202

Isabella

"My deepest condolences, princess," Donatella said beside me as she sat on a stool by my bed. With the threat being obliterated, she was now fully welcomed to come and go as she pleased in the mansion. I turned away from her and looked outside the window instead. My hand reached up to my still-aching abdomen.

"You are healing at an unprecedented rate, princess. The wound that would have taken months to heal is already mostly covered up in a couple of weeks. I'm sure you'll be fully healed by the end of next week," Daniel said earlier as he checked on me.

Before, I could feel the tiny spark of life in my belly, but now I felt nothing but blood and a jumble of intestines and organs. RJ had gotten me good, but even though I had expected some level of loss, I didn't think it would hurt this bad.

"Has he come to see you yet?" Donatella asked, and I turned my head back towards her.

"A few times," I said, lying through my teeth, just as I had done to Damon weeks ago. I bet he was willing to think it was my fault. Then again, it was, after all. I didn't tell him when there was a chance I would lose the baby.

Just on time, Daniel opened the door to have a routine check on me. After looking at my eyes, checking my pulse and my blood pressure, he turned to me with a grim expression. "I'm sorry, but can we speak in private?" I shook my head, unmotivated to send Donatella away.

"The bullet… the fact that you were shot at close range disrupted a lot of things. Aside from the child, I don't think… forgive me if I say this, but princess, the damage to your womb was extensive. I don't think you'll be able to get pregnant again. Even if you do, the chances are very slim. It's almost less than 25%."

"So this is what it meant when I saw red in my future," I said. I closed my eyes as I felt tears pricking my vision and blurred it. I turned away from Daniel and looked at the window, just as I felt the comforting hand of Donatella on mine.

 "25% is still a chance, princess," she said, but I was gone. I closed my eyes and went back to sleep.

"The mafia king is currently busy with a number of things. Trust me, the aftermath of RJ's initial rampage was more than anyone could have thought. It destroyed quite a number of buildings when you came.

The number of people who died, let's just say that the mafia king has to handle everything. Of course, from that, some of his allies are doing the city, so he needs to take care of them all, but the buildings first and the loss of lives before the allies," Alessandro said as he walked towards me.

 "He would be here if he could."

I looked towards Paula, who said nothing but held my hand and rubbed circles around my knuckles. I thought about looking at the screen again to check my future, but I already knew that it was bleak.

 It would be bleak and dark, and perhaps if there was any hope, it would be too far between to dispatch all that I had suffered. I leaned back against my pillow and turned my face towards my window, allowing sleep to take over me again.

There was a knock on the door that woke me up, followed by a familiar face poking his head through. Andrew smiled as he walked in, offering me some form of respite.

 "I heard about everything, and I've been here for the past few days now. How do you feel?" he asked as he sat beside me on the bed. He was even more intrusive than Paula, but I didn't mind it.

"I'm better. Physically, I'm healed, but emotionally, I am so broken," I said as my lips began to tremble. "I want to see him, but I understand if he doesn't want to see me. Tell him it's my fault. I saw the outcome and I saw the possibility, but I didn't… I didn't tell him what it was."

"It's not your fault," Andrew said as he grabbed my hand. "You had a tough choice to make. You made one, but trust me when I tell you that the mafia king… he doesn't blame you. If anything, as a man, I know he blames himself for not being able to protect you when you needed it. It was just a second, and no one is that fast, princess.

 But you survived. Despite that, you survived, princess. I think it's something worth celebrating." Andrew's smile brought a small one to my face for the first time in weeks.

"Will you tell me when he comes back?" I asked him.

"Anything for you," he said with a smile.

Paula looked at me with squinted eyes and a pouty lip. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong now?" she asked as she lay beside me on my bed. I took in a sharp breath and exhaled.

"I'm angry, Paula. I'm not in a good place right now, but let's just say that I need to talk to Damon first."

Andrew poked his head into the room. "He's here," Andrew said as he fully entered the room. "He's downstairs, in the lounge. But it's not so good."

My heart fell. "What is not good?"

"He knows about this fact… there's a rumor flying around about how you may or may not be infertile.”