29
You’re A Survivor
Sorry it took longer than normal for me to reply. There are things I can no longer tell you. It pains me to keep secrets from you. —Mi dispiace, Enzo
Enzo
IgetIzzycomfortablein my bed and then head to the kitchen to prepare her a sandwich to go with her antibiotics. The doctors warned that she needs to eat light meals to begin with.
Doc’s staying in one of my empty apartments so he’s on standby if she needs anything.
Returning, I find her shifting uncomfortably, wincing as she does. She looks so fragile in my big bed, her shoulder wrapped in a sling.
Her face lifts to me as I enter, the jagged cut down her faceangry and red. It will scar. A constant reminder of her pain. I hate that.
I'm at her side in two strides, ready to help her with whatever her trouble is. “Hey, what’s wrong? What can I do?”
She grumbles. “I want to sit up.”
I run into the spare room, grabbing some extra pillows to place behind her.
“Better?”
She nods. “Thank you.”
I place the sandwich down in front of her, then a glass of water and her medication on the nightstand before joining her. I’m careful not to jostle the bed too much with my weight.
She eats in silence.
“Want to talk about it?” I ask, hesitant. She hasn’t spoken about what happened with Marcus and Lucas other than when the doctor initially spoke with her.
She shrugs, then groans in pain. “I don’t know.”
I nod, not wanting to push her.
“It was scary,” she whispers, as if saying the words too loud would make them real.
I hold my breath, not speaking, letting her take charge.
“The knife, the gun—I was helpless. Just like before.”
“You’re not helpless, Iz,” I tell her, interjecting. “You’re a survivor.”
She huffs. “Yeah.”
She finishes her food, then gulps down the water with her antibiotics and painkillers.
“I want to make them pay,” she says, her voice soft but words lethal.
“We will.”
“When?”
“Once you’re better.”
Izzy screws her face up at that, but she doesn’t argue. She can’t. There’s nothing she can do until her injuries heal.
We spend the rest of the day in bed, chatting, watching films, just existing, healing.
