Aurora

The Hospital

Matteo

Matteo's ears rang.

He could barely hear the concerned and hushed whispers of his friends voices constantly speaking to him.

His unfocused eyes zoned in on his trembling hands, his bouncing knee and his own rapid breathing couldn't enter his ears.

He turned his hands that trembled, making the palms of them face up as they glared back at him. Those were the hands that were placed on her body that he held against him, the flesh of her warm skin still causing his hands to tingle. It was in a flash that it was stripped away from him, that touch was something that couldn't last.

His eyes widened slightly, staring at his palms.

"I just-" he croaked out, his voice barely audible but it caught the attention of the others around him.

They watched him closely as he tried to speak.

"I just...held her." he whispered. "S-she was in my arms. She laughed..."

His chest rose and flattened at a fast pace. His eyes brimmed with tears as the pieces of that memory entered his mind.

"W-why- She just became my girlfriend. I just asked her to...to-"

"Matteo-" Reggie tried to console his friend but Matteo's body shook.

"Fuck!"

He had never felt this much raw pain and emotion boiling inside of his body. He had never felt this overwhelming sense of fear to know that Aurora was in the room opposite him, lying in the hospital bed and immobile. To know that she was now currently in a state where her body could in any moment decide to not want to wake up again due to her condition that had caught up with her, scared the fuck out of him.

As the tears spilled from his eyes, Matteo blamed himself for the situation. It was his fault for not doing everything he could to be able to help her and he could have flown out of the country to personally look for a donor for him. His men had already done that, but maybe if he had done it himself he would have found someone.

It was his fault because he should have taken more care of her. He should have taken her every chance they could get to the hospital, or they could have done something else. He didn't know what, but he blamed himself for not trying harder.

"It's all my fault." his voice trembled, sounding so broken from the tears that flowed and his throat felt constricted.

"You can't blame yourself, Matteo. You did everything you could." Vincent spoke.

"I didn't do enough! I should've gone to every fucking country on this God damn planet and maybe- just maybe I could've gotten a donor. I should've-"

"Matteo." said his sister. "None of this is your fault. You might blame yourself but you helped Aurora in many other ways. You should have more faith in her and hope that she at least wakes up."

He looked at his sister. Just like him, Cordelia had been constantly staying at her side for the past few days. Matteo had refused to go home whereas Cordelia would only stay until visiting hours were over, but she seemed as distressed as he was.

She hadn't gotten her results yet so neither of them knew if she was a match for Aurora or not. A few days ago she had an argument with one of the doctors to let her go through with the surgery, but they could not do that. There was no telling that either of them would survive since they still don't know if Cordelia is compatible or not.

All they could was wait, and Matteo was about done with just waiting all the time.

"We know that you're hurting more than any of us but you need to stay strong for her." she said.