More Than Once | THE WATTPAD DRAFT

Chapter 34

*This story is on-going and changes will be made along the way.

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NB! Adult-content | Mature | Romance

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"Can I get two cups of coffee, please? One black please," I asked the friendly grey-haired lady behind the counter at the cafeteria at the hospital

Giovanni and I spent the rest of the night in each other's arms and only managed to get a couple of hours of shut-eye before we had to be up for early morning visiting hours. He was the perfect distraction from the mounting sadness I had inside of me. I ordered our coffees while he finished off his phone call with his business partner, Pedro. They were close to closing a deal for the building in Valencia and it was a time-sensitive agreement. I took a seat at one of the tables while they made our coffee. The hospital was quiet this morning. Visiting hours were spread out to three different times a day but I was too anxious to wait till later. We still had half an hour until we were allowed to go in. We hadn't heard anything during the night and I was thankful for that - if they were going to call, it would have been with bad news so I was feeling optimistic today.

"Here you go my dear," the lady behind the counter set our coffee cups down on the table in front of me, "Is there anything else I could get you?"

"No, this is perfect, thank you so much,"

I handed her the cash for the coffee and with one last smile, she returned back to behind the counter. I reached for my cup and took a small sip. It was still very hot but the warmth spread through me and I could already feel myself starting to wake up a bit more. I was pretty sure the idea of having caffeine in the morning was a placebo but I'd take any help I could get at this point. If I turned to face the entrance behind me, I could see Giovanni from where I was sitting. He was still on the phone outside pacing up and down. I tapped my fingernails anxiously on the table as I sipped my coffee.

"Isabella?"

I heard my name and I turned back to see Camila walking towards me. She looked just as drained as I did. The bags under her eyes gave it away. I couldn't blame her - I didn't think any of us got any sleep last night. Her wavy short hair was pulled into a low ponytail, hidden briefly by the big scarf she was wearing. She paired that with a big navy coat and jeans with her rain boots reaching just below her knee. It was definitely cold but she was dressed for a storm.

"Hi Camila," I stood up and gave her a quick hug before returning to my seat, "Are you here alone?"

She nodded and took a seat across from me, "Smith and Mother had to head to the office today. There are a couple of things they needed to sort out,"

"In other words, our mother is avoiding me," I said bluntly

Camila shrugged, "She's not avoiding you, Izzy,"

"Yes, she is," I scoffed, "Don't worry - that's fine with me. I'm only here for dad,"

"You can't blame her, Izzy," Camila said softly, "You just disappeared,"

"I don't have enough coffee in my system to even attempt this conversation right now,"

"Well, it's time you stopped avoiding it,"

I rolled my eyes at my sister. She was definitely less emotional than yesterday and I knew she was going to have plenty of questions about the last few months. As much as I wanted to avoid it, I also wanted to get everything out in the open. I was tired of this back and forth - I didn't want any of it anymore.