More Than Once by Dominique Wolf

CHAPTER 28:

B

y the time I got back to my apartment, I was numb. Giovanni walked me upstairs, his hand in mine the whole way. He unlocked the door and we stepped inside, greeted by the emptiness.

“We need to pack a bag and grab your passport,” Giovanni explained softly, “Do you want me to do that for you?”

I shook my head. “I'll do it. Could you call Reyna and let her know?”

“Of course.” He kissed my forehead.

I walked down the hall to my room and grabbed a bag from the floor. I threw it on my bed and started shoving whatever I could find in it. My father had a heart attack. I couldn't fight the sick feeling of guilt that sat deep inside of me. I couldn't even remember the last time I had a full conversation with him. We spoke briefly a couple of months ago. He always reminded me that no matter what, he loved me. Unlike my mother, he tried to be more caring and understanding. He didn't ask too many questions - he just wanted to know I was okay. Why didn't I make more of an effort with him? I was so angry at myself. I didn't even realize that tears had started to form again until they spilled over, running down my cheeks. I dropped on my bed next to my bag and hung my head in my hands. What if he didn't make it? What would have been the last thing I said to him? I never thanked him for being a good father and he was, no matter the difficulties I faced with my mother and sister, it had nothing to do with him. He just got caught in the middle of my mother and me - the constant bickering and disagreements. Her constant disapproval of my choices and the pressure I had always felt from her. All of that seemed so irrelevant at that moment.

“Isabella?” I looked up at Giovanni standing in the doorway. “Baby are you ready to go? Our flight leaves in an hour.”

I wiped my cheeks as he walked over to me and wrapped his arms around me.

“It's going to be okay,” he murmured into my hair.

“You don't know that.” I sniffed.

“We'll be in London soon and then you'll be able to see him. I'm sure your family has the best doctors working on him.”

That was probably true. My mother was pedantic about so many things in life - she would definitely ensure my father was being taken care of. I gathered myself together and took a deep breath in. Giovanni grabbed my bag.

“Do you have everything?”

I quickly grabbed my passport from my bedside table, “Yes, let's go.”

***

It was already nightfall by the time we pulled up in front of St. Jude's hospital. I didn't know how Giovanni organized everything so quickly but we were in London and I was about to see my family for the first time in months. We stopped at the hotel room he booked and dropped our bags off first before heading to the hospital. The sick feeling in my stomach got worse at the thought of going inside - the guilt and the anxiety were now doubling over. I had no idea what to expect when I stepped through those doors. I didn't want to have to talk about anything from the last few months - I just wanted to focus on my dad. That's why I was here.

Giovanni grabbed my hand, pulling me out of my own overthinking. “Are you ready?”

I shook my head. “I don't think I am. This is the first time I'm going to see my family.”

“You're here for your father, mi hermosa,” he said as he kissed my forehead. “That's all you need to focus on.”

I shrugged and took a deep breath in. All I wanted to know was that my father was okay. We walked through the lobby and I went over to the older lady sitting behind the desk at reception.

“Hi, I'm looking for my father. Oscar Avery.”

“Yes dear, let me have a look for you.” She fixed her glasses and turned to her computer screen.

I tapped my nails nervously on the counter.

“Isabella?” A deep voice said from behind me.

I turned to see Smith walking through the hospital lobby. He had put on a bit more weight since the last time I saw him. His soft, kind face was rounded out and I was surprised by the full chrome beard he was now sporting. Camila was never someone who liked facial hair so I was surprised her husband had such a thick beard. The bags under his blue-grey eyes gave away his clear lack of sleep but they were full of concern.

“Smith, hi,” I reached out and he pulled me in for a brief hug. “I got here as soon as I could. Is there any news?”

“They managed to stop the pain but he's not out of the woods yet. We're still waiting to hear from his doctor.”

Giovanni stepped beside me and extended his hand to Smith. “Hi, I'm Giovanni. Nice to meet you.”

Smith was taken back by Giovanni and looked over to me.

“Oh sorry, Smith, this is my boyfriend, Giovanni.”

He tried to hide his surprise and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, Giovanni. I'm Smith - Isabella's sister's husband.”

Smith was kinder than my sister and mother combined so I wasn't sure how they were going to react to Giovanni. My mother was so convinced I was going to marry Nate and with the latest relationship updates from the last few weeks, I didn't think she was going to be prepared for me to have a new boyfriend. Especially one the complete opposite of what she would approve of. I didn't want to have to deal with that now though - I was here for my father and nothing more.

“I'll take you to his room,” Smith said and led us down the corridor.

Every hospital was the same. The piercing bright white lights shining down on you and the smell of disinfectant all around. I hated hospitals. They were too often filled with families riddled with uncertainty as they waited for news on their loved ones or families overcome by sadness over the loss of someone. It made my heart sore.

I stepped closer to Giovanni. “I don't know what's going to happen when you meet my mother and sister.”

