(Renata Pellegrini)
“Ann… hmmm.” The nurse huffs, I hug Filippo even tighter, hiding behind him, mercy, we were caught having sex in a parked car in a hospital, what a shame! “Miss Amanda has woken up and is not wanting to cooperate, we need your help.” The nurse warns.
I hear the sound of the window being raised, thank goodness the window is tinted, I get off Filippo’s lap and adjust my clothes, I look at my boyfriend and he too has adjusted, we open the doors and get out of the car.
“Can I see her?” I ask as I approach the nurse, I swallow dryly when I notice that his face is flushed, this guy looks young still, this must be the first time he has seen himself in this kind of situation.
“Yes, please come.” He speaks, alternating his gaze between Filippo and himself.
We follow him to room thirty-two, but before the nurse opens the door, I hear Amanda’s voice:
“I want to go out!” She speaks demandingly.
“Amanda!” I call her, she stops fighting with two other nurses.
“What are you doing here?” She asks me, looking confused.
“I brought you.” I enter the room and hug her. “I’m so glad you’re awake, I was so worried, please don’t scare me like that anymore.”
“I want to go home…” She says, undoing the hug, her face is downcast.
“What is it?” I ask, but she doesn’t answer me.
Her eyes are sad, crying, you can see that she is holding back from crying, it makes me sad.
“Do you want to spend the night at my place?” I offer, but she denies it with her head, and I sigh in defeat. “Are you sure you want to go back there?”
“I need to see how my father is doing.” She answers with her head down.
“Can she leave now?” I direct the question to the doctor.
“Yes.”
The nurses remove the rest of the wires stuck in Amanda’s arm, I look at her, but she doesn’t look back at me, she just turns her back and without saying anything starts to leave the room, she passes by Filippo and doesn’t greet him.
“Can you take her to her place?” I ask softly as I approach Filippo.
“I can.” Answer, we follow Amanda out of the hospital.
I have never seen her like this before, even when she didn’t talk to me, I can’t even imagine how she is feeling now, even though I live in a worse neighborhood back in Brazil, I have never been through a situation like hers.
Amanda hesitates a bit before getting into Filippo’s car, after we all get in, Filippo starts the car and in twenty minutes he parks in front of Amanda’s house.
“I can help you with…” I speak getting out of the car next to Amanda.
“I’ll manage on my own from now on, we’ll talk more later, have a good night.” She walks in and closes the gate without giving me a chance to respond.
I get back in the car and Filippo drives again, now we are driving home.
“Are you alright, ragazza?” He asks as we enter the house.
“Yes, just worried.” I answer and sit on the bed, take off my sandals and lie down, I feel fatigued, I’m tired, a lot of things have happened today.
I watch Filippo enter the bathroom, a few seconds later I hear the sound of water. Sighing heavily, I feel relieved that Amanda has woken up, but I am still worried, I wish I could help her more.
“Come.” Filippo lies down on the bed and pulls me close to him, I lay my head on his bare chest and inhale his freshly bathed smell.
Filippo starts stroking my back, I feel my eyelids getting heavy, the last thing I feel before I sleep is Filippo’s warm lips on my forehead.
****
“Buongiorno, ragazza.” Filippo speaks when he sees me with my eyes open.
“Buongiorno!” I reply smiling as I feel kisses being spread over my neck and shoulder.
“Shall we eat?” He asks, sitting down on the bed, and I do the same as him.
“A coffee in bed.” I say with a silly smile, I’ve never had coffee in bed.
Filippo gives me a quick kiss on my lips and we drink our coffee, feeling him being so affectionate to me makes me fall even more in love with him. Watching him closely, I noticed a small burn scar on his chin. This reminds me of the C-shaped burn on his buttocks. I wanted to ask him so many things, but the only subject we touched on was that of his children.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Filippo asks, touching my face, causing me to snap out of my trance into memories of the nights I spent caring for him.
“How did you get that scar?” I touch the scar on his chin with my forefinger.
“Like a hot gun.” Filippo answers, making my eyes widen.
“What do you mean?” I ask nervously.
“When I was about thirteen years old, I didn’t follow an order, I was punished.”
“What order? Who punished you?” I ask, feeling my heart skip a beat, how cruel, what kind of person punishes a teenager with a gun?
“I don’t want to talk about it, ragazza, let’s not ruin our day with things from my past.” He says, getting up and taking the tray from the bed. “Go take a shower, let’s go to our new house.”
Having said this, he leaves the room leaving me alone, I go to the bathroom and take my shower, when I come out, I find Filippo combing his hair in front of the mirror, I dress myself in a simple dress and tie my hair in a ponytail.
“I’m ready.” I warn him, hugging him from behind and leaving a kiss on his back.
Filippo’s body bears so many scars, I hope he will tell me their story someday.
Filippo turns inside my embrace facing me, his hands lovingly holding my cheeks, we stare at each other for a few seconds, it is impossible not to get lost in the immensity of his gaze, how can he be like this all the time?
I close my eyes as Filippo lowers his head bringing his lips closer to mine, a slow and tender kiss begins, we calmly explore each other’s cavity.
“Shall we go?” He asks as we end the kiss in a gentle manner.
“Let ‘s go!” I answer, smiling.
I take my suitcase and Filippo takes his, hand in hand we walk to the door of this house, I confess, I will miss it here, after all, inside this house there are memories of many precious moments that we lived.
As I open the door, Filippo stagnates in the doorway, I look confused at him, I follow his vision into the garage and two men in suits are inside, I shake Filippo’s hand.
“What are you doing here?”