The Missing Princess

18: Eat

Chapter 18

-Isabella Di Luca-

Nicco had been hurt. Badly.

Someone hurt my brother. Badly. Someone punched him in the mouth, and his bottom lip is split and swollen, and that someone also broke his arm.

I was shocked and hurt when Enzo returned to the car with a badly injured Nicco, looking so broken and defeated. He still tried to look like he wasn't, but I am well familiar with that look, as I would always look so broken and defeated every time I looked at my reflection when I was still with bad man.

It broke my heart to see him looking like that and to see him in such pain.

My brother didn't deserve to look like that.

My brother didn't deserve to be in pain.

My brother didn't deserve to be hurt.

If only I could take all of his pain away and deal with it myself, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Pain is nothing new to me. I'm used to it. But, my brothers, I don't want any of my brothers to feel pain and get used to it. They didn't deserve it.

All I wanted was to hug Nicco when I saw him, to comfort him with my hug that seems to comfort Enzo and Gio, as they would say to me, but I knew that he didn't like me, so I don't think he would want me to touch him. So instead, I begged Enzo to quickly take Nicco to Gio in his hospital so that he could help him remove the pain, and Enzo, who was looking all blank with no emotion for some reason, replied that that's where we were going. So Enzo quickly drove us there. And the rest of the ride was a pure, uncomfortable silence, except for Nicco wincing and whimpering in the back seat, which broke my heart even more. I even cried quietly.

It was the first time I felt sadness and anger mixed together. Sadness I'm used to, yes. But never anger; even at bad man I've never felt anger, even though I knew bad man deserved it. For everything he has done, I should've been angry, but I wasn't. I consider anger to be a pretty ugly emotion that consumes a person whole if they are in too deep with that emotion, and they show a side that ends up hurting other people in the process. That's the case with bad man and so many other people. So I never indulge myself in feeling anger. I don't want to be like bad man.

But seeing Nicco, my brother, like this I suddenly felt incredible anger towards the person responsible for his pain. They are a bunch of meanie butts for doing that to my brother.

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

"N-Nicco?"

"I-Izzy... N-No, Izzy m-meant to say I... I-Iz... I."

I want to slap myself for how stupid I sounded. Remember, Izzy, you have got to learn how to speak like a normal person. You speak well in your head, so it shouldn't have to be that hard to speak well in person as well. But it is hard!

But I still have to try and learn! I don't want Nicco to dislike me even more for how stupid my words sound when I speak.

"I---

Say I, Izzy; stop saying your name. You can remember this. Go on!

"I-I b-brought Ni-Nicco food! N-Nicco didn't e-eat, so I-I brought food for Ni-Nicco." I dumbly stuttered while holding the tray of warm and yummy foods for Nicco.

I still sounded stupid. But at least that was an improvement, I guess.

Nicco was still not answering, so I hesitantly knocked again. Yes, I'm nervous and scared of getting yelled at again, and no doubt Nicco would do that for me being so annoying and disturbing him, but he didn't eat dinner, and Luigi told me he refused the food that he sent for Nicco. I don't want Nicco to go to bed on an empty stomach, especially knowing that he is still healing and still in pain.