Devotion (#1) | ✓

21. Part Of The Family

❝ part of the family ❞
━ FARRAH ━

Following a very informative weekend spent with a mob boss, I was back at work, staring blankly at Val's vital signs monitor as she sleeps. No matter how much concentration I put into it, my mind just won't register the inevitable.

Luck is dwindling on the transplant route and her doctor — Dr. McClaren who I've been actively avoiding — has made it clear that she's too weak to have an actual liver repair.

He says there's only one thing left for us to do — a medically induced coma, but Jan would never sign off on that just to prolongue her pain.

She deserves better.

I sniffle as I transfer my gaze to her. She looks pale, her lips an odd shade of purple, her cheeks milky-white, and her eyes squeezed tight as she dreams what she dreams.

She deserves a family, better options, a future. She deserves to not spend her entire life in a stifling hospital room.

The door opens but I couldn't care less because my favorite person in this entire world is hanging on by a thread.

"Have you slept?" Thomas's voice is soft as he enters the room. I don't spare him a glance. He takes that as an answer. He sighs and lowers himself on the seat beside me, "You know staring at her isn't going to fix her." I remain quiet. There's a pause. "She loves you, you know? Everytime I walk in here, she talks about Nurse Fae — her 'favorite nurse in the whole wide world.'" This makes me huff in amusement. An air of sadness fills the space between us. "I wish there was more we could do for her."

"Me too."

━━

Walking into Domenico's office building in the middle of the day wasn't on my list of things for the day, but he wasn't at home and I needed a break from the suffocating hospital and my lonesome apartment.

After receiving instructions from the receptionist leading me to his actual office, I ascend in the elevator and it opens directly to the room illuminated by a floor to ceiling wall of windows. Behind the desk is an empty chair but directly to my right, on a couch with food in front of him, Nico sits.

The logo of his restaurant stands out on the cover of the to-go box.

With a pout on my face, I approach the man who stands to greet me with a matching expression on his face.

"Why the pout, amore mio?" He asks carefully, brushing my natural coils out of my forehead.

I bow my head. "I hate my job."

His eyes soften, "You lost someone today?"

I shake my head and feel as my eyes burn with tears. Seeing the upcoming onslaught of tears, he takes my hand, sits down, and draws me to his lap.

"She's dying, Dom." He brushes a fallen tear away, "She's always sleeping, barely talking, always in pain." He rubs circles into my hip.

"What's her name?"

"Valeria."

"That's a beautiful name."

"She's a beautiful girl." I sigh, deciding to reach for the many array of drinks he set out for us to choose. When I pour a glass of whiskey, I down it in a couple of seconds and close my eyes. "Apparently, the system doesn't care about six year olds without families. She's alone, Nico. Alone and on the bottom of the transplant list because she's an orphan."

"She's not alone." He assures me, "She has you by her side and..." He kisses my cheek, "I don't want you to worry about the list. I'll do whatever I have to to get her to the top."

My breath catches in my throat as I look at him, "I can't ask you to do that."

He holds me and I almost cry again with how gentle he holds me and how gentle his words are. "You didn't and you don't have to. She matters to you, amore mio, so she matters to me."

I take his hand into mine and feel as he rubs my thigh. "You... Domenico... Thank you."

"Don't thank me, amore." He says, feathering light kisses against my cheek, "She's part of the family too."

My heart pounds against my chest and I can't stop looking at this man in awe. He cares and he cares without even knowing her. It lights something up within me but I'm too emotionally exhausted to acknowledge it.

"Now," He motions toward the food on the table, "How about you eat while I get Valeria up on that list?"

━━

Entering my apartment with a bag in my hand and Nico behind me, I release an exasperated sigh and feel as he rests a hand on the small of my back. When I offered to come back to my place, I was elated when he said yes.

Of course, the rest of my time in his office was spent watching him work. It was a very attractive sight — seeing him loosen his tie in frustration, his hands clench into fists, him rolling up his sleeves to reveal his tattoos and veins.

Now we're here and I'm offering to get take out because I'm exhausted and this close to passing out.

Before I can lay on the floor without a second thought, Nico rests his hands on my waist and holds me. And for a moment, I feel it all.

I feel the weight of his job, Valeria's condition, what's in store for us... What is in store for us?

With my head on his chest and my arms wrapped around him, I sigh, "I haven't dated to marry in a while."

He huffs out in amusement, "Neither have I." I feel as he tucks his hands under my shirt and on my bare skin.

My breath is shaky as I go to unbutton his shirt. My lips brush against his. "Is this what we're doing?"

He licks my lip, his eyes dark with lust. "You underestimate how much I want to be in your life."

"Guess you have to show me."

it hasn't hit me that i go off to college next week