Cara POV
“I am going to kill Bruno.”
Was the first thing I heard as I blinked my eyes open.
“Is he crazy? She’s pregnant! How could he deliver such news to her over the phone-at all even!” I heard my husband growl in anger. He paused for a while, then spoke again.
“I don’t know what he said. Cecelia said the only thing Cara said before passing out was, ‘Adonis is sick.'”
He paused again. “I don’t know! I do not feel sick. I am perfectly healthy, Luca.”
Oh… Luca was on the other end. He must’ve said something touchy because the next thing that came out of Adonis’s mouth was a string of curse words.
“I don’t care what anyone says or does. If you see Bruno, tell him to stay away from me because I will break his legs.”
Seeing as I’d heard enough threats for one day, I decided to announce my consciousness.
“If you do that, it’ll be hard for him to perform surgery on you.”
Adonis’s head turned so fast that I feared he might get a whiplash. He hung up the call, stalking towards me.
“What happened? I got out of the ring to hear that my phone had been blowing up with messages and calls, and my pregnant wife was unconscious. What did that f*cker Bruno say to you?”
My heart clenched. I stared at Adonis, searching for any sign of illness, any hint of the suffering Dr. Bruno had described. He looked fit and well.
Could it be a mistake? A desperate hope flickered within me.
“Bel, talk to me. Your father’s worried. He left a few minutes ago. What’s going on? Did you mean to say you’re sick?”
The tears began to fall again. I couldn’t control myself. I cried harder than I had in months. My nose, running as much as my eyes.
I was never a spiritual person but if God could look past my sins and hear me… please, I can’t live without this man. Don’t let him be taken from me again.
Adonis sat beside me, scooping me into his arms. “It’s okay. It’s fine. I’m here, Bel. We’ll get through it. No matter what it is.”
I pushed at his chest, sitting up. “This…” I sobbed. “This isn’t about… me.”
He didn’t even know it was his own health at stake
Was this man truly sick?
He eyed me, looking lost. “Then why are you crying? Is it the hormones? Pregnancy episodes?”
I didn’t know where it came from, but anger flared up within me. “Shut up!”
“Car-
“You’re sick, you idiot!” My hands clenched into a fist, slamming against his chest. “How can you not know? I told you-you aren’t a machine!”
Another hit!
He stared at me dumbfounded.
“If you’re in pain, you should say so. Why would you hi… i… i.. de… how… how… you feel?” My lips wobbled, a new batch of tears falling. “You’re a fool.”
Hit!
… a stupid fool.”
Hit!
… What are we going to do?”
Hit!
… he says you ne… e… e… ed… surgeryyyy.”
The bastard didn’t even move an inch and kept staring at me like I was a lunatic. It made me angrier. My fist went flying repeatedly.
“Move, you idiot! Move. Say something. Yell. Complain about the pain. Stop acting like you’re immune to it. You aren’t.”
Adonis picked my hands off him like it was nothing and folded them into my lap.
“You said… I’m sick?” His face was emotionless, giving nothing away, except a brief twinge of realisation.
Did he notice something?
Still, it amazed me. How could he be so calm? I wasn’t the sick one, yet it felt like my world had shattered.
“Yes.” I reached for the tissue pack on the bedside table, cleaning up my messed-up face. “He said it’s Acquired Hydro…” I couldn’t recollect the word. “Hydro… Acquired Hydro… something about a fluid build-up.” I settled. “We’re going for a more thorough check-up tomorrow.”
“Why didn’t he tell me instead?”
“I’m your legal guardian, Adonis. I have the right to know. And you wouldn’t care. Stop the fight for now. You’ll have to start treatment immediately. It was detected early, so we have a better chance at fighting it.” My hand reached out for his. “We can do it.”
He looked at the hand over his, then at me.
“I’m not ready.”
My grip slackened. “What?”
“Look, Cara, I have so much to do. Diavolo approached me tonight. He’s trying to poach me. If this pans out well, I’ll be a member of the sex ring soon, and we can end this fight once and for all. Going for surgery means delay. Delay means more time for him and less for us.”
“Are you listening to yourself?”
“I’m also going to meet up with Death Eater tomorrow evening; I can’t do all these while I’m stuck at the hospital.”
I took back my hands, fury boiling within me.
“I’d discuss it with Dr. Bruno. There should be another way-
Slap!
His hard, emotionless expression cracked for a brief second, and then the walls returned.
Forget his head bursting in at the ring, I’d do the damage myself!
“You bastard! Are you crazy? You might die, yet all you care about is your stupid plan. We’re going to the hospital tomorrow; that’s final!”
Adonis didn’t go all rampage on me for hitting him; he wordlessly stood to his feet and walked over to the window.
“I didn’t say I won’t go for the tests. All I’m asking for is time. I’d take medications to suppress whatever it is, and when all is done, we can have the surgery.”
“Are you deaf? Time is of the essence here. You’re lucky it was discovered early. Now is the time for surgery.”
“Time is important for me too, Cara. I can’t just throw away all I’ve done?”
“If we’re not fast enough; you won’t be alive to finish what you’ve started.” I heaved, glowering at him.
