GRIFFIN
My life was flashing before my eyes. The smoke inhalation was nothing compared to the fire burning down every defense I had ever built from within.
I kept punching till my blood splattered the glass and it cracked.
Almost there.
"Please please please." My whispered pleas were not enough, nothing was enough. I had punch harder, I had too--
"Griffin." The weak gasp breaks me out of my panic.
My head whips to the side, the silhouette of the only woman that can ever have me such a mess makes me let out the biggest sigh. I run towards her, beyond the cloud of smoke and my heart threatens to sink completely when I see her.
Bloodshot eyes, lower lip bruised, hair messy and tears freely falling as sobs raked her small form.
She steps towards me on weak legs which kickstarts my legs and I run towards her, picking her up and crushing her to my body, to feel her presence. To feel that she is alive. To feel that I am alive.
"Fuck baby you scared me." I breathe into her hair as she sobs against me.
"I-- It was Marco. He- he took me." She gasps between sobs. "He said he would tell you I told him about- about Ace's routine, that he would hurt him." She cries louder. "I didn't I promise I would never hurt Ace or any of the family." She sobs into me.
"I know you wouldn't, vita mia. I know. I trust you over everyone else I promise baby." I hold her tighter. "I thought I lost you, I thought you were in that car." My voice wavers. "I am so fucking sorry Ariel. I've hurt you and I am the smallest man alive for everything I have said and done. But I realize now nothing you do can make me want to be away from you. You make whole baby, I love you." I pull her back to see her wide eyes filled with tears, a look of disbelief in them.
(My life)
"I didn't tell him anything. Not now and not before." She hiccups.
"I know, okay? You don't have to explain anything." I hold both her cheeks, kissing her head several times.
"He had spiders." Her eyes fill with fresh tears, her already pale face blanches as her eyes become distant. My heart squeezes. She is deathly afraid of spiders. "He brought them so close to my face." She whimpers. "He kept asking about the Boston account and I didn't know what he meant. I told him I don't know." She cries loudly.
I just pull her to me, holding her wrapped up in my arms, safe.
"I am so sorry, piccola tempesta. He will pay with the last of his breaths I promise you, his torture will be worse." I promise her.
(Little storm)
"I can't, I can't breathe." She suddenly pushes away from me, gasping.
"What?" My alarmed question doesn't register as she starts coughing, bringing her hand away from her mouth to reveal blood covering her palm.
My heart drops at the sight, but I barely have time to think before her eyes are fluttering closed and she goes limp, my arms the only thing stopping her from falling to the ground.
"Fuck!" I spit. "Ariel please, wake up baby." My eyes sting in a peculiar sensation.
And for the first time since I was a child, I feel a tear slide down my cheek.
__________________
I sit under the fluorescent lights, staring at the bare walls of the waiting area outside of her room. Waiting for an answer. Someone to tell me she's okay.
She had to be okay.
"Mr. Moretti." The doctor steps out and I stand to attention, Aaron and Ares stepping up beside me.
"Is she okay?" I ask her.
"Yes, Ms. Russo is stable now. The car accident caused her to puncture an artery in her left lung. That explains the coughing of blood you described and the lack of oxygen made her pass out. She has sustained significant bruises to her ribs, and head. We have her on pain medication, so she shouldn't feel too poorly. She is just awake enough to understand if you would like to see her." The doctor smiles.
I do not hear anything anyone says after her last sentence and rush into the room to see her frail form lying in bed, looking at her hands. Her eyes look up to me when she hears the door close.
"Hi." She croaks.
"Hi baby." My voice is low, afraid I will disrupt the peace she has on her face.
"Thankyou for coming to get me." She whispers once I am sitting beside her.
"Always." I take her hand in mine, kissing the back of it multiple times. I look into her deep gray eyes as they stare into mine. "I do not know what I would do without you." I tell her. "I don't see myself existing in a world you are not in." My voice crack. Her eyes widen.
"Are you about to cry?" She asks. That makes me crack a smile.
"No." I kiss her hand.
"Well I am not dead, so don't worry." She says. "I'm just happy to be exonerated." She says. My smile falls.
"You have nothing to be exonerated from. You did nothing wrong, if anything I deserve to be incarcerated for wronging you. For hurting you." I shake my head. "I'm so sorry, vita mia. You are everything to me. And I was a fool to think I could spend my life without loving you with every breath I take." I grunt.
"I am glad you found out the truth." She says simply, and I know that doesn't mean she is over everything I have done. And I will except that.
For now, I am content having her with me and safe.
