“Massimo...” Alice felt her body lose strength, as if her blood pressure had dropped at that sight. Not that she hadn't seen wounds similar to, and even worse than this one before, but there was something about it being Massimo Bianchi who was hurt like that, oozing blood and certainly drowning in pain...
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he grunted, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he pulled one of the dirty sheets to try to cover the cut that stretched from the end of his thigh to past his knee “Didn't I tell you to stay out of my business...? ”
“Massimo, you need help!” She couldn't even listen to him, quickly entering the room and leaning over his bed, grabbing the sheet to try to see the wound better “You're bleeding! How did this happen? Were you trying to bandage yourself or...?”
“That’s none of your fucking business!” he growled, this time so loudly that she even feared that Millie, several doors away, might wake up “I can take care of myself, s
“Are you going to tell me where the first aid kit is or are you going to risk letting it necrote and losing that leg completely?”Alice’s threat, however, did not have the effect she had imagined.“What difference would it make? That shit doesn’t work anymore anyway.” Massimo growled, causing Alice to calm her temper a little when she realized the pain that was in his voice and that clearly wasn't just coming from his wounds “I could no longer be here and it would be the same. I would still be lying in this bed, unable to get up on my own and take care of my own fucking bandages.”"Massimo..."“You might think you know something about how I'm feeling, just because you've been to a hospital or two, but believe me, Dawsey, you have no idea what it's like to be trapped in your own body, unable to escape.” He growled, bitterly."I really do not know. But... I know how to help you.” Alice shrugged her shoulders ruefully. “So if you can allow me to do just that... I pr
“Okay, honey, now we just need to pick a coat.” Alice commented absently, as she hung up the last few pieces of clothing in Millie's new closet “Which one do you want? The pink or the yellow?”“I want to see the horses, mommy...!” her daughter wailed, slyly, squirming impatiently on the bed. “I don’t want a coat.”“But you have to. It’s cold this morning and we don’t want you to get sick, do we?” Smiling, Alice just grabbed Millicent's favorite blue coat and sat on the bed to help her put it on. “Remember what we talked about, okay? If Thea asks you not to get too close to the horses or pet them, you must obey. They are very big and can hurt you if we are not careful.”"I know." Millie stamped her little feet against the floor when, finally, Alice managed to wrap her up as the unusually cold early spring morning called for “Can we go now? Please?”"Okay." Alice laughed. “But promise Mom you won’t you won't go out again to walk around the mansion alone again, okay?” B
“Oh, dear…” Thea sighed again, shifting her weight between her feet for a moment, before shrugging her shoulders “Just make sure Massimo doesn't hear you, okay? He is always terrible after seeing Dr. Lewis.” Thea's husband and son mirrored her concern, but they still seemed to resign themselves when Thea held Millie's hand and tried to walk her down the stairs.“Is Mr. Bianchi going to fight you again, mommy?” Her daughter stood where she was, fearful.“It’s okay, honey. I promise is not that. But, remember what you asked me yesterday about me always saying that sick people shouldn't be left alone?” Alice bent down to caress her little angel’s face “Well, I keep thinking like that. That's why I'm going to do what I can to help a patient, even if he's rude and grumpy like Mr. Bianchi.” She made an exaggerated face, until Millie laughed.“But you’re going to see the horses with me later, right?”“I wouldn’t miss it for anything. Now, go with Thea. The faster you get to
“And this is Cobalt. He is a thoroughbred Arabian and has enough trophies to fill this entire lawn.” Josh introduced a new horse to Millicent, his voice full of pride as he stroked the mane of the huge, imposing russet horse “We can take a look at the room dedicated to his feats, later. He was one of the stars in the eyes of Tommaso, the boss’s father.”“Did he win many contests?” Alice watched her daughter ask, very concentrated “Like... Spelling? I’ve seen older girls get candy for this when I’m at daycare.”“No, Millie. Competitions between horses are a little different than those between humans.” Josh laughed “I can explain a little more about this to you or even show you some videos of Cobalt in action. Who knows, one day the boss might let me take you to cheer on one of ou
Once, when Alice was a child, her little safe haven amid her mother's screams and punishments was the huge office in the west wing of the Dawsey mansion, which always smelled of lavender disinfectant and tobacco. Now, the only place she knew she would find any comfort was a sterile, white hospital room, so absurdly equipped that it could even be called a miniature house.However, one thing between the two places, between the past and the future, had not changed.The man stretched out on the bed in front of her at that moment.“Alice.” Lucas Dawsey smiled broadly as soon as he saw her, his voice damaged from years of smoking and the oxygen tube connected to his nose “There you are, my dear.”“It’s so good to see you, Grandpa.” she
“Answer, Dawsey!” Massimo growled, his chair sliding a little on the perfectly polished floor as he moved even closer to her “I gave clear orders for you to stay in that fucking house and there you are, disobeying me again! Do you think I’m some kind of clown?!”“No, I think you used to be a reasonable man, but you clearly aren’t anymore.” Alice replied “If you accepted my mother's proposal to get a wife out of convenience so you could keep her locked up, then maybe you should have bought a bird or something. I am not your property so you can dictate where I go and where I don’t go.”“Do you really want to challenge me?” His teeth gritted as those green eyes burned into hers “You agreed to this marriage because of my money, so don't act like you weren't bought! I gave you my las
“Try to find me, mommy!” At the sound of Millie’s excited scream, Alice moved away from the tree she was leaning against and hiding her eyes with her hands “You’ll never make it.”“We'll see about that…” Alice laughed, pretending that she hadn't already noticed Millie's feet appearing under one of the bushes in the garden at the entrance of the Bianchi mansion “Oh, God… Where is my baby...?”While Millie was clearly trying to hide her own laughter nearby, Alice began to walk around the huge garden, pretending she was looking behind every tree, umbrella table and flower bed scattered around. She couldn't even remember the last time her daughter had been able to play hide and seek as freely as she did that day. Because of the tiny room next to
“Are they going to be mean to you?” Millicent hugged her neck even more firmly, scared.“Is that what you made Millie think about us?” Amber hid her face in her hands, sobbing as if she had just been called a murderer or something similar “I love my niece so much... I've missed her so much at the mansion... I thought we could work this all out when you calm down, but you're still trying to punish us by taking Millicent totally away...”“Don't cry, sweetie…” Casey hugged his new girlfriend even closer, even though his eyes were on Alice “Please, Alice, fix this. You know we never intended to hurt you or take you out of our lives! Explain to Millie that we are not the villains, so that she doesn't think so badly of her own aunt..."“Don’t you dare involve my daughter in this!” Alice cut him off, irate “It doesn't matter what she thinks about you two, because neither you nor Amber