” I asked as calmly as I could.

The phone went silent, and I bit my lip hard, trying to prevent the string of curses I wanted to use.

My father took a deep breath, and I could basically see him running a hand through his hair.

“There’s no chance he’ll wake up, baby—it’s just a waste of money,” my father said softly.

My grip on the phone tightened, and Gio must have noticed how angry I was getting because he walked up to me and softly kissed my lips before taking my hand in his.

“He’s your son,” I pleaded as the tears began to run down my cheeks.

“Don’t you think I know that?” my father asked incredulously.

“Please, Dad. Please,” I begged. My voice cracked as more tears started to run down my cheeks.

“No,” my father said sharply before hanging up the phone.

I gave the phone back to Matt before sinking onto the floor. I buried my head in my knees as I began to sob completely, ignoring the conversation going on between Giovanni and Matt.

Gio took my face from my knees and smiled sadly at me before kissing my lips.

“He’s gone, and I didn’t even get to say goodbye,” I croaked when we pulled away from each other.

Giovanni frowned and took my hands in his and helped me to my feet.

“Actually, he has about an hour after they unplug him,” Matt said softly.

“Well, how long has it been?” Gio asked.

Matt put a finger up, asking for one minute, and started typing on his computer. “They just finished doing it,” Matt said, avoiding looking at me.

“The truth,” I said, running my hand through his hair and tightening my grip on Giovanni’s hand. If he felt the pain, he didn’t make any move to wince.

He used his other hand to draw patterns on the back of my hand, and I looked up at him to see a small smile on his face.

I took a deep breath and loosened my grip on his hand before looking back at Matt.

“You have about ten minutes left,” Matt said solemnly.

I felt the air get sucked out of me, and I took a step back.

“Go, piccolo,” Giovanni said, shoving me toward the elevator.

I opened my mouth to protest but then shut it quickly. I kissed his lips softly before running to catch the closing elevator.

I crouched next to my brother’s bed as I took his hand in mine.

“I love you, Alex, and I’m so sorry I couldn’t convince them. I’m sorry,” I croaked as I put my head on his chest and cried.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see a doctor smiling sadly at me. I stood up and stepped back.

I watched as he started to plug Alex back up, and I stared between the doctor and my brother.

“What—what are you doing?” I asked softly.

“Somebody’s paid for his full treatment,” the doctor said softly.

“My parents?” I asked, slowly walking toward Alex.

“No,” the doctor said.

“Hi, piccolo,” Giovanni said before the doctor could say any more.

I ran into his arms and buried my face in his chest. “Somebody paid for his whole treatment,” I sobbed.

“That’s great, piccolo,” he said, tightening his grip on me.

“Lulu,” a voice croaked. I tensed, and I swear I wasn’t breathing anymore. I pulled away from Giovanni and slowly turned to face the bed.

I frowned as I noticed Alex’s closed eyes and relaxed body, his chest slowly going up and down.

“Please tell me you guys heard that?” I pleaded, looking between the doctor and Giovanni to make sure I wasn’t crazy.

The doctor nodded once before picking up the phone and calling for a nurse and more doctors.

Giovanni took my hand in his and pulled me to the side as they all began to pile into the room and scream at each other, using terms I didn’t even try to understand.

“I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” a nurse said softly before standing in front of me to block me from seeing my brother’s body.

“What’s going on?” I asked, trying to look around the nurse and back at Alex.

“He’s waking up, and we need to run tests and do some procedures to make sure he isn’t paralyzed as well as some other things,” the nurse said with a small smile.

She gestured toward the door, but I ignored her and looked back at Alex.

“He’s waking up?” I whispered, not believing it.

“Yes, baby. Let's go wait outside,” Giovanni said, not letting me respond before pulling me out of the room.

I turned toward the room, letting Gio pull me toward the waiting room on this floor, and watched as a nurse smiled warmly at me before closing the door.

I bit my lip and turned back around to face forward as I let him continue to pull me away, trying to focus my thoughts.

***

Giovanni and I stayed in the waiting room for hours. I looked up at him as a yawn escaped my lips, and he looked down at me with a small smile.

“Thank you for staying with me,” I mumbled as I felt my eyelids beginning to get heavy. I tried to fight away the sleepiness as I heard Giovanni chuckle beside me at seeing my failed attempts.

“Anytime, piccolo,” he whispered before he wrapped his arms around me and lifted me up, putting me gently on his lap.

I smiled sleepily, no longer fighting the feeling, and buried my face in his neck. I inhaled once, taking in his scent, before relaxing my body and letting sleep take over.