Isabella POV

My feet felt frosty on the hospital floor. I had no idea they were so cold until today. I suppose you learn something new every day. I never expected that delivering donations to the church would lead me to this place. Karma has a sick sense of humor. Since we moved here after college I have been in this hospital as a patient and family member of patients two times and both of them were the worst of my life.

The first one was when I had to come in for a D&C after I had a miscarriage. I barely wanted to breathe but was told I had to do it. The second was when my youngest boys were little and a car crashed into ours on the highway. My husband was driving them back from summer camp. James and Weston weren't seriously injured, but Asher took the brunt of the damage. He was in a coma for more than two weeks. After that, I vowed never to experience something like that again. I spectacularly failed and here we are again.

We just arrived and the doctors were examining Aurora in the ER. I knew this was one of the best hospitals in the area. Our family donated a lot to ensure they had all the necessary resources during and every year after the car accident. They would do everything in their power to save her. The nurses helped me get Wes to the VIP room, so he could rest there. I knew almost all of the staff here because I did all my direct care hours in this place for my nursing degree. While I sometimes still volunteered, I wasn't working as a full-time nurse.

I needed to get out of my own head. I had a lot of things to do. James and the kids will need me. It's good that my parents are in town for now. We could use their help. First, I sent the SOS code word we used and my location in the chat with my brother. I texted my parents too and told them what happened and which hospital we were in. I needed to call and tell James over the phone. My finger hovered over the call button... What do I even say? As the call went to voice mail, I dialed again. I couldn't give him details now... he needed to drive here safely and this would distract him too much.

"Amore, what is it we are in a client meeting?" I didn't bother sugarcoating but also didn't give him any details. They could have as much information as they wanted after they got here without any car incidents. "We had to come to St. Ita, there was an accident. You need to get the boys and come here. I already have Wes." I hung up after that because I wasn't strong enough not to break down and tell him over the phone.

Alessandro and my parents came first, they must have been at the restaurant my brother owned nearby. I debriefed them quickly and sat in the waiting area. My brother was already making phone calls and my Mom put her hands around me in a reassuring hug. I am sure Aless was going to find out what he could about that driver and find him, so I needed to focus.

James came bursting through the door with Mateo trailing him. He saw us and immediately headed our way. "What is it? Why is everyone here?" I stood up and went to him placing my hands on his cheeks. My eyes were already watered, I couldn't help my reaction. I hated delivering bad news to my love. It was like hurting my own soul. "There was an accident at church today, everyone is alive, but Aurora was brought in and the doctors are assessing her injuries now." His eyes widened and he looked toward the ER entrance. 

I got them to sit down to explain everything that happened. Mateo was silently stewing, he didn't like to display his anger loudly compared to Weston, who just exploded without delay. They both looked toward my brother, who was still on the phone. He nodded at them and continued his conversation. "Where is Ash? Didn't you pick him up?" Mateo answered me first "He was home all day, we told him to come alone since we were closer and it didn't make sense to double back and pick him up.

Hours passed and Ash finally arrived. He was so worried for his sister. Out of all my sons, he was the most emotional one. Weston woke up and I had to apologise to him. I didn't want to give him a sedative, but he wasn't acting rationally. It's understandable. While the doctor was giving us an update after the nurses wheeled Aurora into the room, Weston suddenly burst through the door and the force slammed it shut after he left. I frowned and was about to go after him, but Ash put a hand on my shoulder. "I got this Mom. Take care of Dad." And so I did. All we could do was wait. I wasn't good at waiting, but I did.

Stella came to visit with her family the next day. Little Florence wasn't so little anymore. She was Stella's cousin and went to the same school the boys did. Her mother raised her at first and would only allow her dad some visitation, but when she was 12, he filed for full custody because Florence called 911 to save her mother from an overdose. The investigators found out she was an addict and neglected the poor girl for most of her life. She only kept her around because of the child support payments from her father. Not that Damian Arnold was a good father in my opinion either. He worked all around the world as an archeologist, barely saw his daughter, and left her with Stella's parents to live with. In my opinion, Damian only got custody because his brother pushed him to do it. That man is married to his work and nothing will change that.

Before the Arnolds left, Benjamin (Stella's father) came over to me and motioned me outside. I had huge respect for him because we had been friends for quite some time. I was also hoping my oldest son would man up and ask Stella out already. Everyone saw their chemistry, but they weren't acting on it. On one of our many double date nights, we agreed to start our "Get Together Already" plan in motion if they didn't at least admit how they were feeling towards each other by the time they were 30. I loved that girl like a daughter already, Mateo just needed to make it official.

"I know you called me over, so I can talk to James and the boys about their feelings. You do know I am not actually a psychologist, right?" I rolled my eyes at him "You didn't get your degree to please your father and continue with the family business, but you are very good at it, even without the diploma." He wasn't fazed by my words even a little bit. "How are you doing Isabella?" I didn't expect him to ask me anything, so I just raised my eyebrows. "Don't give me that look, you're there for the men right beside your parents and brother taking care of everything, so they don't have to. How are YOU doing?"

"I'll be fine Ben. You need to be talking to the boys, I don't want their feelings to fester." He wasn't happy with my answer though. "I already talked to them and they are handling everything fine for now, considering the circumstances. You aren't though." That fired up my emotions like dynamite "ME? What do I have to deal with? My husband's daughter, who happens to be my children's sister, is unconscious for God knows how long. I can't do anything to help her. They are in pain and I am doing everything in my power to help."

