Enemy Mine

Chapter 78

It was midnight when Caleb and Minnie joined us outside the bistro, and after Colin told them about Marco's confession, they filled me and Colin in on everything we missed. Apparently, the Barads met Marco in Lisbon during his layover, and they escorted him from the airport. He had not been heard from since.

"What about Deidra?" I asked. "Was she with Marco?"

"Yes, and she is on her way home to face the wrath of her father," Caleb said. "Any new developments with Vincent? My Italian is rusty, and I couldn't get much from the police."

"I think they're doing a door-to-door search," Colin said. "But my Italian is rusty, too. Vincent is much better." Colin glanced at me, looking like he regretted mentioning Vincent.

Minnie rubbed my back as we all sat together under the bistro's striped awning. While I appreciated her comforting touch, it only made me realize how much I wanted my mom's arms around me, and I let myself sob into her shoulder for a while.

The sun had begun to tint the sky blue when a round-bellied policeman hurried down the street toward us, shouting something in Italian. "Trovo fratello, signore!" he called as he ran.

"What does that mean?" I said as we all stood from our chairs.

"Something about a brother," Colin said, rushing to meet the red-faced man. "Che cosa?"

The man stopped in front of us, bending over to grab his knees for support. "Vincent. We find him. Venire."

The officer straightened and waved for us to follow him, and my heart leaped into my throat and stayed there, beating an aggressive rhythm as we followed the man up a steep road. More officers had congregated at the top, and Sergente Romano walked us into a thickly wooded area with only a narrow footpath for guidance. I couldn't keep my mind off morbid thoughts, like Vincent sprawled on the forest floor with his skull in pieces. We had only been told he was found. Nothing about him being alive, and none of us had the nerve to ask for clarification as we continued like lemmings through the dense forest.

We finally arrived at a home set alone inside a stand of tall oaks. The door was flung open by yet another officer, and next to him, an elderly woman hunched under a knit shawl. She looked scared out of her wits, and when our eyes met, I quickly acknowledged her before glancing away. I didn't want to know the reason for her fear. We were led through the living room to the doorway of a small bedroom, and that's where I stopped in my tracks.

I had never seen a death bed outside of the movies. You know the ones with the old king speaking from his ancient four-poster, a yellowed canopy billowing around his silver head. Well, when I found Vincent in that position, I was not thinking about silver-haired kings. I was seeing my true love lying pale and still in the spare bedroom of an old woman's home. And even more disturbing were the seven or so cats perched strategically around, on chairs and shelves, glaring at Vincent with shiny, hungry eyes.

Vincent's gollum form took up the entire space of a twin bed, cocooned inside swaths of white fabric strung between the bedposts. His wings had been stretched out, and the curved talon at the ends were tucked beneath the pieces of fabric. The position looked uncomfortable, and my breath caught when I noticed the multiple stab wounds on his chest and shoulders, including a nasty cut trailing down his cheek to his neck. They all looked cleaned and tended to, but it didn't make the scene any easier to take, and I nearly stumbled when I walked across the floorboards to stand beside him.

"Vincent," I whispered, daring not disturb the reverence of the room or the cats. His face never flinched at the sound of my voice, but I held myself together as I untied a square of fabric to get to him. His hands laid crisscrossed over his chest, and I reached out to touch one. The coldness of his skin had my resolve cracking, but I didn't pull away. I slipped my fingers between his joints, forcing the stiffness out of them. How long had he been like this? Why didn't the woman call an ambulance?

Colin pressed his hand to Vincent's neck, and I looked away, preparing myself for the worst, but I knew it was impossible to prepare for the death of someone you loved.

"He's still alive," Colin said. "There's a faint pulse."

"Si. Vivo," said the red-faced officer. "The ambulanza is on its way." 

I leaned over and kissed Vincent's face, leaving my lips pressed there as I let a sob roll out. Behind me, Sergente Romano spoke with the old woman while an English-speaking officer translated.

"She says the flying man came to her door looking like a messenger of death," the policeman said. "She wanted to help him find his salvation. Through her prayers, she believed his spirit would be taken by an angel and he would be free of his burden."

I lifted my head to glare at the woman. "So, she left him to die rather than call for help?"

"She was probably afraid of him, Reese," Caleb offered, pressing a gentle hand to my shoulder. "Vincent must have been too weak to make the change, or maybe he did it on purpose. Maintaining his gollum form would have helped him heal faster. It may have saved his life."

The flash of red emergency lights reflected through the window, and a moment later, I was forced from my spot to make room for the paramedics. With Caleb and Minnie's arms snugged around me, we watched the medics perform their duties. After removing all the linens, they carefully slid a military stretcher under Vincent's back. It took all three medics to accomplish the task, with Colin helping on one end.

When it came time to load Vincent into the ambulance, one of the paramedics approached us. Her compassion illuminated through large brown eyes, which made me think of a Basset Hound, but she looked flushed from her experience with her patient. I doubted she had ever seen a man with wings before.

"He is in a comatose state from shock and loss of blood," she said. "We will do everything to help him recover. The ambulanza carries O negative blood. We can start an IV on the way to Verona."

"Don't give him human blood," Colin said. "You'll kill him for sure. I'll donate mine."

The paramedics did a brilliant job of keeping Vincent on the stretcher while carrying him down the sloping Italian countryside, and soon we were watching Colin climb in after Vincent's stretcher and wave goodbye. Colin wore an expression I couldn't quite decipher, like every emotion wanted to express themselves through his eyes, and his gaze never left mine as the door closed. Having Caleb and Minnie with me made the next forty-five minutes less of a living hell, and when we arrived at the hospital in Verona, Vincent and Colin had already been sequestered away in a private ER room.

Despite our haste to get to the hospital, we were forced into the waiting area with a hot caffè and directions to the nearest restroom. After twenty minutes of that torture, I felt claustrophobic, and I excused myself to wander the corridors alone. I ended up seeking out the cafeteria we'd passed on our way in and ordered something American. A cappuccino. It was my lame attempt at feeling like the world wasn't collapsing around my ears. I removed the twenty I kept folded behind my cellphone case and marveled at the fact I still had my phone after all the chaos. Too bad it died during the chaos. An intelligent person would have charged it at the bistro.

As I sipped on my frothy antidote and stared out the window at the snow-covered hedges, I thought about the last time I sat in a hospital drinking coffee. Vincent and I were visiting Willem, followed by that intense conversation with Christoph. Was that the reason Vincent and his family let the demons stay at my apartment? Had Christoph proven he wasn't just a battle-hungry beast? That he wasn't a threat? Then I had to push again, talking Vincent into visiting Titan. Was that a mistake? None of this would have happened if I'd left it alone.

As I finished off my cappuccino and slowly made my way back to the waiting area, Minnie came speed walking around the corner. When she saw me, her expression turned frantic, and it had my stomach free falling.

"Minnie, what's wrong?" I said as we reached out for each other.

"He's awake! Vincent is awake!"