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I wanted to collapse right there on the soft dirt. But Leonardo pushed past me, gently laying Enzo down and ripping away his shirt to check the head injury. My brother was still scarily limp and pale.
Dropping beside them, I pleaded urgently for an update. Before Leonardo could respond, another figure approached slowly. I tensed before recognizing my father's familiar silhouette.
He stared down at us silently as Leonardo ignored him, still fully focused on helping my brother. Fresh blood stained Enzo's white bandages wrapped around his head. I choked back a sob, terrified.
Abruptly Father turned away, speaking low into a radio. I only caught "....medical evac now!" in between garbled code words.
So he had called for a medevac rather than waste time questioning us. Unexpected relief rushed through me. There would be time for explanations and consequences later if Enzo just survived this nightmare first.
The rest of the wait passed in tense silence. I clasped Enzo's hand tightly, willing him to hold on and stay with us. Leonardo stabilized him as best he could, face drawn with exhaustion and worry. But he didn't stop tending tirelessly to my brother even as the sky lightened subtly with coming dawn. Neither did Father attempt to intervene again.
When the evac chopper finally appeared overhead, Leonardo himself helped lift Enzo's stretcher up into the hold, refusing to entrust his precious cargo to anyone else. Before following my brother's still form inside, Leonardo turned back to me urgently.
"Stay with your father. I'll let you know the minute he's stable." His dark eyes bored into mine, conveying a thousand unspoken words. I just nodded mutely, reluctantly releasing his hand so he could depart with Enzo.
I stood alone now facing my ashen-faced father as the chopper shrank into the distance over the trees.
I hovered anxiously outside the private hospital room where Enzo lay unconscious, waiting for any update from the doctors. The hours of pacing and worrying had blurred together since we'd arrived.
Finally, a nurse stepped out looking tired but smiling. "He's awake now if you want to see him. Still very weak so make it brief."
My legs nearly buckled in dizzy relief rushing to Enzo's bedside. His colour looked better and those sharp eyes were blessedly alert again. I clasped his hand tightly, afraid to break contact.
"You're okay," I breathed shakily. "I was so scared..."
Enzo clasped my hand weakly in return. "Come on sis, you know I'm too stubborn to bow out that easy." Though his voice was hoarse with pain, the quip reassured me. My brother was still in there.
I smiled tremulously as he took in the room. "Old man's here too, huh?"
From his chair on Enzo's other side, Father stirred and nodded. "Rest easy, son. We're both right here." To my surprise, he patted Enzo's leg awkwardly. This trauma seemed to have thawed some of the ice between them.
We sat quietly as Enzo drifted off again, needing to process this development. There was still tension and uncertainty lingering, but for now, our fractured family took comfort in each other's presence and the miracle of survival.
When Enzo woke next, he gestured for me alone. Father tactfully stepped out to update the doctors, granting us privacy.
I leaned in as Enzo struggled to speak. "Natalia...you saved us all. I'm proud of you," he rasped earnestly.
My vision blurred with tears. After so many years of doubting myself, Enzo's faith meant everything. I carefully hugged him, emotions swelling. "I'm just so thankful you're alright," I whispered.
All too soon, the nurse shooed me out insisting Enzo rest. In the sterile hallway, I came face to face with my father. The weariness in his eyes mirrored my own, but something lighter lingered there now too.
"Walk with me?" he asked gruffly. I fell into step, unsure what to expect. We meandered in silence through a small hospital garden before Father spoke again.
"You performed...admirably back there," he pronounced formally. "Perhaps I have underestimated your capabilities."
I nearly tripped in surprise. Was the formidable mafia godfather admitting he had been wrong? About me, the perennial disappointment in his eyes?
"Truly Natalia, you showed remarkable courage and loyalty," Father continued sincerely. "I am...proud."
My eyes prickled hearing him echo Enzo's praise. Maybe after all this loss and trauma, a door was tentatively cracking open between my father and I. A chance for mutual understanding, if we dared grasp it.
"That means everything to me," I responded carefully. "All I've ever wanted was a chance to stand on my own rather than be sheltered and dismissed." I hesitated, then added "And to make you proud."
Father regarded me solemnly, perhaps seeing me truly for the first time as more than a decorative replacement for the wife he had cherished and lost.
"You are stronger than most, Natalia. That has been clear since you were small." Father shook his head ruefully. "I suppose I hoped to preserve that fiery innocence in you a while longer."
I bit my lip, sensing opportunity. "Then you'll stop smothering me and treating me as weak? Give me a chance to decide my own path?"
