She nods. “Barely, but yes.”
A smile erupts on my face, and I nearly sink down to the seat again because I feel unsteady.
Why did that just make me feel elated?
“Is he awake?” I ask.
“He’s still recovering. Three bullets were removed from his body, and he had a collapsed lung, but all in all, I think he’s happy to breathe again.”
I nod a few times. “And the wounds?”
“All sutured up. Still in dressing, of course.”
“Can I go see him?” I ask.
I don’t know why I want to, but I can’t let this go either.
She nods. “I’ll let you know when he wakes up, then you can go inside.”
Matteo
Hours later
My head is throbbing, and it’s so damn hard to open my eyes, but her voice pulls me back from the nether into the here and now.
“Matteo?”
Something is holding my hand, something soft, warm … something that makes my whole body tingle.
Stella.
A momentary sigh of relief leaves my mouth.
She survived. Thank God.
My eyes slowly open, but the bright lights are killing me.
“You’re awake,” she says.
“I’d prefer not to be, with those lights,” I mutter.
She chuckles, and it’s the most fabulous sound I ever heard.
“Laughing because of my misery now?” I jest.
“I’m laughing because you’re still your grumpy self.”
“Grumpy?” I frown with a playful smile on my face. “Who are you calling grumpy?”
Her hand squeezes mine. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I got run over by a truck.”
She chuckles again in that most heartwarming manner.
“But I’ll manage if you keep laughing like that.”
“This clinic did the job well, if you’re joking around already.”
