Chiara Daveys is living a good life in England - if you ignore her constant struggle with food, lack of a guardian and how she's constantly working to pay the bills.
At 17 years old, she's been unaware of her 6 brothers who have spent the 14 years o...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
After sitting and watching an extremely pale Chiara push her breakfast around her bowl and very rarely actually placing food inside of her mouth, I'd decided enough is enough.
I don't think gently coaxing her to eat or constantly checking if she has is enough any more. God knows how she's surviving right now.
So, I've decided that neither of us will be going to school today. And I will be telling Giovanni. This problem could be so much bigger than I can deal with.
He loves and cares for that girl possibly even more than I do and he'll know what to do.
I just have to trust that this will make her better.
I walk into his office, "I don't think we should go to school today."
Without looking up at me he looks like he's about to argue. However, he does look at me, "why?" He asks genuinely.
Thank God.
I shut the door gently behind myself and take a seat, leg bouncing.
"I think something is wrong with Chiara. And I don't mean just today, fuck, I think this has been going on for a while now. I've picked up on it here and there but I don't think she's getting better."
He gets up and rounds the table. He takes a seat next to me, placing a hand on my leg to calm the erratic bouncing.
"Calm down, Noah. What's wrong with Chiara?"
"Giovanni, I don't think she's been eating properly. And I feel bad because I've noticed and haven't said anything to you because I thought I could try convince her to help herself. But I don't think she can anymore."
"Okay," he nods his head at me seriously, cupping the back of my head, "I know you're worried but I'm going to check up on her now, okay? Neither of you are going to school today."
"Thank you," I say.
"Always, Fratellino," he gets up and makes his way to the door with me following behind him. [Fratellino - Little brother]
We head downstairs and she's still sat there, staring blankly at the wall.
Her skin looks dull and lifeless. She looks so ill.
"Principessa?" Giovanni calls softly. Despite his quite tone, she gets startled as if he'd shouted.
"Hm?" She replies.
"You feeling okay?" He comes up next to her and smooths a hand down her straightened hair.
That's another thing - she doesn't look like herself.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she nods, placing the spoon down on the bowl. The bowl which is full of food.
She looks up at Giovanni, then behind him at me. All I see is her tired eyes with bags underneath them.
"Are you sure, Chiara?" He asks, leaning down slightly.
She looks up at him with wide eyes before just nodding.
"Don't we need to go soon?" She gets up and takes a step back, clutching the countertop.
Both Giovanni and I take a step towards her. Shit.
"You're not going to school today. Neither of you are."
"What?" She shakes her head, "why?"
"You don't want a day off?" He asks smoothly.
She just eyes him suspiciously before shrugging.
"Sure. I'll be going upstairs then," she moves past us and out of the dining room, towards the stairs.
I go to follow but Giovanni holds my arm.
"You're going to stay downstairs. I'll go up after her. I don't want this stressing you out further. If you get stressed or upset and she notices, it'll just make her upset too, okay?"
"But -" I go to argue.
"This is the best solution for both of you, okay? I'll look after her, I promise. And I'm going to try get her to see a doctor."
"She won't agree," I tell him, but I'm sure he's well aware.
"It's worth a try," he shakes his head.
"Giovanni!" One of our brothers shouts from upstairs.
With wide eyes, I ignore what Giovanni just told me and go to look at what's going on. He doesn't stop me, though, he just stands in front of me.
At the top of the staircase, Lorenzo is holding up a dizzy looking Chiara who looks a couple seconds away from passing out.
"Shit," Giovanni curses.
He rushes up the stairs.
"Hey, Princess," he says, somehow even softer than earlier.
"Giovanni," she murmurs quietly, "I lied earlier. I don't feel well."
"I know, sweetheart," he replies.
Lorenzo and I continue to watch in concern, not making a move so not to startle her.
"We're going to take you to the hospital, okay?" He says to her.
"No, no, don't," she shakes her head, still being held upright by Lorenzo.
She visibly regrets shaking her head when she winces and falls forward slightly.
Giovanni is prepared though and wraps his arms around her to stop her from falling, he looks over her head at Lorenzo, "go start the car," he mutters quietly.
Lorenzo nods and heads down the stairs passing me.
"Come with me, Noah," he says.
"But -" I look up at Chiara, concerned and desperate.
"Noah, go with him, I need to get her downstairs," Giovanni orders as he scoops up Chiara in his arms, holding her tightly to his chest.
I nod tensely and follow Lorenzo to the car.
I stand by the car and wait. He only takes a few minutes, but it felt like a lifetime before I saw him walking out with Chiara still in his arms. Her head was resting against his shoulder, eyes closed.
"She passed out," Giovanni says, but I'm not sure if he's talking to me or Lorenzo, perhaps both, "I tried waking her up but she wouldn't. We need to get her to the hospital. Now."
We do just that, Lorenzo saying he'll call the others when we're there.
I'm sat in the passenger seat, frequently looking back and watching Chiara, who remains in Giovanni's arms.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," I chant, tears springing to my eyes, "God, I'm so sorry. If I told you earlier, we could've helped her earlier."
"She was determined to keep this to herself," Lorenzo says, but I only shake my head.
"There were little things. I noticed them."
"She would've hidden it better," Lorenzo argues, "you know that, Noah."
