More Than Once by Dominique Wolf

CHAPTER 31:

T

wo days later my dad was scheduled to go in for his surgery that afternoon. The sun had decided to make an appearance today and a sense of hopefulness surrounded me. He needed to get through this surgery and he would be okay to go home. I just wanted him to be home. After chatting to the lovely nurse again, she assured me that this is a very low-risk surgery and he should be out just after an hour. I had planned to go to the hospital and wait until he was out. I hadn't seen my family since my last encounter with Camila but I was going to swallow my pride and be there for my dad. I pulled my hair into a high ponytail and applied mascara to my otherwise, natural look. Giovanni's phone rang from outside the bathroom door. I heard him answer it and I went back to finish off my look. I placed my mascara back into my makeup bag and left the bathroom. Giovanni had his back towards me as he spoke.

“Alvaro, she's going to be alright. You need to stay calm.”

Alvaro? What was going on? I could feel a sense of worry start to build inside as I walked over to him. He couldn't hide the concern that spread across his face.

“Let me just talk to Isabella and I'll be on the first flight out.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “Let me know when you are at the hospital. Adiós hermano.”

He disconnected the call and turned to me. “Penelope went into labour.”

“Already?” I was shocked. “But she still has a month to go.”

“That's why they're worried about the baby. They are on the way to the hospital now and Alvaro is freaking out.”

I felt so bad for them. They were such a lovely couple and I knew how excited they were for this baby.

“You need to go,” I said.

“But what about your father?”

“He'll be fine.” I reached out and cupped his cheek with my hand. “The worst is over now and once he gets this surgery then he'll be back home, but your brother needs you right now.”

“Isabella, if you want me to stay just say the word.”

“You need to be there for your brother. Once I know my dad is okay, I'll be on the first flight back to Barcelona.”

He pulled me closer to him and wrapped his arms around me. I rested my head against his chest that was rising at a faster pace than usual. I could sense the underlying fear in his body. He was worried about Penelope.

“You sure?” He needed reassurance.

I pulled away with enough space to look up at him. “I promise you, I'll be alright.”

He leaned down and kissed my forehead. “Please keep me updated and if you need me back here, I'll come right back.”

“And I love you for that,” I murmured. “But you need to be there for your family right now and I need to be here for mine.”

***

A couple of hours later, Giovanni and I went our separate ways. He managed to get the next flight out to Barcelona and I headed to the hospital. He told me I could extend my stay at the hotel for as long as I wanted. The last thing I wanted to do was have to ask my mother or sister if I could stay with them. I would much rather stay in my own space. I arrived at the hospital with my heart in my throat. I didn't want to face my family without Giovanni and his absence brought on a sudden emptiness inside. I was completely besotted with him and he made these last few days bearable - he was my comfort throughout and as much as I knew it was the right thing for him to go be there for his brother, it didn't make me miss him any less.

I pulled my phone out and sent him a quick text.

Just arrived at the hospital. Let me know when you land. I love you.

He was already in the air so I knew he would only read that once he landed back in Barcelona. I dropped my phone in my handbag and walked into the hospital. I would never get used to the blinding fluorescent lights as I made my way down the corridor. He had been moved to his own private room while awaiting the surgery. Visiting hours weren't for another 30-minutes so I took a seat outside. I leaned my head against the wall and attempted to compartmentalize the activities of the last few days. It had been such a rush of emotions that I hadn't quite dealt with yet. My phone started to ring, forcing me to press pause on my thoughts. I grabbed my phone and Reyna's name lit up the screen.

“Hi, Reyna.”

“There you are!” She exclaimed on the other side of the line. “How's your dad doing? Has he gone in yet?”

I kept her updated throughout the week with what was going on with my dad but she made a point of checking in every day to make sure I was okay.

“Not yet. He is scheduled to go in at about three so I'll have updates for you after that.”

“Okay, that's good. He just needs to get through this and before you know it, he'll be back home.”

I smiled. “Yes, that's all I want.”

“And Giovanni? Is he with you?”

“He's actually on his way back to Barcelona.”

“What?” She gasped. “Why in the wor-”

I interrupted her before she got any bad ideas about why he wasn't here. “Alvaro's wife went into labour early. Like a month early.”

“Oh no!”

“They're worried about the baby, so of course I told him he had to go be there for his brother.”

“Of course,” she agreed. “I'm just sorry that you're there alone. Do you want me to come? I can fly out.”

I chuckled. “Reyna, you'd never make it in time. Don't worry about it, I promise I'm okay.”

“You sure?”

“Positive. I'm going to make sure all goes well with the surgery and then I'll be back home in a day or two.”

“Okay, well if you need anything, you let me know.”

“I will and I'll call you with an update later after the surgery.”

“Please do, love you, Izzy.”

“Love you, too.”

We disconnected the call just as my sister strolled down the corridor, my mother following closely behind her. I mentally prepared myself for the interactions I was about to have with them.

