Cold Hearted

•It's My Fault•

        {•Unedited•}
                           ~Ida's POV~

           It's a horrible thing, having to lie to the police, especially when they're your father. I don't like being the one with all the information and not being able to tell the truth. For someone who hates Santi so much that he shot him, he seems nervous when describing the scene they walked in on. When asking him and his partner why they were questioning me when I hardly have anything to do with what happened, they both push my question to the side and ask one of their own. I asked if they knew where Santi was, if he was arrested, but they refuse to answer any questions about him. My dad even looks sympathetic when I do.
      "Dad!" I hell before he can leave the house.  He stops in his tracks, turning towards me. My hands shake in front of me. "Why won't you guys answer my questions?"
    "Cause I don't want to give you an answer that could later be false," he says. "Everything I know right now isn't official." I want ask what he does know, but I don't want to push his buttons.
     Once he leaves, I'm pacing around the house trying to find something to do with myself. My mom isn't home, so I can't talk to her, and I obviously can't talk to Santi. Eliza is probably in the same mind set as me, but she likes to be left alone when feeling this way.
     Not even ten minutes after my dad leaves, the door opens again, the knob almost hitting the wall. I'm shocked to see Castel standing in the door way with hardly any color to his face. Usually I would be scared to see him just barging in here, but I'm relieved due to how concerned I've been about what happened.
    "What happened?" I ask, speeding walking over to him. I swear if something, anything, happened to Santi, I will beat the life out of this man...somehow...I'll find a way. "SPEAK!" I yell at him. I don't know where this bravery has come from, but it's very much welcomed.  
     "I don't know anything," he says. There's no way he doesn't know what happened, he's the one who conducted the whole plan. He also said Santi would most likely come out side with how they were gonna do things. "All I know is Junior called me and said to come to the hospital after getting you."
     "Why the hospital? Did something happened to Santi?" I ask, following him outside. He doesn't answer me on the way to his truck. "Let me guess, you won't answer my questions either?"
   "Nope."
      •••••••

     The hospital halls are starting to get way to familiar to me. Before my relationship with Santi I didn't know what every turn lead to, now I know everything by memory. I never wanted to be back here after what my dad did to Santi, but here I am again.
     The sound of hushed talking, footsteps, and things moving fill the cold building until we get to the waiting room. I'm surprised to only see Junior and Eliza in there. He has his head in his hands while his knees bouncing up and down frantically. Eliza stands up from the chair, wrapping her arms around me.
     "What's going on?" I ask, hugging her back. Junior looks up with a swollen face and bloodshot eyes that fill with guilt when he sees me. He gets up, shaking his head. Eliza removes her arms from around us and looks at us nervously. "One of you better tell me what the fu-"
    "I'm sorry," he cries. It feels like the wind has been knocked out of me. "They shot him in the back; I thought it was only once, but when they got him in the ambulance it was a few times. He made me leave him; I didn't even find the guy who shot him."
The doors open and a youngish women walks in wearing a white coat with a clipboard in hand. The glasses on her face are hanging on by the tip of her nose, ready to fall if she makes a sudden move.
    "Santiago Florencio," she reads off, looking around the empty room as if it's not us. Junior and I both rush over, Eliza awkwardly following close behind. "You guys relatives?" She asks. Junior nods, folding his arms over his chest. "He took quite the blow...a few times actually. Thankfully, nothing vital was hit and he's expected to have a good recovery, it just may take longer than usual; I'd say around a month or two. He's probably asleep, but you're welcome to go inside his room, room 38 on your left. Just be aware that he may be sensitive to loud noises due to the medication and don't be surprised if he randomly falls asleep."
      She gives us one last smile before walking out. We turn around towards Eliza who now wears a bright smile. The way both Castel and Junior had talked made it sound like he was already dead. He's hurt, but he's alive and that's what matters. I drop down in the closest chair, letting out a deep breath.
"You can go in...if you want," he says, sounding like he's going to throw up. I let him go, not blaming him for this one bit. They've always had each other's back, partners in crime to a point that was concerning, and I have no doubt they protected each other the best they could. This was out of Junior's control, everyone's control.
"I'm not ready," I tell him, feeling myself start to get nauseous. "You can go first." He nods, looking at Eliza before walking out. She sits down next to me, placing her hand on my back. "I feel sick."
"I told Junior not to tell Castel to bring you, but he didn't listen," she says. I cock a brow, confused as to why I shouldn't of known this.
"Why didn't you want me to know? If Santi had been-"
"I know, I'm sorry, but at the time it seemed better for you not to know. You're pregnant, so the last thing you need is stress. So I didn't want you worrying if nothing was wrong," she explains. "Zurine died."
My breath gets caught in my throat. If Santi doesn't already know he's going to be crushed. He's suffered enough loss this past few already. I'm scared that this will be his undoing.
"Where's his dad?" I ask, praying that he's okay.
"Doing something with Zurine's body," she tells me. Ever must be close to falling of the edge with everything he's been going through recently as well. First the loss of his wife, faking his death, coming back, now loosing his best friend. I don't think there's been a time when I've seen Zurine without Mr.Flornecio.
"I feel so bad for him," I say, resting back in the chair. "Maybe I should have gone in to see him first. I was worried sick the whole way here and my dad was questioning me on the case."
"He's gonna be okay and that's what matters."
••••••••
~Santi's POV~

