All It Takes Is Love | ✍🏼

16. On The Way Out

- Ace Moretti - 

For the past two weeks, I had been constantly waking up, eating, then going to physical therapy, before I was back to the bed, only to be medicated to sleep. Today, had been the first day that I had been able to walk without help, and I had done that all while my brothers had fucked off to who knows where. 

They had all found something better to do, once again. I was right, boarding school was the better place for me, as I should have just stayed there and waited the rest of the year out. But, my father had asked that I come home and to see him in his dying days, which I hadn't done yet. That was my last job, before I was getting my assed shipped back home. 

But the one thing that had constantly been on my mind, was the girl that had once been in my arms. I had had no idea who she was, but the beat in my heart, had told me to protect her. Now, I had no idea where she was. She was gone, and I was truly feeling her absence now. I could feel it, and I was worried for someone that I didn't even know. 

This wasn't who I was. This person, that was me, was not the person that I had always known. This boy, right here, was the same boy that had been pushed down the stairs by his own father before his mother had coddled him, before that all stopped too. The constant pushes and shoves, the occasional slap on the cheek and back of the hand had just been the bare minimum. 

We had all been forced into training, and if we underperformed, we would be cut and threatened. Knifes to the throat had become a usual thing to me. Being pushed against a wall by my father had been normal, until I realized it wasn't. My father was a cruel man, and that didn't mean that he wasn't my father, it just meant that I didn't want anything to do with him. 

That may make me sound like a bad person, but maybe I was, because the way I had grown up had shaped me that way. That looking at my father, whom had been absent for most of my life, was still that father figure that I knew some people got. When I mean that my father was absent, he wasn't home often, always on work trips, and when he was home, he usually drank so he could ignore us, but when that didn't work, he would hurt us. 

He would threaten us, and it all became normal. So, I don't know why I expected anything more from my brothers, as we were all products of absent parents. As soon as something happens that isn't in the normal routine, we disappear. Vincenzo had done it, and I still didn't know the reason, but all I could put it down to was that life had gotten tough, and he wasn't prepared for it. 

Or the other reason could have been that our father pushed him out of the house, but still, no clear answer had been given. "Hey hon, is there anyone here to check you out today?" I hadn't thought that today was the day, so I turned from my sitting position, and just shook my head. I didn't know if anyone was here to check me out, as they hadn't been back in two weeks. 

"Well, I will give a call to your guardian, but with the fast recovery you have had, we are going to put you in a boot, no crutches, but you will need to see a physical therapist once a week to strengthen your foot, which we will refer you to, and then you should be on your way" I just nodded along, as I had for everything else. 

I didn't know what to say. I never did. This wasn't how this was all supposed to happen. Vincenzo or Lorenzo was supposed to be here, for crying out loud. I knew they worked a lot, but I didn't know that they worked this much, that they couldn't be here with me, for a small amount of time. 

"Okay, I'll be back soon hon" it had bled so deep into my veins, that I didn't even care how long she took. I could sit here for days, weeks, years on end, and I was sure nothing would change in my family. We were forced together into a photo, and that was all we were good for. Things happened to us, and no one wanted to discuss it. No one wanted to discuss how our mother had changed in one night. 

She didn't even wear her wedding ring, when she used to wear it like it was a ritual to her. She never took it off, while now, I didn't even know if it was even with us anymore. I had to get out of here. I couldn't stay at home anymore. It was void of anything and anyone anymore. 

"Ace?" a voice questioned, and I didn't even bother to turn around. "I need to clear the air with you" he continued to speak to my back as I didn't even move or acknowledge that I had heard him. I didn't want to speak to any of them, as they had made the decision to not speak to me for two weeks, while I had been in hospital. 

"Ace, at least look at me" I didn't even turn, so he made the decision to come and face me, but I didn't even look at him. What was the point, when you don't even bother to come and see me, when I am at my worst. Really goes to show what type of people my brothers really are. I scared them away, and they ran. 

"What?" I whispered, finally giving him my attention, and really wishing that I hadn't. "I got caught up at work-" I stopped him when he started with that sentence. "You are always caught up at work. No matter what it is, whether you are the next eldest and have to take on the responsibility, you are always at work. You know, I used to think higher of you, but not anymore" 

Ever since Vincenzo had been gone and Lorenzo was to take over the role, he had started to slip away as well. He too, had had one foot out the door the entire time. Everything had seemed like it was a pain to him. Getting him to a football game or even just home for dinner was some of the hardest things. 

"Ace, it's not about that. It has nothing to do with work. I need to tell you something important" once again, he had disregarded everything that I had said. He had always been this way, hence why we weren't close. "Go on" I muttered, sitting back down, even though I had never realized that I had stood up in the first place. Medication was still running through my veins. 

"You know that girl that we brought in the other day?" he started with a question, always loving the suspension. "That girl you brought in two weeks ago, yeah I remember" I whispered, taking my eyes off him to scoff, before I looked back at him. "She's our sister" 

I was shocked, but I didn't have time to process, as singing sheets were handed to me, before they were handed to my brother, and then procedures were being talked through. I was in a state of shock, even as my brother guided me out of the hospital, but I didn't need his assistance. I was too far gone. 

He had waited two weeks to tell me this, and then he expects everything to be fine. "Ace" he sighed, when he had finally pulled out of the parking lot, and I still hadn't taken my eyes off of a spot in front of me. "We didn't mean to leave you there for two weeks on your own" he sighed once again, but I said "well if you didn't mean to, why did you?" 

It would be the same excuse, so I just closed my eyes, and let everything run through my head, as to why, of all people, it was always me. Drop the bombshell, and then leave for the stupid fucking work that I am never allowed to know about, yet half the time it involves me. I was on the way out with this stupid family. 

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thoughts? xx

i hate this chapter, its so rushed.