Caught In Between - Book 1

45

CHAPTER 45
Catalina
Sunday

"Ow," I hissed, blinking awake my heavy lids. The room was dark, and things were still a bit hazy.

My body ached while my head throbbed. I lifted a hand to my sore throat, realizing the tubing must have been removed. I squinted, struggling to let my eyes adjust to a room without light.

They soon landed on two figures across the room, Domenico lying next to Matteo on a couch that barely held them, while Lorenzo's head was in my lap, his arm cradling my sore abdomen.

I reached down, stroking my fingers through his messy hair; it had grown. His eyes snapped open with a quickness, and he sucked in a sharp breath, sitting up in his seat. He turned to wake the others, but I grabbed his hand, shaking my head.

"Water," I croaked out. My mouth was so parched it was harder to swallow with every moment that passed.

Lorenzo gave me a curt nod, hopping up from his seat and pouring water into a pale pink hospital cup. He grabbed a bendy straw, placing it inside before holding it up to my mouth. I gave him an appreciative smile as I wrapped my dry lips around the plastic, sucking up the cold refreshing liquid as he watched me with careful eyes. He was looking at me as though I'd disappear if he even so much as blinked.

Once I felt replenished enough to speak, I pulled back to peer up at him. "Thank you." I gave him another smile, but he just stared at me before placing the cup down at my bedside.

Lorenzo retook his seat still without saying a word. He was beginning to scare me with his silence, so I furrowed my eyebrows and reached out for his hand.

"Hey, I'm okay," I told him, knowing what he was thinking. "I'm here."

His body stiffened at my words, then his eyes fell shut, and when he opened again, tears brimmed the creases of his lids.

"I-I thought." Lorenzo shook his head. "Don't ever do that to me again, princess." A sob escaped his throat, tears began to run down his face.

I pulled him towards me by the hand, and he wrapped his arms around my waist, burying his head back into my stomach. I must have really given this man a scare because that wasn't a side of him I was used to seeing. Combing my fingers through his hair, his body shook, and he tugged closer, using me to muffle his cries. I shushed him and told him that I wasn't going anywhere ever until they lessened, and his body stilled, and he was just holding me.

"That true, little one?" Domenico's raspy voice caught my attention from across the room. I beamed despite the pain as he and Matteo made their way over to me, each taking a seat on either side of me on the bed.

"Very," I answered. "You guys are stuck with me."

Nic smiled and kissed my cheek, while Matteo did the same to my hand. It felt good to be back in the presence of my men again. I had no idea how long I was out but gauging their reactions, it was too long.

"Has the doctor been in to see her since she's woken up?" Matteo asked as Lorenzo popped his head up. Tears still welled in his beautiful icy blue eyes, and he shook his head before returning it to my belly. Matteo went to stand, but I tightened my hold on his hand.

"I'm fine," I tell him, pulling the gorgeous man back towards me. "Can't I just enjoy this moment with my men before I'm being poked and prodded?"

Matteo looked at me, then over at Nic, drawing his lips into a thin line. Nic gave him a subtle nod before they both turned their attention to me.

"Fine," Nic said, sweeping his lips over the apple of my cheek. "But only for a bit. They need to check you out to make sure everything's fine." The concern in his eyes was mixed with guilt, and it broke my heart.

I nodded, tugging them all closer to me, and I found myself in what felt like a cocoon of muscle and warmth. It put me at ease, feeling their respective heartbeats drumming against my skin, like a song that only played for me. It was a soothing and sweet rhythm that had my eyes heavy and me drifting off to sleep in no time. I was still so tired, I didn't bother fighting it.

When my eyes opened again, there was a pretty young nurse taking my vitals. I tried to sit up, but she brought a hand to my shoulder and told me to relax, and I listened. I looked around the room to find my men were nowhere to be found, and panic instantly set in. I wasn't a needy woman, but ever since that weird nightmare-limbo thing I had woken up from, it frightened me not to know where they were.

"The doctor will be in to speak with you in a moment," the nurse told me as she exited the room, and I nodded.

Letting out a shaky breath, I surveyed my body. I had a cast up my right leg that ended near my lower hip and another one to match on my right arm that was currently in a sling. I reached up, brushing my fingers across the bandage wrapped around my head, and I let out another uneven breath. No wonder the guys looked so uneasy when I woke up. My hand dropped when the door pushed open, and a man in a white lab coat walked into the room.

