Creed of the Leviathan I

20 | E

Emmanuelle

For a little over a week we took turns to stay at the hospital with Dimitri. Marco and Marissa still went to work, but they always made sure to come by— no matter how busy they were.

Christoph and Emillio took turns to drive Marco around whilst Marissa drove with Anthony. Whenever Christoph drove Marco, Emillio stayed with us or vice versa.

Gia stayed by Dimitri's side for two days straight. After that she came by whenever it was her turn to stay the night. Two days before he woke up it was her turn to stay the night, but she did not show up. Neither did she come by the hospital the day after that.

I could understand why Marco lied about her whereabouts when Dimitri asked where she was. Dimitri was already in a vulnerable state.

Everyday, the doctor reminded us that we were suppose to make the coming days, weeks, months or even years as easy for him as possible.

No added stress and we were to be patient, because adjusting to this new life would not be easy for him and neither would it be easy for us. Especially for someone like Dimitri, someone who was used to being in charge and doing everything himself. Now— now he was going to have to rely on the people around him.

It was Tuesday morning, just a few hours before Dimitri would come home. I barely slept the night before. Sleeping with him constantly on my mind was nearly impossible. I missed him— I missed him though he had been nothing but a complete asshole to me.

Maybe I missed him, because everyone else missed him. Maybe I missed him, because his absence made me feel like everything around me was falling apart.

My eyes longed to meet his hazel brown ones which looked like they harbored stories better than any that I have ever read or heard before. I wanted him to tell those to me. To tell me about the secrets he kept, the things he would never share with anyone else. Why? I do not know.

I leisurely walked through the upstairs living room, heading for the stairs when I heard footsteps behind me. I already knew who it was— Marco. I had been staying out of his way ever since the awkward conversation we had in the car. Perhaps he reacted the way he did because of stress. Everyone deals with bad news differently, I kept telling myself.

"Nuelle."

I halted on the first step of the stairs. With my lower lip between my teeth I slowly turned to look over my right shoulder.

Marco brought his right hand down his face before he slowly walked over to me. His hair was messy, he had on gray sweatpants and a white shirt through which you could clearly see the toned stomach and muscles it so poorly hid.

"Listen, if James comes by the hospital today. Act normal, don't mention anything."

I simply replied with an understanding nod before we continued our walk. Marco and I walked side by side, we walked into a kitchen that was filled with sounds of laughter. I had almost forgotten what it sounded like. For the past week it was nothing but silence.

Tia had helped Ms. Lorna prepare breakfast. Marissa had left early for work with Anthony to quickly finish up some things before going to the hospital. Marco and I sat next to each other, both choosing to eat cereal.

"Are you going to work?" Tia asked him.

"No. I'm going to swing by the hospital really quickly with Emilio." He answered.

Everything he did only added to my suspicion that he was hiding something from us. Marco, Emilio, Christoph even Anthony and Marissa. I came back to this place hoping to get my questions answered, but the opposite was happening. I was only adding more questions to the very long list I already had.

After Marco left it was just the three of us. Tia was finally laughing and speaking again, telling Ms. Lorna how happy she was that her son was coming home.

Seeing her happy made me happy. The woman loved us and we were her children. She had been living with my family even before I came into the picture. From what I heard she used to work for Dimitri's mother even before he was born.

She never went much into detail about what happened. I would have not even know this if it were not for Marissa who spilled the beans during one of the truth or dare games we played when we were younger.

After helping Tia and Ms. Lorna clear the table I headed to my room to shower and quickly get ready. Marissa and Anthony were suppose to pick us up on their way from work so we could go to the hospital together. But, for some reason Anthony dropped her off and left before any of us could ask where he was going. Marissa did not really seem to know either.

There was so much going on that I totally forgot about Tobias. We still spoke almost everyday and he also mentioned that he was going to stop by the hospital when I told him that Dimitri was coming home. Yet, I could not help but wonder why he declined to have lunch with me. As promised I also told this to Marco. Why? perhaps I thought of this favor as paying them back knowing that money was not something I would be able to pay them with any time soon.