Chapter 21 #2
“Do you remember what happened, Nik?” I keep my voice hushed so that we don’t wake Amber up.
“Not really. I remember standing outside the cabin. There was a loud crack, like a window splitting, and then… I must’ve blacked out.” She swallows the lump in her throat. “When I woke up, I was here in the hospital.”
She doesn’t remember who saved her. It’s difficult for me to piece together what happened to her because I was trying to escape with Amber, but it’s clear that she has understandably been living in a bubble of fear ever since.
In low tones, I tell her about running with Amber even though Ric had warned us to hide in the bunker. If only Nikki hadn’t left the cabin, we might still be in the bunker now, eating watermelon rinds from tin cans and recalling our favorite TV shows and bands from when we were little.
I tell her a little about the thrift store and Amber’s father bundling us into a car and driving up the mountain, sugarcoating around the fear and the panic in my chest that he would kill Amber in front of me and then keep me alive.
I talk about the climbers’ hut, and Gio staying with me while Nico disarmed the explosives.
She doesn’t ask about Tommy Romano, and I don’t tell her what happened.
Tears well in her eyes when I reach the part when Demi and I discovered Amber squashed between shelves inside the bunker pantry.
“I’m so sorry, Meg.”
She tenses up again, and I wrap my arm around her, hugging her against my chest.
She feels so small, so vulnerable, like a lost child, and I swallow the anger building up inside me.
How can one man cause so much pain and death and destruction?
How did he become the kind of person who was okay with hurting others?
When did he decide that this was the impression he wanted to make on the world rather than saving elephants or fighting fires or finding a cure for cancer?
“You have nothing to be sorry for, Nik.”
I rest my head against hers, waiting for her breathing to regulate before I close my eyes. The last thing I think about before I doze off is that I don’t have to break the news of her death to her parents when I call them.
Amber’s face lights up when she sees Nikki.
The smile is quickly replaced by confusion, her eyes darting back and forth between me and my best friend.
Nikki’s recollections of that night might be vague at best, but it’s obvious that Amber remembers everything, and I wish I could find a way to erase it from her mind, give her a clean slate on which to write a new story of her life. Starting now.
“Auntie Nikki?” She sits up in bed, the unicorn still tucked under her arm. “How did you get here?”
“I wish I knew.” Nikki smiles.
Her eyes are still dark with bruise-colored circles underneath, her hair is still stringy, and her collarbones are protruding above the neckline of the hospital gown, but it feels as if we’ve taken the first step towards helping her to heal.
“But…” Amber’s eyes are inquisitive.
She’s five years old. She has been plunged into the kind of world I wouldn’t let her watch on TV, and she needs to make sense of it in her own way. I know I need to protect her, but lying to her would be wrong.
“Auntie Nikki is still trying to heal, so you can’t go throwing your arms around her, okay? She got hurt outside the cabin.” I wait for Amber to nod that she understands. “But the doctors will make her better.”
“Meg tells me you’ve been on a little adventure too.” Nikki sits on the edge of Amber’s bed. “You were so brave. Braver than I’d have been, Amber.”
“I was scared,” Amber says in her small voice. “I wanted Meggie, but I didn’t know where she was.”
God it’s hard thinking about her all alone in the bunker, but perhaps this is what we need. We each have our own story to tell, but if we take it slowly, then maybe we’ll find solace from each other.
I hear Demi speaking to someone outside, and my pulse races.
I’m on my feet and opening the door before Gio can even reach for the handle.
“Gio!”
He folds me into his arms, and I wrap my legs around his waist, forgetting about the cast on my foot, as he swings me around and smothers my face with kisses.
“You’re back,” I manage between kisses. “Amber is here. And Nikki. Bruno wanted to take us somewhere else, but Nikki wanted to stay, and I’m so glad you’re here.”
It feels as if we’ve been apart for months and as if we’ve been together the whole time, and I don’t know how this is possible, but I’m not going to question it.
Gio sets me back down, breathless, on the floor, but he doesn’t release me.
His lips linger on mine, and I breathe in the smell of him, imprint the touch of his fingers on my back, and his body pressed up against me.
I could stay like this forever, but he looks tired, and I realize that he has experienced trauma too.
My eyes lock with Demi’s, and she smiles, gesturing for me to go ahead and take Gio inside.
“Hey, what’s the unicorn’s name?” He crosses the room in three easy strides and bends over to kiss the top of Amber’s head.
She smiles at him, and I’m amazed that almost all traces of her experience have been erased from her face. “Oona. I think it suits her.”
