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An icy fear gripped my chest tight as she fell in a heap. I pushed Enzo with as much force as I could generate, shoving him a few feet across the marbled floor. I wasn't holding back at that moment because he was my friend. If he had tried to keep me from Alessia again, I would have broken as many bones in his body as I could reach. I ran to Alessia, elbowing past Enzo’s men. I got on my knees beside her and lifted her head to my lap. Her body burned hotly, and her skin was impossible to touch.
“Alessia?” I said, shaking her gently. “Babe, can you hear me?”
She made no response, lying as still as dead. I shook her again, fighting tears as I held her unconscious form in my arms. I looked at her peaceful face and felt my heart break into pieces. I would never forgive myself if I let something happen to Alessia. I had never felt this way about anyone before. Holding her there, I knew I would never love another woman as much as I loved her. At that moment, I would give anything to keep her with me.
I turned and looked at Enzo. “What the hell is your problem, man? This is what you wanted, huh? Was this what you hoped for? She’s pregnant, goddammit! You don’t send a bunch of bullies to drag a pregnant woman about like that!”
I noticed Alessia’s father had edged quietly into the room, standing in a corner as he observed the scene from a distance. Enzo's apologetic look was reflected on his face as well. Good. I needed them to question their life choices.
“Nobody touches her,” I said as I stood up. I grabbed my phone and called my personal physician, who lived in the building a few floors down. I told him all that had happened and asked him to come to my apartment immediately. I heard a knock on the open door about a minute later. The doctor stepped in wearing only a bathrobe, gripping his satchel. He rushed immediately to Alessia and did a preliminary examination.
I stood to the side anxiously, watching him work quietly. He checked Alessia’s pulse and for a heartbeat. He checked her temperature, then prodded gently at her belly. Satisfied, he stood up and got out a small notebook.
“The good news is that she’s alright, and the baby is fine as well,” the doctor said with a smile. “It looks like she has suffered an unusual amount of stress. It has been prolonged for quite a while, explaining why she grew so weak that she collapsed. I could wake her up, but I strongly advise against any form of activity that would stress her again. I don’t know what is going on here, but I suggest you all sort it out quickly. Both for her sake and the sake of the baby.”
I glared at Enzo, who refused to lift his eyes from the floor. His father had slipped into a seat, covering his face with his hands. I felt more disgust than anger at the two men. If Alessia had relayed the truth about what they had done to her, I would have been more than ready to end my longstanding friendship with Enzo.
Despite having almost nothing in common, we were good friends because I used to think Enzo’s intensity and boisterous attitude were a pleasant contrast to my practically boring way of life. For the first time, I was beginning to see that intensity as a problem. It was one thing to protect your kid sister and another to be a barrier she had to cross to live a normal life—a life she had to fight tooth and nail to choose.
“Understood?” the doctor asked again, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Yes, doctor,” I whispered. “Do my best to avoid stress, got it. Can I move her to the couch now? Is that safe? I would not want her to come to on the floor like this.”
“Yes, it’s perfectly safe to move her,” the doctor replied. “Please do so gently.”
I nodded and picked Alessia up from the ground. I carried her to the couch, then propped her head on some pillows. When she looked comfortable, I turned to the doctor. “You can resuscitate her now.”
He rummaged through his satchel and brought out a bottle with a colorless liquid. First, he dipped a cotton ball into the bottle, then brought it slowly towards Alessia's nose. The effect was almost immediate. Alessia jolted awake, sneezing profusely, before she finally opened her eyes.
She shook her head slowly from side to side, raising a hand to her head. I gripped her other hand in mine, smiling thankfully at her as I waited for her to recognize me. She looked at me, crouched on the floor beside the couch.
She smiled and squeezed my hand. “You look like I died and came back to life. Can you tell me all the people who cried for me?”
I smiled and felt my eyes water. The doctor took a step back on cue, and I dove at Alessia, hugging her tight. I sucked in air through my teeth as I smelled her hair and felt her heart beating. She was fine. She was safe. I would die before I allowed something like this to happen again.
“Don’t you ever scare me like that again,” I whispered in her ear. I kissed her neck and wiped the tears from my eyes with the back of my hand.
19
Alessia
The darkness swallowed me like the ocean during a storm. It was absolute, filling all my senses. I could hear voices, but they came from somewhere distant. I tried my best to decode the faint words, but they sounded like a jumble.
I floated weightlessly through the oppressive darkness, not knowing what to make of my body. I was not sure if I was awake or dreaming. I drifted further and further away from the voices until the silence was as suffocating as the darkness. Strangely, I did not feel alarm. It all felt completely natural to me, like a sailboat bobbing gently on a calm sea.
It occurred to me to open my eyes. As I did so, my senses came rushing back. I experienced everything all at once. The smell of flowers in the garden mixed with that of wet soil. The warmth of the sun on my skin as its rays pierced through the canopy. The greenness of the leaves and the crisp color of the bark. The sweet music of the birds perched on the branches above.
I looked around, confused, then relaxed when I knew where I was. I was back in my father’s garden in Siena. I got up from the stone bench and did a circuit through the rows of flowers. This place was one of the most private spots in the estate, but it was never this empty. The only sounds came from the birds and rodents.
I used to love coming here as a child, especially after my mother died. That was when my brother and father turned into the monsters they were today. They acted like Mother’s death affected them alone but forgot that I was the one who needed her the most. They buried all memories of her around the Villa, except for one. Perhaps the strongest of them all. Me.
My resemblance to my mother was uncanny. I had her green eyes and an angular face; even my physical build was like hers. In his pain, Enzo had requested leave from my father to continue his education in the United States. My father agreed, allowing his son to move away.
However,I reminded him of our mother too much for him to allow me out of his sight. I was withdrawn from public school, and my father opted to have me home-schooled. That was the first of many changes to come. After a few months, I was not allowed to leave the Villa at all. I looked forward to Enzo’s visits because Father would take us to Bologna and Florence. From a happy, exuberant child, I slowly turned into a sad recluse.
I took a bend in the garden and approached the short arching bridge that crossed the small artificial brook created to water the garden and vines. I leaned on the railing of the old but sturdy bridge, looking at the water roll softly downhill. I sighed deeply, vaguely remembering the days when I used to sit on the bank with my mother, playing with bugs while she read a book or wrote poetry.
I did not have many memories of her, but the ones I had were pure and invaluable. I tossed a pebble into the clear water, enjoying the tranquility of the garden. I hated to admit it, but I had no idea what my mother looked like anymore. I was just a toddler when my mother died. Over the years, her image had slowly but surely eroded from my memory.
