Sane or Insane | ✔

XXI. Lie To Me

Lorraine paced back and forth, her eyes red and swollen from holding back tears. "Please, wake up. Please, wake up, Victor." She muttered under her breath as she nervously watched the heart monitor beside the patient's bed, completely anxious and upset over her friend's condition.

Giovanni leaned against the wall with his eyes squeezed shut and lips an inch apart as he slowly let out a weary sigh. "Lorr, you need to sit down." He took a glimpse of the anxious woman, still pacing back and forth while nervously chewing on her nail.

He went towards the farther corner of the room and sat on the couch with a huff, his eyes still fixated on her. "He's not going to wake up today and you know that." He locked eyes with Lorraine and patted the couch as a sign for her to sit next to him but Lorraine simply stared at him and sighed deeply.

The troubled woman stopped pacing and raked her fingers through her hair. "I just..." A long, exhausted sigh escaped her lips as her guilt and sorrow slowly devoured her. "God!" The tears she tried so hard to suppress eventually broke free. Her heart-shattering wails echoed through the room, crushing Giovanni's heart.

She buried her face on her hands as she stifled a sob, her whole body trembling in remorse. "I... I feel so---"

Giovanni leaped from his seat and approached the sobbing woman, pulling her into a tight, comforting embrace. "Don't feel bad. It's... It's okay." He swallowed hard and squeezed his eyes shut as he realized how bad he is at words and comforting people, but Lorraine is too depressed to function and to realize how terrible that sentence was. Deep inside, Giovanni knows, that nothing is okay. But everything will be, once the patient became conscious.

"It's so hard to see him like this knowing the fact that I'm one of the reasons why he's lying there unconscious with--- with these things attached to his body!" Lorraine cried out and leaned on Giovanni for support as her knees began to wobble due to the current predicament that is making her weak.

She swallowed hard and bit her lower lip to stop herself from crying as she stared at him from head to toe. There is an oxygen mask placed on top of his mouth that helps him breathe properly and a blood pressure cuff placed on his right arm. There is also an IV pierced at the back of his hands and a pulse oximeter attached to his finger.

"It should have been me." Her voice sounded so distant and remorseful as she stared at her poor best friend. Just by staring at his unconscious body makes her feel weak, but the rising and falling of his chest make her feel relieved and hopeful.

'At least, he is still alive', that is what she thinks.

But she knows that sitting in the corner and watching him recover is far from enough and something must be done--- not to him but to the person who did this to him.

Lorraine broke the hug and stared deep into Giovanni's eyes, her fingers curled into a fist and her jaw clenched. "Arrest her." She said through gritted teeth, her eyes dark and serious. "Make. Her. Pay."

Giovanni became stiff as a board as he stared at the fuming woman. He was surprised, impressed but at the same time, he was terrified of seeing her like this for the second time.

He remembered the day she was this furious. How her brows creased, eyes narrowed, and lips curled into a nasty scowl, all in resentment.

He remembered how petrified he was.

And now, he's staring at the same wicked expression but his reaction remained the same just like before; stiff as a board but calm and collected.

Giovanni swallowed his feeling of concern and simply nodded at her. "I will." He reached for her soft, ice-cold hands and squeezed it reassuringly. "I'm going to call someone that will surely help us. Just sit there---" He pointed the couch. "Get some rest." He smiled at her reassuringly and walked towards the door.