13. Francesca
Iwatered my last flower and then settled on the floor beside Reggie. “So, Reggie, what are we watching tonight? Reality show or Clueless?” Reggie hid his little muzzle under his paw. Okay then, his answer couldn’t be clearer.
After a few minutes surfing the TV channels, I squealed in content when I saw Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back was on. What could I do, I was a sucker for those.
“It’s you and me, Reggie.” I scratched his little ears and then reached for my bowl of chips.
A bag of chips and two more Star Wars movies later, my eyelids grew heavy. Even though I spent a lot of time in the hospital, it was oddly very tiring. I had hoped to get some sleep during the weekend but that didn’t go as planned.Not when Marie had dragged me to Vitelli’s place for lunch.
To say it had been awkward was an understatement. Cassio had avoided me like the plague, barely looking at me like I had offended him or something. I couldn’t tell if he was pissed or if he was relieved. Either way, that was the longest lunch I’d had in my life, and at the first chance of escape, I entered a cab and returned home.
Reggie rearranged himself on my leg and yawned deeply causing me to do so as well. Once he was comfortable enough, he resumed his deep slumber. My neck fell back against the sofa, and I looked toward the corridor that led to my room. Too far. I groaned inwardly and decided it wasn’t worth it. Slowly, my eyes began to close, and I finally lost the battle giving in to sleep.
A loud banging noise woke me up with a start. Reggie, who on my lap, jumped. Instantly, my heart began to speed up as I tried to situate myself. The first thing I saw were the boxes, which reminded me I was still in my living room. Still drunk on sleep, I knelt trying to get my bearings. I squinted my eyes as I looked at the television which was still on.
The loud banging sounded through the room again. Someone was trying to tear off my door.
I let out a yelp. This time it was louder, which caused Reggie to bark, his little frame trembling. With my heart beating fast, I stood up. None of my neighbors were loud, in fact, they were weirdly silent. My eyes darted to the clock on the wall. 3:45. Another bang. I jumped back knowing without a doubt the sound wasn’t coming from my neighbors. Quickly, I picked up Reggie, trying to make him stop barking. I stood there in the middle of my living room, my eyes glued to the door.
Inhaling deeply, I tried to calm myself but once the air got stuck in my throat, I knew there was no point in it.
Someone banged on my door again. I closed my eyes, caught between opening it or staying where I was. I knew my father was after me, that he wanted to drag me back home. What if he had sent one of his men?
The door trembled, and I knew eventually the person would break in, I searched for my phone trying to think of someone to call. The first person that popped into my mind was Cassio, but I refused to call him again. If it were one of Donato’s men then there was no point in pretending, I wasn’t home, he was going to enter either I wanted to or not.
“I’m coming!” I shouted once they knocked again on my door. No reason to delay the inevitable.
Before I could even open it completely, the door was shoved against me, and I stumbled back. I watched horrified as a man entered my apartment, more like fell inside. I didn’t even have the time to process what just happened, as he lay slumped on the floor his back facing me as he tried to stand up. An entirely new kind of fear took over me.
Who the hell was he?!
I took a couple of steps back trying to put some distance between me and the stranger. Reggie, who was far from a guard dog, was hiding somewhere by now. I looked at the man lying on my floor, he wore a black shirt and black pants, and his hair was dark, but I figured it was because he was soaked.
“Principessa,” I heard the whisper. He tried getting up again, placing his big masculine hands on the floor but failed miserably. “Shit!” he grunted.
Slowly, I watched as the man turned around lying on his back. It took me exactly five seconds to realize who was lying on my floor—bleeding.Then the endearment processed in my head.
“Cassio!” I cried out kneeling on the floor.
I practically flew toward him, forgetting all about my previous fears, as though that never happened. I removed the hair from his face and pressed my fingers to his neck trying to feel his pulse. I knew he was alive, but I needed to know just how much danger he was in. It was then that I also realized it was not water that coated his clothes, it was blood to.
Blood on his beautiful face. Blood on his neck, hair, and hands, blood everywhere.
