Chapter 21 The Talk
Serena's POV
My eyes followed the direction of the voice and landed on a huge figure laying not too far away from me to my left. A part of me stung as I had completely forgotten to ask about her.
Laying on the nearest bed to mine was Valentina's large figure. She was hooked up like me to the beeping machine but also had a couple more machines stuck somewhere around her.
She was just stirring, probably about to wake up. I was glad to see her, like really happy to know she made it. Atleast, I've been able to do one good thing since I got here.
I watched her turn slightly, noticing how she winced when she tried to turn to her left. She groaned aloud then settled to her back before lifting her hands to her eyes and rubbing gently.
Her eyes opened up slowly, then she looked around, not fully at me yet. The sight was cute. To think I had once feared her, now here she is, trying to get herself back.
When her eyes finally met mine, I smiled the widest smile my face could let me without much pain. "You're awake," I said to her.
"Argh," she groaned before adding, "barely, I still feel like shit."
I laughed, she still has her sense of humor.
"Good to see that you are awake too," she said again, "and that you still remember who I am. For a second there, I thought you would have a memory loss."
I laughed again, shaking my head slightly. "Nah, everything is intact except for a few parts of the attack," I responded.
"Good," she said, surprising me.
"Good?"
"Yeah, you don't need to remember that shit. I wish I could forget," she choked out.
I smiled, finally getting what she meant. "At least we are alive," I admitted.
She smiled faintly, still looking in pain. "And that's majorly thanks to you."
I waved a hand in the air. "It's nothing. If you were in a better state, you would have done the same or more. I did what I had to do at the moment."
"Nonsense, child," Valentina shot back with a smile, "you really think I could take on those guys. Forget my height and size, I'm probably the biggest softball you'll find," she joked.
I laughed. It was hard to believe as Valentina was a towering figure to me. I mean, Dante still had an inch over her, but she always looked to shadow me, not to even talk about the size of her hands. If I didn't know better, I would say she's his sister or something.
"Oh please, Valentina," I said, still laughing. "You are over-flattering me at this point," I joked with a huge smile on my face.
"I'm serious, Serena," she started in a less jovial voice. "I wouldn't be able to do half the things you did yesterday, you really did good."
I was near tears again, but this time, it was tears of pure happiness. "Thank you, Valentina. I really appreciate it," I said with a smile, and really meant it. "Enough of me. How are you feeling?" I asked, pushing myself up slightly.
Valentina shook her head and raised her hand up slightly. "I feel banged up. Got patched up when they brought me here, gave me some blood too and loads of medication," she explained.
"And is any of it working?" I asked curiously.
"Don't know," she said with a shrug. "But I'll be fine though. Not my first bullet strike anyway."
"Wait, really? You've been shot before?" I asked, stunned. I always saw her as a maid, not part of Dante's fighters.
"Of course, you can't be living with Dante for as long as I have and not be put in the face of a crossfire once or twice," she smiled as she explained. "Been shot at least twice before now, might not even remember some as I got used to the danger."
"Woah," I exclaimed.
She laughed from my side. "I'm surprised he brought me here though. Maybe this one was more serious than he could handle. Other times, he got some people at base that would take the bullet out and patch me up. I guess you can say I've been through shit," she added with a smile.
I looked up, not exactly sure all of that was adding up. "Where are we exactly?" I asked, still staring at the ceiling.
"Not sure yet, but don't think Dante would risk taking you to a public hospital. So my guess is that we are in some kind of illegal infirmary."
"Ohhh," I exclaimed absently, looking away as part of me felt silent pity for the woman laying by my side.
"I'm glad you're okay," I said out of nowhere.
"All thanks to you. You could have left me in the car when those dicks snuck up on us. Why didn't you leave me?" She asked, and I could feel her eyes on me the whole time.
I took a deep breath, actually asking myself why I didn't leave her. The answer was obvious, I wanted to prove myself, but couldn't tell her that.
"Well, I guess I just couldn't stand you getting killed by those savages," I said instead.
"You sure?" She asked. "I mean, we've barely had any interaction since you came here and I've not been of much help in getting things moving between us, so why look out for?" She asked again.
"Cause we are family, and family don't leave family behind," I replied while turning to meet her eyes.
"Family, we are family," she repeated, more like she was telling herself.
A few minutes passed with none of us saying a word. Then...
"Serena?" Valentina called out.
"Yeah," I answered.
"I'm sorry for the way I treated you earlier," she started.
"No, you don't have to apologize, I came into your family as a stranger. You had every right to treat me as you wanted," I cut in.
She smiled and shook her head. "No, I didn't. You fought for me," she paused and stared at me for a few seconds. "You earned my respect, girl."
I smiled, feeling a different kind of warmth spreading through me. Finally, I have a place in this family, at least to someone.
I smiled again. "Thank you, Valentina."
"Anything you need, anything at all. Come to me, I mean it."
I nodded. "I will. I appreciate it."
She nodded and laid back straight on her back.
But as we both went quiet. A thought settled into my head, a thought from before the whole chaos. I hesitated, then bit my bottom lip. "Valentina... there's actually something I want to talk to you about.”