Chapter 31 Two love birds
Lily's POV
Wade was fast asleep when we entered.
Mia ran towards him immediately and took his hands.
"Wade," she said, her voice breaking with tears.
Mr Gambino gasped in shock and ran towards her immediately, tears welling up in his eyes.
"Mia!! You spoke? You called your brother!" Mr Gambino stammered and a tear fell from his left eye.
I had never seen Mr Gambino in this state before, never heard his voice crack the way it did now.
"Daddy, Lily helped me," Mia said and my eyes widened. Mr Gambino turned and looked at me, his eyes pouring out all the emotions he had tried to hide, then he turned back to his daughter and embraced her tightly, sobbing.
"I'm sorry baby, I'm sorry for everything," he cried and Mia's face softened. Tears were rolling down her eyes too.
"Daddy, it's okay," she tried comforting him.
"I love you and I promise to be there always. I promise," he held her tighter, crying.
"I love you too Daddy, I love you! Can you stop crying please?" Mia cried but he held onto her tighter.
My eyes shifted as I noticed Wade trying to sit up.
"Dad, it's okay. We all love you," Wade managed to say as he slowly tried to sit up.
"Wade!" I screamed and ran towards him. I helped him sit up then ran my hands over his face, examining him carefully.
Mr Gambino released Mia who ran excitedly towards her brother.
"Mia, I'm so happy. I don't know where to start," Wade said, his voice cracking.
Mia placed her finger softly over his mouth.
"Shh! You don't have to talk, otherwise you'll injure yourself. The doctor said you needed rest," she said, busy talking while Wade fixed his eyes on her moving lips, a tear escaping his eyes.
"I prayed every day to hear you talk non-stop like this. You don't know how hard it was Mia, seeing you unable to speak for years. I just—"
"I know Wade, it wasn't easy. Not for me either. All thanks to Lily," Mia said, turning towards me.
Wade held my hands tightly and looked deep into my eyes.
"Thank you Lily," he said and cold shivers ran down my spine.
"It's okay Wade. You need to focus on recovery. Why would you stress yourself out to this extent?" I scolded him playfully.
"Are you worried about me?" he asked, looking at me.
"You almost gave me a heart attack when you passed out!" I said and his face lit up, a wide smile spreading across his face.
I turned and saw Mr Gambino leaning on the wall smiling.
"Enough of the show, you two lovebirds," he said and I blushed.
"Son, you didn't tell me you had a girlfriend?" Mr Gambino spoke and the room fell silent.
"Girlfriend? Dad, who told you that?" Wade asked in confusion and Mr Gambino furrowed his brows.
Wade turned to me expecting answers.
"It's Clara. She's waiting outside," I said and his jaw dropped.
"Clara! What the hell is she doing here? Who even told her I was here?" he whispered to me.
"She came on her own and introduced herself as your girlfriend," I whispered back.
"Forget her!" it escaped his mouth loudly.
"Forget who? Your girlfriend?" Mr Gambino asked.
"Dad, that girl is no good. Wade would be better off with Lily," Mia spoke out of the blue and I felt shy for the first time in a long while.
"Tell me son, is she your girlfriend?" Mr Gambino asked and I watched as Wade opened his mouth and closed it. Then he took a deep breath and cleared his throat.
My heart pounded as I waited anxiously to hear what he would say. Was he really in love with Clara?
I feared that he would admit Clara was his girlfriend and if he did, it would feel like another rejection.
But what if he was really single? Then something might actually grow between the two of us. My heart fluttered at that thought.
"She was," Wade's voice echoed around the room and my heart stopped.
"But—" he continued and I heaved a sigh of relief. "Things got complicated and I couldn't keep up with her anymore and..."
"So?" Mr Gambino interrupted. "Why is she here? I want to know if she's still your girlfriend because she told me that."
"Dad! She might think I am her boyfriend but she is definitely not my girlfriend and she can never be. She keeps forcing things even when there's no love between us," Wade protested.
"My son is not someone to be forced into anything. It seems like she has something over you," Mr Gambino said and Wade went quiet.
I noticed something flicker across his face. I knew it very well, it was helplessness and defeat.
Then I remembered what Chris had told me earlier.
Blackmail. Clara was blackmailing him.
She surely had something over him and I was curious to know what it was.
"Well son, she's waiting outside with your best friend Chris. You need to let them in," his father continued but Wade shook his head.
"I'm not ready for her right now Dad. Chris can come in," he said, almost pleading.
"Son, you have to let her in. Just pretend you're too weak to respond," Mr Gambino suggested.
"Dad—"
"Wade, you have to listen to your dad. Let them in," I said.
After some hesitation he nodded. To everyone's surprise, he pulled me towards him, making me sit on the bed beside him, then he adjusted himself and rested his head on my lap.
Everyone was surprised and I was too shocked to protest.
"They can come in now," Wade said.
The moment Clara walked in, our eyes met and she motioned for me to stand up. I tried to but Wade held me back firmly.
"Please stay," he whispered slowly.
Clara ran towards him immediately, took his hands and collapsed into sobs.
"Wade dear, I'm so sorry for not coming sooner. I'm so sorry," she sobbed and he pretended to be asleep.
"It's not your fault Clara, don't blame yourself," I said gently but she shot me a look.
Chris stood beside Wade, his eyes filled with emotion. Then he turned to Mr Gambino.
"Sir, is he going to be fine?"
"Of course Chris, he just needs some rest," Mr Gambino replied, patting his shoulders.
"Please extend my warm greetings to him when he wakes. I need to be on my way home now," Chris said and waved at Mia who gave him a shy smile.
"Take care of yourself Lily," Chris said and I nodded gently.
"Take care of yourself too Chris," I replied. He nodded and left.
Clara's sobs filled the room and Mia was getting visibly irritated just looking at her.
"Clara, stop crying. You might wake Wade and the doctor said he needed rest," I said gently but she ignored me completely.
"Stop crying Clara, he'll be fine," Mr Gambino said coldly.
She sniffled and turned to him.
"I want to stay here with him until he's recovered. I can't bear to leave him alone," she said.
Wade opened his eyes slightly and shook his head, silently begging us to decline.
"He's not alone dear. He has me, Mia and Lily here. Besides, he's getting discharged today," Mr Gambino said.
"Sir—"
"Clara, I think you should start going. Surely your parents would be worried by now, wouldn't they?" he interrupted her.
She nodded tearfully and turned to Wade who closed his eyes immediately and pretended to be asleep.
"I love you Wade," she said and kissed him on the lips. She stood hesitantly and kept looking back until she left the room.
Wade sat up quickly and wiped his lips.
"Why not consider acting?" Mr Gambino said and everyone burst into laughter.
My phone rang, spoiling the moment, and I ignored the call.
It was an unknown number and it kept ringing.
"You should pick up. It might be important," Wade said.
I picked up the call and my heart stopped immediately.
"Lily, it's Martha, your mum's next door neighbour. Her blindness worsened this evening and she fell off the staircase. She is currently at St Maria's hospital."
"Mum? My mum?!" I screamed.
"Listen to me Lily, you don't have to scream. All you need to do is rush here as fast as possible and make an advance payment for them to commence surgery."
"Surgery?"