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Annie
It has been a week since Dante walked out of the hospital room, and I haven’t seen him since. I have been here alone, lost in my grief and memories of the past few months, wondering how it all went so wrong.
I have had no visitors aside from the lovely Doctor Wakeford who has become a close confidant. Checking on me twice a day, she’s taken great joy in telling me that I didn’t actually have breast cancer. It was merely a benign fatty lump, most likely due to a bad diet and a lot of stress from looking after my mother for all those months. Although I am pleased I do not have a body riddled with cancer, I also feel sick to my stomach that hiding the truth from Dante was all for nothing. Had I come clean with him from the start, I could have been checked out and cleared before this even became anything. It is a deep regret that sits heavy in my stomach, making me want to vomit every time I think about it. I was stupid. Stupid to think that a girl like me could have the dream man, dream child, dream house. I was naïve. How quickly it all disappeared, just because I didn’t want to face the truth, and took that option away from Dante as well.
Stupid. So stupid.
“Good morning, Annie,” Doctor Wakeford says as she walks into the room for her routine morning check-in. “How are you feeling today?” She grabs my files from the end of the bed and looks over the results of the test that the nurses took over night.
“I’m good, Doctor Wakeford,” I reply, trying to be cheerful but not feeling it at all. Over the course of the past week, Doctor Wakeford has run additional tests for me to ensure I didn’t carry the breast cancer gene or have any other ailments. I have had iron infusions, a steady dose of antibiotics, my stitches removed, and a daily physio to help my shoulder heal, although it is still bandaged, and I need to protect it. But that is not what weighs heavy. My heart is broken, my spirit too. I hate myself, more than ever, and I wish I could crawl up somewhere and hide.
“I think we may be able to discharge you today, Annie!” I should be excited, but I am not. I have no idea where the safehouse is or what to expect.
“Okay,” I say quietly, and my eyes travel to the duffle bag containing my life that sits over in the small wardrobe to the side of my hospital bed. Reminding me that I have nothing, I have no one, and I am unwanted.
“The nurses will get you up and dressed, and I will just need you to come back in within the next week or so, so I can check over your shoulder and ensure it is progressing well.” I nod to her, as the fear of being alone and eventually out on the streets starts to well into my bones.
Doctor Wakeford looks at me then and pauses. Her eyes flick to the door and she walks a few steps around the bed to talk quietly to me.
“Nico will be taking you to a safe house, Annie. Dante still needs to keep you hidden because there is still a threat, I believe. You will be okay, don’t worry.” She gives me a small smile and squeezes my hand.
“Okay, thank you,” I say on a sigh.
Doctor Wakeford puts the medical files back, and with one last small smile, she walks back out the door, leaving me with my thoughts.
I am devastated that I won’t see Leo again, or Maria, and I am heartbroken from the loss of the home I had, albeit for such a small time. I knew he would be angry at me for not being totally honest with him. He said multiple times that he hated liars, yet that is exactly what I did. I lied. Every time he asked me if I was alright, I lied. Every time he asked me if anything was wrong, I lied. During our nighttime chats, there were multiple opportunities for me to talk to him about my health. I could have been honest with him, but I didn’t want my perfect bubble to burst. But keeping it all from him has shattered anything we had and any hope of a future with him. Who am I kidding, I am not Little Red, or Annie, I am no one. And I have no one. I have nothing, I am nothing.
The door opens, and I look up quickly, expecting to see the nurses, but it is Nico. We have met briefly, but he stays outside my room each and every day, like a bodyguard. I watch him with interest as he walks in, closing the door behind him.
“Hi, Annie. Today is the day we move you to the safe house,” he says quietly, approaching me like I am a dangerous animal and he needs to proceed with caution.
“Okay. I will cause no trouble, Nico. I am sorry you got stuck with me,” I say with a soft smile.
“No need to apologize. We will get to hang out together for a little while because I will also be at the house with you. We won’t leave you on your own, Annie. Dante has told us you must be 100% protected at all times,” he says, smiling as he stands at the end of my bed.
Dante. Just the mention of his name breaks my heart all over again.
“Everyone is on lockdown. Things are getting a little crazy out on the streets because we can’t locate the man who is a threat, but Dante, Sebastian, and Carter are all hunting for him, so it is only a matter of time. Then you will be safe.”
Nico is nice. A bit younger than the others. His accent is thicker but similar to Dante’s.
“What part of Italy are you from?” I ask him. If we are going to be hanging out with each other for a while, I might as well make a friend of him and get to know him a little.
“Ahhh, Sicily, where all good Italian men are from!” he says with a big grin, and I laugh at him. It feels good.
“Tell me about where you grew up? I would love to learn more about Italy.” He begins to tell me all about his homeland, and it becomes evident that Sicily is a place loved by many, not just Dante.
The morning flies by quickly and after eating, showering, and having one more check-up by the nurses, I sign a few papers. Then there is nothing left to do except leave. I feel hollow, like a shell of myself. It is the same feeling I had on the plane ride here, when I didn’t know what to expect or what I was doing. Nico bends down and grabs my duffle bag. “Come on, Annie, let’s go.” When I don’t move, he nods at me, silently telling me that it will be okay, and slowly, I move, one foot in front of the other, down the hospital halls and out the front entrance. The sunlight burns through the sky, the brightness something I haven’t seen in forever. The warm feeling on my body is humming through my skin, and I take a big breath of fresh air.
“This way. We can’t stand around outside, we need to move,” Nico says, putting a hand at my back and pushing me along at a quicker pace. The stark reality of my situation slams back into my face as my heart rate picks up, and I follow Nico to a black car parked at the curb right out the front of the hospital.
Nico opens the door, and I slip inside, my body sliding on the soft black leather as he gets in beside me. Before the car begins to move, I sit in silence, looking out the window and wondering where the hell my adventure is going to take me next.
33
Dante
Watching her step out of the hospital, Nico next to her, holding her small duffle bag, my heart feels heavy. Every day, I have had to restrain myself from visiting her, forcing myself into my work and trying my best to ignore the situation. She takes small, unsure steps as the bright light of the day hits her face, and all I want to do is run to her and tuck her into me and never let her go. Nico says something to her, and her eyebrows rise and she walks quickly to the car, but not before I notice his hand touching the small of her back. My grip on the steering wheel tightens, and I push my body back into the car seat, willing myself not to move.
