The Shadows

Chapter Thirty-Nine

As the doctors came out looking very shocked, everyone jumped up to see what had happened to cause this reaction. Their father was the first to start asking questions about the surgery and Annabella.

"Is she okay?" Stefano rushed out, sounding very concerned. They all shared this concern though, as this was their sibling.

Looking very stunned the doctor nodded dumbly, not giving us a verbal answer. They all glared at him, wanting to actually hear that she was alright and not just see someone nod. Seeing their glares got him into action really quickly, as he did not want to be fired from his job.

"Yes, she is. Actually she is better than alright, I would say. She woke up during the surgery. We got her put back to sleep under the anesthesia and everything went smoothly after that." The doctor said to them, after composing himself.

Alessio just nodded along with what he said, not saying a word to the rest of his family. It was worrying Alessandro, because he was usually always ready to have a conversation, but he knew seeing your little sister like that could cause that type of reaction in a person.

After the doctor took his leave, Alessio led them up to the room where Annabella would be staying until she was ready to be moved into the room with Armani.

When they walked into the room, Alessandro almost started to cry.

It is such a heartbreaking sight to see someone you love hooked up to machines, looking lifeless in a hospital. He knew the others were having the same reaction as him.

Adriano and Stefano went up to her sides and grabbed a hold of her hands, wanting to provide any comfort that they could in that moment.

Angelo and Antonio headed straight for the sofa in the corner of the room. They didn't say anything to each other, just using each other's presence as an anchor.

That left Alessandro and Alessio standing in the doorway, and as much as he wanted to go and watch over Annabella, he knew that he needed to talk to Alessio and find out what was wrong.

"Hey, do you want to go talk?" Alessandro whispered to Alessio, as he didn't want their other brothers to catch onto what he was doing.

It is better that they don't know anything is wrong with him if they don't notice it themselves.

Alessio nodded in response and led him out of the room towards his office so they could talk in peace.

"What is wrong?" Alessandro asked him softly.

He looked down while holding his head in his hands. His shoulders started to shake, and Alessadnro knew that his walls had finally broken.

He immediately hugged Alessio, letting him cry on his shoulder. He knew that he needed the comfort right now, instead of the other way around where he would let them cry on his shoulder.

Alessandro didn't know how long they had sat in that office in silence, but he knew that Alessio had felt lighter than he had in a couple of weeks.

"Are you okay to talk now?" Alessadnro asked softly, not wanting to send him into another crying session. He knew how fragile he could get when he bottled up his emotions like that.

"Yeah, I'm okay now. I guess I really needed to let all of that out." He says quietly, not wanting to disrupt the peace surrounding them at that moment.

"Okay, why haven't you really spoken since we found Annabella? Also, why did you look so shocked and don't say it was because of her waking up in the middle of the operation." Alessandro questioned him softly.

Alessio just stared at him for a moment before standing up and walking towards the window that was in his office. He stood up as well, and walked to stand beside him, offering moral support for this.

"I just... it felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest when we were in the operating room," he sighed. "Bella was lying there helpless and it was my job to fix her. What if I had messed up or something? Then she probably would not be alive right now." He rushed out, almost sending himself into a panic attack.

"Hey, calm down. Breath. I am right here with you and Annabella is alright. She survived. You helped her. You saved her. Not anyone else but you and whoever else was in the operating room beside you. No need to tear yourself down about the what ifs." Alessandro consoled him while pulling him in for a well deserved hug.

He started to cry gently into his shoulder. They didn't say anything at that moment but instead embraced the calmness and silence that engulfed the office.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Armani could hear everything around him.

The beeps of hospital machines.

The nurses and doctors came to check on him.

His brothers and father were discussing how to find Bella.

To be honest, they haven't visited him in a few days. Maybe they finally got tired of him and left him to die. Armani would not blame them though. It was his fault that I was lying in this bed unconscious and Bella got kidnapped by the Russians.

Who would want the same person who caused their sister to live with them?

Armani knew he wouldn't.

The blackness that he was constantly seeing is driving him insane. There is no light around him at all. He constantly felt like he was floating and falling at the same time.

When he thought that no one else was in the room with him, he would try to move his toes and fingers. It gives him hope that he would wake up and everything would be okay.

Armani was trying and successfully moving his fingers around when he heard someone open the door and walk towards him.

At first, he thought it was a nurse, but he was proved wrong when he felt a calloused hand grab his. Armani could tell that it was someone who enjoyed manual labor or working out often.

'Maybe it is one of the triplets?' He thought, sparking that small flame of hope inside of him somewhere, that his family would actually want him and did not give him up. He was proved correct when the mysterious person spoke up.

"Hey Armani, I don't know if you can hear me but we found Annabella. She is safe now, but I don't know what went on in the place she was in. Her physical state is terrible. She had to have surgery as soon as we arrived here." Angelo said in a tired voice.

"Everything went well from what Alessio and the other doctor said. Actually she woke up in the middle of the operation. Can you believe that? She still hasn't woken up though, but she will. I just know it. We just need you to wake up now. Please Armani, we need you, Annabella needs you." Angelo pleaded with Armani's unconscious body.

The last thing he said stirred something within Armani.

He didn't know if it was his and Annabella's twin connection that was begging for him to be beside her, but it caused him to work as hard as he could to try and wake up.

He just hoped he could succeed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adriano and his father were sitting beside Annabella, holding her hands.

Angelo had left a few minutes ago to do something, and Antonio was sitting on the couch in the corner of the room.

Adriano didn't know where Alessio and Alessandro were, but it didn't matter to him at that moment.

The only thing that mattered was his little princess laying on the hospital bed.

That all went down the drain when Angelo burst through the door painting, saying something that would shock them all.

"It's Armani. He ..."