Chapter 1 #2
“I recognized the signs, but yesterday I saw this…” Xander picks up Carolina’s wrist and turns it over to show me her forearm.
The word PIG is brutally carved into her soft, beautiful skin. It hits me like a gut punch.
That bandage on her forearm. I grip strands of my hair, pulling on it.
Not a burn after all. It was a sign of something darker, something more she was hiding from me.
I can’t believe I missed it. It was there all along, and I did not push.
I failed her, and the weight of that failure bears down on me like a ton of bricks.
Could have all of this been avoided if I had done something?
I can barely breathe.
But it seems I am not the only one who failed her.
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me?” My voice rises, anger bubbling over, mostly directed at myself, but now Xander is the one who will have to grapple with my rage.
“You know how it is,” he shoots back, frustration evident. “If I had told anyone without her permission, she would’ve pushed us all away.”
“She needed help!” My voice echoes in the cold room. Before I can stop myself, I’m shouting even louder. “You should’ve done something, Xander! You should’ve protected her. You should have talked to me!”
“Boys, can we talk about this civilly?” Sophia pleads, her voice quivering with anxiety as she tries to bring us down, her eyes darting from me to Xander.
Xander’s face contorts with anger, and he yells back at me, “I was trying to protect her, not make it worse! Don’t you think I wanted to do something?”
“You should have told us, babe,” Clay speaks up, looking at Xander with a mix of sadness and anger, his eyes holding a glassy sheen.
“She needed to open up on her own terms. I told her I was there, talked to her, wanted to help, but she just walked away,” Xander says, and I hear a pinch of desperation in his voice.
Chiara sniffles beside me, but I can’t think about her right now. My blood is boiling.
I walk over to Xander. He is at least a head taller than me, but I am not thinking straight and get chest-to-chest with him, fists clenched. It feels like the room is vibrating with my anger.
Clay jumps between us, pushing my chest so I step back. “Hey, calm down. This doesn’t help anyone.”
“Listen to him, Joshy,” Sophia says, putting a soothing hand on my shoulder, but I shrug her off.
“You both should’ve done more! Especially you, Clay. What an awesome best friend you are,” I spit out, my frustration pouring out like a torrent.
Xander shoves me, and I stumble backward. “Don’t you dare put this all on him just because you need to lash out. You were there too, Josh. What an amazing boyfriend you are!”
“You’re not fair, Josh. I was there too, and the only thing I told her is that we would be there for her,” Sophia mumbles from behind me.
“That’s why I’m so fucking furious! We all failed her, and now look where she is!” My voice cracks, and I have to breathe in deeply to keep myself from tearing up.
“You guys done?” the doctor asks sternly from the doorway, lifting an eyebrow at us.
When did she even leave the room?
“Keep it down. This is still a hospital. I’ll give you some privacy, but keep your voices low and mind your language,” she warns, exiting the room again.
“Fuck,” Xander grunts, letting his head fall back and his gaze go to the ceiling. “I told her I wanted to help her, but I should have just acted.”
He looks as though he has deflated, and all the anger drains out of me, too, leaving only despair and guilt in its wake.
Sophia interjects, “Enough with the what-ifs. We have an opportunity to help now. Both of them are coming with us, and we put an end to this nightmare.”
Chiara wraps her arms around herself, her face etched with worry. “He won’t just let us leave.”
“Why? Does he even care if you’re around?” Xander asks, his brows pinched in confusion and frustration.
“It’s not about that,” Chiara answers, her voice trembling. “Carolina pays for everything. Food, rent, everything.” We look at each other in surprise.
“No wonder she’s working all the time and never gets to sleep,” I mutter.
“If we made sure that everything’s still paid, would he even notice if you both left?” Clay asks, and she shrugs. “We go grocery shopping, then grab your stuff. Rent should be paid for the next few weeks now, and when the time comes, we can cover that too.”
“He gets money from her every morning after her shift to drink at the bar,” Chiara shares, her voice shaky and unsure.
“Then we leave him that too.” I shrug.
“You’re seriously considering giving that monster money to get drunk?” Sophia’s voice drips with disbelief.
“I need her out of there. I don’t care what I have to do to get it done,” I grumble, dragging myself over to sit beside Carolina and taking her hand in both of mine again.
Sophia turns to Chiara, her expression softening. “Why didn’t you two just leave him to his own devices?”
Eyes brimming with tears, her voice quivering with guilt, Chiara admits, “Lina tried, but she couldn’t gain custody of me.
This is my fault. I stole money from him because I wanted to buy a Christmas gift for Leo.
Lina said she couldn’t afford it. He slapped me for it, and she got in between.
He pushed her down those stairs because of me.
” Tears spill over, and she breaks down.
Sophia wraps Chiara in a hug. “It’s going to be okay. You know your sister is tough. And we’ll make sure this won’t happen again. We’ve got you… both of you.”
I look at the guys, who are both clenching their jaws. I swear this little brat should be lucky that I love her sister because I would gladly give her an earful for that stupid behavior.
Sophia pulls away from the hug, stroking Chiara’s hair. “We should head out. It’s late, and we can sort out everything tomorrow. For tonight, you can borrow whatever you need from me.”
“Why would you do that? You don’t even know me. And you hardly know her,” Chiara steps back from Sophia, frowning at her.
Seems like my girl is not the only one with trust issues. What those two must have been through.
Sophia offers Chiara a warm smile and explains, “It’s not about knowing you, Chiara.
It’s about family. Carolina is family now, and that makes you family too.
We look out for each other, no matter what.
Family doesn’t turn their back when someone needs help.
” She then turns to the rest of us, her tone serious.
“Let’s leave for now. She won’t wake today, and we need to get things sorted so everything’s ready for her when she does. ”
I rise from Carolina’s bedside but can’t resist the urge to bend down once more. Gently, I press a soft kiss to her forehead, feeling the warmth of her skin beneath my lips. “Come back to me, my Carolina,” I whisper. “I won’t let anyone ever hurt you again.”
The vow is a promise I make not only to her but to myself.