NINETY-THREE

It's been a week since the ugly incident and Alessandro hadn't woken up yet. I was struggling to pull it together but I knew that I didn't have any other option, I couldn't afford to break down right now not when I had to look after myself and Alessandro as well. I needed him to be up and running if we were going to get to the bottom of this tragic incident that had befallen us.

The doctor urged me to give him time and be patient till he decided to come around. His vitals were good and his condition was improving, he was going to wake up any moment from now, the doctor would always say giving her a warm smile in return.

The conviction in his voice always seemed to calm my nerves so I waited calmly until Alessandro decided to come around.

I was in his hospital room, sitting on a chair next to the hospital bed, my knees were pulled up under my chin with my face buried between the latest reports from the investigators who were handling the case until Alessandro took over.

Reading helped me calm down and forget my worries momentarily and I'd been doing a lot of it during the past few days.

I wondered if she was ever going to have the perfect ending like the characters did in most of the books I read or if I was going to be amongst the selected few that ended up with nothing other than grief and sadness.

I put down the book for a moment and stared at Alessandro. The room was silent except for the constant beeping of one of the machines.

I sighed and pulled up the report but I slammed it on my lap immediately as I noticed something move.

I waited for a few seconds to figure out if I'd been hallucinating or if what I saw had been real.

That was when I saw it again - Alessandro's hand moved. He had finally regained consciousness. I tossed the book away as she jumped to her feet before rushing towards the bed.

Alessandro's eyes fluttered open but I could notice the struggle on his face to keep his eyelids open.

"Hey, can you hear me?" I whispered but Alessandro didn't respond, only slightly moving his neck towards my voice.

That was all the response I needed before I pressed the button on the side of the bed to call in a doctor or nurse.

I sat gingerly on the bed, feeling the tiniest bit of relief as his fingers wrapped around hers loosely. Alessandro had come back to me.

If there was anyone who would be able to find our son, it would be him.

The doctor rushed into the room accompanied by two nurses. His steps slowed considerably as he saw me on the bed.

"He's awake, doctor." I turned to the door with a stoic expression on my face before my eyes immediately turned back to Alessandro who was awake but he hadn't fully regained consciousness.

"When did he wake up?" The doctor asked, making his way towards the bed.

"A couple of minutes ago," I replied. "Is it going to be this way now or is he going to go back under?"

"I highly doubt that he's here to stay with us now," The doctor replied. "Can you excuse us for a couple of minutes? We need to check on him, you can wait outside if you don't mind."

I nodded, grabbing the report off the floor and my phone from the table as I made my way outside. I heaved a huge sigh of relief as I leaned against the wall, it was as if a huge load had been lifted from my shoulders and I finally acted slightly normal after the horror week I'd spent in the hospital.

Now, my full focus would be finding my son and knowing what the hell happened to him.

I shut my eyes taking a deep breath to calm myself before I made myway to the waiting room where I would inform friends and families that Alessandro had finally woken up.

"Hey, Yoda," I said into the phone as he picked up the second ring. "Is this a bad time? I would hate to intrude on anything you've got going on." I glanced at the clock hung high on the wall, it was a couple of minutes past 7:00 PM on a Monday.

"You're not interrupting anything besides, I can always pick up right back where I stopped," Yoda replied, dropping his pen on the table as he massaged his temple. "Did something happen with Alessandro, is his condition worsening or improving?"

"He made a huge leap in improving today."

"What do you mean?"

"Alessandro woke up today," I said in a tired voice. There was nothing to be grateful or happy about. My two-year-old was still missing and that was all I cared about right now.

Yoda's eyes widened. "When? Has he said anything yet?"

"He woke up a couple of minutes ago and the doctors are currently evaluating him. When they're done, I'll get a report and see how well Alessandro is coming along. I felt the need to deliver the good news to you firsthand."

"Thank you, I'll be there shortly," Yoda said, pushing himself out of his chair. "I'm heading out of the office already."

"I'm sure he'd be happy to see you. You need to make sure that you're not being followed on your way here, please. We still don't know who's behind this and I don't want to be the victim of any more casualties." I cautioned.

I couldn't afford to have anyone in here anymore. I had taken more than her fill of being around a hospital and I wanted nothing to do with one anymore. I felt so unsafe around here and everyone was a suspect.

I was still struggling to come to terms with the fact that our home had been ambushed by some unknown men. They had to have had help from the inside and I know that whatever they wanted, it had to do with Alessandro, and our son was paying the price for his father's sins.