Chapter 93 Trap

Chapter 93 Trap
Surrounded by lots of cords, Dante lies there on his bed. Unconscious. His skin is pale and cold, and his body is weak. Without the slight movement of his chest while he's breathing, it would've seemed like he's lifeless. Even seeing the smallest movement from Dante makes me feel relieved because it means he's still alive and well. Despite him being unconscious the whole time I'm here, I keep reassuring myself that he'll be fine and wake up soon.

After my father's confession earlier, I begged him to let me see Dante. It doesn't matter if he's awake or not. What matters is seeing him alive. I asked for minutes, yet he kept rejecting my plea and told me to rest. However, I continued to refuse to rest until I saw Dante. My father then finally gave in to my pleading.

I've been here for half an hour, sitting next to Dante in my wheelchair. As I watch him in silence, I hold onto his cold hand. My breath hitches at the sight of Dante's eyes twitching. They're open, but only for a few seconds. I sigh, disheartened at the sight. I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. While I'm here waiting for Dante, he's been in and out of it a few times, but never fully conscious. As much as I want him to be awake now and talk to me, I can only wait patiently.

"How is he?"

On the doorway, my father steps into the room and closes the door behind him. Feeling tears forming in my eyes, I only shake my head with a frown and shift my attention back to Dante. Given how severe his blood loss was, I don't think Dante will be awake anytime soon. The blood bag still has some blood in it, so that means he's still getting the blood he lost into his body.

"He'll wake up soon. Don't worry," my father says. He reassures me with a squeeze on my shoulder, and I can only sigh quietly as I stare at Dante.

I can't help but frown at Dante. Even in his rest, tiredness is apparent on his face. It's like he's not fully at rest, still worried about what happened earlier. Despite the look on his face, I hope he can still rest in his coma. After what happened, he should get all the rest he needs.

At first, I was scared that something might happen to him because of the amount of blood he's lost. However, now that I've seen how much attention he's getting here in the ICU, I'm sure he will recover soon. Even if I have my doubts, everyone here will make sure Dante wakes up and gets better.

"Let's get back to your room, okay? We'll see him again tomorrow," my father says. Although he's right, that I can see Dante again tomorrow, I'm still not ready to leave his side just yet. I want to stay here just a little longer. I wouldn't admit it right to my father's face, but I'm still hoping that I'll see Dante waking up soon.

"Just a few more minutes, please?" I say. My father hesitates, and then he nods. He probably knows better than forcing me to leave. I won't really go anyway unless I say so.

"Alright. I'll wait outside," my father says.

"Thank you."

As my father leaves my side, I keep my gaze on Dante, frowning at his tired, pale face. With my grip tightening around his hand, I lay my head on his side. I feel my tears fall from my eyes, but I stay in my position. Earlier, I was scared of losing him, and now, I'm still afraid that he's not waking up anytime soon. I've tried to convince myself that he will wake up soon, but I'm not really sure anymore.

"If you're listening, please hang in there, okay? Come back to me. Take your time to heal, but please wake up soon. I want to see your eyes again. And thank you for what you did. Without you, I don't know what will happen to me," I say.

My eyes widen as I feel Dante's hand move a little. I go back into sitting position and stare at his face. I frown as I see he's still asleep. I guess I was imagining things. Or maybe his hand did move earlier, but he's still unconscious.

I bring my hand to his face. With my hand on the side of his face, I run my thumb over it and rake my fingers through his dishevelled hair. At this moment, I wish I had some sort of healing powers that could heal Dante and make him wake up right now. However, it's only wishful thinking. I can't magically heal him. I can only rely on the doctors' and nurses' skills as well as god's will for him to heal. So, there's really nothing else I can do other than hope and pray for Dante's health and recovery.

More minutes have passed, and there's no sign that Dante is waking up soon. Giving up, I let my father push my wheelchair out of Dante's room and back to mine, which is on a different floor.

I push the door open, and my eyes widen at the sight of Valeria and Antonio sitting next to each other on the sofa. Seeing me entering the room, Valeria rushes towards me and hugs me tightly. I grimace and wince silently, feeling the piercing pain from my wound. I guess the drugs are finally starting to wear off. The nurse had better give me more, or I won't be able to sleep later.

"Oh, my god. Thank god you're fine. I immediately got here after I heard what happened," Valeria says. I force a smile at her. Noticing I'm in pain, she quickly lets go of my arm.

"I'm sorry," Valeria apologises.

"It's okay. You don't have to come here. I'm fine now. It's just a small wound. I'll be back in a few days or so," I say.

My father pushes me towards the bed. Once I'm close enough to the bed, I push myself up from the wheelchair and get onto the bed with Antonio's help. I turn to him, and he only smiles at me. Why is he here? He just left an hour ago. I guess he's just accompanying Valeria and nothing else.

"You're back," I say.

"Yeah. I can't really leave you without giving you something," Antonio says, and I smile at him.

