David Gandy as Ramone Vega

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Stuck on You: Kapitel Dreizhen

I furrowed my brows at Alex, wondering what the actual hell was happening. 

"I just got released from work," Luzia sighed, running a hand through her hair, oblivious to the natural tension in the room. "Surprisingly, I'm free for the rest of the day." She shrugged, blissfully unaware of the inner turmoil that was rolling around inside of Alex and I. I desperately wanted to believe that she was just a lover of weapons, considering she had about 10 guns and three machetes in her car. I wanted to believe that there was no other reason other than her wanting to flaunt her blade because she couldn't have ties to that car accident.

She was Luzia Cardenas, the woman who had been my best friend since I was 15. 

She was there for me, through thick and through thin, pushing me to do better, to be the best that I could be. She was my shoulder to cry on when Santiago left that night and she was the one who said that we would forget about him. We wouldn't forget the memories that he gave us, but we'd forget the pain. She was the one who said that she wanted nothing to do with Santiago after he left, seeing that he put me through so much. I mean, if she wanted to get back at him for treating me the way that he did, why'd she come after me and not directly after him?

Unless...

I shook my head, using Alex's leg to help me stand up. There was no way, there was just no fucking way. I stared at her as she smiled at me gently, her eyes crinkling. "I wish that I could stay and see how Ivory is doing, but I have to leave in a few minutes." She whispered unapologetically and I nodded, eyes narrowed as I studied her. If she was somehow involved, what would her position be and what would be the reason why? I couldn't believe it. Why now? Why here? What was she getting at? Was she trying to destroy the long level of trust I had in her? 

"That's a nice dagger, Luzia," Alex beamed, putting on a show. Luzia flicked her gaze to him, narrowing them into slits as if she was suspicious. It wasn't long before she fell right into the palm of his hand. "Oh, thanks! There's only two of these in the world! I was just lucky enough to get it!" She pulled it out and sure enough, the blue crest with a Scorpio symbol embedded in the center was true to what Alex had told me. The blade of the knife was sharp and ridged and there was no other cut like it. "Where did you get it from?" To eavesdroppers, Alex's tone may have seemed nonchalant and casual but to me, it was dripping with anger. 

"My boss gave it to me." She smiled, slipping the dagger back into her pocket.

Huh?

All of a sudden, the doors opened. "Family of Ivory Thorpe?" A tall man with salt and pepper hair stood, looking around as he held a file in his hands. "T-that's me!" I scrambled like a roach and scampered over to where he was standing, heart pounding and hands sweating as I awaited the news. "How is she, doctor!? Please tell me she's okay!" I searched through his eyes as he looked down, letting out a sigh. "...please come right this way, sir." He pointed down the long hallway and it seemed like a maze that was never-ending.

"Bye Brad." I heard Luzia's soft voice and I threw a wave over my shoulder, stalking after the doctor as he walked in front of Alex and I. Why did he seem so sullen? So sad? So broken? My heart was racing and my body felt jittery. I hope this man wasn't taking me to where I thought he was taking me. "Right in here please." The doctor whispered as we stepped into the hospital room, the bed empty. "What's wrong? You're scaring me." The man shut the door and placed the file on the counter, taking a deep breath as if he was trying to think of how to say his words.

"When we received Ivory, she was in critical condition," He began and my heart lurched inside of my chest. No. No. No. This could not be happening right now. "She had a large wound on her left arm on her left leg. She had a mild concussion and there were small wounds on her head but those were closed by the time she got here," He breathed heavily. "There was a lot of glass stuck inside of her leg and arm so it took a lot more time to scoop them out." Glass? Why the fuck was there glass in my child's body?!

Whoever did this to my baby was going to pay. 

"In the process, she wasn't clotting as the body's supposed to in order to prevent further wound issues. She's reaching the point of exsanguination, Mr. Thorpe," He confessed and I furrowed my brows, not understanding. He sighed once again. "Ivory lost a lot of blood on the table and if she doesn't produce enough blood cells, she will not make it." My worst fear was already coming true. "We are monitoring her blood levels but since she's healing from her concussion, her brain will not allow signals to be sent to her immune system. She will need a blood transfusion in order for her to body to become stable, but there is an issue with that." Dr. Jaeger, I read from his name tag, opened the folder. 

