Page 11 of In My Heart
Instead, seeing Rafe’s phone on the bed beside him, I reached for it, gasping in pain as it tore through my centre and through my body at the slight movement.
The doctor had told me the stitches she had put in would be painful and she hadn’t exaggerated. Everything seemed to hurt. I felt like I had been hit by a truck before being dragged to the side of the road to be violated repeatedly.
“Stay still, sweetheart. No moving if it causes you pain. Do you want my phone?” Rafe asked softly, and I nodded.
He didn’t even ask me why. He just picked it up and held it to his face to unlock the screen, then handed it to me. My hand was still shaking before me and I wondered if it would ever stop this time.
Opening Rafe’sNotesapp, I typed two words.
I’m sorry
“Don’t Cara. You have nothing to apologise for.”
Gia. If I had never come here she’d be alive. I never should have called you that day.
I sniffled as tears filled my eyes again, and I pressed my free hand over them, fighting not to let them fall. I didn’t deserve to cry. It was my fault Gia was gone.
“No. You do not do that. Are you listening? What happened to Gia was not your fault. Our mother got to her long before you even came back into our lives. This was her doing,” he told me firmly. “Nothing would ever make me want to change that day you reached out to me, sweetheart. Having you back in my life means more than you could ever know. I just…I wish Gia had realised what we all could have had if she would only have triedto see the truth beyond the lies that bitch fed her,” he went on emotionally.
I tried to save her. He was a monster. I tried to warn her, but she wouldn’t listen.
“I know. Arran told me everything. You did everything you could, but Gia was too far gone. I think she might have started to develop some mental health issues recently, which I missed. I just thought she was acting out,” he told me with so much regret, it was palpable.
This wasn’t your fault either. You did everything you could to look after her. You loved her. She knew that, Rafe.
“I wish I could believe that,” he said unsteadily. He swiped a hand across his eyes and I knew he was struggling. “Hopefully, she’ll find peace now,” he added, then took a deep shuddering breath, as if trying to get a hold of his emotions. I hated that he thought he needed to. “How are you feeling? I can get the nurse to give you some more pain medication if you need it?”
No. No more drugs. Cal?
Rafe turned us a little and when I glanced over my shoulder I could see Cal laid in a bed right beside my own. He was fast asleep and, apart from the cut on his head, he looked good. Arran was in a chair at the far side of Cal’s bed, his head hanging down, and I assumed he was asleep. Last but not least, Dario was on the floor, sat with his back propped up against the wall, right beside the door into the room. I thought he was asleep at first, but he lowered his head from where it had been leant back against the wall and his eyes met mine.
Everyone but Rafe seemed to have changed into clean clothes. Dario was wearing sweats and a hoody – the relaxed kind of clothing I didn’t even think he owned.
“We’re all here,Piccola. My Mum came too, to bring food and clean clothes for us all. She said she’d come back later if you wanted her to,” he told me gently.
When can we go home?
I typed then turned the phone and looked to Rafe again.
“Soon. The doctors want to check on you and Arran again, since you both had concussions, and Cal needs to get the all clear from his surgery before we can leave.”
Is Cal alright?
I typed quickly, with worry, turning it to Rafe as I turned to look at Cal again. He seemed peacefully asleep, though.
“He’s fine, sweetheart. The final checks are just a box ticking exercise. He has a cast on his leg, and he’ll be on crutches for at least four weeks, but he’ll be fine,” Rafe explained.
And Gia? Where is she now?
“At the undertakers. I’ll need to make arrangements for the funeral, but you don’t need to worry about that. I just want you to concentrate on healing for now,” he told me.
I’ll help. You can’t plan the funeral alone.
“I’ll be fine. I can handle it. You don’t need to worry about me. You need to allow us all to take care of you now,” he told me firmly.
“What’s wrong?” Dio asked.
“Cara’s fretting about me planning Gia’s funeral alone.”
