Page 82 of London Inked Boys: The Complete Trilogy
“Rocco?” Sophia mumbles.
“I’m here, baby,” I say, holding her hand tighter. “Everything’s okay. I’m right here.”
Her eyelids flicker again, but her fingers tighten around mine. It’s as though her touch on my hand has a direct link to my heart, as it contracts, flooding me with emotion. I hate seeing her like this. How could it happen so fast? Only two days ago, we were sitting on the beach and making love in bed. She’d gone downhill so quickly.
One of the nurses comes into the room. “She should probably get some rest now, folks,” the woman says kindly. “She knows you’re all here for her, but sleep is going to be what helps her most now.”
I nod, not wanting to leave her, but wanting to do what’s best for her. I can’t stand the thought that I might have lost her. First my dad, then Sophia. My heart wouldn’t be able to take it.
As the week passes with Sophia still recovering in hospital, I have no choice but to go back to work. I spend every minute possible outside of work at Sophia’s bedside. She’s growing stronger every day and is able to sit up in bed and talk to me.
But I’ve already taken most of last week off because of my dad, and even though my boss, Art, has been more than understanding about the situation, I know that every day I’m not there is another day the tattoo shop is losing money.
“Hey, how’s things going?” Art asks me when I come in this morning.
“Better, thanks. She’s awake for longer periods now, so we can talk.”
“Has she said why she didn’t tell you about the dialysis yet?”
I shake my head. “No, we haven’t spoken about it, and I don’t want to upset her.”
“I get that,” Art says, nodding. “But you guys are going to have to talk about it soon. It’s a pretty big deal.”
“Yeah, I know.”
I’ve done some research over the past week, and I can’t pretend it doesn’t make me nervous. The idea that she would die within a week or so if she stops dialysis is terrifying, but I also hold on to the possibility that a donor kidney might become available. If that happens, and her body doesn’t reject it, she could go on to live a relatively normal life and won’t have to be plugged into a machine every three days. This new knowledge doesn’t change my feelings towards her. If anything, it only makes me admire her more. In the ten years we’ve been apart, while I’d been partying and studying, and working here at the tattoo studio, she’d been fighting this horrible illness. In my eyes, that makes her a far braver person than I will ever be.
I work on today’s clients, trying to focus on the artwork rather than my thoughts drifting to Sophia all the time. I checkmy phone a hundred times over, terrified I’ll get a call to say she’s taken a turn for the worst. When the day’s finally over, and I’m getting ready to go back to the hospital, Art’s girlfriend, Tess stops me and gives me a massive hug.
“Everything will be all right,” she tells me. “And I’m so sorry about your dad.”
“Thanks, Tess.”
The people here at the studio feel like a little family to me. I’ve never had much of one, not with my dad always drinking and my mum having left when I was too small to even remember her.
At least Sophia’s parents hadn’t been too angry at me because of what happened with Sophia. I thought at first they’d blame me for not looking out for her, but when I explained that she hadn’t told me how ill she was, they’d been more than understanding. They never made me feel as though I didn’t belong there or was intruding in any way.
They treated me like family.
14
SOPHIA
The days in hospital are long, mind-numbing, and monotonous. If it wasn’t for the visits from my parents and Rocco, I think she’d have gone mad with boredom. Rocco hasn’t yet pushed me for a full explanation of why I hadn’t told him the truth about how sick I am. I’m sure my parents filled him in on the details, but he deserves to hear it from me, too. After losing his dad only the week before, he doesn’t need this kind of stress put upon his shoulders.
I’m feeling much stronger now. I’ve had two more dialysis sessions and been on antibiotics for the pneumonia. Hopefully, I’ll be discharged from the hospital soon and things can get back to normal. I’m nervous about how things will change with Rocco now. He’s still visiting me, but maybe that’s just because he doesn’t want to let me down while I’m still in hospital. He’s had a glimpse of what life will be like with me, and I won’t have blame him in the slightest if he wants to run for the hills.
When he comes in to see me this evening, after he finishes work, I’m feeling strong enough to sit up in bed.
“Hey,” he says as he approaches, giving me that lop-sided smile I love. “You’re looking better.”
I nod. “Yeah, I’m feeling better, too.”
“That’s great.”
He sits on the edge of my bed and leans in to plant a kiss on my forehead. I give him a smile, but my stomach churns, knowing the time has come for us to have the conversation.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the dialysis and how bad things were.”