"It appears that Ivory has AB negative blood," God fucking damn it. Not this. "We do not carry that type of blood because it is too rare, so someone will need to be a donor. We tried looking around the hospital, but there isn't any compatible with her. She needs A negative, O negative or B negative. It would take time to ship since there aren't any available donors at nearby hospitals. Are you able to do so?" He looked into my eyes and I shook my head, biting my lip to keep myself from crying. This was it. That was the end. "...no. I'm O positive." I whispered, trying to stop myself from whimpering. "What about you, sir?" He turned to Alex, hope evident in his eyes, but Alex frowned. "No. I'm O positive as well." He solemnly replied and the doctor nodded, grimace on his face.

Why was this happening to me, to my baby girl?

"No..." My lips quivered as my stomach folded itself into knots. I blinked back and forth, staring at Dr. Jaeger in horror. My hands trembled as I tried to make sense of the news. My baby was going to die. My Ivory was going to die. "I'm sorry." Dr. Jaeger whispered. With burning tears seeping down my cheeks, I went to speak and beg him to do something, but my voice was choked up as Alex put a hand on my shoulder. My baby was going to die and there was nothing that I could about it! Ivory! I slumped against Alex, sobs wracking my body as I wished that some miracle, by way of luck, would come. 

But there wasn't.

"I'll do it."

We all snapped our heads to the doorway, not having even heard it open. "You..." My voice trembled as I laid my teary eyes on the man standing there, a small and comforting smile on his lips as if he was telling me, 'I'm here to help you so stop crying.' I stood slowly, my heart skipping a beat as he stared at me. "I have AB negative, so I don't mind." He stated to the doctor, his eyes peering into my soul. I smiled gleefully, wiping the tears from my eyes as I stared at the man who changed the day, Santiago Luzardi. My daughter's life was just saved and there was nothing that could've made me happier. He was here.

"Excellent," The sorrowful atmosphere dissipated like air as the doctor sighed in relief. He pressed a button on his pager and held it up to his mouth. "Nurse Faldez, can you please bring the transfusion equipment to room 324?" He spoke and there was a beep, signaling that the message was received. I couldn't stop staring at Santiago, not knowing how to thank him for coming to the rescue. "Thank you." I mouthed to him, wiping my eyes. He shook his head, nodding. "No need." He mouthed back and my body sagged as the nurse walked in.

"If you could please sit here on this bed," The doctor motioned for Santiago sit on the bed and lift up his arm. "Please state your name, sir." The doctor pressed for a vein as I came to stand in front of him. "Santiago André Luzardi and I was born December 25th, 1990." He finished and the nurse looked up his medical records to verify his blood type. "And you, sir," The nurse turned to me as Santiago stared directly at me. "Yes?" I muttered meekly. "Can you please verify your daughter's name and date of birth?" I nodded, sighing. There were so many pressing matters at hand.

"Her name is Ivory Ándréa Thorpe," Santiago's eyes picked up as he tilted his head, the needle in his arm twitching, but I continued on, knowing that he would have so many questions. "And her birthday is February 7th, 2011," I stated and the nurse nodded. She smiled at me, letting me know that Ivory was going to be more than okay and for the first time in a long time, I could properly breathe. 

I took my eyes away from him to look at Alex, who was in the corner on his phone. "What's wrong?" I questioned and he looked at me. "I just found out what happened with Ivory." My aura turned cold as I demanded that he tell me everything. "Her friend, Klarissa Alderman and she were walking along the school building outside for recess," He began. "Klarissa said Ivory looked up all of a sudden so she did the same. They both saw something in the sky and Klarissa asked what it was falling from the sky. Ivory pushed her out of the way as the object hit the ground next to her. Bystanders said that there was a loud explosion before she collapsed. It turned out that it was a 6 inch in diameter circular bomb filled with glass and nails." My eyes widened as I registered what he was telling me. "Klarissa was okay but Ivory guarded herself. There was a lot of blood loss and glass got stuck inside of her veins. She was unconscious by the time paramedics got on scene."

