Without waiting for a response, I step over the threshold, my lips twitching upward when my eyes find Skye, who’s sitting up in her bed, singing softly to herself.
The melody trails off when she spots me, and her face lights up. “Rafael!” Then she jumps from the bed to fly across the room and throws her arms around my waist.
I smooth my palm over the top of her curly head with a small chuckle at her exuberance. “How you been, kid?” She pulls back to look up at me, and I grin, noticing she’s lost her two front teeth recently. “Did you have a fight with the tooth fairy or something?”
She snorts as she shakes her head. “Don’t be silly.” Then she purses her lips in distaste. “It was a bee, actually. And the doctors said I was very lucky that Bastian got me here as quickly as he did because I was in ana…ana-fil…”
She trails off, frowning in frustration, as she sighs, “Oh,whatwas the word again!”
The nurse at my back steps inside the room, a genuine smile on her face as she leads Skye back to her bed. “Skye was in anaphylactic shock when she arrived. We’ve deduced that she’s highly allergic to bee stings.” She plumps a pillow and slots it in at Skye’s back before turning to face me. “It shouldn’t be a problem moving forward now that we’re aware.”
She pulls a slim tube from her pocket and holds it up. “Once she carries atleastone, preferably two EpiPens at all times, and administers a dose immediately following a sting, then I don’t see this becoming a recurrence.”
Once she’s tucked Skye back into bed, she turns to me with a popped eyebrow. “And as I was saying earlier, visiting hours don’t apply to family members of patients under the age of sixteen.”
Then she bustles past, leaving me with a chuckling Sebastiano and a grinning Skye. “Can I call Ellie now?Please?”
I quickly set up a video call, and Elodie answers on the second ring. “Is she okay? Please, tell me she’s okay, Rafe.”
My smile is broad as I wink. “Ask her yourself,Stellina.”
Then I pass the cell into Skye’s waiting hands. Her big blue eyes, so like her mother’s, fill with happy tears, and I canphysically feel myself fall head over heels for this damn kid. This miniature extension of the woman I love.
“Did you still not get my letter? Bastian said he would send it for me.” She shoots an accusing look toward my brother. “Did you send it?”
Elodie saves Sebastiano from answering when she laughs, “I got it, and I’ve replied, but clearly, the postage system is as bad in Europe as it is back home.”
“Did you send me any candy?” I snort as Skye continues obliviously. “We’re not allowed to buy candy at school, and it’s the only thing I miss…well, other than you, Ellie.”
“I miss you even more, Curly Fry.” Her eyes flick to mine. “Can someone please tell me what happened?”
Once we’ve relayed what the nurse told me, relief fills Elodie’s eyes, and I can see the tension evaporate from her shoulders.
“Thank God for that.” Her brow puckers. “Though, an allergy like this is still super serious, but wow—” She cuts off to blow out a heavy sigh as I ease the cell from Skye’s hand. “My mind was taking me to Crazy Town since you left, Rafe.”
I move to the window for some privacy as Sebastiano entertains Skye quietly in the background. “I’ll get all the information on these EpiPens and what that entails. And I’ve had Enzo add Sebastiano as Skye’s next of kin, so that if anything were to happen…”
She picks up where I’ve trailed off. “Then at least we wouldn’t be in the dark like we were today.”
I nod slowly, my eyes moving over her slightly less fraught features. “Exactly. I’ll return once Skye is safely back at school, and?—”
Elodie’s face freezes at the same time I hear the unmistakable sound of gunfire.
“What was that?” She rises, taking the cell with her as my chest tightens. Sebastiano walks closer with a heavy frown on his face, and even Skye sits unmoving on her hospital bed.
I can see Elodie move out of her suite, and onto the balcony. She looks all around before her eyes meet mine through the screen when she shakes her head slowly, apparently seeing nothing out of the ordinary.
“Maybe it was Sasquatch cleaning his gun again.” She chuckles at the memory, and I force my lips to lift fractionally as niggling anxiety pools in my gut. “I’ll go find him, and?—”
There’s a sudden commotion in the background, and I hear Emiliano’s deep, even voice as he addresses Elodie.
“The compound is under assault.” Elodie gasps, and she looks at me through the camera lens with wide eyes as Emiliano grits out. “And I’m getting you out of here right now,Coniglietta.”
Before I can question what the hell is going on, the screen goes black. I frantically redial to no avail before I try Emiliano’s cell to find it’s also out of service. My damn chest feels like it’s going to explode when I rake my palm through my hair and raise wild eyes to my brother.
“I need to—I must…” My thoughts race wildly as my younger brother crosses the room and places his palms on my upper arms.
His brow is clear, and when he speaks, his words are mature beyond his seventeen years.
