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I blink both eyes open, and a vision of blonde hair and pink obstructs the previous bright light.

“He opened his eyes,” the voice gasps slightly louder, and hushed chatter breaks out around me as my eyes begin focusing on my surroundings.

Most things are still hazy, but I make out Valerie’s face briefly before she’s shoved gently to the side. Dr. Rossi steps into my vision, shining a torch into my eyes, causing me to flinch again.

“Can you hear me, Antonio?” he asks, practically shouting.

“I won’t for long if you keep yelling,” I say. I can hear how hoarse my voice sounds, it physically hurts to speak.

“Good,” the doctor sighs, “you may want to refrain from doing much of anything, including talking for a while. To put it bluntly, you got pretty fucked up.”

I want to laugh, but the slightest movement has me flinching. Good thing my brothers have me covered, since I hear the twins snickering in the background.

“Thanks, Doc,” Ambrose’s voice vibrates through the room.

I shift my head a bit to the right and take in all the people surrounding my bed. My bed. I’m in my bed for the first time in almost a year.

I’m in my room.

I’m in Tevici.

I’m home.

My eyes meet my mamá’s, and tears are running down her cheeks at such a rapid pace. All I want to do is run over to her and console her, but when I try to move, she only looks more worried.

“Mamá, mi dispiace.”

She raises her hand, signalling me to keep quiet. “I’m just glad you’re home and alive,” she says, voice cracking straight through the sentence. Uncle Luca pulls her into his side.

“I’m glad I’m home, too,” I say, audibly straining my voice to make it loud enough for them all to hear.

Valerie takes a seat next to me and runs her hand through my hair. No words, but her touch says a thousand words. We never fully reconciled after it all, and if things were worse, I would’ve died without making amends with one of my closest friends.

I lean into her hand and meet her eyes. As I’m about to open my mouth to speak, she shakes her head. “I know, I’m sorry, too. Fuck, I thought I was going to lose you. We all thought we were.”

“Can’t die before I get to see your wedding,” I say, and her eyes well up with tears.

Looking at her now, I know how I feel. It’s the same love I feel for my brothers. It's a loyal one, but it’s platonic that resembles family. Most importantly, it’s nothing compared to the type of love I feel for Theá.

I can feel Ambrose’s presence on my other side. “Give us a second with him guys,” he says.

Dr. Rossi, my mamá, Uncle Luca, and Val all leave. Only the twins linger behind.

“How bad is it?” I ask as soon as the door is closed.

“On a scale of one to ten, one being a walk in the park and ten being on the brink of war, probably an eleven,” Gus says.

I expect laughter to surround me, but it doesn’t. If anything, they look even more serious.

“Your injuries are quite severe. Two broken ribs, four more fractured. One punctured your lung, and if you were out there any longer, you would’ve died. Your nose was broken to the point they had to reconstruct it, a fracture in your cheek that—”

“I meant how bad is the situation, not my injuries,” I cut Adriano off.

He glares at me. I know what he’s trying to do. He’s trying to make me understand just how close I was to death’s doorstep. Quite frankly, I wasn’t on the doorstep. I was lounging on death’s couch, calling him by name, and I have no idea how I’m even here right now.

“You’ve been in an induced coma for nearly a week after we managed to get you out,” Ambrose starts. My eyes widen, realising how much time I’ve lost.

“It’s important that you understand how bad things are foryou.You aren’t out of the woods yet; many things have to heal, and it will be an uphill battle for a while. The situation is no longer any of your concern, getting better is the only thing you will worry about. Do you understand me?”