More Than This by Dominique Wolf

CHAPTER 58:

Isabella

“W

hat are you talking about?” I managed to get out after trying to process what he had just said.

“I'm not going to be a father,” he repeated. “The baby isn't mine.”

My jaw dropped and my hands jerked up to cover my mouth.

Oh my God.

What is going on here? The baby isn't his? My brain was imploding with all the thoughts running around inside of it.

“I don't understand,” I said as calmly as I could manage.

I watched as he tried to shift himself higher on the bed. I stood up to try and help, but I wasn't even sure how I could. He managed to move himself to an elevated seated position and I fixed the pillow behind his head to make sure he was more comfortable. I could see the distress on his face just from those small movements.

He reached for my hand and took it in his as he leaned his head to the side to look at me. “A few weeks ago, I did a paternity test to find out if I really was the father of Casey's baby.”

“A few weeks ago?” I repeated.

“Yes, it was actually Reyna's idea an-”.

“Reyna?” I interrupted. “The two of you knew about this weeks ago and you didn't tell me?”

“Don't be mad,” he murmured. “We had a good reason. I didn't want to tell you about it and get your hopes up because there was still a possibility the baby could have been mine.”

I wanted to be mad about them not telling me, but I couldn't. I understood why he chose not to tell me. I couldn't imagine the pain if he had gotten my hopes up for the life we wanted for it to be ripped away from me again. My heart wouldn't have been able to take it.

“So, the baby isn't yours?” I asked slowly.

He shook his head.

I couldn't believe it. I leaned back against the chair, staring straight ahead of me as I processed this. All this time lost was for nothing. All the pain and heartbreak was for nothing. All because Casey lied about Giovanni being the father of her baby. Anger deep inside of me started to flicker at the thought of her and her deceit.

“Please say something,” he said softly.

“I don't know what to say,” I admitted.”I think I'm in shock.”

He chuckled. “That's understandable.”

“Did Casey know this whole time that you weren't the father?”

“I have no idea. I haven't spoken to her. I got the phone call from her doctor and then I tried to call you and then this happened.” he gestured to the hospital room. “How long have I been here?”

“Only a day,” I said. “The paramedics brought you in yesterday and the doctors took you straight to surgery. It was a long surgery.”

“What's the damage?” he asked, attempting to make light of the situation.

“Well, your leg is broken and you have some cuts on your face.”

“That's not so bad.”

“Oh, and they removed your spleen.”

He lifted his eyebrows. “Can you live without a spleen?”

I burst out laughing. “I'm going to say yes since they removed it and you're still here.”

He chuckled and leaned his head back against the pillow, closing his eyes.

“I've definitely never spent Christmas Eve in a hospital room,” I joked.

He opened his eyes and peeped at me. “Is it really Christmas Eve?”

I nodded. “Our first Christmas together and this is how you choose to spend it.”

He laughed at my attempt at a joke and I couldn't help but smile. It was so good to hear him laugh again. It was my favourite sound and I just wanted to keep hearing it. He closed his eyes again and he had a smile on his face that just warmed my heart at the sight of it. I couldn't believe he was here. I couldn't believe that after everything, he and I could be together again. I was so ready to accept anything in his life but knowing now that he wasn't the father of Casey's baby was the news I didn't think I needed to hear today. My heart was bursting with happiness.

I could finally see our future again and this time it was the way I wanted it to be.

***

I had to eventually drag myself away from Giovanni when his parents arrived and wanted to have some time with him during visiting hours. No more than two people were allowed in the ward at a time so I said my goodbyes and stepped outside. I told him I'd be back later because I would. I would be here for every visiting hour because I needed to make sure that he was going to be okay. Seeing him up and speaking again made me so happy. I was so happy that he was alive.

I strolled down the halls of the hospital and into the cafeteria area, spotting Reyna seated in a booth in the corner. She looked up as I started to approach the table.

