Halfway through the day, Marisa smiled.
Katarina was right, she shouldn’t have added to the mess, Katarina and Antonio were no less upset than she was and she couldn’t let them worry any more.
-Yes, mom called at a bad time, you and Antonio are still eating, right? Then you’ll eat first, and Mom will come back tomorrow and bring you breakfast.
-Well, you don’t want to get too tired.
After hanging up the phone, Katarina went back to finish her meal, sat down next to her father and took his hand.
Antonio looked at Katarina, who, apart from asking him what he had injected her with, had not said another word to him, not even, a single glance rested on him….
After the meal, the maid came in to collect the crockery and Antonio went out to contact the new concierge, who arrived shortly afterwards.
This time it was a male caretaker, loyal, honest and experienced in caring for the paralyzed elderly, who was so skilled that Antonio simply decided to hire him after hearing so much from the person in charge.
Before Kimberly could get down on the floor and take care of herself, but now it’s different and it’s easier to have to rely on a male caregiver.
Katarina still didn’t say a word to Antonio, and after talking to the nurse about precautions to take, she went to her room to get cleaned up, and when she came out, Antonio was waiting for her, and as soon as he saw her leave, he reached out and took her in his arms.
-Katarina, I’m sorry, I made a mistake, I shouldn’t have missed your call and left you here alone in fear, I won’t go to the office starting tomorrow, I’ll stay with you at the hospital and with dad, okay?
He thought Katarina was angry with him for not answering her calls. He understood that Katarina was alone at the hospital watching over Kimberly, who had recently deteriorated repeatedly, that everyone was on edge, and that it was wrong of him, as her only support, not to be there for her when she needed him most….
Katarina closed her eyes, his scent so familiar, his tone so soft and apologetic, how pitiful it was, indeed, to be used in this way by his own mother, without the slightest thought for him from beginning to end….
But how abominable it was, he knew it, she was his sister, he knew it from the beginning, how could he do it?
She is Fabiana’s accomplice!
Damned accomplices!
Katarina opened her eyes, so hard, several thoughts tugging at her, and found herself still not dying, what if, all this, was just a ploy of Fabiana’s?
What about the fact that she made it up?
She just wants to piss off her father, what the hell can’t she say?
Fists clenched tightly, the idea was improbable even for herself, but still she saw a ray of hope, as long as it was false, everything could still be redeemed, and the child, too, would not have to be interrogated….
Antonio hadn’t touched her for a long, long time, and lately he had been taking turns watching Kimberly at night. This time, she had just finished her bath and was all perfumed and soft and supple for him to hold her, turning him on a little, squeezing her arms and pulling her head down to kiss her….
A familiar smell slowly approaches and Katarina has a momentary trance….
Antonio was unprepared and was pushed a few steps back….
-Antonio! What time do you have a heart to think of that!
A flash of shame and guilt crossed Antonio’s face.
-I’m sorry Katarina, I couldn’t help it…..
I can’t help it, I can’t help it….
Katarina was about to freak out, holding herself back, a complex heartache rose in her heart, pain from the shame on her face, guilt, she had never said half-harsh words to him, obviously so in love, but now she said such words, she felt bad too….
Not knowing how to face him, she turned around and walked out, then stopped and spoke in a cold voice.
-I’ll sleep next door tonight, so you don’t have to come. Keep going to the office tomorrow, Dad won’t be happy to see you watching the hospital.
Then he opened the door and went out.
Antonio sighed, was Katarina really angry with herself for not answering his calls and for the way she had just acted?
It didn’t seem that way to him, that aura of estrangement from her was stronger than ever….
A feeling of unease, getting stronger and stronger….
After washing up, he sat down at his desk and opened the file his assistant had sent him this afternoon.
Accept it and look at the time, it’s almost ten o’clock.
He went to the next room, where Kimberly had not moved at all. The nurse, who was sleeping on a cot next to the bed, saw Antonio enter and sat up alertly, and Antonio made a gesture of silence, mentally appreciating that this nurse was better than the last one.
He looked towards the couch where Katarina was sleeping, wrapped in a comforter.
He reached over, reached out, carefully lifted the blankets and picked her up again…..
Does it look heavier than ever?
Antony droned.
Carrying her back next door, Katarina was still sleeping soundly, thinking about her recent erratic behavior, if he hadn’t seen that she had just come out of her last physiological period and hadn’t touched her since, he would have wondered if she were pregnant….
Carefully I lay her down and cover her with the blanket, looking at her sweet red lips, I still uncontrollably want to kiss her….
I’m going to give her a kiss…
Antonio said to himself, then leaned towards her and gently touched her lips, not daring to go deeper for fear of waking her, just to allow her a little comfort, if not satisfaction, from the desire to be near her….
Forcing himself to get up, he turned and went next door, the caregiver sat back down, Antonio waved him off, looked at Kimberly first, turned her over, rubbed her increasingly stark limbs, and busied himself with the urine bag and such, as the doctor had told him, before washing his hands and falling asleep on the couch.
The nurse’s eyes were full of gratitude, which is not so sweet even for her own son….
With the smell of Katarina’s body under the sheets, he calmed down and looked at the caretaker who had fallen asleep, saying there in his mind that he would never let Katarina sleep in the same room with another man!
He was so tired lately that he fell asleep quickly.
At 2 a. m., when people are more asleep, the door to the room is pushed back and a small light is turned on in the room so that the nurse on duty can come in and change the drip without having to turn on the light to wake the companions.
Katarina enters with a gangway, two small transparent bags in her hands and a pair of scissors. She approaches the bed and looks at her lifeless father with regret, before cutting off a few strands of his hair, putting them in a bag and walking carefully to Antonio’s side.
The tall man slept on the wide couch, still unstretched and slightly frowning.
Katarina knelt down and carefully cut off a few strands of his hair as well and put them in the bag.
Looking at his thin, tight lips, in fact, just now, at the moment when he lifted her up, she woke up, his careful kiss, exhausted her strength not to let him notice the difference….
Antonio, yes, everything is invented by her, we will die together, yes, indeed, that is the case…. Katarina winced, did not continue to think about it, squeezed the two bags and got up and went out.
The next day, Marisa came with breakfast.
Katarina also thought of words to explain to her mother that she would not tell her about Fabiana’s arrival, let alone what she told her, and that her mother would be even more overwhelmed….
Everything would be decided when the DNA results came back.
But, surprisingly, the mother, seeing her father’s state, listened to her daughter’s story calmly, and only half sat down on the stool in front of the bed, taking her husband’s withered hand, looking at Kimberly with reddened eyes and sighing.
-That’s good, that way, you won’t know the pain…