He tried sitting up and so, I slipped my arm under his, moving him against the wall, so that he could lean on it. Once I moved away, I noticed my hands were stained by blood. The front side of his shirt had a wide tear right on his abdomen, and as gently as I could, I pulled it up. Suddenly I felt really dizzy, my head began to spin, and my blood pressure dropped. With one hand against the wall, I tried steadying myself. There is blood…there is blood coming out of him.
I inhaled deeply five times and then counted to ten, and finally opened my eyes. This was not the time to freak out.Cassio had taken on a sickly color that worried me, his face white and his lips blue.
“Cassio! Cassio, wake up.” I shook his face with my hands. He grunted but complied finally opening his eyes.
A pained smile marked his beautiful face.“Principessa,’’ he called again, his hand moving towards mine and gripping it hard.
“Yes, Cassio. It’s me. I need to call the doctor.” I tried to stand but he pulled me down. I was surprised by the amount of force he had.
“No,” he gritted out.
“Cassio, you’re bleeding,” I pleaded almost like a cry.“You’re hurt.”
“Help me stand.”
“Cassio,” I complained again but he was having none of it, he tried to stand once more and before he could slip and hurt himself even further, I helped him up.
“Sink,” he gritted out and practically shoved me toward the kitchen.
He shot forward leaning against the counter, doubled over my sink, and began to throw up. Not knowing what to do I kept my hand on his back in case he slipped or fell. I don’t know what to do! I quickly reached for a glass and filled it with water until it almost spilled. My hands were shaking so much that most of it fell on the floor.
“Fuck.” He swore again and pushed himself away from the sink. He turned around and leaned against it.
“Here.” I handed him the glass of water and he took it from me gulping it down. I couldn’t make myself look away from the tear on his shirt and what lay underneath it. Or think about the fact he was bleeding, and I was still standing here, instead of calling a doctor.
The clink of the glass against the counter snapped me out of it, and I looked back at him. Cassio had closed his eyes and was breathing hard. I didn’t know if he was going to faint or be sick again. I moved toward him once more, but he turned around and puked again.
“Okay, I’m good now,” he said after he cleaned his hand and my sink as well. He turned to face me.
“GOOD?” I shouted. “You’re bleeding,” I pointed, my voice wavered.
He looked at his hands and then pulled at his black shirt which would’ve been bloody if the color didn’t hide it well. He let it fall back until it stuck to his skin.
“It’s not mine,” Cassio noted. His voice was slightly altered, and I wondered if this was the effect of blood loss or if he was drunk. He was certainly slurring a lot.
“I’m pretty sure it is.” I pointed to his wound.
“Shit,” he said again as he looked down at it.
“I need to call the doctor.” I tried once more to reach for my phone, but he grabbed me. “Cassio, stop! I need to ca?—”
“No doctors.” His voice was oddly serious now.
“Then let me call your brother at least.”
“Don’t!” he practically snapped. “No Vitelli,” Cassio ordered and then he hiccuped.
“Are you drunk?” The question left my lips, yet it sounded so stupid when the man was bleeding. This was the last thing I needed to worry about.
“No.” Pause. “I don’t know.” He dropped his head “Fuck, Francesca, I fucked up.” He shoved his head into his hands and began shaking it, and all I could hear now was mumbling as his hand blocked most of the sound.
“Cassio, we need to stop the bleeding,” I said but he didn’t seem to hear me. Moving toward him, I slowly put my hand on his arm, he was freezing. As always, my instinct to help set in and I focused on just that—helping him.
The moment my hands touched his skin, he shivered and dropped his arms, allowing me to look at his face. Even like this, he was achingly beautiful. His deep green eyes focused on me.His full lips were slightly parched. There was blood on his strong, defined jaw and caking his lovely light brown locks. The man had no business looking this good while he was dying.
“We need to stop the bleeding,” I said again, this time he nodded understanding what I just said. “I don’t know what to do, Cassio,” I confessed, every ounce of the fear I was feeling apparent in my tone.
“No doctors. No Vitelli,” he said again. He sounded awfully worried, and so I nodded, even if I didn’t agree with it.
“Then show me what to do,” I whispered.