<-I-L-A-<<< "I'm so sorry, Ila," said Matteo as he gently pulled me closer to him.

Unable to answer him, I bit on my lip as I bawled.

I'm sorry, too.

>>>-M-A-T-T-E-O-> I laid there, cradling Ila as she slept. I was tired myself but the pain my heart kept me awake. Ila twitched and I snuggled closer to her. I felt bad, very bad. I sighed gently in hopes of releasing a bit of weight that was holding down my chest.

In the corner of my eye, a movement caught my attention. In front of me, Aiden stirred awake. Unlike Ila, he wasn't in the laying position. The first half of Aiden's bed was elevated to a 45-degree angle, sitting him upright.

"Don't move," I whispered.

Aiden whipped his head in the direction of my voice.

"Do you remember what happened?" I asked in a soft voice. I didn't want to disturb Ila from her needed sleep.

Aiden nodded and pointed to his leg. "The doctor told me when I woke up earlier this morning. Did she wake up yet?"

I nodded. The door to the room opened and Dr. Montello appeared. Aiden patted the empty space of the hospital bed next to him. The doctor looked confused at what Aiden was suggesting.

"What?" Dr. Montello asked.

"I'm getting jealous of Ila. I want a cuddle buddy too," Aiden explained.

"No."

"Awww.." Aiden whined in disappointment.

"Look's like she's back to sleep. You can wiggle your way out and leave," Dr. Montello said, turning his focus away from Aiden to me and Ila.

"I'm good," I told him, "I'll stay here until she wakes up again."

The young doctor's eyebrows rose in amusement. He cleared his throat and said, "Okay."

Dr. Montello grabbed the handle to the bed of Aiden's, releasing the breaks on the rolling bed. He started to push the bed, slightly moving Aiden in the process.

"Woah, there. Where am I going?" Aiden asked.

"I'm moving you to another room."

"Wait, but it's my turn!" Aiden complained.

"For what?" Dr. Montello asked, stopping the bed.

"For Matteo to spoon me ."

The doctor rolled his eyes and continued to push the bed out of the door. Aiden turned back, flipping me off. They went out of sight, turning left in the hall and leaving the door half opened behind them. Annoyed at such a small thing, I slowly got up to close it.

"Are you leaving?" Ila's small voice croaked.

I turned around to see that Ila eyes were opened, tiredly.

"Do you want me to?" I asked. My hand was on the handle. I was hoping for a 'no'. It would tell me what I wanted to know. I wanted to know that she wasn't upset with me or mad at me. Yet, the other half of me wanted to do so, to blame me and hate me. Where else should that blame go? Herself? No.

Ila shook her head. Relief flooded through me but that stimulated my guilt.

"Are you feeling better?" I asked. Instead of laying back down with her, I walked to her bed and squatted down to look at her face.

"I don't know," she answered.

"Tell me what hurts."

"Everywhere," she answered.

"What did they do to you?" I asked.

Her face contorted in a grimace of pain, "I don't want to talk about it."

"What do you want to do then?" I asked, immediately regretting the first question I asked.

Ila thought for a moment, her exhausted expression never leaving her face.

"Can you call Dr. Montello?" She asked.

I sighed, standing up, "I'll be right back with him."

"No," Ila said, "Just the doctor. I want to talk with him."

I swallowed down my worries and nodded my head. Walking out of the Ila's room, I closed the door behind me. I turned left, in the direction I saw Dr. Montello took Aiden. I opened the only door to my left. In the room, Aiden was accompanied by Giovanni.

"What are you guys doing?" I asked, looking at the scene.

"Cuddling and watching TV," Aiden answered.

"No homo," Giovanni mentioned.

"Where's Dr. Montello?"

"Talking with Marcella in the living room," Giovanni said.

I entered the living room and found Dr. Montello and Marcella chatting. Marcella was the first to notice me.

"How is she?" asked Marcella.

"I don't know."

"Is she okay? I thought you were going to stay with her?" The doctor asked.

"She woke up and asked for you," I told him.

He got up and walked past me. I sat down in the seat he was just sitting in.

"When am I going to see her?" Marcella whined. "She was my best friend first before she became your girlfriend."

"You can take the next cuddle shift," I assured her.

<-I-L-A-<<< As I waited for Matteo to get Quintin, I manage to find the button that controlled the setting of the bed. I pushed the button that had an arrow facing up and the bed reclined forward. Sitting up, I kept my eyes on the closed door, waiting for it to open. When it did, Quintin Montello walked through. The feeling of seeing a fresh face from my regular life that I left behind significantly brought my mood up.

"How's everything?" He asked.

"You tell me, Doc. I didn't run my own diagnosis," I said.

"The hole in your shoulder was bad. I stitched it up. Depending on how you feel, you may or may not need physical therapy. Your ribs, badly bruised, took heavy trauma but they'll be fine after rest and medication. There is also bad bruising in your lower stom-"

I listened as Quinten list things that I already had suspected but the curiosity that stowed within in me cut it short.

"How are you here?" I asked.

"Ila, you see. Like my parents, when a man and a woman love each other they -"

"Quinten, I'm serious. I didn't think you ran with these type of people."

"That goes the same way for you," said Quinten.

"I-," I said, starting to give him an explanation.

"You don't have to tell me. Marcella already explained."

"Okay, you know of my criminal start. I want to know yours," I said.

"I grew up poor and was struggling with college. My friend's girlfriend's best friend was fooling around with someone of the Casciani mafia. They gave out loans and got me through college and medical school. I haven't really paid them all off and I do help them out time to time."

"Was the guy you were talking about Giovanni?" I asked, guessing at his description.

"Yeah, actually. How did you know?"

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