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Rocco just laughs. “One thing about the men in this family, V, they’re protective of their women, and if he thinks I’m kidding, then you better start running now,bella.”
A surge rages inside my chest.
“Oh God!” Valentina shouts, then I feel her tug at my side. “He moved!”
“Where?” Rocco prods me.
“Stop poking him!” I hear her slap his hand away. “His fingers… watch.”
I do it again and then more cries ring out.
“That could just be a nerve reflex…” Rocco gets cut off.
“Shut up, Roc,” Angelo growls.
It’d be just like them, to have an argument over my almost-dead body.
“He did it again!” It sounds like my mother.
“Someone call the nurse! Get the doctor!” Valentina shrieks, then, “Enzo… Enzo, can you hear me?”
I blink my eyes, and I try to open them, but my vision is blurry, I can’t make anything out.
“He’s waking up!” someone else calls.
There’s a lot of commotion, tears, cries, encouragement… then I finally blink a few more times and Valentina’s face comes into sight.
“Belladonna?” My focus hones in on her blue eyes, staring into mine as she comes more and more into view.
“Enzo!” I hear her cry, as her hand touches my cheek softly. “Enzo, can you hear me?”
I blink rapidly and try to move my lips again. “Am I alive, Val?” My voice sounds strange.
I find it hard to breathe.
I see the tears rolling down her face. “Yes, you are,” she says, stroking her thumb over my cheek.
I feel movement on my other side as my eyes shift and I see my mother. “Enzo!” she cries, “my darling boy, we were so worried.” She leans down to embrace me, but I can’t lift my arms. She kisses me on the cheek.
“How long… have I been… out?” I manage to draw the words out, though my voice sounds gravelly and feels as dry as sandpaper.
“A week,” my mother tells me.
I feel my eyes wide. “A week?” I try to move and sit up, but both Valentina and mom stop me.
“No sudden movements,” my mom says. “How are you feeling, Enzo?”
It’s a strange feeling that washes over me. While I feel so much relief in my chest that I am actually alive, I also feel another feel another pain in my chest. My body feels so heavy, so drained, so weak.
“Like I’ve been run over by a freight train,” I admit.
I hear a few chuckles behind me. My eyes lift, and I see Ken next to my mom, then Valentina’s Ma, Angelo next to Valentina, then Marco and Rocco. Seems they managed to fit the whole family in here.
“You don’t look too bad, considering,” Angelo quips.
Everyone looks so happy to see me that a lump forms in my throat.
“He looks like shit,” Rocco says, giving me a wink and everyone laughs, including me, and I start to cough a little.Fuck, that hurts.
