La Rosa Gialla

Chapter 6

Hello everyone :)

I'm very happy that you somehow found this story. I was procrastinating and I mainly wanted to write something I would enjoy. And why not post it here while doing so? 
Hope you like this story, please feel free to write me a comment.
Also, I think my English is quite good but I'm not a native speaker so excuse me if there are any mistakes :)

xxx - B. 

Autumn 2016

Summer was long gone and with the nasty weather coming, it seemed like everything else was getting worse too. Mom began to suffer from coughing fits and suddenly lost a lot of weight. She was short of breath easily and tired all the time. All the work in the restaurant fell to my father, who at the same time had to drive my mom to all her appointments. Doctors did not know what was happening for a long time. They tried antibiotics and inhalers until the worst possible diagnosis was confirmed. Lung cancer.

My mom never smoked. No one around her smoked either, and it scared us all that we suddenly had no control over something like that. The doctors reassured us that everything was diagnosed relatively early and there was a good chance of improvement. No one ever used the word "healing", I noticed that right away.

Even though the relationship between me and Charles was no longer the same, I still called him almost every week to find out how he was doing and at the same time to complain and share my deepest concerns. Fears that I couldn't tell anyone in my family because I was ashamed to even admit it. But he always supported me. He promised me that the treatment would definitely work and mom would be the same as before. A tornado full of energy that fills every room with light and joy.

At the end of November, there was the last race of the season in the United Arab Emirates and all 3 of us huddled around Mom in her hospital bed to cheer for Charles. He did not finish the first race and finished ninth in the second, but was still able to celebrate the title of overall series winner for the 2016 season.

"Congratulations, champion," I smiled even though he couldn't see me. "Thanks, Adri. But the race annoys me," he sighed. "You won the title, but you can never be satisfied with yourself, can you?" I smirked.

"Exactly."

"What happens now?"

"I don't know. We have some meetings with F2 teams, but nothing is definitive yet. I don't want to jinx it."

"Oh come on. Who should they take if not you."

"Truth. Anyone should be honoured to have me," he laughed and I laughed with him.

"They agreed to let mom go to home treatment. They say it will be enough for now," Luca informed me the next evening. My lips spread into a wide smile and I happily hugged him. "Finally some good news," I whispered with my head still resting on his shoulder.

Everything around me seemed to stabilize somehow. I was finishing high school, helping out at the restaurant, taking over my mom's work when she wasn't well, and trying to maintain my dwindling communication with Charles. We celebrated Christmas and threw a New Year's Eve party for the locals and everything went smoothly.

"Adri!" A call came from the kitchen about half an hour before midnight. I entered the room and found Luca, who was pulling one bottle of champagne after another from a giant box. "I could use a little help." Without further ado, I put my hands to the work and started carrying the chilled bottles to the dining room where the event was taking place.

"...three, two, one...Happy New Year!" we all shouted together and clinked glasses. Fireworks set off outside and I stepped aside a bit to dial a number with a Monaco area code. He picked it up after about the third ring. "Charlie? Happy New Year," I said into the phone, which was playing loud music in the background. "Adri? Wait, I can't hear you," he shouted and hung up.

Confused, I stared at the black screen, which lit up again a few seconds later. "Can you hear me now?" I asked. "Yes. Happy New Year, Adri," he croaked. I was almost certain he was pretty drunk. His otherwise near-perfect Italian accent faltered quite a bit. "Happy New Year to you too. Where are you now?" I wanted to know.

"I'm with Joris and a few other friends at the club."

"I see."

"Yeah. Well, I hope you're having fun too. I'm going to go now. Take care," he said and hung up. "Okay, that was a very pointless conversation," I thought.