Pretty Poison

Forty

◈ Beatrice ◈

Nausea takes over me as my eyes open slowly from where I lay. My brain is disoriented, confused.

What happened?

My vision comes back slowly, the curtains drawn shut and preventing any light from entering into the room. I move my head around, hearing voices speak in hushed demeanors.

"She will be alright...no injuries...It's unlike anything I've seen before...no...trauma...yes, yes...Arrivederci."

The door to the hotel room closes a minute later, and I see Luca's body shaking by the door. His head is buried in his hand, his messy hair falling over his face.

"Luca," I faintly whisper, and he immediately rushes over to me, the bed dipping at my legs as he takes a seat beside me.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" I take in his face, tear streaks burned on his cheeks and his eyes puffy and irritated.

"What happened?" I question, ignoring his inquiry.

"You had a seizure, then fell into cardiac arrest, I came back and I found you limp on the floor. It scared me half to death, I didn't know what to do, you wouldn't wake up and-"

I reach my hand up weakly to his cheek, and he places his hand over mine, closing his swollen eyes to take in the feeling.

"I-I feel so tired," I say weakly.

"The medic said you would...Beatrice, he said it was unlike anything he's ever seen. He-He said it was a miracle that you survived. Your body was on fire, it burned me when I touched your stomach...your scar. Beatrice, what is that scar?" His voice overflows with worry and fear, his eyes flickering left and right searching mine for the answer.

"I don't know," I say, shaking my head in disbelief.

I burned him...I hurt him.

"Beatrice...the medic said you're lucky to be alive, h-he has no idea how you still are," Luca reiterates, in clear disbelief and bewilderment. "He guessed that your adrenaline rush kept your heart beating, but it should've stopped when you went into cardiac arrest. When I found you, Beatrice, I thought you were gone already," a single tear drops from his eye.

I weakly push myself up and take his quivering being into a tight embrace. I never thought that I would see someone like him break down like this, be so emotional like this. He wraps his arms around me tightly, effortlessly lifting me into his lap.

"I-I thought I lost you, Beatrice," he says after pulling from the embrace to look me in the face. He lifts a trembling hand to push my hair behind my ear. "I lost you before, I-I couldn't bear the thought of losing you for good."

Another tear cascades from his eyes and I wipe it away lightly. His indigo eyes melt with pain, igniting his iris with a fear I have never seen before in my life.

I lean my forehead against his, our bodies the same height as I stretch my legs on either side of him, only now realizing my complete bareness. I take his face into both of my hands, placing a gentle kiss on his lips as his eyelids flutter closed, another tear squeezed from his duct.

I pull away, "You didn't lose me," I say, staring straight into his soul, "You didn't lose me, and you never will lose me. It'll take a lot more to take me down than just a seizure," I lightly joke, laughing slightly.

Luca breaks a sobbing laugh, his tears pushing back and happiness returning to his gorgeous face. He takes me close again, clashing my lips with his as he pushes me closer to him with his hand squeezing my bottom. He leans forward, my bare back connecting with the comforting bed as he pushes his lips harder against mine.

We stay like that, our kisses full of nothing but passion and love. I feel the fear that once resided within his body boil away in the heat, his heartbeat calming to a normal tempo within his muscular chest, only to pick up speed again.

"I love you," I say, pulling away from his delicate lips.

"I love you, Beatrice, I love you more than anything in the world, don't you ever forget that."