“And?” She asked, her eyes full of concern. “Is he awake?”

“He's awake,” I said and took a seat across from her. “His parents are with him now.”

A young waiter walked over to our table and I quickly ordered myself a coffee. I was fighting the mental and physical exhaustion I was feeling.

“You must be so relieved.”

“I am,” I admitted. “I feel like all the adrenaline has made its way out of my system and it's really hitting me how absolutely terrifying that all was.”

Thinking back to how differently this could have gone was shocking to me. I could have easily lost Giovanni yesterday, but thank goodness that was not in the plan for us. We still had so much we had to do together. We still had a whole life ahead of us to live.

And now we didn't have to worry about Casey being a part of it.

I turned to face Reyna. “Giovanni told me he asked Casey for a paternity test.”

She couldn't hide the surprise on her face. “Why would he tell you that? I specifically told him not to until he had the results.”

“Well, he got the results. He's not the father.”

This time her jaw dropped as I watched her process what I had just told her. I hadn't quite wrapped my brain around it myself, but I could feel the happiness inside of me over it.

“He's not?” She finally managed to ask.

I shook my head. “He said the doctor called him yesterday and told him. He was trying to phone me when he got into the accident.”

I felt so incredibly guilty over that. He was trying to get a hold of me and I didn't even bother answering his call. What if that was the last I ever heard from him?

Isabella, stop.

The voice in my head was right. I didn't need to think of the what if's or the maybe's. All I could think about now was that we were given a second chance to be together and we had to take it.

“Oh my fuck!” she exclaimed. “You must be so happy!”

I chuckled. “Of course I am. I can't believe we wasted all this time over something that wasn't true. Why did you tell him to get a paternity test?”

“Well, I was secretly rooting for the two of you,” she admitted. “I had never seen the two of you the way you were when you were together. Something just felt off about the timing of the whole thing and I wanted him to make sure before he said anything to you.”

“He explained that. Said you guys didn't want to get my hopes up.”

She shrugged. “The last thing I would have wanted was for you to get your heart broken all over again.”

I reached across the table and squeezed her hand. She had always watched out for my feelings and this situation was no different. She was just being a good friend and I couldn't fault her on that.

“So, does that mean you guys are back together?” she asked.

I couldn’t help the smile forming on my lips. “I think I'm just focused on making sure he gets home where he can recover and then we'll talk about all that. After what happened yesterday, I would have been with him no matter what it took. If that meant Casey and a baby then so be it because I've never felt fear like that before.”

She squeezed my hand. “That's all in the past now. Giovanni is absolutely fine and the two of you are absolutely fine, too.”

The waiter returned with my coffee, placing it down in front of me.

“Gracias.”

He smiled before turning, leaving us to continue our conversation. Reyna was telling me all about her parents arriving and how excited they were to meet Sergio's family when a tall, blonde figure caught the corner of my eye. I turned towards the entrance and watched Casey wander into the reception area. I heard Reyna stop mid-sentence as she followed my gaze.

“What the hell is she doing here?” she asked.

Before I could answer, I was making my way in her direction. There was a fair amount of anger I had towards her and she had no right to be here right now. She had already reached the receptionist when I stopped behind her.

“Casey?”

She turned and I could see the surprise in her eyes. “Isabella?”

“What do you think you're doing here?”

“I heard Giovanni was in an accident.” She turned to thank the receptionist and stepped away from her. “I needed to come and see him.”

The audacity of this woman. After everything she had put Giovanni through, she still believed she had a right to be here right now. I couldn't help but focus on anything but the anger inside of me.

“You have no right to be here.”

She crossed her arms. “Now, Isabella, I hardly think your hostility is necessary.”

“Oh, please,” I scoffed. “I think it's completely necessary. You're the last person Giovanni would want to see right now.”

She was glaring at me now. “You don't know what he wants.”

“He definitely doesn't want the woman who lied to him about carrying his baby to be here right now.”

