Chapter 197

Chapter 197
AUTHOR'S POV

Emilio's phone rang while he was meeting with one of Don Luca's suppliers three blocks from the hospital and when he saw Angelo's name on the screen, he answered immediately.

"Hey kid, what's up?"

"Emilio, can you come visit? Please? I'm so bored here and Mom's sleeping all the time and the nurses won't let me leave the room and I really want to see you," Angelo's voice came through small and pleading.

Emilio glanced at his watch and then at the paperwork still spread across the table. "I've got some business to finish up but I'm actually in the area, give me twenty minutes?"

"Really? You'll come?" Angelo's voice brightened immediately.

"Yeah, I'll come, but just for a little while, got it?"

"Got it! Thank you, temporary dad!"

Emilio shook his head as he hung up, ignoring the warm feeling in his chest at hearing Angelo call him that.

Twenty minutes later he was pushing open the door to Allegra's hospital room as quietly as possible.

The room was dim with only the afternoon light filtering through half-closed blinds and Allegra was asleep in the bed, her chest rising and falling steadily, the white bandage around her throat a stark reminder of what had happened.

Angelo was sitting in the corner chair looking small and lonely and his face lit up when he saw Emilio.

Emilio held a finger to his lips and pointed at Allegra, then gestured for Angelo to come closer.

They settled on the small couch near the window, far enough from the bed that they could talk without disturbing her.

"So what's so boring that you had to call in reinforcements?" Emilio asked in a low voice, ruffling Angelo's hair.

"Everything," Angelo whispered back. "Mom sleeps all the time because of her medicine and when she's awake she just stares at the wall and cries and I don't know what to do."

"She's healing, kid, it takes time," Emilio said quietly.

"I know but it's scary watching her like this," Angelo admitted. "What if she tries to die again?"

"She won't, she promised she'd try to get better, remember?" Emilio said, pulling Angelo against his side.

"Yeah," Angelo said but he didn't sound convinced.

"Hey, I brought you something," Emilio said, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a deck of cards. "Thought we could play while we wait for your mom to wake up."

Angelo's eyes widened. "You remembered I like cards!"

"Of course I did, what kind of temporary dad would I be if I didn't remember the important stuff?" Emilio said, starting to shuffle the deck.

They played quietly, their voices barely above whispers, and Angelo kept winning because Emilio was letting him but the kid was too happy to notice.

"I got you again!" Angelo said triumphantly, laying down his cards.

"You're getting too good at this, I'm going to have to start actually trying," Emilio said and Angelo giggled.

The sound was soft but genuine and it made something in Emilio's chest feel lighter.

"Can you teach me how to do that shuffle thing you do? Where the cards flip all cool?" Angelo asked, watching Emilio's hands.

"This?" Emilio did a bridge shuffle and Angelo's eyes went huge.

"Yes! That's so awesome!"

"Alright, but you have to practice, it's harder than it looks," Emilio said, handing Angelo the deck and positioning his small hands correctly.

From the bed, Allegra's eyes fluttered open and she lay there for a moment, disoriented, trying to figure out what had woken her.

Then she heard it, Angelo's soft laughter, and her heart squeezed because she hadn't heard that sound in so long.

She turned her head carefully and saw them on the couch, Emilio's large hands covering Angelo's small ones, showing him how to hold the cards, and her son was smiling, really smiling.

"No like this, you have to bend them just a little," Emilio was saying quietly. "There you go, you're getting it."

Angelo tried the shuffle and the cards went flying everywhere and both of them froze, looking toward the bed to see if the noise had woken Allegra.

She quickly closed her eyes and evened out her breathing, pretending to still be asleep.

"Oops," Angelo whispered and Emilio chuckled softly.

"Good effort though, took me weeks to learn that," Emilio whispered back as they gathered up the cards.

"Will you keep teaching me? Even after Mom gets better?" Angelo asked quietly.