With a simple shrug of his shoulder, he turned back to me, both hands stuffed in his pocket, and a small ugly cut above his eyebrow, which I hadn’t seen before, flashed its redness at me.
Did he get hurt? Isn’t that too close to his head? What in the world could I do to get this man to halt his fights?
“I don’t want to fight about this, Bel.”
“Neither do I.”
He exhaled tiredly, “Can we just sleep tonight and figure it out when we see the doctor tomorrow?”
I didn’t agree, but what choice did I have? Arguing wouldn’t change his mind. It was the only option
Waiting was the only thing we could do.
****
First thing the next morning, we got into the car and were on our way to the hospital. My father, Cecelia, and even Jacob were tense. No one knew what to expect, but we all hoped for good news.
I, for one, slept with one word in my mind and woke up with the same word still on it.
Why? Why now? Why him? Why us?
So many whys?
The ride was quick and quiet, and in less than an hour, we found ourselves sitting across the table in Doctor Bruno’s office.
He greeted us with a strained smile-it was obvious he was just as worried as I was. Unlike someone who was ever emotionless.
“How do you feel today, Mr. Bernardi?”
“Like punching your face in,” Adonis replied. “You should’ve told me. She fainted.”
“Oh…” The innocent man sighed. “My apologies. I’ll keep that in mind for next time. Not that I hope there’ll be one.” He clasped his hand on his desk. “Let me run you through it again.”
Then he explained everything he’d said over the phone the night before in thorough detail. The pain didn’t feel as striking as before, but it didn’t make it hurt any less.
“Today, we’d be running some extra tests and an MRI. I’d like to ask you a few questions before then.”
Adonis blinked. “Go ahead.”
“What year were you born?”
“1991.”
“Where were you born?”
“Italy, Tuscany to be exact.”
I silently waited as Doctor Bruno kept asking questions and jotting down things as Adonis replied.
“Now I have some personal questions I’d like to ask. Would you like your wife to be excused?”
“It’s fine.” My husband held my hand in his. “She can stay.” His palms felt moist, but looking at his face, I didn’t see an ounce of emotion.
He was trying to be strong by himself.
I did the only thing I could; I gave him a soft pat to show I was there as the interrogation resumed.
“Did you do drugs at any point in time? I mean apart from the overdose your mother gave you.” The doctor asked.
Adonis’s brow shot up. “Is that a trick question? Who didn’t? Everyone has at least once in life.”
“I didn’t,” I said softly.
“Neither did I.” Doctor Bruno seconded. “How often?”
“The first time was out of curiosity. I tried it out with Luca. But that day… it felt like I was finally giving my body what it was starved of. We promised not to try it out again, but I did it thrice after.”
“What age were you?”
“Eighteen,” he replied.
“And was it hard to stop? Did you get addicted?”
“No,” Adonis said firmly. “It felt good but I didn’t want to be like my mother. However, a few days ago. I was… overwhelmed… I wanted to forget… to feel like I had no worries.” He looked at the wall. “It was a stupid decision, but I did it anyway.”
My heart ached. He’s suffering too, I realized.
Why won’t he confide in me?
“How were you feeling that day?”
“Exhausted. Suffocated. I had a pounding headache. It felt like my head was about to fall off. I threw up once.”
“You did?” Doctor Bruno jotted down something again.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I whispered.
He shrugged, “I didn’t want to worry you.” He didn’t say more than that, and I didn’t reply. Now wasn’t the time.
“Final question.” The middle-aged man across us looked up once more. “What’s your father’s name?”
Adonis frowned.
It was a weird but sensibly selected question. Adonis had never mentioned his father’s name while speaking. It got me curious at a point; I’d even asked my father about it, wondering if it was because he was traumatised by it.
“I remember,” he said.
“Yes, you do. Can you tell me?”
His frown deepened as he tried his best to recall.
Was it that hard? Even I remembered.
“Would you recognise his face? Can you describe him?” The doctor tried again.
His lips parted immediately. “Of course I do. He had a black… no, brown… hold on… ”
Adonis let go of my hand, running his fingers through his hair. A flicker of panic crossed his eyes and he looked agitated.
“Adonis Calm down. It’s just a question.” I encouraged. “Try to remember.”
“I can’t.” He said, his voice barely audible. “For some reason, I can’t recollect anything about him or memories with him.”
“Well, it’s possible that your mind decided to let those memories go because you were hurt. I’m sure it has been that way since you were a child.” I tried to conjure a reason.
“No. It wasn’t always like this.”
I frowned at him, “What are you saying?”
“Mr Bernardi is right, Cara.” Doctor Bruno lifted the book he had been writing in. “This contains all the questions I asked him when I first became his doctor and was looking for a way to cure his episodes. I asked him the same questions today.”
“But he couldn’t answer them…” My voice trailed off at what this could mean.
“He did. All except the ones involving his father. Memory loss is a symptom of hydrocephalus in adults. However, I do not understand why his is selective, but I can tell you this:
-Adonis’s condition is rapidly deteriorating. Fast.”