He shrugged casually. “I'm here for you, Isabella, so whatever happens, I'll take it.”

I tightened my hand around his as Smith turned us down the aisle marked “Cardiac ICU” and my family came into view. My mother and Camila were sitting side by side on the chairs against the wall across from the ICU doors.

“Isabella,” Camila gasped and got to her feet.

I let go of Giovanni's hand and went to greet my sister. Her brown eyes are all puffy from crying. She threw her arms around me and a lump started to form in my throat, suddenly overcome by the emotions again. I had never seen my sister like this.

“It's good to see you, Bella,” she whispered in my ear.

“You too, Camila.”

My mother stood up and turned to face me. Gloria Avery had never looked older. My mother had always held a youthfulness to her face but the latest creases in her eyes and forehead started to give away her age. Her dark brown hair was cut short just below her chin. Her face remained unchanged - not a flicker of emotion in her light brown eyes.

“I'm surprised you're here,” she sneered, clipping her words in her formal delivery.

Seriously? Her husband was in ICU fighting for his life and she still decided to address me in her usual, unemotive ways. I wiped my eyes and crossed my arms, my sadness now replaced with frustration.

“Of course I'm here,” I retorted. “Dad is fighting for his life right now.”

She snorted and Camila turned to her. “Mother, please don't do this now.”

I was thankful for my sister's interruption. I was not in the right headspace to get into anything with my mother right now. She flicked her eyes past me landing on Giovanni.

“And who is this?” She snapped.

I turned to Giovanni and reached for his hand.

“This is my boyfriend, Giovanni.” I announced.

I watched my mother clench her jaw as she looked Giovanni up and down. She was not happy at all.

“Boyfriend?” she repeated, not bothering to hide her distaste.

Giovanni stepped forward and very politely extended his hand to Camila, “Hi, Camila, I'm Giovanni.”

Camila shook his hand and politely greeted him but I could see the surprise on her face. None of them were very good at hiding their feelings. Giovanni extended his hand to my mother next.

“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Avery.”

My mother looked down at his hand and crossed her arms. “Wish I could say the same.”

“Mother!” I snapped. “There is no reason you have to be so rude.”

Giovanni dropped his arm and stepped back beside me. He kept his face very neutral and I was thankful for his level-headedness right now as one of us had to be that way.

“Isabella Avery, you do not want to get into this with me right now,” she warned. “You think you can just waltz back in here after all your months of lying, deceit and blatant disrespect? I don't even recognize the daughter standing in front of me right now.”

Shots fired.She didn't hold back. A part of me thought she would have at least contained herself until we were alone but I was foolish to have thought that. My mother had never had a maternal bone in her body. I clenched my fists, the anger inside of me boiling up.

“Mother, please!” Camila hissed. “Now is not the time or place.”

Thankfully, the doctor pushed through the ICU doors just in time before I opened my mouth. I wasn't sure I would have been able to hold back everything I wanted to say. I was overwhelmed with emotions right now and my mother was pushing me over the edge.

“Mrs. Avery?” The doctor stepped towards us. “I'm Doctor Greenwood.”

He must have been in his late 40's. He pulled the material cap off his hair exposing his dirty blond hair. His jawline was very defined and his blue eyes reminded me of a human-looking Ken doll. He pulled his gloves off and shoved them into his dark blue scrubs.

“We've managed to stabilize him but we still need to assess the damage done. He is still in pain but we are unable to give him any morphine at this stage as that would drop his heart rate way down and with the instability of the beating right now, it could stop his heart.”

Giovanni stood close to me, reaching for my hand again as I listened intently to what the doctor explained.

“These next 24 hours are crucial. His heart needs to start beating at a regular pace again by itself and right now that's not happening. We need to wait for it to stabilize before we can think of the next step.”

“And what if it doesn't?” my mother asked.

“I'm sorry but you and your family need to be prepared for the worst. All we can do at this stage is continue to monitor him and hope that his heart begins to stabilize again. This was a very severe heart attack and I think it might be best for you all to go in and see him and say your goodbyes just in case.”

The lump in my throat worsened as I tried to hold back my tears. My father could die in the next 24 hours and we had to be prepared for that.

How the fuck do you even begin to prepare for something like that?

My mother followed Dr. Greenwood into the ICU room. I turned to face Giovanni, concern spread across his face. He cupped my face in his hands.

“He's going to be okay, baby. You need to believe that he's going to be fine,” he consoled. “I'm going to be right out here waiting for you.”

I leaned my head against his chest and his arms tightened around me. Was I supposed to say goodbye to my dad? Would this be the last time I ever saw him? How could I possibly begin to be okay with that? The nauseating feeling that washed over me got worse with each thought.

“Isabella, you can go next,” Camila said as my mother came outside again.

