Francesca Romano

Chapter 56 | Next Time

Francesca's point of view.

The room was lighter, calmer and less tense. We laughed and joked, my stomach wasn't hurting as much. I ate two out of the 30 burgers Reid I brought back. "If you like her, why play her?" Reid asked Beverly. "I'm not ready for a relationship but I don't want to let her go either." We laughed as Andrea was outside on the phone with Enzo. "That's manipulation at its finest." He laughed. "That's what I said, you should hear her fake crying, it's way too good." She shrugged her shoulders. The door opened slowly after a knock and the first thing to peek through the door was a bouquet of baby breath flowers. King followed with his keys in his other hands. Not one second longer did it take for me to get the strength to run to him.

He pulled the bouquet away from his chest as he dropped his keys to the flower and grabbed my thigh helping me as I lifted myself onto him. He wrapped his arm around me and held me tight. The pain I felt was overpowered by how good it felt to be near him again. To know he was okay. I hid my face in his neck and tethered my hand in his hair. "I'm sorry doc, I lost my phone." He said as he kissed my shoulder. I didn't respond and only held on tighter. "We should give them the room." Beverly said as her and Reid walked out. I let out a breath and slowly let go of him and climbed down.

"You don't do that." My side hurt as I held it and started to breathe heavily. "All that last night and this morning it was nothing, until you left me to think something went wrong." He walked closer to me and laid the flowers on the bed. I put my hand on his chest stopping him from getting closer as I looked up to him. "The plan was, don't go around showing whatever this is. You had me panicking and looking like a fool trying to make sure you were okay in front of your mom and brother." He stood with his hands in his pockets, listening to everything I said. Once I finished and sat down on the bed he stood in between my legs and looked down at me.

"You're right, I shouldn't have gone without telling anyone something and I definitely should have found a way to talk to you. But listen to me doc, not once were you not on my mind." He cupped my face and leaned down. "But if you think for one second that this plan of yours will stick, I'm sorry but I don't want it to. If you're willing to be mine then I'm willing to let everything that breathes know it. Francesca you mean something to me and I'm not letting that slip." I smiled for a second before looking down to my hands. "Those flowers are pretty."

I didn't know what to say and how to respond. Everything in me wanted to tell him how I was his, but my brain kept my lips sealed. He smiled and let go of my face pulling in a chair as he sat before me. "They're yours, now tell me what happened so I know how to deal with it."

As I started to explain, the three of them walked back in and took seats. Reid was a nervous wreck as he sat next to King. But King was calm; he asked to see the arrow and Andrea gave it to him. As he looked it over he asked Reid for his phone and when he gave it to him, King called someone on speaker. "Hi baby how are you? I was just on my way to get us food." Gabriele's voice was high pitched compared to last night when she was mad. "Silver Pine Memorial, Room 327. Reid's in a coma." King hung up and passed the phone back to him. "A coma really? You couldn't think of something cool." Reid asked in a playful tone. "Shut up before I put you in one."

"No one kills her. Show mercy." I said laying down. The door opened and Dr. \Cash came in with a smile. "Beverly, how are you?" He asked as he walked to my bedside. "Good as one can be." Jensen looked around the room as he leaned against the bed. "And all these new faces, who are they?" King looked to me waiting for an answer as a wave of uncertainty hit me. I looked around the room and only calm smiles were faced to me until Reid answered for me. "Boyfriend, brother in law and mother in law." Jensen gasped as he put his hand out for King to shake. King looked him up and down and only leaned back in his chair.

"King, don't be rude." Andrea told him. "Dude, put your hand down before you lose any more dignity." Andrea sighed in frustration and Jensen pulled his hand away. "Francesca I didn't know you were dating, a ticking time bomb." He said with his hands on his hips. "Check my stitches or I'll stitch your mouth shut, Jensen." He threw his hands back before lifting my gown and checking my stitches. "What in God's name happened? All your stitches are popped." I groaned and laid my head back. "Maybe the double stitch would have been better."

"Don't worry I'll be back to stitch you up. But if you keep moving you're not getting transferred." I mimicked him as he walked out and pulled my gown down. Minutes later the door swung open again with Gabby panting and crying. Reid shut and locked the door behind her as Andrea stood up and closed the blinds. Gabby stood in place as she looked at Reid who was perfectly fine and alive. "No." She whispered as she looked at me. "So I hear you're a good shot." King said as he looked up at her. Gabby quickly turned and faced Reid. "Baby listen to me, she was trying to come in between us. I couldn't let that happen." She cupped Reid's face and he pushed her away. "Put your hands on the table." King stood up and broke the arrow in half. "King, you can't believe her over me. I've known you since we were little." She pleaded. "Hands on the table or you bite a bullet." She cried and cried as she slowly put her hands on the table. "Do I want to see this?" Beverly asked with wide eyes.

"No." King simply said before stabbing one of Gabbys hands with half the arrow. Reid quickly got up and covered her screams. "Don't want to attract now do we?" He asked her as tears fell down from her face, ruining the pretty makeup she had on. "Reid let your shit slide and I did too. But you touched the wrong girl last night. You touched my girl."

I turned my face away as he punched the other half of the arrow into her hands. She stomped her feet in pain as Reid's hands muffled her yelling.  I looked back and King pulled the halves of the arrows out of her hands as Reid let her go and sat her on the floor. "You'll never pick up a bow and arrow again." She clenched her mouth shut as her hands bled to the floor. It didn't bother me, didn't disturb me. "The only reason you're still alive is because she had mercy on you." Reid told her.

I smelled the flowers King had left me and held them close as I watched her bleed out from her palms. "If you want anything to do with this family you will stay away from Francesca and you will have someone watching your every move until further notice." Andrea crossed her legs and sat back in her seat. "Bring her to the doctors." King said as he sat on the edge of the bed. Reid stood her up and went to walk out with her as her whining never stopped. "Gabby?" I called out to her and they turned to face me.

"If I see you again, I'll kill you. No matter the circumstances." Reid smiled at me in acceptance as he walked out with her. He didn't make it to the main hall before nurses surrounded her.