Beautiful Mistake

Chapter 46 - Hope

Elena's POV

My heart was disintegrating. It was burning through me, slashing deep inside my soul. There was a gush of murky water drowning every crevice within me as I began hyperventilating, desperately gasping for air while my body weakened in Angelo's arms. His embrace tightened around me, holding me up and caressing my hair amidst trying to soothingly hush me in my ear. All the while, I stared at my father's lifeless body on the ground.

I glanced up, my eyes settling upon my mother. She was sobbing in Niccolo's arms, her mascara stained tears running down her cheeks as she stared at Papà's body. Niccolo was hugging onto her tightly, bowing his head against her shoulder as I noticed his body shaking while he silently wept.

"Marcel, please, tell me my brother isn't gone. Please, Marcel! Please!!" Zia (Aunt) screamed at him, banging his chest before breaking down in his arms as he cradled her.

It all seemed surreal and I was struggling to accept the truth of the moment. I couldn't drag my eyes away from Papà, part of me still hoping to see him in a sudden gasp for air. Thomas was kneeling beside him, his head hung in grief. He sighed before rising to his feet and walking to his colleague who was still on the phone with the doctor on call.

It was an immediate pull of attention when I heard Mamma's sobs abruptly stop. I snapped my gaze in her direction, watching as she peered over Thomas. Her eyes bounced between Thomas and Papà before I watched her grasp onto Niccolo's arms. She ripped herself out of his embrace, taking him by surprise when his grip around her had loosened.

She crawled the short distance to Papà's body, pulling on the defibrillator upon reaching him and switching it back to life. I, along with the rest of the family, stared at her in disbelief as she busied herself with the machine's selections. Niccolo was hesitant. He knew he probably should have stopped her, but he didn't want to.

She set the defibrillator to a higher voltage, prepping Papà for one final charge just as Thomas turned to determine the cause of the beeping noises he was hearing.

"Aria!! No!" He tried rushing to her but she quickly activated the shock, placing the paddles agaisnt his chest. Thomas knew there was nothing that could be done as he slowed down from a sprint to a complete halt beside Mamma.

The shock fired through Papà's chest, his back arching in response. The thud of his body meeting the ground permitted us to watch the monitor once more. Mamma angrily knelt closer to him, ignoring the machine altogether. She slammed the ground hard beside Papà's head in pure rage, staring down at his face as she hovered over him.

"You do not get to die on me, Dominic De Luca, you fucking bastard!" She yelled at him. Her screams drowned out into a weeping sob as she lowered her forehead against his.

"Please, don't leave me and the kids, Nicky." She pleaded softly.

Shortly after, a new sound erupted amongst us. That monotonous sound that was haunting us all was replaced by the glorious sound of a beep. Mamma's head shot up, snapping in the direction of the monitor as another beep followed closely behind. Then another and another, a rhythmic beat blessing us with its presence.

"Ha..." Mamma chirped softly in disbelief, her face twisting in bewilderment.

She glanced over Papà's face then back to the cheerful spikes upon the monitor. She then picked up in a gentle chuckle, her chuckles turning into a mixture of brief sobs and lengthy giggles before settling with a happy weeping. She cupped his face in the palm of her hands, shakily bringing her lips to his. She pecked them followed by short pecks upon each cheek. Lowering her head a little further down, she whispered into his ear.