Chapter 10
Enzo
My body feels heavy as I fight to open my eyes.
Managing to sit partially up, I turn to the side and brace my palm on the bed.
Pain registers in my hands and forearms.
Did I get shitfaced last night?
Confused why I feel like death warmed up, I shake my head.
I feel a hand on my shoulder. “It’s okay. Mamma’s here.”
Frowning, I glance at my mother, and for a moment my sight blurs before it comes back into focus.
Mom’s eyes are rimmed red, and there are blotches on her neck, telling me she’s been crying a lot.
A desolate emotion, unlike anything I’ve ever felt before, creeps into my chest, then it hits, and a harsh breath explodes from me.
Rosie.
My body feels fucking stiff as it moves before the horrible memories can fully flood me. I barely take in the bandages wrapped around my forearms and hands.
“No, Enzo. Wait.” Mom tries to grab hold of me, but I rip free and run out of the room. “Damiano!”
I have to get to Rosie.
Suddenly, Dad comes out of a room up ahead, and unable to dodge him, he manages to grab hold of me, pushing me into a wall. It should be an indicator that I’m out of it when he doesn’t have to use much strength to restrain me, but it barely registers.
Harsh breaths saw over my lips, and when my eyes lock with his, the catastrophic events play out like a sick movie.
‘I love you.’
As Rosie’s final words shudder through me, flashes of the fortress crumbling to dust bombard my mind.
I didn’t say it back. I believed with all my heart I’d get to her in time.
For a moment, the haze of horror lifts, and glancing down the hallway, it registers I’m at the hospital.
“Is she here?” I pull against the hold Dad has on me.
Why else would I be here?
“Which room is Rosie in?”
Rosie was found. Thank fuck.
Just as I exhale a breath of relief, Dad shakes his head. The expression on his face is brutal. Others might mistake it for ruthlessness, but I see the pain, and it rips mercilessly through me. His voice is raw as he says, “Rosie is gone.”
“No.” I shake my head as I grip hold of his sides. “No.”
“Take a moment to breathe,” he orders. “You need to hear me, son.” I lock eyes with him again, and as a groan builds in my chest, he delivers the blow that obliterates everything I am.
“You’ve been sedated on and off for the past two weeks, Enzo.
The construction companies and rescue personnel worked around the clock.
The cadaver dogs only found bone fragments.
Everything was incinerated. No one survived the blast.”
The groan escapes, the sound torn right from my soul.
“Rosie is dead, Enzo.”
My breathing turns ragged, and my eyes burn as the words destroy my will to live.
Suddenly I hear a woman wailing, and only after a few seconds do I realize it’s Aunt Eden, Rosie’s mom.
“Enzo?” Dad pats my jaw. “Look at me, son.”
My eyes swing back to his. “Am I going to sedate you again, or are you going to find a way through this hell?”
“My baby! I want her back.” Aunt Eden lets out another agonizing cry, the sound moving through me like an icy blizzard, killing all the warmth in me. “No! Rosie isn’t dead!”
“Enzo!” Dad snaps. “Am I ordering the doctor to sedate you again, or are you going to power through this?”
My head jerks, and I look at him again. “No sedating.”
I can’t find Rosie if I’m out cold.
I instantly latch onto the thought. “Did you find her body?”
Dad shakes his head and repeats, “Everything was incinerated. There are only bone fragments. It will take the investigators time to identify them.” Dad’s eyebrows draw together. “Nothing and no one survived the blast, Enzo.”
Uncle Dario steps into the hallway, and the moment his tormented gaze lands on me, he rushes forward. “Jesus, you’re up. Are you okay? The call log showed you were on a call with Rosie when it happened. What did she say?”
The desperation in his voice claws at my heart.
“We were focused on getting her out of there.” There’s no emotion in my tone. “Then…” I swallow hard as the nightmare replays in my mind. “She said she loved me.”
Air bursts over my lips, and when I see the excruciating pain on Uncle Dario’s face, I pull away from Dad and grab hold of Rosie’s father. Pain ripples through my arms, and once again the bandages register on some level in my fucked up mind.
Uncle Dario’s body shudders as he grips me tightly, whispering, “She’s not dead.”
I nod.
His hands claw at my back as he breaks apart, then he groans, “My Rosellina isn’t dead.” I hold him tighter, a lump pushing into my throat while the sting in my eyes becomes too much and tears escape. “Tell me she’s alive.”
It sounds like my voice has been dragged over miles of molten lava as I say, “She’s alive.”
She has to be.
I refuse to believe I’ve lost the love of my life, that I won’t hear her give me shit and won’t see her playful grin again.
The blow hits me so fucking hard that my body rips from Uncle Dario’s hold as I stagger backward.
Instantly, there’s a hand on my back. “Breathe through the pain,” Dad orders while he grabs hold of Uncle Dario’s arm, pulling him to his side. “Both of you, just breathe through it.”
Uncle Dario turns into Dad, and when a heartbroken cry is ripped from him, it ripples through me.
I need to find her so I can ease everyone’s pain.
While Dad is busy with Uncle Dario, I take my chance and walk away.
“Enzo!” Dad roars.
“I’m fine,” I snap. “But I’m not mourning the woman I love until I’ve seen her dead body with my own two fucking eyes.”
“Where are you going?”
“To work.”
“Jesus Fucking Christ,” Dad growls, then he shouts, “You’re wearing a fucking hospital gown, Enzo! Stop for one second and let your mind catch up to everything.”
I glance down, and the light blue fabric gets through all the desperation and fear. I slowly come to a halt when the sight of the bandages sinks in.
“You got hurt while you were digging like a madman,” Dad tells me as he places his hand on my back.
There’s a tightness whenever I move my arms and wrists, and it itches and stings.
“Get back to bed so that Dr. Milazzo can check your wounds,” Dad orders. “Once he’s cleared you, I’ll send your mother to get you clothes. Let’s take this one step at a time.”
One step at a time?
Two weeks?
Rosie’s been out there for two fucking weeks?
My head swings to Uncle Dario. “Were you able to find anything?”
He shakes his head. “Every camera around the fortress was taken out, and the footage I managed to salvage gave me nothing. Facial recognition on the bodies scattered around the debris didn’t help either.”
“And the rest of New York? There has to be footage of them coming in?”
Uncle Dario shakes his head again. “It’s like the men never existed before the attack, and after…” his voice breaks, and panic floods my veins.
No, Rosie isn’t dead.
“Everything leaves a trace. There has to be something we can work with.”
Uncle Dario’s face crumbles, and when the tears fall and I see he’s beginning to believe Rosie is dead, it feels like my heart is ripped right out of my chest.
“She’s out there,” I whisper. “She has to be.” I swing around but don’t even manage a step before Dad hauls me off my feet.
“Stop!” He snaps.
I shake my head wildly as a groan builds in my chest. “She’s out there.” My breaths speed up, and the mere thought that I’ve lost Rosie makes me shatter into a million pieces, ripping a wounded shout from me. “No. No. No. She’s alive. Rosie isn’t gone. I refuse to believe it.”
I fight against Dad’s hold until my muscles grow heavy and I’m dragged into the darkness where I can’t do shit to find the woman I love more than life itself.