VICENZO

Chapter 56

TRIGGER WARNINGS:
EXPLICIT LANGUAGE
SWEARING
VIOLENCE/GUN VIOLENCE
DRUGS
BLOOD/DEATH/GORE

"Stay with me. Stay with me. It's all right. You're fine, you're fine." I gulped as I held my bloody hand behind her head. I was consoling myself more so than her. I pressed my other hand down over the gunshot wound, where the blood was spilling out from. It wouldn't stop. She was getting paler by the second. She smiled and brushed my hair with her hand. "I love you." She coughed and wheezed. Isabella rushed to her side and started crying. She held Lira's hand. "Don't cry Isa-" Lira chocked out before she coughed some more. More blood spilled from her mouth and she soon closed her eyes.

I held a breath and felt a harsh shiver run down my spine. I can't lose her.

Twelve hours later, I paced the hospital corridor. Mom and dad watched me with concern. Uncle Mariano paced, his hair a mess. Isabella was checked over, she was completely fine, she just wanted some food. She was resting in the other room with her mom and dad who were worried sick. Raf was in surgery, getting stitched up and fixed.

The nurses pulled Raf out from theatre and wheeled his bed to a private room next door to Isabella. We all rushed to see him. He was asleep. Under the influence of heavy drugs. His chest was bandaged with his body being dotted with hundreds of black and blue bruises. His arm was up in a sling and his left ankle was surely broken. Fuck.

His dad sat on the chair beside him and held his hand. My parents stood in the room, with mom placing a gentle reassuring hand on uncle Mariano's shoulder. "I'm so sorry..this wasn't supposed to happen." I breathed out as I walked closer to Raf. I gulped and looked down. "Going there alone was stupid..but you did save their lives." Uncle Mariano spoke up. I was stupid. If only I had planned it better. But my thoughts were fucked up. Shit.

"I'm not mad Enzo, Raphael will be fine. This is nothing but a good life lesson. What's a few broken bones. Besides you're both young. You have a lot to learn...I'm glad you killed him." Uncle Mariano smiled at me. I think he was being too nice, too easy on me. I think he knew I was torturing myself with guilt. My stomach twisted in knots every other second because Lira was still in surgery. She might not even make it. Fuck! I hated thinking like that. If she were here she would tell me to shut the fuck up and she would smile at me with those perfect lips of hers.

I sat down beside Raf's bedside. I owed him so much. I explained to everyone how I knew where James was and what we had planned. Everyone definitely thought I was a fuck up. Mom and dad would never have let it happen. Shit.

I felt mom sit on a chair beside me and she placed her arm around me. "It's all right. You're all safe. And don't worry about Lira. She's a strong woman." She said quietly. I felt tears form and I hugged her tightly, placing my chin on her shoulder. "I was so stupid..it shouldn't have happened. I put everyone in danger." I gulped as I inhaled her subtle perfume. She shushed me and rubbed my back slowly. "What's done is done. No one blames you. These things happen. It's all right." She whispered. I sniffled and let go off her.

"Enzo?" Isabella's voice called out. We all turned to see her in the doorway. She walked towards me with her parents coming into the room. The whole family was here apart from Mara and her parents. The guards were all dealing with the mess and I specifically told Sergio to place James' body into a coffin.

I looked at Isabella and she walked over to me. I tried to subtly rub away my tears. She looked at the bed. "Is Raf okay?" She asked no one in particular. Mom smiled and picked her up onto her lap. "He's fine. He's just sleeping." She replied and held her close.

"Bella I'm sorry. I'm sorry those bad men took you. You must have been so scared..and I'm sorry you saw me..punching that man." I gulped as I looked into her brown eyes. She smiled. "I was only a little bit scared." She said as she held up a pinch. What a liar. "I was scared when you hit that man but he was a bad man. I love you! Thank you for saving me. You're like a hero." Isabella smiled warmly. She doesn't even know how close she was to dying. Fuck.