Page 145 of Carnal

I mumble, "I should have taken precautions."

"Tristano—"

"Don't mom me, Bridget! There's nothing you can say to change the situation."

She sighs then hands me a mirror.

I take it and stare at my beat-up face. It's bruised but nothing more than if I were in a boxing match and got my ass kicked.

Bridget pulls a phone out of her pocket. She holds it toward me. "Here. I got you a new one since yours was destroyed in the accident."

"Thanks." I grab it from her.

She continues, "I had the phone company transfer everything on your cloud to it."

"I appreciate that," I say to be polite, but I couldn't give a rat's ass about my phone.

Tense silence fills the air. She finally rises. Her blues glisten as she softly declares, "Your brothers will find her. I know they will."

The knot in my gut twists. I swallow the lump in my throat then say my worst fear out loud. "What if she's dead?"

A tear falls down Bridget's cheek. She swipes at it and squares her shoulders. It reminds me of when Pina does it, which only hurts my heart more. In a firm voice, Bridget asks, "Do you feel she's dead?"

I stay quiet, contemplating her question.

She adds, "When Sean died, I could feel it."

"You were there," I remind her. It's a shitty thing to do since it was such a traumatic experience for her. I quickly say, "I'm sorry. That was out of line."

She takes a deep breath. "When someone you love dies, you feel it. Whether you witness it or not, you know they're gone. So what do you feel?"

I ponder her statement then reply, "I think she's alive, but I don't know if it's just my wishful thinking."

Bridget nods. "Okay, then. She's alive."

"How can you be so sure?" I ask.

Bridget smiles. "I just am." She places her hand on my shoulder, kisses the top of my head, then adds, "I'm here if you need anything." She leaves and shuts my door.

The quiet soon gets to me again. Too sore and drugged to get up, I turn on my phone. When Pina's text messages and the photos we took all pop up, I sigh in relief. Then I torture myself, spending hours re-reading all our messages and staring at our photos.

A nurse comes into the room to check on me. After going through the motions, she leaves. I return to my phone then freeze when I see the date.

It's been two weeks?

I force myself to get up and go downstairs to Papà's office.

He looks up when I enter. "Tristano. What are you doing down here?"

"What's the status on Pina?"

He doesn't answer.

"Where is she, Papà?"

"We will find her."

"It's been two weeks," I seethe.

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