38. Valerie

Chapter thirty-eight

Valerie

I jump awake in bed, another nightmare. Breathing heavily, I slump backwards onto my mattress. Ever since I saw Mattheo last week, the nightmares have been more intense, and more frequent than before. And to top it off, Ambrose has been in Milan for work with Gus. They got back this morning and to everyone's surprise, he and Gus didn't rip each other's heads off their bodies. I'm glad to know they were able to get along even if it was for such a short period.

I know I won't be going back to sleep anytime soon so I get out of bed and head downstairs for some water. Maybe watching a movie will tire me out.

Taking a small detour, I head to my papá's room. Karyn took the weekend off so it'll just be the two of us and I have to do all the usual checks she would do. He's been feeling a lot more tired this last week so the doctors told him to take some time off from physical therapy and rest and they prescribed some medication to help his muscles relax if they get too tense.

As I peek into his room my body runs cold, somethings off about how he's lying.

"Papá," I whisper. No response, so I call a few more times knowing he can be quite a deep sleeper. Swinging the door open, panic erupts inside me. When I touch his arm it's burning hot. I gently shake him trying to wake him up but nothing.

"Papá," I cry, tears running down my cheeks, he's barely breathing but I cling to the hope that he's breathing nonetheless, and warm is good, warm is not cold and dead.

I stand up and pace around trying to think of what to do.

Phone. I need my phone.

"I'll be right back," I whisper reassuring him. Sprinting up the stairs I grab my phone and rush down the stairs again into his room where he's still lying unresponsive.

"It's going to be okay, Papá, please don't leave me," I cry again, struggling to dial the numbers for emergency services.

After what feels like an eternity of rings and dial tones, I get through to a human voice.

"Hi… I, uhm, I need an ambulance." My voice cracks and a cry escapes my lips.

I rattle off what's wrong to the lady on the other side of the call, as well as my address before hanging up and desperately clinging to my papá's hand.

"Papá, they'll be right here I promise, please…" I choke. "Please don't leave me," I sink to my knees next to his bed.

I need help.

Without a second thought, I dial Ambrose's number, and he answers a lot faster than even the emergency services could.

"Sweetheart? What's wrong?" His voice is deep with sleep and immediately I feel horrible for calling, for waking him up again.

I didn't even check the time, I pull my phone away and the screen briefly lights up. 2 a.m. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry," I say through a choked sob. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"Valerie, what's going on, what's wrong?" The panic rises in his tone as I hear shuffling.

"My-my papá… I-I came to check on him." A cry breaks out in my throat. "Please can you come over? I need help. "

"I'll be there soon," he says and I can hear keys jingling as he rushes to the car.

"Did you call an ambulance?" he asks cooly, still on the call I've now placed on speaker next to the bed.

"Ye-yes. They said they'll get here as soon as possible," I say trying to control my breathing.

Suddenly, my papá starts choking. "Ambrose." I cry and immediately jump to my feet and try to turn my papá onto his side.

"Val, what's going on?" Ambrose asks.

I'm barely able to lift the weight of my father enough to get him on his side in time before vomit streams out of his mouth and he continues to gag. Cries escape my lips as I try to hold him on his side and ensure all vomit comes out.

"H-he's vomiting, I-I can't...I can't turn h-him enough," I barely get my words out while struggling to keep him on his side.

"Sweetheart, breathe I'm almost there. Is there another key for me to get in?" he asks.

I inhale deeply. "Under...under the roses on the front porch."

I use my shirt to wipe my papá's mouth and panic looking at the colour of the vomit which is a disgusting shade of green. " Cazzo ," I cry.

I hear rustling at the door, and seconds later, Ambrose is calling out.

"I'm in here," I yell and he's in the room seconds later. His eyes widen in horror as he takes in both of our states.

"C'mon, I've got him," he says, replacing me. He tosses me his keys and I catch them with a fright.

"What must I do with this?" I ask, staring at the inanimate object as if it's useful at all right now.

"Go open my car, the back door, we can't wait for the ambulance he needs to go right now."

He lifts my papá as if he weighs absolutely nothing and turns to me still standing motionless with the keys in my grasp. "Now, sweetheart, let's go," he says with more urgency which lets me know this is a lot more difficult than he's letting on.

I jump into action and rush to the car with Ambrose hot on my heels as he carries my father, then gently places him on the back seat where I join him placing his head on my lap. "Keep his head to the side in case he vomits again," Ambrose says coolly as he closes the door.

I reach forward and he grabs the keys from me. "Ambrose, what if he throws up in your car?"

"So what Val? I can have it cleaned." He checks on me through his rearview mirror. "It's going to be okay sweetheart."

"Thank you," I whisper. Tears streaking down my face as I gently rub the hair on my papá's head. "It's going to be okay,'' I whisper gently.

Ambrose probably breaks every single traffic law in Tevici but we're at the hospital less than ten minutes later. He rushes in and seconds later nurses are rushing out with a gurney helping Ambrose to get him out.

"Go I'll be in, in a minute I just need to move the car," he says and I stand hesitantly before nodding.

