CHIARA
Air was released in my burning lungs, and I breathed so hard, coughing and spitting water at the same time.
"Oh, thank God!" "She's alive!" "She is alive!" "Oh God, he saved her!" Claps attacked my ears.
A warm hand rubbed my back as I kept coughing and heaving for air. My entire body was shaking as I looked around me. The first person to see was a pair of black eyes with a deep frown.
Without a second thought, I jumped into his arms. His body went rigid for a few seconds before he wrapped his hands around me. I buried my face deep in his chest, hearing both his and my heartbeats. "Here, cover her up." Something was draped around me, providing me with the warmth I needed.
"Take her inside, she should rest." Someone else said.
Carmelo stood up with me in his arms, and I could feel us move, but I didn't lift my head. After a few minutes, my back pressed against a soft surface, but I still didn't let go. I couldn't.
"You are okay now." He said in a soft tone I'd never heard from him before. Tears were brimming. "Am I okay?" I said in a weak voice. "You are." He replied. His little rubs on my back were so soothing that I didn't want them to stop. But it was his words that got to me harder. For some reason, his words reminded me of Prince, my anxiety episodes, and I burst into tears. My sobs filled the room as I clung to him.
"Hey, it's okay." He whispered into my ears over and over again as more tears broke free from my eyes. I'd never, for the life of me, cried before anybody else apart from the Marino's compounds. This man just broke that record with just a few words.
Time passed, and I finally let go of his soaked shirt and leaned back on the bed. He looked down at me, tucking the wet strands of my hair behind my ear. "What happened?" He asked, his eyes softening.
That was something that I was still curious about as well. I looked away from his distractingly concerned face and sympathetic voice. "I don't know. I—my head was hurting, and my body went limp. What the fuck was that?" I groaned and pressed my head. The headache and haze were still there. I was still weak.
"I'll leave you to rest then." He got up and then left the room.
For the life of me, I never thought that someday I'd find comfort in the hands of someone like Carmelo Conti. It was hard to admit, but he saved me. He saved my life.
That other, more pressing issue was the actual accident that almost took my life in the most stupid way I'd ever imagined. What the hell happened to me? I sighed, staring up at the ceiling.
A moment later, a soft knock came at the door, jolting me up instantly. I must've passed out.
Then, ever so carefully, the door was opened, and in came Alex. Holding a tray with a glass of water and tablets. "Hey. Before you say anything, Viva sent me to get you these meds." He placed the tray on the nightstand.
"Where is she?" I asked weakly. I hated feeling weak more than anything. It irked me. He took the tabs and sat near me. "Here, these should help or so said Viva." I took the glass of water and the meds, gave it one look before swallowing, and pushed it down my throat with water.
"She is a crying mess out there. Leo is trying to comfort her. She was so scared for you. Everybody was. Thank God, you are fine." Said Alex.
"What time is it?" I asked. "Oh, it's early in the evening. The party is still going on out there. Just not as lively as it was before the accident." He uttered. I blinked my eyes hard. "It is happening again," I murmured. "Huh?" He said.
My eyes, my body, it was happening all over again. How? I stared at him. "You! It was you. You are the one that fucking drugged me. You son of a bitch!" I threw the glass, but my hands were too weak, and so it clumsily dropped down and shattered.
A wide smirk spread on his face. The innocence in his eyes disappeared as I worked hard not to let my eyes shut again. Not again!