18: Hospital Visit

Bella

AT K CITY HOSPITAL.

"Angel, please open your eyes." A deep raspy voice begged me to open my eyes, it felt familiar but I could recognize it. My brain was all foggy and I had no idea where I was.

"Angel..." There it was again, that deep heavy voice that I have heard many times but ....omg it was Lucca's, my Lucca's, he had saved me. But I couldn't see him, why can't I see him... panic takes over me, and I try to frantically look for Lucca but it was all dark here, pitch dark.

'Lucca'.  I try to call his name but my throat was fire and it was hurting to even swallow. It felt like their pins and needles lining my entire throat making swallowing or talking so painful. And my tongue seemed to be swollen double it's original size.

"Angel, I love you and I demand you to wake up" This time his voice was demanding and getting close to me  "...please angel I beg you open your eyes."  He sounded broken and I hated that, I wanted to tell him I was okay, that I love him and only him but I couldn't.

Lucca's kept talking to me, more like ordering my to wake up but I couldn't get my eyes to open. They felt heavy, irritated and hot all at the same time and I just wanted to sleep but I needed to see Lucca.

I groaned in pain when I try to forcefully swallow my own saliva and forced my eyes to open. It took me sometime but when I finally opened them, I noticed that I wasn't in my apartment nor Luccas... where was I??

I tired blinked my eyes several times, let them to adjust to the dim light of the room but I was still disoriented and dazed out.

"Lu.." I tired to speak, but the painful burning sensation in my throat stopped me.

"Angel" Lucca shouted from beside me and quickly stood up. He was sitting on a stool that was pulled close to my chair.

I shift my neck slightly, so I can look at him but that little movement caused a sting of pain to radiate to my head and worsen my already throbbing headache. I grimace in pain and he quickly bends over me and gently cupped my cheek in his palm.

"It's okay angel don't move. You are okay now" He whispers the last part, making me wonder if he was assuring me or himself. His hand felt warm over my cold cheek and I snuggled closer into his warmth. I missed his touch; I missed his warm amber scent. I missed him, my Lucca.

"Thank god you are awake, angel. I was so worried about you." He sigh with relief and bends further over me and hugs me very carefully, like I am a baby.

"You are never allowed to scare me like this again." Lucca adds sounding both furious and relieved at the same time. He move back a bit and then gently places a soft kiss on my forehead and rested his lips there for few seconds before tilting his head  further back for eyes to meet. His eyes were swollen, red and tired... it seemed like he had cried and it hurt me to see him like that.. all broken.

I tired to clear my throat, but it burned so bad. "Water," I said slowly, and Lucca quickly reached for the bottle on the table beside the bed and opened the cap in one swift movement. He quickly placed the straw in it and carefully directed it to my dry lips.

"Slowly, take small sips angel." Lucca said as he shifted the bed up slightly so I could drink comfortably.

I took small, slow sips as I was told, the cold water helped smooth the burning sensation in my throat. I moved my hand and cover them around Lucca's hand. His hands were so big and warm while mine were cold, tiny and pale.

I glanced up at Lucca and his ocean blue eye were intensely fixed on me. His forehead was still pinched with worry lines and his entire body was  was still on edge. It was as if anything could happen any second now and he would lose me.

I released the straw and slowly licked my dry lips "I am okay Lucca." I tired to ease his stress but his gaze got volatile suddenly, shooting clear warning that he was about to get all alpha on me. He quickly placed the bottle back on the bedside table.

"No angel, you are not okay." His voice was slightly irritated and sounded rough.

"I could have lost you today." He stops to swallow and closes his eyes tightly before opening them back "You are never leaving me again. NEVER." He literally growls, growls the last part. It should scare me but it sounded like an overprotecting growl.

I have never seen him this possessive or demanding before. I wondered if this accident has caused him to react like this or maybe he was always overprotecting and alpha but he never had the need to display it.

"Lucca, I am really okay..." I try to calm the beast, but he was not having it.

He shot me an aggravated look "Stop telling me that you are okay angel because we both know you are not." He was right about that, I was still scared that any moment know Corbiniano will come and take me away from Lucca.

"Lucca.." I try again but stop when he runs his hand wildly through is already messy hair and pace the room.

