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"Where are you going?" Giulia wondered as Alberto hobbled across the kitchen floor toward the front door.

"I need some air," he said, crutching as quickly as he could.

She rolled her eyes as the door shut behind Alberto. Alberto and Luca's relationship had always been a touch theatrical, even before they lost communication. 'Some things don't change,' she reflected. She decided to see how Luca was doing.

She went up to the door and knocked. "Can I come in?" She decided to step in after receiving no response.

She felt horrible about making fun of them just a minute before, when she saw Luca kneeling on the floor. He appeared to be in tears.

"What happened?" she inquired.

He made a shaky motion with his head. "It didn't work." 

"What didn't work?"

"He doesn't want me to be around," he said quietly, wiping his eyes.

"What? This doesn't seem right?"

"Well, he's said it," he cried.

She put her hands on Luca's shoulders and said, "OK, calm down." He was shivering.

"Come here" she helped him stand up and they both sat on the bed.

She stroked his back with her hand. As tall as Luca was, he appeared to be much smaller in that time.

"What did he say?"

He drew his brows together and bowed his head.

"He said he didn't need me and that I could go back to Genova for all that he cared."

Giulia was sympathetic to Luca's plight. She couldn't help but believe that wasn't Alberto, but she understood she had missed a lot of her brother's relationship recently, and that Alberto was just not who she remembered. It was like a constant pounding in the back of her mind, making her feel like a bad sister.

Alberto may have said terrible things to Luca, but he was always a nice guy who would never hurt anyone on purpose. He must have been furious, but she knew that with some time and some good old ocean therapy, he would feel better.

"Don't worry, he didn't mean it."

"Still, he was right. I have earned this. I've hurt him, and there's no way I'm going to get him to forgive me."

She contemplated the words for a second.

"Cioccolata!" Giulia yelled.

"What?"

"We need some cioccolata," she said again, grabbing Luca's hand and dragging him downstairs. Giulia made two mugs of scalding hot cioccolata calda while Luca sat down.

"I wanted to tell him everything, but he wouldn't listen"  Luca recalled, his hands warmed by the cup, "I've never seen him like that."

"As I told you before, you need to give him time. He has his own way of dealing with things, so all you have to do right now is wait and talk to him again later."

"Still, I'm not sure if he'll want to hear this."

She furrowed her brows.

"What do you mean?"

***

Meanwhile, Alberto arrived at the docks. It's been weeks since he last stepped into the sea. Because of the many stitches, the doctor encouraged him to take it easy, but Alberto felt he needed to go in if he wanted to fully recover. It wasn't just his body that was hurting, and a good swim always helped him feel better.