Page 36 of In My Blood
“You have to get some rest, Rafe. When was the last time you slept?” I asked instead.
“I will,” he agreed. “I’ll have an armchair brought in here and I’ll sleep when you do. Stop worrying about me.”
“No. You need to sleep in your bed. You can leave me. I’m not going to do anything to hurt myself with Gia here. I would never do that to her,” I told him honestly. “Maybe if we both get a good sleep, things will be a little better by tomorrow? I feel so guilty knowing I’m the reason you look so terrible right now.”
“Terrible? Thanks for that glowing description,” he teased with just the hint of a smile.
“You know what I mean. We’ve barely stopped for the last several days. I haven’t seen you eat or sleep, and you certainly didn’t have that beard when I first saw you.”
“Fine. I concede, I have looked better,” he agreed. “But none of that matters when you’ve been through so much, some of it while I was supposed to be protecting you. I’ll never forgive myself for the number of times I have let you down.”
“Yes you will,” I cut in firmly. “I need you to, Rafe. If you want me to fight what’s in my head and move forward, I need you to do the same. What happened atjewels, was not your fault. I ran away. I made the choices that put me there. And you put me on that plane eleven years ago to save my life. Everything thathappened after that was because of Mum, and later, my own idiocy. All you have ever done is be the most amazing brother.”
“How about I promise you the same as you did me? I promise to try, alright?”
“That’s all we can do,” I agreed.
“Found some!” Gia announced as she came hopping back into the room like she couldn’t keep in the energy bursting from her. “There was nothing in your bathroom, but Terza just got back and she had these in her handbag. She said she’ll go to the pharmacy later to buy more,” she explained as she handed Rafe a silver packet of pills.
“Thank you,” he told her as he also took a bottle of water from her other hand.
“Everything okay?” she asked as she jumped back onto the bed, landing at my side on her knees, and I couldn’t hide in my gasp as pain shot up my side that time.
“Gia! Get up!” Rafe barked, then he was leaning over me. “Breathe, sweetheart. Breathe through it,” he coached as I gritted my teeth and tried to get it together, hating the crestfallen look on Gia’s face as she stood beside the bed, where she had scrambled to, tears filling her eyes.
“I’m so sorry, Cara. I didn’t mean to,” she cried.
“It’s okay. I’m good,” I gasped. “Think my ribs are bruised, that’s all. Hurts like a bitch, but it’ll heal,” I tried to soothe her.
“That’s all?! She should be in a hospital, Rafe!”
“Here, take these,” Rafe said as he handed me two pills and held out the open bottle of water. I swallowed them quickly and then leaned back against the pillows and closed my eyes. The worst of the pain was receding, but I really wished I could have the pain meds Doctor King had loaded me up with before we left the hotel in Chicago. I was starting to feel the full impact of my injuries without them now.
“No hospital. There’s nothing they can do anyway,” I spoke without opening my eyes.
“She’s right, Gia. The doctor we called in before, said it’s just bad bruising. Apart from pain medication, there’s little taking her to the hospital would achieve, other than raising questions about how it all happened,” Rafe explained further.
“Then what can we do? There must be something?”
“I’m gonna sleep,” I told her as I opened my eyes and met her gaze. “It will help. I need you to make sure Rafe sleeps too, please. He’s exhausted.”
“I will,” she nodded confidently. “But After that I’m staying with you, if that’s okay? I want to stay close.”
“I’d like that,” I agreed easily. I patted the empty side of the bed for her to come closer, but she looked terrified. “Come over here. Just move slowly. You won’t hurt me. Come and Lie with me.”
Gia nodded and very slowly and cautiously slipped onto the bed, moving with the grace of a dancer, sliding into the vast empty space beside me without jostling the mattress even once. She laid down on her side and I shuffled down as much as I could until I lay facing her too.
“I’m so sorry I h-hurt you,” she sniffled.
“I’m fine,” I assured her as I reached up and wiped a tear from her cheek. “No crying now. I waited too long to have this moment with you. We’re together again. We don’t need to cry anymore.”
Gia nodded, then just sniffled quietly as she lay beside me, the both of us tightly clutching hands between us. It was a moment I never even dared to dream about having again with my little sister. I had her back, and that was definitely something worth holding on for, for now at least. I had to know she was safe and happy now that I had her back. I had to take care of her the way I had failed to do for so much of her life.
DANTE
“How is she?” I asked the second Rafe walked into the kitchen. He looked more exhausted than I had ever seen him, and I was worried about what he had put himself through in the last several days that he had been away from us. Dario should have been taking better care of him.
Once again I grimaced at the fact I hadn’t gone with them to the United States. Rafe had wanted me here with Arran, so we could deal with the Russian issue we were having, but in retrospect it was obvious Rafe had needed me with him more. I could have protected him from the threat over there, and Dio. I could have stopped Cara from ever getting hurt. She should never have been left unprotected now that we had her back. I would never have allowed that to happen to her. I didn’t know her yet, but I knew enough to be sure she had already endured too much in her short life.