As soon as I am inside, the bright lights and noise hit me from every angle. Beeping, hushed shouts and cries from other patients in the waiting room. Overwhelmed feels like an understatement. I have no idea where to go, where they took my papá or what to even do. Like any lost child looking for their parents, I burst into tears, rapidly searching for any indication of where he went.

"I'm here, it's okay sweetheart. I'm here." Ambrose comes up behind me and wraps his arms around me.

Seconds later a nurse is in front of us. "Valerie Farina?"

"Ye-yes." I choke out.

"We've taken your father to the ICU. Can you tell me what happened?" she asks.

My mouth opens but nothing comes out other than a choked sob. Immediately I'm pulled into Ambrose's side. "She found him unconscious, he vomited once while unconscious and may have aspirated. He also felt really warm when I carried him to the car." Ambrose says calmly as if this entire ordeal hadn't even occurred.

"Anything else you noticed that was odd leading up to tonight?" the nurse asks.

"She mentioned him being tired, and the vomit was green, very green," Ambrose answers again, his arm still holding me firmly in place.

"Thank you, you're free to wait but this may take a while to figure out, it sounds as if it may be an infection from his operation but we'll call you as soon as we know anything," she says before walking away.

Ambrose thanks her before he moves us to the waiting room, takes a seat and pulls me onto his lap.

"Thank you," I whisper again. I attempt to wipe my nose but notice my entire top is covered in vomit and I nearly gag. "I'm so sorry," I say immediately, pulling back and looking down at his hoodie covered in snot and tear stains.

"Don't apologise," he pulls me closer again. "I'm here, for it all, the good and bad sweetheart. I want everything."

His words alone cause another wave of tears to erupt. "What if he dies?"

"Don't say things like that Val, he's going to be okay, we got him here in time," Ambrose reassures, rubbing my back.

The irony isn't lost on me. The similarities between the situations and how I, much like Gus, froze and how smoothly Ambrose was able to sort everything out to get him here in such a short amount of time.

"Thank you again, Ambs, things could've played out differently if you weren't able to help so fast."

"For you, sweetheart, I'd do anything in my power to help." He kisses the top of my head.

"Do you want to head out or wait?" he asks as he gently tucks a stray piece of hair behind my ear.

"I think I'll stay for a while, you don't have to stay. Please go home and get some sleep."

"Home is wherever you are," his eyes soften as they stare into mine. "I'm at home when I'm with you, and how am I possibly supposed to go back to sleep if I know you're not okay?"

I'm speechless as his words register. For a while, I've wondered if I've brought more chaos to Ambrose's life than I have peace, but after hearing him say things like that, it puts my heart more at ease that I am what he is to me. Peace.

He ignites in me the passion and freedom I've been starved of for years and I know I calm down and recalibrate his usually rather busy lifestyle.

Thirty minutes later I'm comfortably leaning to Ambrose's side as we sit alone in the waiting room of the hospital's ICU ward.

"I don't think I've waited in an ICU ward since Antonio's surgery," he stares ahead at the doors.

"The heart one?" I ask, pointing at my chest.

He nods slowly. "It was just my mamá and I here that day while we waited to hear how his surgery went."

Antonio was born with a small hole in his heart and the doctors had hoped it would heal, but around his fourth birthday they decided surgery was the only option. "Where was your papá?"

"A meeting I think, I remember my mamá being upset about him not being here and that's when I decided to throw a tantrum to stay home from school to be here with her," a sad smile spreads across his face. "It was around the time Vitale Holdings success started taking off."

"Always been a mamá's boy at heart," I smile up at him.

"Always. Second most important woman in my life."

"Who's the first?"

He looks down at me, lazy eyes and a smirk on his lips. "Let's just say she changed me for the better and I hope I'm making her proud."

"Valerie Farina," Dr Rossi, calls as she enters the waiting room and pops the comfy bubble Ambrose and I have created. His eyes widen a fraction as he takes in Ambrose but he simply nods as a greeting.

"Yes," I jump up .

"Your father is stable, and thankfully didn't aspirate while vomiting," he says. "But, he is unconscious and may remain that way for a few days. He picked up a serious internal infection after the surgery and needs time to rest and let the medication work."

Great, more time in the hospital.

"How does he pick up an internal infection?" Ambrose asks, his voice stern in tone as he pins Dr. Rossi with a look.

The doctor seems unfazed as he matches Ambrose's stare. "I can see he has had good wound care so I can surmise it's not from an external source, my calculated guess is simply that his immune system may be impaired after the first surgery. We will run some tests to find out what exactly is going on."

"Thank you, Dr. Rossi."

"I'll get one of the nurses to give you a call to let you know the results and keep you updated on his condition." He nods before walking off again.

"That's good news." Ambrose smiles at me.

"Yeah."

"What's wrong?" He furrows his brows and cups my face in his.

"It's just, more time in the hospital means more hospital bills." I frown and I can feel tears well up in my eyes.

His eyes soften and his lips jut out just slightly in a pout. "I wish you would let me help you."

"You've helped me in more ways than you could ever know. I can take care of this. Do you need a fake date again anytime soon?"

"No, but I might need you for a real one."