"Good evening, Señora Mariano. I'm Dr. Martinez. I've been the one taking care of you. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, I guess, but I think I'd be better after I've gotten a couple of answers," I told him honestly. I was so happy to be with the guys again that I didn't ask many questions, and now I wanted to know everything. "How long was I out?" And did he just call me Mrs. Mariano?

"After you were brought in, we put you in a medically induced coma for two weeks, but you remained asleep for another two." Shit. I was out for a month. "Your husbands didn't tell you?"
My husbands? Then it hit me they must have lied and said we were married because it was probably the only way they could get information. Damn, my men were smart. I shook my head, biting back a smile.

"No, we were just so happy to see each other, there wasn't really a lot of medical talk going on, ya know," I said, still reeling from the fact that I had been asleep for a whole fucking month.

"Yes, I understand. So let's get into it, shall we?" Dr. Martinez gave me a faint smile before clapping his hands together and opening my chart. "Your arm and your leg were both broken upon impact. You also had three fractured ribs, and we had to drill into the left side of your brain to relieve the pressure from the trauma that had occurred, which is why we put you in a medical coma so it would be easier for you to heal while the swelling went down
I nodded, processing all the information as he continued to speak.

"There is one thing we didn't tell your husband's because they had already been on the brink of destroying my hospital. We wanted to wait to see if you would wake up before we divulged this information. There was so much bleeding that we had to open you up and find the source. When we did, we realized that there was more injury than we had anticipated. Your pelvis was shattered, and one of your ovaries ruptured, and the other one was severely mangled, but we were able to control the bleeding without having to remove it."

"What does that mean exactly?" I looked over at him, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"It means that you only have one ovary with significant damage, and even if it heals, the possibility of you being able to become pregnant isn't impossible, but it also isn't likely," he paused before letting out a slow breath. "I'm sorry." The doctor made his way out of the room as tears began to well in my eyes when the realization of what he just told me hit me.

Up until this point, I wasn't even sure I wanted children, and now that I knew that the possibility was slim to none, there was nothing I wanted more. How would I tell the three men that I loved, they may never be fathers or that I might never be a mother? Now all I could picture was our children playing on the playground, chasing each other around while their innocent laughter filled our ears: two boys and a girl—no two girls and one boy. Better yet, three boys who looked just like them. I was too distracted in my own thoughts that I didn't even hear the door open again.

"Hey, what's wrong, gattina?" Matteo sat next to me with worry blanketing his features as he reached for my hand. I quickly wiped my tears off before taking his hand.

"Nothing, I'm just happy we'll finally be getting to go home soon," I said, giving him a forced smile. But something in his face told me he didn't believe me.

"Are you sure?" He tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. "What did the doctor say to you?"

"He said it would take me some time to heal, and I would be getting discharged pretty soon," I lied. The doctor said hard but not impossible. There was no need to concern him with that information. "Where are the guys?"

"Well, in Lorenzo's words, he thought you needed some girly shit to make you as comfortable as possible until you were discharged, so they went shopping to get you some comfort items." He shrugged as a smile tugged at his lips. I couldn't help but let out a laugh, which fucking hurt, yet it wasn't unbearable with the pain meds they had me on.

"Sounds like him." I smiled, watching Matteo nod as the amusement quickly faded from his face. He leaned forward and kissed me before resting his forehead on mine.

"Catalina." He sighed against my lips as he tightly squeezed his eyes shut before opening them again. "I know that things have been on unsteady ground lately, trying to balance our friendship and wanting more to happen between us than finally getting more. But in case you didn't know, I love you." My chest tightened as he pulled back to look me in the eye. "I've loved you for a while now, and I couldn't continue to keep those words inside, knowing that I almost lost you." His voice was tight as he shook his head like he was reliving the last few weeks all over again. "You don't have to say anything I just wanted—"

"I love you too," I cut him off, needing him to know the feelings were reciprocated.

He smiled hugely before pulling me into a passionate kiss that made me forget all about the pain I was feeling. I did love him. I loved all of them, and the thought of not being with them absolutely destroyed me. Maybe things between the four of us wouldn't be simple. They would be challenging, but nothing ever worth having came easily.

ツ hope you enjoyed it.

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