We Were Villains

19

"Mattia!" Angelo yelled, crouching down in front of me. "Mattia, someone help!"

"Lessie, I'm gonna need for you to put that down," he said. He didn't give me the chance to hand it over, gripping my wrist and taking the blade from me. "It's gonna be okay," he said, tucking the blade into his shirt pocket. He held my hands in one hand, putting pressure on my leg with his other.

Tears were streaming down my face as my brother frantically tried to stop the bleeding. "I'm sorry, Angelo."

"It'll be okay," he murmured, "I'm not mad, don't apologize."

Mattia sprinted into the bathroom, his eyes widening at the sight. "Angelo, pass me some towels," he ordered and our oldest brother reached behind him to grab multiple towels from the shelf.

I stayed still as Mattia wrapped the towels around my legs and applied pressure. "It's gonna be okay, bambina," he murmured.

I sobbed, mumbling incoherent words. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"Mattie can you give her something to calm down?" Angelo asked our brother and I shook my head.

"No, n-no I don't want that," I said, shaking my head.

"Okay, okay. We won't do that." Mattia leaned back on his heels. "Help me get her to her bed. I'm going to need to do stitches for some of these cuts."

Angelo lifted me into his arms, walking out of the bathroom, and carefully placed me onto my bed. He pulled my blankets up and over me, tucking me in. "I'll be right here, Bambina."

I lay back into the pillows, eyes burning with exhaustion. "I'm sorry, Angelo. I'm sorry," I mumbled, Angelo brushing strands of hair from my face.

"It's okay, baby. I'm not mad," he murmured, kissing my hair. Mattia followed us to the bed, on his phone.

"Christian, I need you to come up stairs to Alessia's room," Matteo ordered into the phone. "Bring a medical bag from the downstairs closet, under the stairs ... yes, yes. Hurry."

I shook my head. "No - no, I don't want anyone else to see - " I sobbed, shoving Angelo back. "I don't want anyone else to see this ... ouch."

My older brother held the towel tighter to my thigh and Angelo held onto my hands, holding them tight when I tried to pull away. Moments later, the bedroom door burst open and Christian sprinted in, carrying a black bag.

"Does she need stitches?" He asked, handing the bag to my brother. Mattia opened the bag, slipping on a pair of gloves and rummaging through the bag. Christian moved to the other side of me, checking my wounds on my other leg. "These ones just need cleaned."

"I'm sorry," I murmured, as they both began to clean the self-inflicted wounds. Angelo held me close, pulling my head into his chest. "I'm sorry, I can't - I can't -"

"Shh, baby, it's okay, it's okay," he said, kissing my hair, "you've got nothing to apologize for, Alessia." Mattia and Christian finished cleaning my cuts, I focused on their whispers as they discussed whether or not which ones needed stitches.

I felt uncomfortable and tired but Angelo refused to let me go, hugging me tight and it made me feel safer. Mattia glanced up at me. "Lessie, it's gonna sting, okay? It'll be open in a few minutes. I need to freeze around your wounds and stitch this one closed, okay?"

Mattia continue working, not waiting for a response. I don't think I could give him one anyway, my mouth dry, my face literally hurting from crying so much. When he finished, my older brother leaned back and tore his gloves off.