Devotion

thirty five ﾒ where's my girlfriend at?

LUCA

After visiting hours had ended, somehow, Leilani stayed. She convinced almost everyone she was my sister even though the medical records say otherwise. She's gotten away with it more often than usual, but there's no judgment here. "Luca." She taps my temple once. "Luca," she whispers in my ear. Her finger pokes my eyes and I cringe. "What the fuck, Leilani?" I ask, wiping my eyes. She smiles sleepily and laughs, lying her head on the available bed space. "Are you still drugged up? Can you speak coherently without being aggressive?"

"Yes," I grumble, pissed at this injury and the inability to get the fuck out of the hospital. I've been here before. The cliche of my mother's death, being in the hospital. I don't remember shit about it because I was an infant, but the feeling of hospitals gives me a bad feeling. Nothing good ever comes with this.

Exactly why I'm here now. Because I made a mistake and did not calculate correctly on the ice, now I'm completely fucked. Around two hours ago, I got out of surgery for this dumbass tear and it's going to take six to nine months according to everyone. Christ, I have midterms to take. Work to do. Business to handle. And now I have to be babies for the next three-quarters of a year. Fuck my life. "Oh? Are you still high from the morphine? I thought it would've worn off by now," she says inspecting the medical equipment.

"No, I'm fine. I'm a little fucked up right now, but overall, I'm fucking fine," I grumble. Leilani looks at me with her brown eyes and a gentle smile on her face. "Do you notice anything different besides being in a hospital with your amazing sister-friend?"

I sigh, expelling a breath of unsettling air. "Other than the fact I'm in a hospital, high off my ass, hungry as a fucking whale, and horny as a dog, no. Nothing looks different from the few hours I've been suffering here."

Leilani looks at me with a look that reads you sure? "No one you want to see? Any callbacks or voicemails you may have or may have not sent," she says. I look at her confused and too out of it to try and decipher what she's implying. Until a thought hit me, "Although, there's one person I haven't seen in a few days," I drawl, looking at her as she nods and smiles. Not sure if it is for encouragement or she's making fun of me. Then, that thought ended up giving me full attention. Angelica. The voicemail Leilani was talking about. Shit. "Leilani, don't tell me I..." I give her a wary look.

"You sure did, Luca. You sure did." She shakes her head. "You offered to eat her out for free, how romantic. I haven't seen her in a few, and we usually talk all the time." Her eyes wander to the ceiling of the room as she thinks to herself. "I'm pretty sure the last time we spoke was her saying something about getting a job because of something with her parents."

"And you haven't seen her since?" I ask. Her head shakes again with a worried look. "Nope, not a peep. That's unlike her honestly. We always talk."

Breaking the ice and silence that overcame Leilani I came to my father, who had shown up at the door. "I know where she is, but you have to be careful," he says. I'm a fuck-ton confused about what the hell is happening. "What the fuck do you mean be careful?" The questions brought flames in my chest as the morphine that was wearing me down, brought me up. I grab one of the crutches resting on the side of the bed, hoisting myself up on them. "Where is she?" I ask.

"Don't do anything stupid. I know you're passionate when it comes to her, but this is serious work. Even for you. I'd rather my son live when I wake up in the morning." I stand on my non-dominant leg staring at him in annoyance. "Your point? Tell me where the fuck my girlfriend's at!" He sighs. "Aziel and I were in a meeting about the further alliance in the future, noting where the companies' profits are lying. He had a phone call from one of his bodyguards, and he specifically said, 'Good. That is where she belongs. Hanging with that boy again, she must've not learned her lesson the first time.' "So," Leilani interjects. "She's in there because of Luca?"

Leilani and I glared at my father for answers, and when he nodded in confirmation, I grew even more pissed at it being true. She's being punished for me. I thought my father and Aziel worked some shit out but he's holding a grudge from years ago. "But, he already knew about Luca and A working on the project almost two months ago. He's now interfering when it's a few days until November?"

"Yes, but the project is temporary. We don't mind that. It's the claimed relationship told by someone that no one knew about. Now," he pauses, "I couldn't care much about your doings anymore, enemy or ally, because you're twenty-three years old and are almost old enough to handle yourself completely. It's her father who can't get over the incident in high school. I guess it's also not surprising that the person in the middle of this happens to be your admirer."

I think for a second. Oh, fuck me.

Mia. The both of us look at one another with a wary look. "Christ, I knew that desperate son of the bitch would do this again. Always getting my best friend in trouble." Leilani crosses her arms. "I'm gonna kill her."

"How do I know you're not lying?" I raise an eyebrow in curiosity. "Perché mentire su una ragazza che hai protetto fin dai pannolini?" My father asks in Italian. Why lie about a girl you've protected since diapers? "You can be a liar for the benefit of yourself."

"Believe me when I say this." Once he says that, I give in and decide to believe him. When it comes to Angelica, red is seen when she's not in a safe proximity. My hand searches in my hoodie for my phone, instantly calling her brother. With the phone pressed into my ear, he thankfully picked up two rings, "What do you want that's so important?" He asks.

"Your sister's missing, and I think your father did it. I'm gonna need your help with driving since I can't drive for a while, plus this is Angelica we're talking about."

I could feel his suspicion radiate from the phone. "Did you fucking hurt her? You know, I'll ring your neck twice the amount back in high school if you laid a finger on her. Do you hear me? You'll be dead in seconds."

Leilani blushes at his muffled words so I turn towards the wall, the phone near my mouth. "I didn't hurt your sister. I'm trying to figure out where the hell she is, actually. Since you want to fucking assume, get over here with your car so we can get her." I demand.

"Why can't you do it?"

I sigh, unable to hide this injury. "Because, I tore my MCL on the ice a few hours ago," I say. A snort comes from the line. "This is gonna be good. I'll be in the hospital in a few minutes. Send me the location and keep your princess ass on the bed so you don't damage yourself." For fuck's sake.

I hang up from the call, diverting my attention to Leilani. "Call Rio, I'm going to need his help. And Leo, too."