Their Little Princess

Chapter Seven

The bathroom is silent. 

I can't help but look at my brother's faces again. I've already braced myself for their disgust, so when I see their expressions, I can't say I'm surprised.

I'm not surprised to see Xander and Francesco angry. Not when I've constantly lied and hid this from them. I walked in here acting like I was some innocent sad girl, when I'm not. I've been keeping terrible secrets. What does surprise me is the look of anger on Carlo's face, the burning fury in his eyes, my heart drops.

I look away from him as quickly as possible and look at my oldest brother's face, Alessandro's jaw is tense, he looks at the bruise, almost as if it's not even the bruise he's looking at anymore. He's clearly in thought and the thought of what he's thinking makes my stomach churn.

"So you fucking lied?! For what?! What did you think we were gonna do, just fucking not believe you?!" Xander's furious voice breaks the silence.

"Stop. Maddie, who did this to you?" Elijah asks softly.

"You're acting like she'd actually tell you. She hasn't been honest about one fucking thing since she's gotten here."

"What do we even do with her at this point?" Xander says.

That question hits me harder than any of their previous sentences. Those were true, no harsher than anything I've heard in the past. 

But they don't even know what to do with me. 

"I'm sorry," I say, tears racking my words.

"No," Elijah says softly, lifting me up carefully and pulling me over to where he's kneeling on the floor on one knee. 

"Who the fuck did it, Maddie?" Xander snaps.

"Xander, Carlo, Francesco. Out. Now." Elijah says, his jaw is tense, he's angry. He's containing it better than the Xander but he's furious, I can hear it in his voice, the way it's a little too level, his words are a little too clipped.

They reluctantly leave, Xander storms away toward the stairs, as does Francesco since we're in his room, Carlo walks into his room and I hear his door slam shut, shaking the entire floor it feels like.

Alessandro stands up and Emilio does immediately after. I can hear that they're quietly talking to each other. So I strain my ears to listen.

"Sembra rotto. Ha bisogno di essere trattato adesso. Se lo lasciassimo riposare più a lungo e risultasse rotto, potrebbe causare danni ancora più gravi. Potrebbe danneggiare il grande vaso che invia il sangue al cuore o addirittura forare i polmoni. Deve essere controllato," Emilio says quietly. [Translation: It looks broken. It needs to be treated now. If we let it sit longer and it turns out to be broken, it could cause even more serious damage. It could damage the large vessel that sends blood to the heart or even puncture her lungs. It needs to be checked.]

My heart rate quickens. I understand italian almost fluently, I've taken it since primary school when my mom called me 'italian trash' once, I know that's probably bitterness toward my father, whatever her did, but then she'd said I wasn't a proper italian, I studied it diligently after that. It's one of my 3 foreign languages including french and spanish. What makes me nervous is the mention of a hospital.

I haven't told them that I can speak italian, I've realized they speak it often, especially in front of me. I hate when people speak about me without my knowledge. I keep that little secret in my pocket.

I've been to the hospital once. I'm not sure I can go to one without spiraling.

"Do I have to go to a hospital?" I ask shakily.