Antonio and giving gifts seem to be inseparable. He always gives me something whenever he has the chance. Now that I'm at the hospital, he also has gifts for me. I wonder what he's giving me this time.

Wait a second. I think I forgot something. Right! Antonio's gift from when we were at the villa. I haven't gotten the chance to open it. If I have to guess, it's probably a dress or something like that, based on the size of the box. I need to open it later when I'm back home.

Antonio holds a big, white teddy bear in front of him. My jaw drops at the sight. It's been a while since I got any plushies as a gift. I don't realise how much I missed getting plushies. I'm not sure where my old ones are. They're probably in the attic or somewhere.

"You bought this? Aww, it's so cute. Thank you so much," I say. Pouting, I take the teddy bear from him and hug it. It's so soft and huggable.

Fuck. Antonio is really making it hard for me to forget him, huh? I feel like he's doing this on purpose. I hate that his plan works on me. If he keeps giving me gifts, I'm going to lose my fucking mind. As much as I like the gifts he got me, I can't truly accept them. I can't keep doing this to Dante. Even though Dante understands my circumstances and feelings, I don't want to make him feel like he's one of my many options. I really want to be with him and no one else.

"Whenever you miss me, hold on to him just like that," Antonio says.

My cheek burns at his words. Maybe it's because he reads too many fucking fictional books, but damn it, Antonio. He's too good with his words. They're really getting into my head. I'm not sure if I can hold myself back any longer before I actually lose my mind.

"What a flirt," I say, smiling and rolling my eyes at Antonio.

"I mean it," Antonio chuckles, grinning at me.

After what happened at the villa, it seems his reserved side has dissipated. He used to be sheepish and shy about this boyfriend thing, but after the villa, he's not even afraid to show how much he likes me in front of my father anymore. Does it mean the Ricci is getting on to the next step of their plan for us?

"Alright then. I'll hug this whenever I miss you," I say, hugging the teddy bear while smiling at Antonio. I take a sniff at the teddy bear, and it smells just like pure vanilla. What a sweet and calming scent.

"Good to know. If you miss me too much, call me, and I'll be there in a heartbeat," Antonio says, winking at me.

"I will," I say.

"Anyway, how's your vacation with Antonio?" Valeria asks with a sly grin. My cheeks turn hot as I remember all that happened while we were at the villa. Everything was such a mess. I was a mess. All my thoughts when we were there were jumbled up together. I can't fucking think clearly. It's like my brain, body, and heart told me to do different things at the same time. It was hell.

"Well..."

I'm not sure what to say. What happened was not what I expected. I mean, I wasn't a good guest. I got drunk and made Antonio worried. I was such a mess. I'm not sure if there's anything worth mentioning after what happened.

"It's good. I'd love for us to stay there a bit longer, but unfortunately, Alessandra got sick," Antonio says.

Thank god I got sick. I'm not sure if I can stay with Antonio any longer without going insane. I might do something stupid again, like get myself drunk. Ugh, he's too charming for his own good. I hate how I can feel myself falling for him even though I know I shouldn't. Fuck my life.

"What happened?" Valeria asks.

"It's just a cold. The rain came out of nowhere when we were hanging out at the beach," I say.

"Are you okay now? Besides the gunshot wound, I mean," Valeria says.

"I'm fine. Antonio took good care of me," I say, smiling at Antonio.

Antonio really did take good care of me. Without his care, I'll be having a fever alongside the pain from my gunshot wound. That'll feel like hell. Now that I don't have a cold anymore, all I need to worry about is the pain in my arm because of the gunshot.

"It's unfortunate you're dealing with something worse than a cold now," Antonio says.

"I wouldn't say it's worse. I mean, it hurts, but it's better than having a fever and a runny nose," I say.

Having a cold sucks. What's shitty about catching a cold is the fever and runny nose. I hate shivering all the damn time because of the fever. Just thinking about it makes my body ache. And a runny nose? Yeah, I don't want to deal with a chafed nose from blowing my nose all the time.

"Really? Now I'm curious about what being shot feels like. I never get to experience it," Antonio says.

Is he fucking insane? Who in the world wants to get shot? Well, I can't lie, but I was curious about how it feels to get shot. Now that I've experienced it, I never want it to happen ever again.

"No! Don't say that. It hurts as fuck. I can only manage the pain because of the drugs," I say.

"Well, if I had the chance, I'd take a bullet for you someday when something like this happens," Antonio says.

"You don't have to," I say.

Oh god, why is Antonio getting sweeter every day? If he keeps up with his act like this, I swear I'm going to keep falling deeper and deeper for him. I can't let it happen. Knowing what his father is currently up to, how he's treating me does feel like a trap, and I hate that I keep falling into it, no matter how hard I try to stay away from it. I seriously need to hold myself back and keep reminding myself about how bad of a person Antonio might be.