"I am sorry angel but I can't lose you again. You have no idea how close I came to it, not again." He says as he marches towards me. "Angel, you are going back home with me and you are going to stay with me forever." He gently grabs my shoulder and looks right into my eyes.

Staying with him forever... oh god he was overreacting now. I wanted to roll my eyes, but the serious look in his eyes stopped me. I wanted to interject that he was making a permanent decision based on a temporary problem, which we all know was resolved now but when he noticed the fire in my eyes to fight back. He quickly adds "This topic is not up for discussion. Not now or ever." His chest was vibrating with emotions and his tone was all possessive.

When I kept staring at him while he exhales loudly and then he sat down next to me, never losing the eye contact. "Angel." He moves his hand from my shoulder and grabs my hand in his.

"I thought I lost you and I don't think I can go through that again. I don't care if it's too early in our relationship but you are it for me. I can't live without you angel. Call it whatever you want - possessiveness or staking my claim on you but I am not leaving you alone ever again." He cups the nape of my neck very carefully with one hand and I instantly melt in his touch.

Lucca had always cared about me and my feeling. He never pushed his decisions on me or demanded anything from me, always respected my boundaries. He even agreed to my stupid plan when all he wanted to do was lock me up in his huge mansion and hold me tight in his arms so I would never leave his sight. But he did it all because I asked for it and he will always do anything for me, just like I will do anything for him.

He is my one, my first and my last and I will be ONLY HIS.

I nodded gently and it took a minute for him to register that, that I had agreed with his idea. Once it did, a huge smile break through his face and I couldn't resist myself from smiling back at him. He looked so happy just like a kid with his favourite candy.

He cups my face with both his warm hands "Angle you have no idea how happy I am right now. You just made me the happiest man on this earth. I love you so much angel." he kisses both my cheek and then my forehead and let his lips rest there.

"I love you too Lucca." I replied softly and felt his lips on my forehead move, as if he was smiling.

He moves his head back and look right into my eyes before saying "I will do anything to protect you angel. Anything." His words were filled with so much sincerity and love that I couldn't hold back my tears.

"I love you too Lucca and I will always be there for you." I say with a soft sob.

"Angel, please don't cry." His smiling face was gone and instead his face looked panicked and his brow were furrowed with concern.

"Lucca they are happy tears." I explain but he was quick with his reply.

"I don't want to ever see your eyes filled with tears angel, they kill me." He tenderly wipes my tear from my cheek.

This strong and powerful man, could take down an army and destroy anything that came his way. He was scared of my tears. I shake my head in disbelief. He was definitely a special man and he was all mine. I can't hold back my laughter and  a soft giggle escapes my lips as I shift to rest my head in the crook of his neck.

"What is so funny?" He asks sounding irritated and amused at the same time.

I lift my head and grab the nape of his neck. "You."

He raises an eyebrow in confusion and I smile before explaining. "You are all alpha and demanding with everyone but you get all sweet and possessive with me. You are definitely not what I thought a mob boss would  be like. I never knew you had this side in you. Lucca you are scared of nothing when it comes to your life but my one single tear breaks you down. I love this about you Lucca, that you are different with me and you care about me. No one has ever cared if I cried or not. But you always make sure I am okay and taken care of, even when you are the one who is hurting the most. I love you so much that it scares me, that one day you will realize that I am not enough for you, that I am nothing compared to all the other girls you can have."

"Don't you dare insult yourself in front of me. You are my queen, my love, the reason why I breath. You are my everything angel. EVERYTHING." He emphasis the last part just to make sure that I understand how important I am to him.

I nod in understanding and then he kisses my cheek and whispers I love you close to my ear and I smile as I add my I love you.

"I am so happy that I found you that night.. nah I am so happy that you found me." I say and he chuckles as both of us remember the first night we meet.

"You were mine from the day you were born and I was your. We just got distracted and lost our way to each other." I smile at his words and wonder if he was the change that tarot card lady, Miss.Mallory was talking about.

"Okay angel enough talking, you need rest and no more crying." Lucca orders as he switch my bed from sitting position to flat, so I could rest comfortably.

"Yes, sir." I reply with a playful smile on my lips as I fake salute him.

