The next few days were a blur of doctors, medications, and new diagnoses. Each day brought more bad news, more tests, and more difficult truths. The neurologist explained that the cardiac arrest had caused significant brain damage, affecting the areas responsible for motor control, coordination, and, as it turned out, seizures.

Alessia's condition was worse than they initially anticipated. Not only had the arrest caused temporary memory loss and physical weakness, but it had also triggered a severe form of epilepsy. The seizures were unpredictable, and the doctors warned that they could become more frequent as time went on. She was prescribed anti-seizure medication, and they hoped this would help manage the episodes, but it was impossible to know if the medication would work or how long it would take to stabilize her.

Giovanni had tried to process everything the doctors were saying but couldn't keep up with it all. The terms they used—severe epilepsy, neurodegenerative damage, anti-epileptic drugs—all felt like foreign words, words that didn't belong in his world. Alessia had always been so strong, so resilient. To see her reduced to this... it was a nightmare he couldn't wake up from.

He sat beside her in her hospital room later that evening, watching as she gazed out the window again, lost in thought. The silence between them stretched further than ever before.

"Alessia..." Giovanni began, his voice faltering. "We need to talk. You need to know that we'll fight together this is just one more thing. You won't go through this alone, I promise."

She didn't respond. Alessia's gaze remained fixed outside, her eyes distant. Giovanni's heart sank. She wasn't listening.

"Please," he whispered, his hand reaching out to hers. "We'll get through this, okay? We'll get you better. Just... just don't shut me out."

But Alessia didn't respond to his touch. She just sat there, her breathing slow but steady, her expression unreadable. Giovanni fought back tears, his voice shaking as he spoke again.

"Alessia, I'm so scared. I don't know how to help you through this. But I need you to talk to me. Please."

The words hung in the air, heavy with emotion, but Alessia remained silent. Giovanni sat beside her for hours, watching her, praying for a sign, any sign, that she was still in there, that his sister hadn't been completely lost to him.