I furrowed my brow. “What?”
“I know, you can’t get mad just because I hid in a good spot.”
It was evident in the lack of focus in Giorgio’s eyes that he was seeing some distant memory. His body was in the room, but his spirit wasn’t. “Giorgio, you’re in my family’s estate.”
He chuckled. “You’re it again, Antonio.”
Antonio.
He was remembering his brother in his fever-induced state. He probably hadn’t even had the chance he needed to mourn the loss of his sibling.
“Antonio,” I replied. “He’s gone now, Giorgio. I’m sorry.”
“Hey mama,” he said all of a sudden. “You and dad look so happy.”
My heart broke every single time he spoke. He was closer to death than I was hoping for if he was seeing his parents and brother. I hated my dad, and really only cared about Savio, so I couldn’t relate to the anguish he must be experiencing.
Eventually, however, his smile slowly faded. “They’re dead, aren’t they?”
“Yeah,” I responded, tears gathering in my eyes.
“I couldn’t save them,” he said. “I couldn’t save Antonio.”
“I’m so sorry, Giorgio,” I said.
Tears filled his eyes and started to slide down his cheeks in a continuous stream. “I was supposed to protect him, mama. I’m so sorry.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” I responded to him. “You survived. You did the best you could. Your sisters are okay.”
“I’ll look after them,” he replied to me, even if it wasn’tto me.
“Yeah.”
He pulled on my arm and I dropped back down onto the bed. He buried his head against my stomach and started to sob in earnest. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I tried. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
I wrapped my arms around Giorgio and held him as close to me as I could. “It’s okay.”
Sure, he’d considered killing me the last time we were that close, but the grief he was suffering from wasn’t an easy burden to bear. Some might think me stupid for even considering forgiving him, but I knew that, unlike my family, Giorgio wasn’t heartless. He tried to kill me, but he’d also let me go, a consideration my family hadn’t yet given his. He was better than us, me included, and that was enough for me.
“I’ll be right here,” I told Giorgio.
“I’m sorry,” he whimpered again.
“I know you are,” I replied. “I am too.”
8
Giorgio
When I finally woke up, the afternoon sun was shining in through an open window. There was a fresh breeze blowing in and I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt fresh air. It hadn’t been that long since my parents had been killed and my family captured in retrospect, but spending weeks in a dungeon with no food or water does things to a person’s mind. It felt like it’d been closer to years.
Looking around, I noticed that I was in a significantly nicer room than the cell I was used to. I was lying in an actual bed with pillows and a comforter, and instead of the cold, gray walls, there was a warm, maroon wallpaper and a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. There was a warmth around me that felt good and I found myself leaning back into it. A pair of hands shifted around my chest and held me close, and a small shift of my head revealed Natalia, asleep, but holding me close.
What the hell had happened? How long had I been out? What had transpired between the last time I saw Natalia and now? Why was she wrapped so tenderly around me when the last time we saw one another I attempted to kill her? There was a cool cloth on my head and a glass of water near the bed that was half empty.
Had she been taking care of me?
When I saw her face, a few hazy memories flashed across my brain. Of her wiping my forehead, of her comforting me, trying to get water down my throat. I hadn’t made things easy on her, but after everything we’d been through and the rivalry between our families, she’d still chosen to take care of me when she didn’t have to.