He just glares at me with so much fire in his eyes that I should be scared not to poke the bear but I couldn't resist. He was my mine and I could do anything with him and I know deep down he loves my fiercy side.

He fixes the pillow under my head "Do you need any pain meds angel?"

"Nah, I am good. I can handle this much pain." It was difficult to talk but I didn't wanted to take any more pain meds. They made me super drowsy and I needed to stay in my senses for a bit, just to make sure this all wasn't dream. I was still scared a bit that Corbiniano will pop up in my dreams or worst in my hospital room and try to strangle me to death.

"Angel, I don't want you to deal with it. If you are in pain, take the pain meds, please for my sake. I hate seeing you in pain." He grabs my hand as he sits down next to me on the stool.

"I am really okay Lucca. I promise you if I feel any pain I will take the pills." My reassurances eases the worried lines around his forehead and he relaxes a bit but his grip on my hand was still firm.

I smile up at  him and a small yawn escapes my lips.

"You need. to sleep angel." He orders me and when he notices my hesitation he quickly adds.

"Sleep angel, I am her angel and I swear I would not let anything happen to you again."

With those words of reassurance I let my tired body relax and drift off to sleep.

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THE NEXT MORNING.

"No she been restless the entire night so I had to ask the nurse to administer so pain meds along with sleeping aid for her. That was around five so I think she will be up for breakfast." I hear Lucca's whisper softly from corner of the room.

"That's good, she needs rest. She has been through a lot." A female voice murmured back and I wondered if it was it my mother??

I shift slightly in the bed to get more comfortable so I could go back to sleep but my neck was hurting and I needed to pee. So I groaned in frustration and opened my eyes slowly.

"You awake angel." Lucca said as he came rushing next to me.

I replied with a soft smile on my lips and then I moved my gaze over his shoulder when I noticed a  small movement behind him. It was my mother standing there in the far corner of the room. She looked at me and smiled weakly at me and I did the same.

"You need anything??" Lucca asked me and all my focus was back him "I ah... I need to use the toilet." I inform him shyly, embarrassed of such small thing. But he didn't care, he quickly but carefully removed the blanket from over my body and circle my arms around his neck. He then gently lifted me up like I weighed nothing and I instantly tighten my hold around his thick muscular neck.

He then walked across the room and opened the adjoining bathroom door and carefully placed me on the closed toilet seat.

"Do you need help angel ?"He asked me casually as he graped the bathroom slips from the entrances and bend down to put them on my feet.

I blushed in with embarrassment at his words and quickly replied. "No I think I can manage it from here."

He gave me a uncertain look but thank god he didn't push the matter any further. "Okay, but don't lock the door and call me if you need help. Don't forget you are still recovering." He reminded me like I was a child.

I wanted to roll my eyes at that but I just replied okay and he left me to take of my business in privacy.

I attentively stood up from the seat and move towards the sink. As glanced at the mirror on the walk and gasped in shock. My neck was encircled with angry looking purple and red hand marks. I touched them warily, but thank god they were not that painful as they looked. My eyes were red shot and my hairs were all a tangled mess.

I carefully removed the ponytail and tired to tame my messy hair by running my finger through them. Both my head and neck were hurting when I tired to move them, so I softly pated the hair on top of head and braided them on the side so I could look at bit presentable.

Then I washed my face slowly with the cold water, in order to subdue the blood shot eyes. They didn't disappear completely but they definitely became less. Then I quickly used the toilet and used the complimentary toothbrush kit to brush my teeth swiftly and then headed out.

The moment I opened the bathroom door, Lucca was there in front of me to help me back to bed. I wanted to  tell him that I could walk but I didn't seeing how he was waiting for me. He carefully picked me up and then placed me back on the bed. My feet were still handing from the bed and I was still wearing the bathroom slippers. But before I could remove them, he moved down and removed them for me.

"I can do that." I try to stop him but it was a lost cause.

"I know angel but I want to do it for you." He replied without stopping for a second.

"Your feet are cold." He said and for one second I thought he was asking me but no I was wrong. He was thinking out loud.

He moved to the small cupboard that was next to the window and pulled out a black duffel bag. Then he opened it and digged through its content for a few seconds before he pulled out what he wanted - a pair of thick charcoal grey wool socks.

