Delgado

Chapter 19

A/N - I'm on a roll 💪

TW - scenes of violence (Zane's POV) and scenes some may find upsetting

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Zane

I was a man who had lost all composure.

I had lost the grip of every thread of sanity I'd been clinging onto for the past 10 years and it was only a matter of moments before everything I'd kept bottled up since I was 18 threatened to spill over.

I couldn't even look at Alexander right now, it was driving me over the edge knowing he was still unconscious, it'd been 2 days since he'd been shot and while he had remained stable since he went into cardiac arrest yesterday, he hadn't improved either.

Nothing but 'what ifs' had filled my mind for the past forty-eight hours: what if we'd found out about Matteo sooner? What if we had figured it all out one day sooner, would my youngest brother be laying in a hospital bed with a gunshot wound to the abdomen right now?

I'd had Prescott on the phone for what felt like every minute asking for updates, he was driving down with Makayla and Isabella as we speak.

Isabella.

I hadn't seen her in person for nearly a month and it had been killing me inside - but did it make me a villain for our reunion being one of the last things on my mind right now?

I paced the hospital hallway, fists tight and exhaustion racking my entire body; I hadn't slept last night, in fact the only person who did was Chase.

The rest of us had sat in silence around our brother's bedside for the entire night, I'd never endured silence so agonising in my life. And watching Xavier? For the first time in forever I had to force myself not to cry in front of them: at this rate the twins were due to spend their second birthday in a row in a hospital room.

Caleb and Xavier were still sitting with Alexander, the pair of them reluctant to move while Chase had gone to check in on Aurora who was staying at her parents' house nearby; he'd promised to return later with food. Not like I could eat anyway.

"You called?", the unmistakable voice of my cousin came from behind me and I halted, turning to face him, "Xander okay?". He looked energised, clean, ready for the day - the complete opposite of me.

"No change", I muttered and he hummed, "I need a favour".

"Anything", he confirmed and I glanced at Xander's closed room door before focusing back on Marco.

"The keys to your house", he frowned slightly but reached into his pocket nonetheless, "I know you wanted to rip Matteo 'limb from limb' but-".

"De nada, have your fun with him, you need it more than me", he waved it off and dropped the keys into my palm, "I take it we'll be having our fun with Santiago sooner rather than later?".

"Tomorrow", I gritted out, "he dies tomorrow".

"Exciting news", he grinned, "I'll be losing sleep tonight".

"I need you to stay here while I'm gone, make sure they're okay", I informed him and he nodded, "Prescott will be here soon with Isabella, but I-".

"You need to go and release your frustrations", he finished for me, "go, I'll inform you on any changes".

I nodded, patting his shoulder in thanks and going to leave, not before eyeing the hospital room a final time.

They needed me sure, but I couldn't be there for them when I was in this state and they knew it; I just needed 24 more hours and this would all be over...