Hope wants to bloom inside of me. But it can’t, it can’t . . . “But the man who died, he was wearing red and he passed on the outside and this man, this man on the other bike, he was wearing a bracelet,” I tell her fervently.
“Yes, it was a shame,” she says. “Poor soul. These kind of things don’t happen so often but when they do, they are very bad.”
“But the bracelet!”
She sniffles and gives me a look of impatience. “Derio has a rare blood type. He wears a medical bracelet when he races in case of accidents. Like this one.”
“He’s not dead?”
“Santo cielo!” she curses. “He is not dead!”
I can’t contain the hope now. My smile is larger than life. “But you are crying!”
“Because he is hurt!” she snaps. “And I should have been there for him. I don’t like to see my poor boy hurt, he has been through so much.”
“But—” I start.
“He is not dead,” she assures me. She nods at the nearest door. “They have treated him for his burns on his leg. It is broken, too, which is a problem with the healing. They put his shoulder back in. Soon they will come out and tell us how he is. But he is stable and he is alive and I am sure when we are allowed to see him, he will be happy to see us. I hope so, anyway.”
I suddenly feel faint and the hallway is starting to spin. I grab for the wall and slowly lower myself so I’m sitting on the floor, my legs splayed out in front of me.
He’s not dead.
My heart is leaping inside my chest like an animal that’s been set free. I start crying again but these are happy tears. These are the best tears. I feel terrible that he’s so hurt, that he’s going through this all over again, and the injuries sound bad, especially the burn. But even if half of his body melted away, I wouldn’t care.
He’s alive. Alive.
My Derio.
Felisa stares down at me and smiles like I’m the biggest fool. “So what are your plans now?”
“I’m going to stay here,” I tell her without thinking.
She nods. “You said you were in Naples. Where were you going?”
“Home,” I say softly. I give her a worried look. “I was going home.”
“You can still go.”
“No!” I nearly yell it, wiping the tears away with the heel of my palm. “No, I can’t go home now. I can’t leave him like this. And the twins need me. I wasn’t kidding when I said I would go back and look after them.”
“I know you weren’t. I can see it in your eyes. You are very kind. Very determined. Stubborn. Like Derio. That’s why you work so well together.” She exhales and straightens her shoulders, staring at the door. “You will wait with me first, until we can see him. I know both Signora Bagglia and Signora DiFabbia. I will call them and find the twins and tell them what has happened. It is better that I do it, so the language does not get crossed.”
I’m more than okay with that.
“Then,” she continues, “you will go back to Capri. I will stay here, me and Lorenzo, and make sure Derio is all right.”
I frown and slowly get to my feet and dust off my butt. “Should I bring the twins here?”
She shakes her head. “Unless Derio gets worse, don’t take them out of school. They need some, how you say, time to be normal. I am sure he will be transferred to the hospital in Naples, and seeing him will be easier then.”
“He has friends from Naples,” I tell her.
She doesn’t look impressed. “Yes, I met them earlier. Stupid men. All the men who race are stupid. But what can you do?” She gives me a kind look. “I know you say things were not good between you but he is going to need you now more than ever. Can you be there for him?”
I swallow, feeling a strength burn through me. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Even if it means heading backward, not forward, I am not going anywhere.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
We wait for hours in the hospital. I meet Lorenzo, a funny little man with big false teeth and kind squinty eyes, who speaks no English at all, but he and Felisa seem to be madly in love. Which is cute and all, but seeing them embrace makes me itch for Derio even more. Ever since I learned that he isn’t dead, which still feels fragile, like a truth that could be blown away, I’ve gone from pure joy and relief to a nearly uncontrollable urge to see him, like I can’t see or breathe or think properly until I do.
But the hours are long and the doctors tell us little. It’s always “soon.” But at least Derio seems to be pulling through. I knew he would. That man has a fire inside him.
After a while I think about the hotel in Naples with all my stuff in it and realize I’ll probably have to stay in Rome overnight, though I don’t have anything with me other than a purse. I also realize that if I’m going back to Capri to look after the twins while Derio recuperates, then I’m going to have to cancel my flight. At this stage in the game, there’s no way I can get the ticket refunded—all that money will have to go to waste.
I go outside into the alley, where two orderlies are on their smoking break, dial home, and wait.
My mother immediately answers with a “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I tell her quickly. “But I only have two minutes on my plan and I need to make this quick before they charge me an arm and a leg.” I can hear my dad in the background asking her who it is. When she tells him Amber, I know he’s going to pick up the phone in the other room. They like to tag team me.