I wake with the room spinning around me and a ringing in my ears. My memory of recent events come back immediately, but very fuzzy. Looking down at my hands that are placing at my sides, there's dry blood in the crevasses. The sound of soft breathing catches my attacking, the ringing now stopped along with the spinning.
Ida sits in the chair near the window with her legs brought up to her chest, arms wrapped around her knees. Some of her hair has fallen across her face, thin strands moving with her breaths.
Junior must have told her what happened. I wouldn't be surprised if she had a better understanding of it than I did at the moment. My head is starting to hurt.
"Ida," I say as loudly as I can. She shifts, her legs falling out of her grasp, making me wake up. She squeezes her eyes shut before letting them adjust. She sits up when she realizes I'm awake.
"Thank god," she says, getting up and coming to my bedside. She runs her fingers through my hair, brushing it off my forehead. My eyes are burning, but I force them to stay open.
"M-my back is k-killing me," I say, clenching the thin sheets. My eyes start to water from the pain. "Ca-can you get a doctor?" I force out. She nods, letting her hand fall from my hair. Once she's out of the room, leaving the door gapped open, I let my tears slip. The pain is getting worse throughout my whole back.
After a few minutes of me trying to manage the pain through tightening my grip on the sheets and taking deep breaths, Ida comes in with a nurse. I wipe my tears away, taking in a deep breath.
"On a scale of one to ten what's your pain level?" She asks. I wince as another sharp pain causes my whole body to tense.
"Enough pain to where I wish I had died," I say through clenched teeth. She doesn't say anything else, just starts doing things with needles. My eyes lock with Ida's as she walks around the bed and sits down.
"Give me your arm please," the nurse says. I set my arm in her direction, feeling her wrap the painful blue rubber hand around my bicep.
"Have you seen my dad?" I ask Ida, turning my attention back to her. She shakes her head. I can't imagine how he must be feeling. I don't even know what we go out of this whole situation. Images of myself taking Zurine's hand as he died flood my mind.
I flinch as the nurse injects my arm with the pain killers. "Junior was here earlier while you sleeping. He said he'll come back tomorrow morning when you wake up," Ida tells me. It takes some weight off my shoulders knowing that he's okay.
"Press the button on the side of the bed if you need anything," the nurse tells me before leaving the room. Ida gets up and walks over, sitting on the edge. I take her hand and give it a small squeeze.
     "I'm sorry to put you through all this," I tell her. She shakes her head, brushing my hair out of the way again. "You-you're feeling okay right? Like, you're-you-"
     "I'm perfectly okay and so in my stomach," she answers with a small hint of a smile.
    "I'm so sorry about how I reacted, it's just that it's not a good time, but that's not choice," I say. I was an asshole when she told me about being pregnant. There's no way I'd ever just leave her because she's pregnant, this is my doing and I'm going to take responsibility for my actions. I should have remembered wear a condom even though she was on birth control.
     "I don't want to talk about that right now," she says. A soft knock on the door makes our conversation stop. My dad peaks his head in. The area around his eyes is puffy from probably crying. He opens the door the rest of the way, a much shorter person walking in behind him. As soon as I see the person's hair I recognize who it is.
     "M-mom," I stutter, not wanting to look pathetic. I can't tell if this is real or if it's whatever the nurse gave me. She steps out from behind my dad, looking sickly and exhausted, but still beautiful. I can't contain my tears, I break down. The pieces that had been broken fall back to place except for a few new ones.
     Giving me a wobbly smile, she wraps her arms around me. I feel my body immediately relax, my arms wrapping around her. Sobs wrack both our bodies, my vision blurry from tears.
    "I'm so sorry," I sob into her shoulder and hair. She pulls back, taking deep breaths. I never thought I'd see her again and having her in front of me like this almost seems fake. I'm expecting someone to pinch me and I'll wake up from a dream.
    "It's not your fault. You didn't know," she says, wiping my tears away; it's no use though because they keep coming.
     "I should know found out sooner. This is my fault. If I wasn't apart of this, you wouldn't of ever-"
     "I'm okay," she tells me in a soothing voice. I take deep breaths, trying to calm down.
    "Zurine...he's dead. He's dead because of me," I tell her. I feel like I'm a little boy again breaking down after everything would crumble. She would always be the one I would vent to because I was scared of my dad, and I never thought I'd be able to do that again.
    "No, he did what he wanted," she tells me. "If there was anyway he was going to go, it was going to be like that. Would you have imagined that man dying in a normal way? Of course not.  He loved you so much and he wouldn't want you blaming yourself." 
     My tears finally come to a stop and my mom stands up straight. My dad wraps his arms around her, holding her close. If it's possible, it's almost like he's come to life. He just looks happier next to her.
     "Thank you," my dad says, ruffling my hair. I'm not exactly sure what he's thanking me for so I just smile in response. My eyes threaten to close, starring to give into exhaustion once again.
     "We'll let you sleep," my mom says. There's so much I want to ask her, but I'm tired and I'm sure she is too by how she looks. She bends down and kisses my forehead before taking my dads hand and leaving the room.
    Ida stands up, looking down at me like she doesn't know how she's supposed to act. "How are you feeling?" She asks.
    "I don't know."

    AN: ZANE MOFAWKING FLORENCIO IS BACK BITTCCHHESSSSS!!!! Ever got his wife back ☺️ Santi is alive 😌 I couldn't kill him (Although I was VERY tempted😈). I really hope you guys enjoyed!
     Questions: Are you happy Zane is alive? What would you like to see happen?
   Please check out my other stories, comment, vote, and share! Believe in yourself -Vaeh