To Heal the Enemy

35

Chapter Thirty-Five: The Downsides of the Job

Alex's pov:

"Luca please talk to me. What did they do to you? How did this happen?" I ask with a sense of urgency.
I'm sitting in the back seat of the car next to Luca who is leaning his head back against the seat and staying pretty quiet.

In the car, it's Mateo, Jay, Anala, Luca, and I. Kaz ended up going with the other guys so that Luca would have more room.

Luca is sitting in between Anala and I. Anala is looking at him with sympathy but I can also see that she is just as urgent to know what lengths they went through with him.

"Can't we just talk about this later? I don't want to think about it right now. I just want to sleep. My body is tired." Luca says while sighing in the process.

I don't blame him. He looks exhausted and has been I'm sure put through hell for days upon end.

I sigh also because I just feel so out of control. "Yes of course."

He leans his head on Anala's shoulder and I look over to see her holding his hand.

As I look at them she glances at me for a moment and a flash of hurt is in her eyes. I don't last long before looking away. I hate that I've failed both of them. My brain just feels so full that I don't know what to focus on first.

I also try and remind myself that there's nothing that I can do at this very moment or maybe there is but for a second I'd rather just close my eyes too.

~~~

We took Luca back to the empire to stay in a spare room so that he could have some medical attention from Mateo's doctor.

He's not been able to keep any food down, his body just rejects anything from being taken in. We've tried giving him some pain meds but he can't take it on an empty stomach so he not only is in a shit load of pain he is also rejecting anything that can help him.

Anala and I have been trying to help him but he also has been having a hard time accepting much help. I know what it's like not wanting to be a burden, especially at his age, and believing that he can do it all on his own when he doesn't have to.

Right now, Anala is cleaning some cuts on his face while I go and see Mateo.

Anala's pov:

I never expected to love someone the way that I feel for Luca. I've never experienced a brotherly relationship besides the one that I had with Mateo. This is different in the sense that I am the bigger person and he leans on me rather than me leaning on him. Not that I usually let myself lean on anyone anyway.

The relief that washed over me to see him alive was a mix of gratefulness and rage when I saw the state that he was in.

It's weird to think that in one area of my life, I am the abuser and I am the killer whereas in the other area, I'm so angry at someone for possibly doing that to Luca. When I am in the state of being Cattiva I feel no mercy, no remorse, nothing. A part of me almost feels guilt, but that feeling is easy to shrug off because it's what I was raised doing. What we were all raised doing.

How would we know any different?

I sometimes wonder if one day I'm not gonna want to be an assassin anymore but that also just looks to be impossible. Besides this is what I was born to do.

My thoughts are interrupted when I hear Luca groan. I zone back into reality as Luca says that he's gonna puke. I grab the trash that's by Luca's bed and hand it to him.