AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Twenty-Seven
ARIA
Everything is a blur as I am wheeled into a back entrance of a hospital. The memories come to me in flashes as the pain I am in makes my breath come in jags and makes me forget who I am for a moment it is so intense.
Marcel had taken me to a safe place, had us guarded and locked down like Fort Knox because my husband was putting himself in the line of fire to kill my father to get my other brother back safely. But I don’t know if he is alive right now. I don’t know if he will come back to me or if he will ever know what is happening to me right now. It hurts a lot that he could leave this Earth not knowing I am screaming as I go into labor to give birth to his child.
I had no idea I was pregnant. I thought the few pounds I had gained were that few pounds they say you always gain after you get married. I haven’t felt much else, and for all I know it could have something to do with damage done to me by Cheng’s men. I know I have seen TV shows where women go into labor without knowing they are pregnant, but I can’t seem to remember the logical reason right now as I am rushed into a private room, my clothes taken off and a gown draped over me. I am drenched in sweat and broken with the idea of having this child without Sal present. And who knows how this child will turn out? I haven’t been taking vitamins and acting like a woman with child. I know fetuses are so resilient, but it doesn’t get rid of my worry that something will be wrong with the baby. I don’t know if I could lose them both in one day.
Marcel has clearly paid a lot of money to keep this private the security here, and I briefly look down at my wrist to see the name on my band is totally fake. I suppose that’s best for my safety and the baby’s. This is not a good time to be out in the open where I can be found, especially if things go poor with my uncle.
I scream and push as the nurse tells me to, channeling the rage for the way I am being betrayed by the men in my life; my family. My uncle was having me followed, put a hit out on Mariana and now my father, his own brother-in-law. How more fucked up can this story get? My life should be a damn book!
I can't believe I am doing this with no meds, but they told me I was too close when I came in to get an epidural. Once again I have to be strong, but Marcel nods to me as I do this, and I take his hand and squeeze for dear life.
All the voices fade out as I just breathe and push, waiting to hear the cries of my child. Will it be a boy or girl? What will we name it?
I hear a cry finally, and I fall back exhausted, but I look on with worry as my baby is taken away. What’s going on?" I ask.
"She needs to be checked out in the NICU before we can let you hold her. She is small, and since you didn't know you were pregnant, we don’t know how well developed she will be. Don’t worry, we will take good care of her," the doctor assures me, but I burst into tears. It is the worst thing that can be happening right now with my husband in danger somewhere. I just want him here to hold me and tell me it is going to be okay.
***
I don’t know when I fell asleep, but I wake up having to pry my eyes apart as they are stuck together form me crying. I finally get them open and see someone I wasn’t expecting by my side, his hand on mine in my sleep.
"Sal!" I gasp, and he smiles weakly at me, instantly leaning over to kiss me on my lips, my forehead, everywhere. "What’s happened? What about our daughter?"
"Woah, slow down," he tells me. "You have just had my child, mio dolce, you need your rest. I waited until you were rested to see her, but I have been talking with the doctors. She is small, but she is just fine. She needs to grow and learn some things, but that’s all.” I heave a relived sigh, not knowing until now how easily a heart can grow to fit more people inside of it.
"Aria?" The weak voice is one I recognize, and for the first time I look around the room and see that BOTH of my brothers are present. I survey Andrei with my eyes and can see he has been through some things. He is pretty banged up, his arm in a sling, but he looks nothing like I did after Cheng. And he is alive.
"Father?" I ask, thinking I know the answer. No way was he let go if my father did not die. Things don’t work out quite that smoothly, ever, especially for me.
Sal shakes his head, and I know what it means. "And Gabriele?"
"Ion and Mariana came to take care of him. I can’t imagine him surviving that." I nod, though it is not a clear conformation. He is a slippery man.
“Now we just need to worry about our cousins," Marcel pipes up darkly, and Sal gives him a look.
"I want to focus on my family as much as I can for right now. But I realize that they might be an issue, especially considering Gabriele wanted to take over the Clan. Hell, I bet he wanted all of them. His sons will likely continue with the plan. We won’t have a choice but to hunt them down and take them out at some point."
All three men seem agreed, but the subject is dropped. I appreciate it greatly. "Can we go see my daughter now?"
Sal smiles at me and nods, calling for the nurse to have her check me first. I am doing fine, other than being in some pain, but that is to be expected. So, using a wheelchair like a walker, I am taken down the hallway by her with all three men trailing me. I wouldn’t have them miss seeing her face for the first time either.
I can't hold back the tears as Sal and I are let inside as my brothers watch from the outside, and I see her. She has a head full of dark hair already, and it looks so soft. She is small and dark pink, her hands reaching out for something and nothing all at once. I sit down so that she can be handed to me, and I can barely see her sweet face through the tears of happiness; the tears of a new mother. This moment feels like there is nothing and no one but the three of us, and I will remember it forever. Even as she is hooked to feeding tubes and needles monitoring her blood sugar, she still has to be the most precious and beautiful thing I have ever seen.
"Sorina," Sal says suddenly, and I know it’s the perfect name.
We must leave all too soon. She is a delicate thing, and they need to be able to care for her and keep her still, though I am told to come back every three hours for skin on skin time and feedings if it's possible. We will always be trying with a bottle until she takes it. Until she can learn what she is to do. She has a journey ahead of her, but I know she carries our strength.
I am on cloud nine as we wall back to the room, and I almost don’t notice the man approaching us as he pulls out a gun.
Everything happens so fast, there is no time for me to scream as Sal pulls out his glock but not in time to save my brother, Andrei who has just jumped in front of us all to save us. Now, two dead bodies lie on the hospital floor, and that’s when I lose it.