"Yeah kid, I'll keep teaching you," Emilio said. "I made you a promise and I keep my promises."

"Dad used to say that too," Angelo said and his voice got sad. "That his promises were solid."

"Your dad was right," Emilio said. "And I'm going to make sure you remember all the good things about him while you grow up."

Allegra's throat tightened and tears leaked from her closed eyes because Emilio was doing everything she should be doing, being everything Angelo needed while she lay here being a shell of herself.

"Do you think Mom will be okay?" Angelo asked, his voice so small and scared.

"I know she'll be fine, she's strong, stronger than she thinks, she just needs time to remember that."

"I hope you're right," Angelo whispered.

"Me too, kid, me too," Emilio said, pulling Angelo close.

They sat like that for a while, Angelo leaning against Emilio while they talked about nothing important, just filling the silence with quiet words and soft laughter.

Allegra watched them through barely open eyes and something cracked open in her chest, grief and gratitude all mixed together because this man who owed them nothing was giving her son everything she couldn't right now.

Angelo yawned and Emilio glanced at his watch. "Getting tired?"

"No," Angelo lied even as his eyes drooped.

"Come on, let's get you settled so you can rest," Emilio said, standing up and guiding Angelo to the small cot the nurses had set up. "Your mom needs you rested when she wakes up."

"Will you stay until I fall asleep?" Angelo asked.

"Yeah, I'll stay," Emilio promised, sitting on the edge of the cot.

It only took a few minutes before Angelo's breathing evened out and Emilio carefully stood up, tucking the blanket around him.

He turned to leave and that's when he saw Allegra's eyes were open, watching him.

"You're awake, how do you feel?" he asked quietly, moving closer to the bed.

Allegra forced a smile.”Better.How long have you been here?"

"About an hour, Angelo called and asked me to visit," Emilio said, and without thinking, he reached out and gently placed his hand on her forehead to check for fever. "You're a little warm, want me to call the nurse?"

Their gazes met and held and Emilio found himself noticing things he'd never noticed before.

Her eyes were beautiful brown with little flecks of gold that caught the light.

She had a small scar above her left eyebrow that he'd never seen because her hair usually covered it.

Her lips were full and soft looking even chapped from medicine and dehydration.

She looked beautiful…and vulnerable.

The realization hit him like a punch to the gut and he jerked his hand away like he'd been burned.

"I should go, I've got work to get back to," he said abruptly, taking a step back from the bed.

"Oh, okay," Allegra said, confusion flickering across her face at his sudden change. "Thank you for coming, Angelo really needed this."

"Yeah, no problem, happy to help," Emilio said, already moving toward the door. "I'll check on him tomorrow."

"Emilio, wait," Allegra said softly.

He paused with his hand on the doorknob but didn't turn around. "Yeah?"

"Thank you for being here for him when I can't be, it means more than you know," she said.

"Just doing what anyone would do," Emilio muttered and practically fled from the room before he could say or do something stupid.

He made it to the elevator before he stopped and pressed his palms against his eyes, his heart racing.

What the hell was wrong with him? Allegra had just lost her husband, had just tried to end her own life, and here he was noticing how beautiful her eyes were?

Besides, he had known Allegra all his life, he had always known that she was beautiful

"Get it together," he muttered to himself. "She's grieving, she's vulnerable, and you're supposed to be helping her recover and not to see how beautiful she loves looks”.

But as the elevator descended and he walked out into the late afternoon sun, Emilio couldn't shake the image of her brown eyes looking up at him or the warmth of her skin under his palm.

Back in the room, Allegra lay staring at the ceiling, confused by Emilio's sudden departure.

Angelo stirred in his sleep and she looked over at him, at the peaceful expression on his face that had been missing for weeks.

Emilio had done that, had given her son a reason to smile again.

That alone put her at ease and she thought that just maybe, she'll be able to overcome this grief eating her.

She'll have to find a way to be able to cope with the loss and live for her son.