“And, where's your boyfriend?” My mother asked, the contempt dripping off her words.

“He had a family emergency,” I said as I kept my tone as monotone as I could manage. “His brother's wife went into labour early.”

I was expecting either one of them to have some snarky come back but instead, they kept quiet and took a seat next to me. The tension in the air was suffocating and I tapped my fingernails nervously against my armrest.

“Isabella, please,” Camila said, stopping my hand.

I took a deep breath in. Memories of being back in high-school came flooding in and how my nervous twitch would cause me to constantly tap my nails against any surface I was leaning on. My mother was usually the one to tell me to stop as she found it annoying. Camila must have got that from her too. She really was the spitting image of my mother in every way.

We sat in uncomfortable silence and I was happy that neither of them had any more questions for me. Dr. Greenwood came down the corridor in his scrubs and greeted us politely before disappearing into my dad's room.

“Will we get to see him before they take him in?” I asked.

“Yes, Dr. Greenwood said we can have about five minutes to see him before they'll take him back,” my mother explained.

We said nothing more to each other. Just like clockwork, five minutes later we were ushered into my dad's room. I allowed my mother and sister to go ahead of me, both of them hovering over him. He was already looking much better than when I last saw him. He had colour back in his face but he was sporting a new grey beard that was slowly spreading along his jaw. My dad was always one to remain clean-shaven but given the circumstances, he wasn't able to get rid of it.

“We're going to be right outside here,” my mother explained softly. “And then once you're all done, you'll be home in no time.”

She ran her hands slowly over the top of his hair. It was the most affectionate I had ever seen her be. It was unusual.

“Isabella, you're here!” I could hear the surprise in his voice. “It's good to see you.”

I stood awkwardly at the foot of his bed. “It's nice to see you too, dad. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I thought I was dreaming the other day when you were here. I wasn't sure what was real.”

My chest tightened. “Of course I'd be here. I had to see you.”

He smiled up at me just as his doctor came to announce that it was time. I stepped closer to him and extended my hand. He took it in his and squeezed it.

“Love you, dad,” I whispered.

“Love you, Bella.”

He said his goodbyes to everyone else before the nurses wheeled him out of his room. The unsettling feeling inside of me continued to rise. I just needed him to be okay. We resumed our places outside on the chairs and we began the waiting game. I was happy to sit in silence but Camila had other ideas.

“So, how long are you staying in London for?” Camila asked.

“As soon as I know dad's alright, I'm going to go back home.”

My mother scoffed, “London is your home.”

“London was my home,” I objected. “I have a new life in Barcelona.”

“Are you ever going to explain yourself?” she asked.

She wasn't going to let this go.

I sighed. “What do you want me to say, mother? Nate dumped me and I had enough of having to follow the plan you laid out for me. It wasn't the life I wanted.”

“So, your idea of a good life is running away to Barcelona and doing God knows what with God knows who. What do you even do there? Do you even have a job?”

A flicker of anger started to reveal itself and I had to physically stop myself from reacting with emotion. If I did, it wasn't going to go down well. I took a deep breath in before responding.

“Mother, why can't you just accept that I am happy with my life the way it is?” I asked. “It's not what you wanted for me but it's my life, not yours.”

“We had a plan, Isabella,” she retorted.

“You had a plan. A plan that I was so sick of. I didn't even want to marry Nate but for six years I stayed with him knowing that it was what you wanted and I was actually so relieved when he dumped me.”

“You didn't even tell anyone. You just ran away.”

“How could I tell you? You have never been afraid to make it known that you're disappointed in me and the last thing I needed was to constantly feel that way.”

She remained silent.

“I need you to accept that I am never coming back to London. I am happy with my life in Barcelona and I am happy with Giovanni.”

“The club owner,” she stated, not bothering to hide the same condescension that Camila had when she found out.

I rolled my eyes. “Yes, the club owner. He works incredibly hard to have a successful business so I'd appreciate it if you'd dial down on the judgment.”

“Don't think I haven't done my research on that boy,” she clicked her tongue. “I know all about his lady-man reputation and that father of his.”

It was no secret that if you researched their family their skeletons were tossed out of the closest and straight onto the web. It angered me that she felt the need to research him and make assumptions about him and his family based on what was in the press. She of all people should know that there is always more to a story. Instead of trying to get to know him, she went with the garbage she found on the internet.

“You don't know anything about the kind of man Giovanni is. You didn't even bother having a conversation with him - you flat out dismissed him because he wasn't Nate and then you have the audacity to claim you know all about him. You know nothing,” I snapped.

“Isabella, we just want what's best for you,” Camila murmured.

Oh for fuck sakes. I felt like I could pull my hair out at any moment throughout this conversation.

“No, you don't, Camila. You want what you think is best for me but I know what I want and I don't want to be controlled anymore. You may be happy with having them dictate your whole life to you, but I'm not.”

The emotions were rising inside of me and I needed to get out of here.

“I need some air.” I turned down the corridor and didn't look back.