“It does.” Amber offers Gio the soft toy to inspect, and he holds it in front of him, twisting it this way and that as if checking that it meets the criteria of a fluffy pink unicorn. “Nice to meet you, Oona.”
Amber giggles and hugs the unicorn when Gio hands it back. There’s trust in her eyes when she looks at him, and something more. Adoration almost. Whatever it is, I’m just happy to see her sitting up in bed and smiling.
“There’s a surprise waiting for you at home.” He winks at me from over his shoulder.
“A surprise? What is it?” Amber sits forward.
I swear that if she was anywhere else but in a hospital bed, she’d be sitting on Gio’s lap right now, convincing him with those big blue eyes that surprises are best if they’re not kept secret.
“You’ll have to wait and see.” His voice is firm, and Amber rolls out her bottom lip.
The disappointment doesn’t last long. The assistant arrives with her breakfast on a tray, and she hungrily eyes the tiny sachets of jam to go with her toast.
Gio stands up to make room for the meal, his gaze settling on Nikki. “How are you feeling?”
I remember Nikki telling me that Gio visited her apartment in LA before she flew out to Vermont.
But his eyes register no shock when he takes in the hospital gown and Nikki’s appearance, almost as if he was expecting to see her.
Of course, Bruno would’ve told him about the attempt on Nikki’s life last night.
“Sore?” The word rises at the end as if she’s unsure whether she should say anything other than ‘fine’. “Damaged. Weak. But I guess it’s to be expected.”
“I’m glad you made it.” Gio’s smile is genuine. There’s no animosity towards her on his part either for being duped by Tommy Romano. “I prayed that we were not too late.”
Too late?
Realization dawns on Nikki at the same time. “You brought me here?”
“Not personally.” Gio’s tone couldn’t get any more apologetic if he tried. “Bruno and I found you outside the cabin. We had you airlifted to the hospital.”
My heart thumps with love for him. He didn’t only save me and Amber, he saved my best friend also.
“My first time in a helicopter and I was unconscious.” Nikki smiles.
The assistant has left the room, and Amber is spreading butter and jam neatly across her toast, her tongue poking out in concentration when the door opens and the doctor comes in wearing his white coat, a stethoscope draped casually around his neck.
My pulse quickens when he glances at Nikki and the rolled-out bed. “Is everything okay?” I ask. “Nikki is my friend. I should’ve asked permission, but it was late, and I didn’t want to disturb anyone.”
I’m rambling, because I can’t read his expression, and I don’t want him to insist on taking Nikki back to her room, not when she’s just starting to look a little more alive.
“I’m not here to criticize, Ms. Walsh.” His eyes flicker to Gio and back again. “In fact, I wanted to speak to you about another matter.”
“Another matter? Is it about Amber? She’s gotten her appetite back.” Why am I still prattling on like I’m afraid to let the man speak?
“No.” He smiles. “This matter concerns you.”
“Me?” Because I’m parroting everything he says now too.
I shoved the blood tests to the back of my mind so that I could focus on Amber, but now all the suppressed anxiety hits me like a punch in the stomach, and I sit down in the visitor’s seat.
“As expected, the results of your blood test revealed that you are pregnant. Congratulations, Ms. Walsh.” He turns to Gio. “And Mr.…?”
“Sabatelli.” Gio’s grin is so wide I could probably see his tonsils if I wasn’t so distracted by the news. “We’re going to have a baby?”
The doctor smiles. “I’ll give you some privacy.” He walks to the door and hesitates. “While you’re here, I’d also like to carry out an ultrasound scan. It’s routine. To confirm that everything is progressing as it should and confirm the due date.”
I barely notice him leaving the room. Or Demi poking her head through the open doorway, grinning, and saying, “Congratulations. I knew it,” before disappearing again.
“Oh my God, Meg.” Nikki blinks like she has grit in her eye. “You’re pregnant?”
“Are you going to have a baby, Meggie?” Amber asks with a mouthful of masticated toast. “Can I choose her name?”
Gio kneels beside me, picks up my hand and raises it to his lips. “We’re going to have a baby, Meggie. We’re going to be a family.” His eyes search mine. “Are you happy?”
“I…”
I’m overwhelmed, speechless, ravenous, nauseous, excited, scared.
If it’s possible to feel every emotion all at once, then I think that’s what’s happening to me right now.
Part of me must’ve known before the doctor delivered the news, because the shock is already starting to wear off.
But there’s one thing I am certain of: I wouldn’t want to share this new journey with anyone else but Gio.
“Yes, I’m happy.” I allow my smile to take over.
“It’s time to go home, Meggie.”