ISABELLA
I jumped when I felt a hand settle gently on my shoulder in the hospital room.
I had been sitting beside my father's bed, staring at his pale face and listening to the steady beeping of the machines attached to him.
The doctors had rushed him into emergency surgery the night before after he was admitted, and the fear of almost losing him still weighed heavily on my chest.
By some miracle, the knife wound from the Conti attack had missed his vital organs, but the damage could have been far worse if I had arrived any later.
"Hey, Isa. I'm so sorry about your father," Sarah whispered softly behind me.
I stood up immediately and wrapped my arms around her, collapsing into her embrace. The tears I had been holding back finally spilled over, soaking her shoulder as I
