More Than This by Dominique Wolf

CHAPTER 53:

Isabella

“S

tart the popcorn. I’m just getting dressed,” I shouted to Reyna from my room.

We had finished off the last of our attempt at a spring-clean and I quickly took a shower before we were going to binge-watch something on Netflix. I was exhausted - mentally and physically so I was looking forward to mindless watching right now. I quickly got changed, ensuring I had multiple layers to keep out the cold lingering breeze that the storm had caused. I heard a phone ringing in the distance. I had put mine on the charger before I stepped into the shower. It had died earlier, but I didn't have the energy to turn it back on. I didn't want to see the messages that I was pretty sure I had received from Lorenzo. I also didn't want to be reminded of the fact that there wouldn't be a message from Giovanni. I couldn't bring myself to change my wallpaper either so I'd have to see his smiling face looking up at me and I just didn't have it in me.

“Isabella!” Reyna shouted from the lounge.

I strolled down the hallway leading into the kitchen as Reyna's worried face came into view.

“What's going on?” I asked, the sudden concern building up inside of me.

She had her phone to her ear, listening intently to the person on the other end. “Okay, let us know which hospital.”

Hospital?Now, I was definitely worried.

“Reyna, what's going on?”

“I'll let you know when we get there, Alvaro.”

Alvaro? Oh my God. What was going on? What could possibly be the reason for Reyna to be speaking to Giovanni's brother right now?

Oh no.

Giovanni.

A sick feeling entered my stomach and I was consumed by the fear of what could be coming next. Reyna hung up the phone and walked over to me, not being able to contain the fear across her face.

“Izzy, I need you to listen to me carefully okay?” she said gently.

“Reyna, what the hell is going on here?” My voice is shaking now. “You're scaring me.”

“Giovanni was in a car accident.”

I jerked my head back trying to process what she had just told me.

Giovanni was in an accident?

Oh my God.

My sweet sweet Giovanni. What was happening? The sick feeling inside my stomach turned to a deep fear I had never experienced before and I felt my throat tighten. I couldn't pay attention to anything else that she was saying. Her voice became nothing but a distant murmur. I was bombarded with fragmented thoughts about him and the sickening fear of what was going to happen next.

“Izzy? Are you listening to me?” Reyna snapped me out of my trance.

I turned back to her, swallowing as a numb feeling settled over me. “What did you say?”

“I said they're on the way to the hospital with him now. Some drunk driver skipped a red light and hit his side of the car,” her voice quaked as she tried to keep it together for my sake. “We need to go meet Alvaro at the hospital.”

“Is he okay?” I managed to choke.

Her eyes dropped. “They don't know yet. The paramedics on the scene were helping him, but they don't know yet how bad his injuries are.”

A deep pain from within spread throughout my body, suffocating me in its wake. I couldn't comprehend what I was hearing right now. There was no way this could be true. The world wasn't that cruel.

I didn't even realise that the tears were streaming down my face until Reyna pulled me in for a hug and I cried into her shoulder. I was drowning in my own guilt and regret. Here I was trying to figure out if I should be with Giovanni or not and now there was a possibility that it wouldn't be up to me. Everything with Casey and the baby seemed so insignificant now that I was faced with the fear of losing him.

I couldn't lose him.

Reyna let go of me and started grabbing everything we needed. I couldn't move. I stood frozen, trying to process everything. There was no way this was happening. No. I wouldn't accept that. This was all just a big misunderstanding. There was no way Giovanni was in an accident.

No, no, no.

The more I tried to convince myself this wasn't happening, the more the reality of the situation started to settle. My heart shattered into a million pieces. A gut-wrenching pain pulled inside of me and I became short of breath.

There was no way this was happening.

***

By the time we arrived at the hospital, I had gone through the denial stage and went straight to needing answers. I pushed through the doors of the hospital and was welcomed by the all-consuming smell of disinfectant that every hospital had. I made my way to reception with Reyna following closely behind me.

“Hola, I'm looking for an emergency patient that was just brought in. His name is Giovanni Velázquez,” I didn't even recognize my own voice as I asked the receptionist to point me in the right direction.

She nodded and turned to her computer, but before she could answer, I heard Penelope's voice from behind me.

“Isabella!” she exclaimed.

I turned to meet her worried eyes. She was holding Mateo in her arms and walked over to us, quickly introducing herself to Reyna.

“Penelope, thank goodness.” I pulled her in for a quick hug, careful not to disturb a sleeping Mateo. “Where is he?”

“They've just taken him into surgery,” I could hear the emotion in her voice. “They were saying something about the blunt trauma and internal bleeding. I'm sorry, it was all so much.”

“Where's Alvaro?”

“I'll take you to him.”

She led us down the hallway in the direction of the ICU waiting room. Everything was a blur around me under these blinding fluorescent lights. I didn't expect to be back at the hospital so soon and I definitely never thought it would be because of Giovanni. Just the mere thought that he wouldn't make it out of this was sending me off the edge. It was a thought that I couldn't entertain. Not even for a second. I had to hold back the blood-curdling cry that was building up inside of me just at the thought of losing him. We reached the waiting room and Alvaro sat in the corner with his head in his hands.

I walked up to him. “Alvaro?”

He looked up, his dark brown eyes stained with tears. “Isabella.”

He stood up and pulled me in for a hug, the emotions suddenly overcoming me.

“What happened?” I managed to get out.

He pulled away and sat back down, leading me to sit down next to him. He wiped his tears and took a deep breath in.

“I got a call from the paramedics on site. They told me a drunk driver ran a red light and the car hit Giovanni's side,” his voice cracked. “He was already unconscious when they arrived on the scene.”

A huge lump started to form in my throat and I clenched my jaw trying to contain my emotion.

“They said the blunt trauma could be causing internal bleeding. They mentioned something about abdominal swelling and trauma to the spleen. I didn't understand everything they were saying.”

I reached out and squeezed his hand. “Is he going to be okay?”

His tear-filled eyes met mine. “They don't know yet, Izzy. They don't know how bad his injuries are.”

I swallowed in an attempt to get rid of the pain building up in my throat from holding back my tears. I clenched my jaw and closed my eyes, allowing the pain to consume me. That was all I felt right now. Shooting through my veins was a deep pain I had never experienced before. The hollowness I felt before was nothing compared to the fear of him not making it out of this alive. I couldn't allow myself to think that way. I just couldn't. The air around me became thin and I started to feel dizzy.

“Izzy, hey, look at me,” Reyna said, sitting down next to me as she pulled on my hand.

“I can't lose him,” I choked, the tears streaming down my face. “This can't be happening.”

“Hey, everything is going to be okay.” She cupped my face. “The doctors are going to do everything they can.”

What if that wasn't enough?