Then he came back to bed and carefully took my put them on me. I wanted to protests that I could do it on my own but I knew what he would say. So I just let it be.

Once I was all tucked in, he moved my bed from flat position to sitting position. "You need to eat something, soup perhaps will be good." He quickly replied to his own question, before handing me a cup of water with a straw to sip on.

I wanted to laugh at his silliness but he was acting too cute that I had to hold back my laughter.

"Take small sips angel and I will ask Ciro to get you soup. Which one do you prefer??" He asked the last part in annoyances, as if he was not happy not knowing which type of soup I liked and it seemed to bother him for some reason.

I take a small sip from the water and soothe my aching throat "chicken would be good Lucca."

He nods with a smile and place a quick kiss on my forehead. "I will get your chicken soup ready and until then you talk to your guest." He adds as he pulls his phone out of his pocket and gives me a look. He was checking with me if it was okay and I loved that part about him. He always make sure I am comfortable.

I gently nod and he smiles back me. Then he leaves me and my mother alone in the hospital room to talk.

I don't make eye contact with her for a minute, neither do I say anything. It was difficult for me to accept everything and now when I was seeing her again I knew I won't be able to hold back my emotions.

"Bella dear." She starts and those  two words break me. The tears that I have been holding back for years come rushing out. I pull my hands over my face and sob in them. Instantly her arms around me and a warm hand rubbing my back in up and downwards motion.

"Oh dear don't, don't cry you have been through enough already." She was hugging me from the side and after a moment I wrapped my hands around her waist and started to sob loudly.

I had so many thing to ask her like Where was she?? Did she ever think about me?? Why didn't she come looking for me?? Did she miss me?? Did she knew what Corbiniano was capable of doing?? Why did she marry a man like Corbiniano?? How was she?? How was my sister?? But all I could do was sob like a baby in her mother's arms, just like a baby.

"Bella my child don't cry, you will get sick." She begged me in between her own sobs and I continued to cry louder.

"Bella my child, my love." My mother spoke softly as she patted my head from top.

I had no idea when my loud sobs were converted into hiccups and then to silent sniffs. But I was still hugging her, may be even tighter now. I was acting like a three year old kid who was reunited with her mother, whom she lost in a grocery store.

"My love I missed you so much, please forgive me for leaving you." Her voice was filled with so much pain and I had no idea how to respond to it.

"Bella??" My mother asked her tone was unsure and worried.

I replied a simple small humm and that too was painful for my sore throat.

She moved my body so now I was looking at her honey eyes, which were swollen and red just like mines. "I am so sorry Bella, so sorry please forgive me. I know I should have ran away when I found I was pregnant with you but I was to weak and scared at what will happen if he finds us. So instead I told him you were a stillborn child and tired my best to hide you. That's why I asked the nurse to sneak you out of the hospital and drop you at some random orphanage. I didn't wanted to know because I was scarred maybe I would tell him if he tortured me."

"At first I thought he believed me but when your sister was born,  I realised he was just pretending and he going to use Ella to punish both of us, especially me."  She adds as she moves to sit next to me on the bed.

"What do you mean??" I asked in confusion.

She exhaled loudly. "You sister has been through a lot Bella, a lot of torture. She has sacrificed alot for both of us." At her words I remember how Ella was telling to run away at Corbiniano's house.

"What happened??" I ask in a raspy tone.

"She is a strong kid, she never tells anyone when she is hurting. She silently takes it all in but I was her mother. I knew Corbiiano was torturing her, hurting her for his own use but I couldn't do anything. I failed as a mother Bella" She break down into sob and tells me all the torment my sister has gone through and all the hits she has taken from him. And how he would hit my mother too whenever she would try to stop him and how they have spent weeks on bed, recovering from his abuse.

After hearing all the things they have gone through, I stay quite for awhile just letting it all  absorb.

Later when a moment has passed she ask me what I have been doing with my life. And I was more than happy to change the topic, so I quickly fill her in on my accomplishment and what I do for living. And then she inquires about Lucca, which only causes me to blush like a teenage girl.

"He is good for you." She says once I was done telling her how I met Lucca and how close we have grown to each other.

I shake my head in disagreement before adding "He is perfect for me."