Chapter 48
I waited with bated breath, the silence was deafening.
“Arturo, say something, please.” I whispered, sickness creeping in rapidly.
“Are you sure?” his voice was low, as he looked away, lost in thought.
“Yes… I’m sorry.” I choked back a sob, I couldn’t hold the tears in any longer.
His hand cupped my face as his thumb wiped away my tears. When I looked up, I found Arturo beaming at me. Well I wasn’t expecting that! This sure as hell was the last thing I’d imagined hearing today, or any day in the near future for that matter.
“Wait… You’re smiling? I didn’t?—”
“Didn’t what? Expect me to smile hearin’ the woman I love is havin’ my baby?” he leant in and rested his forehead against mine. “My love, I’m over the fuckin’ moon.”
“You are?” My face must have been a picture because Arturo immediately laughed.
“Too right I am. Isabella, I fuckin’ love you. Yeah, alright babies and love never crossed my mind before, but… Fuck it, with you I want it all. Every single fuckin’ thing,” he breathed, his breath mingling with my own.
“But Arturo, I’m supposed to be taking over, what will we?—”
“Easy,” he whispered, rubbing my back. I slid my hands to my hot cheeks, trying to calm my racing heart.
My breath had become ragged. “Just breathe. One day at a time, remember?” I laughed as his words from the night he confessed everything in my room came flooding back.
“I’ll be by yours and our lil’ one’s side.
You can do it all, I promise you. We just got to be more careful now. ”
“So, you want to do this? You seriously want to have this baby together?” My voice went hoarse. “Aren’t you scared?” I asked, thinking I already knew the answer.
“Of course. But with you? Nothin’ is impossible,” he smiled. “I’ll find and eliminate the threat before our lil’ one comes. Don’t you worry.”
“Arturo… I-I don’t remember who it was.” Fresh, hot tears leaked down my cheeks. “I see his face but it’s all a blur. I’m so sorry.” I sobbed, my frazzled emotions taking over.
“Don’t think about that now,” he said, brushing his lips against mine. “Isabella Ricci, you’ve brought light back into my life. Before you, everythin’ was so dark.”
“I’m scared, Art—” I started.
“I get that. But you have nothing to be scared of. I’ve seen you with Theo. Believe me, you’re going to be an amazin’ mum. I can feel it in my bones.” His confidence in me was everything and more. It was all I needed to help wrap my head around this.
Sure, my brother stepped aside to be a father but I was going to prove that no matter what I could run our family business and be a kick ass mother. And I’d do it all with my man by my side. Smiling, he rested his hand on my stomach and kissed the end of my nose.
“Hey, uhm… before I forget…” I said, wiping tears from my face.
“Yeah…?” he said, his head falling to one side.
“How did you find me?” His lips quirked up to one side before he flicked my ear. I winced and then pulled back. “Ow! What was that for?”
“Wow… nothin’ gets past you, does it?” he chuckled.
“Ugh, come on… Just tell me!” I whined, tired and cranky. After a moment he nodded and gave me a genuine smile.
“That ear cuff I bought you… it’s custom made. Mate of mine does me the odd favour every now and then. Blood handy.” His eyes gleamed.
Cheeky motherfucker.
“Wait… you put a tracker on me?” I gasped, touching my ear.
“Don’t go gettin’ all offended, if it weren’t for that you could be d—” he stopped mid sentence and looked to his hands. My stomach churned as guilt and sadness filled my chest
“Arturo, look at me, I’m okay, you got there in time. You saved me?—”
“Yeah, well I didn’t save everyone, did I?
” he cursed, yanking himself to his feet and smacking an empty plastic cup from the tray at the end of my hospital bed.
After a moment he gripped the back of his neck and turned back, his face strained.
“Shit, I really wish I didn’t have to tell you this,” he sighed, his eyes welling up. “Bella, it’s Ty.”
“What’s that little shit head done now?” I chuckled. But the look on Arturo’s face made my blood run cold. “Arturo…? Is Tyler okay?”
“I couldn’t stop him, Bells…” His voice cracked. “He followed me into the house. I tried to make him stay outside but he’s stubborn twat. You mean the world to that boy. There was no fightin’ him—” he stopped and ran his hands through his hair.
“What are you saying?” I asked, bile rising in my throat.
“There was an accident. A beam broke and—” he came back to sit on my bed. “He fell Bella…” His eyes shone with tears. “But, the good news is he just got out of surgery, and the doctors are pleased with how it went.”
I sat bolt upright, swinging my legs off the side of the bed. But no as soon as I stood, the room started spinning.