"I don't doubt you are helping them, Isabella, that isn't what I mean though. What about your feelings about the situation?" I was quiet for a while. What about my feelings? Do I have the right to have feelings at this point? She doesn't seem to like me very much and as much as it pains me to say, Aurora already has a mother she loves. "It's not the same for me, even if she hadn't arrived in our lives less than a week ago, she doesn't see me as a mother figure in her life. I'm not sure she will anytime soon or ever..."

Ben cut off my sentence in the middle "I wasn't asking what Aurora's feelings on the situation are, I was asking about yours." I was stubborn and didn't say anything back to him. "Since you aren't going to answer me allow me to speculate. You do see her as your own, it doesn't matter that she isn't your blood. You already lost one child in this very hospital and almost lost Ash, too. You must be a wreck on the inside. It's okay to feel Isabella, your feelings are validated and in no circumstances are they wrong. It's okay to not push everything down for the sake of your family. That's what family is for, after all, to help you through the dark times."

My tears decided to have a damn stroll in the park that is my face and there was nothing I could do to stop them. "I can't lose another one...I'm scared Ben." I silently cried while my friend held my hand assuringly. "We'll be here for all of you. We are a future family after all, even if we do have to pull a parent trap on our kids." That made me laugh through my tears and after a couple of seconds, they finally stopped.

Before he went to leave, I pulled him back "I might need you to talk to Weston, he is not taking this well and the more time we wait for her to wake up, the worse he will become. I know my baby and he is struggling." Ben just smiled reassuringly and led me toward our families "Of course. If he doesn't want to come over and talk officially, I am sure you can get us in the same room for a perfectly good reason sometime soon." He winked at me and I just shook my head. 

A week passed and nothing had changed, the doctors reluctantly gave us updates, but it was still the same old news. One of my friends, who I went to nursing school with told me most of the staff was scared because of my family's murderous expressions. So they started sending the updates through her because we knew each other. No one wanted to leave, so the boys and I took shifts sleeping in the room next door. My parents and Alessandro came every day, but we were becoming a very loud and scary crowd, so I told them to sleep at the house at least. I needed the staff to be at their best, not worry if they will piss my family off and overlook something important in Aurora's treatment.

The only one that wasn't with us was Weston. I had seen him once or twice during the week when Asher asked him to bring us clothes or something else from the house. He didn't deal with negative feelings in the best way. Even when he was little he had a tough period after the accident, where he would constantly run away from school and get in fights with other students. Since he became a teen I am sure he found other ways to deal with his feelings.

The boys were asleep in chairs in Aurora's room and James and I had a rare moment alone. I couldn't sleep and neither did he. "It's so quiet here at night. Almost haunting." It was I was just too distracted by my own thoughts to notice. James continued without waiting for me to acknowledge him with an answer "Thank you for handling everything, I don't think I could think clearly at the moment. I can't believe it's happening again." We watched as one of my nurse friends came to change Aurora's IV fluids.

She left after changing them, but I quickly caught up to her. "Mary, are there any updates? I will even settle for rumors or hunches at this point." She looked up with a weary expression. "Isa, you know we can't..." I interrupted her before she could deny me "I know, but it's me. How many sleepless nights have we spent studying together? Please, just give me the odds, we can't stand not knowing anything. Even the tests have stopped in the last few days." She looked at me with pity, but she said "The doctors need her to wake up on her own before doing a thorough examination, but they aren't optimistic she will wake up at all..." She trailed off but added "... or at least anytime soon. We don't know for certain. I have seen my fair share of miracles over the years, so don't give up hope. It's all up to her and God at this point. I'm sorry, Isa." She swiftly turned around and hurried back to her work.

James suddenly came up behind me "What did she say? Are there any updates?" I froze. How could I tell him? "Nothing, still the same old story they've been repeating these last few days." He huffed annoyed at that. I preferred him to be annoyed than heartbroken though. Mary was right. We don't know anything for certain. They said the same for Asher all those years ago, that there was nothing they could do anymore, but he prevailed.

At dawn the "miracle" we've been waiting for happened. Ash came running from Aurora's room looking for a doctor. My heart stopped at first but when Mary came running from the nurse's station he explained "She woke up, come quickly!" Not much later than the doctor, who was treating her came himself. We were all out of the room until they examined her properly. "What happened?" I asked. Mateo told us his account of events. "I was sleeping in the chair on the right side of the bed. I woke up to someone touching the hand I had put on the bed. When I looked up she was looking at me and smiling." Asher continued "I woke up when I felt movement. I went to look for a doctor." My boys had tears in their eyes, but not because they were sad. They were relieved. All of us were. The sun had already risen by the time the doctors and nurses came out of the room.

I quickly took charge "Boys, they will probably need to do some more tests now that she's awake. Go find Weston, make sure he's presentable, and bring him here. I'll call your grandparents and update them. They will tell your uncle and cousin." Once Weston is feeling better, he is going to hear from me for spending his nights and days wasted, and probably high, in that kid's basement instead of being with us. I understood him to a degree because I tried distracting myself plenty when I miscarried. I made some mistakes that I am not proud of at all, but I shaped up and put that period behind me. Acts of self-destruction and avoiding your problems don't make them go away. He and Ben had a lot to talk about.

Come to think of it, I probably need to talk to Ben about speaking to Aurora, too. Medical events aside, one doesn't just panic at the sight of a church they were walking towards minutes before. There was time for all of that, but now we needed to take care of her body before focusing on her mind. All I knew was that Mary wouldn't lie to me. Maybe miracles do exist.

What do you think of Isabella now we know more about her?

Why did Aurora wake up so soon?

Question of the day: Do you believe in miracles?