Aurelia

38

Aurelia's POV:

I smile brightly as the door opens, revealing my family.

They file in one by one, crowding around my bed. My smile widens when I see Gianni upon them. The dried tears and flushed skin shows that he was crying recently, causing me to frown.

I avert my eyes and look over the rest of them.

Aunt Madeline has her arm over Gianni and she smiles softly at me. I return the smile and look over at Uncle Carlo; his beard has grown longer and you can see the grey streaks in his hair now. Other than that he doesn't look like he's changed at all.

And when I look over to Aunt Marie and Uncle Stefano, they look the same as well.

Except for my brothers.

The eye bags under their eyes tell me that they haven't slept, or have barely gotten any sleep at all.

Aiden looks the worst—besides dad—his eyes are rimmed red, like he's been crying nonstop. They look glossy from this far.

Lorenzo has a bandage above his eyebrow and on his cheek. His right hand looks swollen, as if he broke some fingers. I'm not surprised I don't see a cast on his hand, he would never let that thing touch him.

Elijah looks at me, and despite his beat up appearance, he gives me a smirk, one that I gladly return.

Ever since we started killing we always said we would get through it. Through the struggle, through the pain.

It's basically our motto.

I turn to my family with a cheerful smile as of nothing ever happened. I try not to wince as I do so. My face hurts.

"Okay, enough with the sad, quiet greeting," I pause. "How's everyone doing—?"

I can barely get the last word out before I am attacked by a small body. I laugh as I hug Gianni, ignoring the immense pain that goes travels throughout my body.

"Aurelia!"  He says. "You scared me!"

"I scared you?"

"Yes," he leans in and whispers, "I thought you were going to sleep and never wake up."

I frown and speak in a whisper. "I would never do that. Okay, Gianni?" He nods but you could tell in his eyes he's unsure. "I would never do that because I could never leave you."

He smiles a little. "I could never leave you, too! But you have to promise me you won't leave." He says sternly, jabbing his pinky finger in my direction.

I look down and stare at his skinny, pale finger.

"Don't leave me Aurelia. Stay with me forever." Elijah pleads, staring down at me. His eyes are watery.

I look up at him through the covers. "I could never leave you." I give him a smile and he looks unconvinced.

"Pinky promise. If you pinky promise I'll know you're not lying." He says after he sticks his pinky finger out toward me.

I don't hesitate to hook my pinky with his. His eyes widen as if he's surprised. "I promise."

He smiles before he wraps his small arms around me. "I promise, too," he whispers.

Looking back up at Gianni, I hook my finger with his and his smile widens. "I promise I would never leave you."

Gianni then engulfs me into a big huge and I laugh lightly. When I look up, I see everyone watching our small interaction. But I notice Elijah out of all of them.