“Bella, you need to rest,” Arturo muttered, trying to catch me. Cursing, I pushed him back.
“No! I need to see Tyler. I’ll rest later.” I breathed. Tyler needed me more than I needed to rest. He’d been there for me endlessly over the years, it was my turn.
“Bells, Arturo’s right, get back into bed.
” Andre ordered from the door. I leaned on the bedside table and turned to look at my younger brother.
It had been weeks since I last saw him, and if I was being honest I hadn’t expected to show up, what with how classes and football pretty much ruled his life.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, bewildered.
“You kidding? My sister gets kidnapped and one of our best friends ends up in the ICU… Where the fuck did you think I would be?” His eyes flashed with hurt. Sighing, I softened my voice and nodded.
“I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.” Just because I was fighting with one brother, didn’t mean I had to push the other away too.
“Anyway Tyler’s still unconscious. He won’t even know you’re there.”
“But I’ll know, Andre. Now, please can you both help me?
” I pleaded, grateful that the room had finally stopped spinning.
They were beside me in seconds, holding my hands as we exited the room.
I knew Tyler wouldn’t exactly be next door but the distance between his room and my own seemed like a damn marathon.
“Andre, don’t you have a game tonight?” Great, I can remember he has an important game but not who left me to burn to death.
“Fuck the game, Bells.” he replied, squeezing my hand tighter. A lump formed in my throat as I realised how much I’d missed him this past year.
“Kiddo, what are you doing out of bed?” I clucked my tongue as Red hurried over to me in the corridor, his face looking a lot more exhausted than usual. “You’ve got a concussion, you need to rest.”
“I’m fine. I just want to see Tyler,” I breathed, trying to catch my breath.
“Isabella Carmella Ricci, I swear one day you’ll be the death of me!
” came my mother’s booming voice as she came running up behind us.
“Imagine my surprise when I go to see my daughter, who’s just suffered a head trauma, to find she’s not there !
” Narrowing her eyes and pointing her index finger, she locked gazes with Arturo and Andre who didn’t quite know where to look. “And you two , we’ll be having words.”
I pressed my lips together to smother a laugh as I watched Arturo actually shrink back. Despite his claims that he fears nothing, I was starting to believe that my mother scared the shit out of him.
“You know your daughter, Ana, when she wants something she stops at nothin’ to get it.” Arturo chuckled as did Red. I rolled my eyes as Andre winced, waiting for our mother’s reaction.
“You, Arturo Ramos , really know how to skate on very thin ice, don’t you?” she quizzed, with a mischievous glint in her furious eyes.
“One of my specialties,” he winked. After a moment, my mother smiled and peace was once again restored.
“Now can I see Tyler?” I asked hopefully.
“Of course you can, sweetheart. I think he’s finally coming around.” Red’s wife appeared from Tyler’s room, with a relieved look on her face.
I gave her a smile which she returned, cupping my cheek.
None of us had expected her to come into Red’s life when she did.
But like the best things in life she breezed in like a gust of fresh air and sprinkled joy across everything she touched.
Although, it hadn’t been all hearts and roses from the get go.
This woman had given Red the ride of his life.
It took a while to make him realise he needed that ray of sunshine as much as he needed to breathe.
But that’s a story for another day.
“Thank you,” I dropped my hands from Arturo and Andre much to their irritation. “I think I’d like to see him alone…”
“Alright. We’ll be out here if you need us,” Arturo assured me.
Huffing out a tense breath, I squared my shoulders and pushed Tyler’s door open. The first thing I noticed was the heart monitor beeping away and wires coming out of him in all sorts of places. But the second I looked at his closed eyes, my face crumpled.
“Aw, Ty…”
Both his legs and his right arm were in casts. Every inch of skin was mottled with purple and blue bruises. I fought the urge to sob and walked towards his bed. Since Peyton died, this boy had become my best friend… my only real friend and seeing him like this broke me.
“Ty, you awake? It’s me.” I sank into the chair beside him, taking his left hand in mine, running my thumb across his knuckles. “ Why, Tyler, why did you follow Arturo into that house?” I brushed a stray hair from his forehead with my free hand and sniffed as he began to stir.
“Cause I lo-love ya, dumbass.” he mumbled. “You’re my best friend.” The second his familiar eyes caught mine I allowed a tear to fall.
“Oh, Ty,” I kissed his knuckles, relief flooding through me knowing he was awake and hopefully on the mend.
“You g-good?” he croaked.
“I’m fine, just worried about you.” I cried, my tears rolling onto his tattooed wrist.
“Tell me s-something good, B-Bells.” he strained as words got caught in his throat.
“Can you keep a secret?” I whispered.