Her eyes widened and I watched as she clenched her jaw, trying to process what I had said. Now she knew that I knew about the results and there was no going back. It was out in the open and we had to deal with this now.

“I didn't lie to him,” she muttered.

“Casey, your doctor told him the results. He knows he is not the baby's father so yeah, I think you did lie.”

“No, I didn't!” she snapped. “I knew there was a chance it wasn't his, but I didn't know for sure.”

“That's still lying.”

I couldn't comprehend the way she truly believed she didn't lie to him. Not telling him the whole truth means she was lying. How difficult was that to understand?

“Do you have any idea what your lies did to our relationship?” I asked. “And the humiliation you put me through finding out in the press! I never thanked you for that.”

I was being unnecessarily sarcastic right now, but I couldn't control my tongue when I was angry.

“It's not my fault Giovanni let you find out in the press,” she muttered. “I told him before the story broke.”

I rolled my eyes. “I'm not going to get into that with you right now because it's completely irrelevant, but you need to leave Casey, you shouldn't be here and you know that.”

“I care about him,” she objected. “You have no idea what it feels like.”

She huffed and walked over to the empty chairs in the reception area. I rolled my eyes and followed her, sitting at the chair across from her.

“What are you talking about?”

“You don't know what it's like to love someone that doesn't love you back.” she stared at her hands in her lap.

I took a deep breath in and clenched my jaw, trying my hardest to try and be empathetic to her. She didn't deserve it, but it was the right thing to do. I tried to think of what to say to her, but she continued before I could get a word in.

“I've loved him for years, but he has never looked at me the way he looks at you.” I watched her take a deep breath and roll her eyes at her own statement. “I thought we were making good progress before you came along.”

I kind of felt bad for her. I remembered seeing her around Mala Mía a number of times. I had seen her with Giovanni but he had never reciprocated her very clear interest. He was obviously interested in her at one time and I was pretty sure that sleeping with her wasn't his smartest move. Especially if he knew how she was feeling.

“Look Casey, I'm sorry that he never felt the same about you but how could you lie to him about the baby? It's not right.”

“I know that,” she groaned. “I'm just so scared to do this alone.”

For the first time, I noticed the emotion spreading across her face. She looked terrified and I couldn't help but feel bad at how harsh I was with her initially. She did so many things to fuck up my relationship with Giovanni, but when it came down to it, she was just afraid and I couldn't help but feel a little bad.

“Giovanni isn't your baby daddy, but someone is Casey and I'm sure you know who so you should probably start by telling him.”

She looked up at me. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

A smile played on my lips but I held it back. “Because I'm not usually a bitch so I'm not going to start now.”

“I'm sure there are some things you'd love to say to me though.”

She was right. I'd love to call her a bitch and tell her how wrong it was that she lied. I'd love to tell her that she had no right to sabotage my relationship with Giovanni and that she didn't know the hell she put the two of us through. I'd love to tell her that she caused trust issues I never had before and that I couldn't stop thinking of the two of them together - always replaying in my head how she said they would always find their way back.

But instead, I didn't.

With everything that happened in the last twenty four hours, all I wanted was Giovanni and now I had him. Nothing else mattered to me.

“Giovanni is going to be fine,” I changed the subject. “But I don't think he is going to want to see you.”

She sighed and stood up, reaching for her handbag. “For what it's worth, I am sorry, Isabella.”

I was surprised by her apology. She had never struck me as someone capable of being sorry for the things she had done. She had always been spiteful so this change in behaviour was completely unexpected.

She didn't wait for me to reply before turning on her heels and making her way to the exit. I let out a sigh of relief. Seeing her actually gave me the closure I needed around that entire situation. I made my way back to Reyna who was waiting anxiously at our table.

“So? Did you give her a piece of your mind?”

I chuckled and shook my head. “It really wasn't worth it.”

Reyna scoffed. “You're a much better person than I am.”