Creed of the Leviathan II

19 | E + M

Emmanuelle

"DOM!" I yelled, but my kid did not mind me. He sprinted out of the room before I could touch one hair on his head. "Hey, slow down." I tried to speak, run and catch my breath at the same time.

"Ohh." Marissa caught him when he jumped down from the third step of the stairs, almost falling. "Why are you running?" She put him on the ground.

"Playing with mom!" He shouted with excitement, "She's going to catch me." Once I saw him standing with her, I relaxed and began walking down the stairs on my own tempo. 

"Morning," her smile faded once she saw me. I did not perceive it as her being unhappy about my presence, but more unsure of how to act towards me. Our bond would never be the same again, that, we both knew. I was, however, willing to at least create a new one. 

"Goodmorning, are you headed to the office?" I ruffled Dom's wet hair.

"Yeah," She took her jacket off, "Just wanted to check up on Tia first."

"I was about to do the same," I smiled, leading the way to Tia's room right after. Marissa and Dom followed. I carefully pulled down the handle, not wanting to wake Tia up if she happened to be asleep. When I peeked into the room, I saw her laying there. Her eyes were still shut, and she was hooked up to a breathing machine of some sort. Marissa went to sit on her right side, whilst I had Dom stand next to me on her left bedside. 

"Has Lorna come in yet?" She asked, her eyes never leaving Tia's face.

"I haven't seen her yet." 

"I'll come by after work and we can get her stuff ready, together?" This time she looked up at me with glistening eyes. 

"For?" I questioned with confusion.

Her eyebrows furrowed in response, "Didn't Mattia tell you? Tia's entering hospice tomorrow."

I shook my head, "No." I exhaled. My body turned cold, and my eyes burned with tears. In this moment I was torn between feeling sad and mad. How could Dimitri keep this from me? Marissa read into my emotions and started apologizing on his behalf by making tons of excuses, hoping to ease my coming breakdown. 

"God," I uttered to myself as I wiped my chin with the back of my hand. "I don't need you to make excuses for him."

"I'm not. Really," she stood up from where she was sitting and rushed over to my side, "I'm sure he didn't mean to keep this from you."

I sat down in the window seat, about ready to sink into the ground. "Is this really it? He told me that she was doing better."

"She was," Marissa's voice strained, "But, you know how it is with this disease. It became worse when he was in New York. He wouldn't lie to you."

I scoffed, "What makes you so sure?" The tears still prickled my eyes.

"Because he cares about you," She pulled her legs up, hugging them.

I turned to face her, "I've been meaning to talk to you, about that." I carefully said.

I was met with a small, genuine smile that sat on her lips. "I think I'm all caught up." She nodded her head whilst still looking at me. "Besides, why else would he go to New York that often."

"You don't care?"

"You make him happy, so no. The last five years were really hard for us. Now, I know why it was harder for him." She scooted closer to me and put her head on my shoulder whilst our attention was directed to Tia again. "We'll get through this together." she said, referring to the inevitable. We stayed in Tia's room for a while longer, until Dom was ready for his breakfast. He insisted that Marissa joined us and even though she had already been late for work, she still sat down with him till he was all done.