I avoided her eyes and walked straight into the ICU. The constant beeping sound surrounded me as I laid eyes on my dad in the hospital bed. My eyes filled with tears at the sight of him. His eyes were closed with his hand resting on his stomach. He was hooked up to so many machines it made my heart ache. His hair had started to grey out but he still had so many years left inside of him. I approached his bed and slowly reached for his hand. His eyes fluttered open.

“Isabella?” He breathed. “Is it really you?”

The tears slid down my cheek. “It's me, dad. I'm here.”

I could see the tears starting to form in his eyes and I had to tell myself not to break down at the sight of that.

“You're here,” he kept repeating as he tightened his hand around mine.

“I'm here and I'm so sorry, dad,” I whimpered.

He slowly moved his other hand over mine. The movements highlighted how weak he truly was in that moment.

“I'm sorry about everything and I'm sorry I haven't been here. I love you so much, dad. You have to be okay.” I couldn't hold back the tears as they streamed down.

“Shhhh, Isabella,” he murmured. “I'm going to be fine.”

“I'm so sorry.” I kept repeating, overcome with emotions at the sight of my frail father.

“I want you to be happy, Izzy. Tell me that you're happy.”

I looked up at him and his light eyes filled with emotion. He always had kind eyes. That was one thing about my father - he could comfort you with just one look. After everything that has happened, all he wanted to know was that I was happy. His forgiving nature made me even more emotional.

“I'm happy but I need you to be okay,” I sniffed. “That will make me truly happy.”

“I love you, Izzy.”

“I love you too, dad.”

I held onto him until a friendly nurse came to tell me that my sister wanted to come inside but it was only one visitor at a time. My dad's eyes were closed again but his chest was slowly moving up and down. I kissed his forehead one last time before leaving the room. I entered the corridor and Giovanni sat alone on the couch in front of the doors. My mother was nowhere in sight.

“Where did she go?” I asked him.

He shrugged his shoulders. “She wouldn't say a word to me. She just came out and took off in that direction.”

He pointed down the hall but she wasn't there. Smith stood awkwardly at the doors to the ICU, waiting for Camila. I wiped my cheeks and took in a deep breath.

“Smith, we're going to head out,” I announced. “You can tell Camila I'll be back here tomorrow morning for visiting hours.”

He nodded and gave me a weak smile. Smith never had a very strong nature to him but he always tried to be kind, especially to me. I grabbed Giovanni's hand and we made our way to the exit of the hospital.

“The taxi will be here in two minutes,” he said.

We pushed through the doors and in true London fashion, we were greeted by the rain. We stood close together underneath the roof while we waited for our transport back to the hotel. It was freezing and I couldn't wait to get out of here.

“So, you're just going to leave again without saying goodbye?” I heard my mother say.

I turned to the side and my mother climbed the few stairs to the top where we were standing. She had her coat on and held an umbrella above her head.

“I came here to see dad and I will be back tomorrow for visiting hours,” I said coldly.

“You have a lot of explaining to do, Isabella,” she snapped. “Don't think you can just show up here as if nothing has happened.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yes, heaven forbid you'd be able to contain yourself. Even in situations like this, you have to act so heartless and make this about you.”

My mother was seething now but I didn't care. She had a terrible way of getting under my skin and I couldn't stop myself from snapping at her.

“You're the one who has been heartless,” she spat. “You disappear for months after blatantly disrespecting me and running away to God knows where. Your career and relationship were in absolute shambles and you lied to us about it!”

“You don't know what you're talking about!” I objected. “How could I possibly turn to you? You've never cared about how I felt. You've only ever cared about yourself and your status.”

I wanted to scream. My blood was boiling over and I knew that if I didn't leave right now, I would say something I would regret. Thankfully our taxi pulled up in front of the hospital just in time. Giovanni started to walk towards the taxi and I followed behind him.

“How dare you?” my mother exclaimed, “I'm the parent here - I've always done what's best for you.”

I stopped and turned to her. “No you've always done what's best for you.”

Giovanni opened the door for me and I stepped inside, not even bothering to hear what else my mother had to say to me. I stared outside the window and the pouring rain as we sped off into the night. I was exhausted - mentally and emotionally.

“Are you okay?” Giovanni whispered to me.

“Not at all.”

He put his arm around me and pulled me closer to him. I closed my eyes and rested my head against his chest. Everything that happened was spinning around in my head and I couldn't stop it. I really thought my mother would have contained herself for the sake of my dad and what was happening but I was wrong to have expectations. All I needed was a hug from her to tell me everything was going to be fine. Isn't that what parents were supposed to do? They're supposed to comfort you and make everything better but instead, my mother dismissed how I must be feeling and went all in. I knew she had so much more to say but I couldn't give her the time of day - I was too overwhelmed.

“I'm sorry my mother was so rude to you.”

“That's not your fault.”

“I know, but still. She can be a real bitch sometimes.”

Giovanni chuckled. “I can handle your mother. She's not the one I'm here for.”

I reached up and planted a soft kiss on his lips. He was my only comfort right now and I wanted to hold onto him for as long as I could.