Page 200 of The Devil's Fire

“She’s staying with me.” Damiano stated firmly, giving no room for discussion. I could hear how Michael was getting frustrated until my father ended their argument.

“Michael, it’s fine.”

“She needs to stay with her family. Not him.” He pressed on.

“Enough!” My father raised his voice, and Michael went silent. “She will stay with him.”

I heard him make a sound of disapproval before hearing him walk away. My father let out a sigh.

“I apologize for his behavior. Understand that they grew up together, and he is only looking out for her.” My father tried to explain.

“I don’t care. If he steps out of line one more time -”

“He won’t.” My father quickly said. “I will make sure he knows his place.”

The door closed, and Damiano came into my view. He sat on the chair beside the bed, looking at me. I didn’t hide the fact I heard everything they talked about. Not that it was something I cared about.

My mind was a relentless reel of the horrifying events in the woods. Each night was tormenting. Exhaustion clawed at me, but the nightmares held me captive. My eyes burned with lack of sleep, yet the haunting images continued, leaving me trapped in a relentless cycle of misery.

“Ellie will change your bandages, and then we can leave.” Damiano said quietly. I didn’t reply and continued to stare straight ahead, still feeling numb and so lost.

He helped me sit up on the bed when Ellie came in. My body still felt incredibly heavy but with minimal pain, thanks to the drugs I had been given.

I sat on the edge of the bed while she checked the wound I had on the side of my head. As I kept my eyes down, I saw the small baby bump behind her loose doctor’s coat.

Ellie’s pregnant.

A lump formed in my throat as I continued to stare at her stomach. Was she trying to hide that she was pregnant with loose clothing so I wouldn’t notice? I wanted to let out a humorless laugh at life slapping me in the face right now.

“Everything is healing as it should be, and you won’t need the bandages anymore. You’re all set and free to go.” Ellie said.

I was healing on the outside, but inside, my soul remained broken.

“Congratulations…” I mumbled out to her and tried to give a small smile, but not much happened. It felt more like a painful grimace than a smile.

Ellie looked at me in surprise and then noticed I was staring at her stomach, unconsciously fixing her coat in a way that didn’t show that she was pregnant.

She stood still, hesitating before giving a quick smile and walked away. They were all walking on eggshells around me as if I would break down at any moment. I was already broken to the point I wasn’t feeling anything anymore.

I was dead on the inside.

“I’ve got some clothes for you.” Damiano picked up a bag that was on the chair. He helped me get out of the hospital gown I was wearing and dressed me in some comfortable clothes.

“I want to walk.” I muttered and stopped him from trying to carry me.

“You shouldn’t be moving around just yet.” He said, but I ignored him and got up on my feet. Damiano quickly held onto me to steady me as my legs wobbled from still being weak.

“Let me carry you.” He insisted, but I shook my head and held onto his arm instead, carefully taking a step towards the wheelchair.

I needed to distract my mind from the constant thoughts and images that wouldn’t stop haunting me. It was working, as the only thing I could think about was how heavy yet empty my body felt, and how tired I became from taking just a few steps.

His men heavily guarded the hallway, almost forming a complete circle around us for protection as Damiano wheeled me through the corridors.

Finally, coming outside to the parking lot, a pair of shoes stopped in front of me. I looked up, seeing it was Giovanni. He scanned my face, a slight frown appearing as he studied me. Then his eyes went down to my stomach.

“Don’t. Please…just don’t.” I said to him before he could say anything. I couldn’t handle hearing about it. The pitying looks they gave me were already too much for me to handle. I just didn’t want to talk about it or have anyone ever mention it to me.

I know what I lost.

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