Blood stilled in my capillaries as I gritted my teeth.

"The bomb hadn't fallen from the sky since it was only 15 feet from the building and the sidewalk Ivory was on," I took in a deep breath, promising that I was going to kill whoever did this. "Someone deliberately pushed that bomb off of the roof and we can use the street cameras to find out who." Alex nodded, gleam in his eyes as he promised that he would do everything he could. "Get that son of a bitch because they're going to realize that they fucked with the wrong father." I seethed, clenching my hands.

"Go cool off," He motioned to the sliding doors behind me and there was a wide and long balcony waiting. "You need it." He pushed me in the direction of the doors and I took one good look at Santiago, who was slurping on some apple juice as the blood flowed into the bag. He was everything to me right now. He was Ivory's everything and it was eerily scary how true it was. I sighed, clicking open the door as I stepped out, the smell of the fresh night air seeping into my nostrils. I walked over and leaned down, placing my head along the balcony, closing my eyes.

It was truly exhilarating to be out here.

About ten minutes into my relaxation, I heard the door open behind me and feet stepped out onto the deck. The person didn't say a word.

I knew who it was because Alex wouldn't come out here after telling me that I needed to cool off. The dark wind ruffled my hair as I kept my head on the balcony, taking in the alluring lights of the buildings. "Why did you give Ivory your blood?"I blurted out as he stopped for a second in his crisp shoes before picking up his pace. He came to stand next to me, leaning on the platform. "Didn't I say that I'd do anything for you, Anthony?" He murmured, his eyes observing the scene before me. The smell of his cologne filled the air around us as our voices fell. 

Ivory's surgery had taken a bit of time. The sun had completed its tour for the day and had now been replaced by myriad stars, which dotted the inky canopy. A low and moon hovered tenuously in the twilight firmament, bestowing a very dim light upon the city. It was a warm yey windy night; the swaying of trees and rustling of leaves could be heard but not seen, as the encompassing darkness had blotted out all but the faintest light. We could see the flickering of the lights in the city, letting us know that Manhattan hadn't gone to sleep.  Briefly, a dark, wispy cloud eclipsed the crescent moon. For a few shadowy moments, it looked like there was a halo around the cloud, a dull aura of lunar luminescence.

Then after a moment of silence in the beautiful night, I heard a deep and dejected whisper. "It's the least that I can do, considering that I've been a shit father." My eyes widened and my heart jolted as I jumped to look at him. He knew? Oh my god, he knew. "Don't worry, I'm not upset," Santiago looked away from me and back to the sky. "I didn't find out until a week ago. I had my suspicions from the start. She looked too much like for you to have adopted her. I had a gnawing suspicion when she looked at me that day in the ice cream shop, and her eyes looked exactly like mine," He chuckled, though it sounded strangled. "Her eyes had the same brown with the gold ring around the pupil. I had thought it was odd until I heard you say her name. Ivory. It reminded me of my grandmother." 

He continued. "I didn't really know until I saw you laying in that hospital bed and I wasn't sure if you were going to make it. She was there because Noah dropped her off," He went to explain and my lips trembled as I stared up at him, green into brown. "I didn't even know that I was crying until she came over to hug me and when I held her in my arms, something in me just knew that she was mine. There was no doubt about it, right then and there, I knew for sure that she was my daughter." He smiled softly and I nodded, seeing no point to lie now. I turned my head away from him to think.

A lot was happening and I needed to sit back and process it. This was what I wanted, right?

"Anthony?"

"Hmm?" I hummed, not taking my eyes off of the scenery in front of me. I felt a warm and large hand encompass mine with a squeeze.

"I promise that I'm here to stay."

I grinned, a weight taken off of my whole life and I found it easier to breathe. I finally had what I was longing for, what I was desperately seeking. A tear escaped my eye as I stared at the beautiful skyline of Manhattan, blind and ignorant that this was the peaceful and relaxed calm before the splintering lightning, thrashing rain and the raging clap of thunder of the storm.