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Oh, man, that hurt. I sit up and look around for my phone. It landed a couple of feet away, against the wall.
"Giulia!" Raff is yelling. "Are you alright?"
I crawl to the phone and grab it, holding it so he can see me. My hair is a mess and I'm sweaty and red in the face. I'm definitely going to have to step back into the shower before going to bed.
"Next time, I think I need to be on a bed for that. Softer landing."
"Damn it, Giulia, this is no joking matter. Are you bruised?"
I look down at the side I landed on. My hip is a little red, but there's nothing that's going to turn into a bruise tomorrow. "I'm fine."
"Show me."
"Are you kidding? I told you I'm fine."
"I want to see."
Knowing it will be easier, and faster, to just show him than to argue over it, I scan my phone's camera over my left side.
When I'm done, I bring it back up to my face. "Satisfied?"
"Yes," he says grudgingly.
He doesn't look satisfied. He looks like he wants to come through the phone and do a personal inspection himself.
As the adrenaline fades from the ignominious fall off the stool, I yawn.
"You are tired. You need to go to bed."
"I have to shower."
"You just got out of the shower."
"You got me all messy," I tease him with a tired blink.
"No shower. Get some sleep."
"You're getting bossier the older you get. I'm going to have to start reining you in," I tease. But honestly? Bed sounds really good right now.
My body is replete and I may be able to fall asleep without tossing and turning from missing my husband. I never sleep as well when he's not in the bed with me.
"Good luck with that."
"Was that a joke, Raff?"
"Go to sleep, Giulia."
"Goodnight, husband."
Something intense flares in his eyes, and he says, "Goodnight, wife. Dream of me."
I don't tell him that's all too likely.
As I'm drifting into sleep, I remember the expression on Severu's face when Catalina played the piano. He'd been mesmerized, like the rest of us, but there had been something more there. The same look Raff had tonight on our video call.
Pity for Carlotta makes my heart hurt. Severu will never love the girl, but she'll never inspire the kind of passion in him that has made my own marriage bearable either.
Because it's not her my brother looks at like a steak dinner to a starving man.
