Unthinkable Love

Chapter 16

Lola

I am getting ready for bed and I’ll likely go into the deepest food coma as soon as my head hits my pillow. Suddenly, my phone starts buzzing. I look at the screen to see an unknown number blinking up at me. It’s nearly 10 o’clock at night, who could possibly need to speak to me at this time?

“Hello?” I ask.

“Lola?” I hear a young, yet masculine voice through the speaker.

“Yes… who’s this?”

“Sorry to call you so late, it’s Dante. My brother gave me your number in case of an emergency.” Dante says.

“Is everything alright?” I ask him a bit worried by his choice of words. Is this an emergency situation?

“Yeah I think so. Usually Theo is never late to pick me up from work but I can’t reach him. If it’s not a problem, can you come get me?” He mumbles nervously.

“Of course, I’ll be there in 10 minutes.”

I hang up the phone, quickly change into some warm clothes and slip on some sneakers. As I step out into the hallway, it’s pitch black which means everyone is asleep. I make a mental note to send my mother a message later to let her know I am all right. I grab Levi’s car keys off the hook near the front door and jump in his car. It’s late so there aren’t too many cars around but I remain cautious and alert regardless as I’m feeling so tired. I pull up to the front of Déjà Brew and Dante gets in the car when he sees me.

“Thank you so much for doing this. I didn’t mean to be an inconvenience.” He says nervously.

“You are very welcome. How was your night?” I ask, trying to make small talk as I begin to drive him home.

“It was pretty quiet. Everyone must have stayed in tonight, it’s so cold.” He replies as he rubs his hands together. “Do you think everything is alright with Theo?”

“I am sure everything is fine. He left my house around an hour ago to walk home. My father gave him quite a bit of wine so maybe he’s just passed out.” I joke with him to lighten the mood.

“Haha … maybe.”

The rest of the trip to his place is met with an awkward silence. We don’t really know much about each other so I don’t exactly know what to say to him. He stares out the window deep in thought.

As we pull up to the front of his house, we both realise that Theo’s car is missing. Dante turns to me with a worried look on his face.

“Hey Dante, why don’t you go in and check on your mother and Theo and I’ll wait here for you.” I say. He nods once and gets out of the car. I take my phone out of my pocket to try call Theo. It rings and rings and rings.

“Ughhh where are you Theo?!” I say to myself. I look up to see Dante running back to the car at full speed. Uh oh … this is not good at all. He yanks the door open and pokes his head inside.

“There’s no one home! There is glass all over the floor in the kitchen! Where the f**k are they?” He yells at me.

“Get in!” I yell back as he jumps in and I step on the accelerator. The only place they could be is the hospital. My mind is reeling as I speed the whole way there. I pray they are both all right. Dante would be devastated if anything were to happen to either of them.

As we arrive at the hospital, I drop Dante at the front door while I go to park the car. He jumps out of the car before I can even come to a complete stop and he runs inside without even a glance back at me. I take my time parking the car so I can give the family some time to themselves without intruding on them.

When I finally walk into the hospital, I see Dante and Theo wrapped in a tight brotherly hug. They both have distraught looks on their faces and I freeze on the spot. Please, don’t let anything have happened to their mother! She has to be fine! I know Theo said she as sick but I didn’t realise it was this bad.

Theo looks up at me with wide red eyes and my feet are suddenly moving underneath me. It kills me to see him like this. He immediately wraps his arms around me when I reach him and starts to sob into my shoulder. His body is shaking with each sob and my heart breaks for him. Dante sits in an armchair and hangs his head. I dread to hear what has happened to their mother; yes I knew she was sick but I was not expecting her to end up in the hospital.

A doctor comes into the waiting room and calls for Theo and Dante to go into their mother’s room to speak in private. Theo reluctantly lets go of me and I see the shattered look on his face again. I wipe the damp tears off his cheeks and give him a swift kiss that tastes a little salty.

“I’ll be here when you come out.” I say encouragingly. He nods his head before he walking away without a word. I take a seat in the empty armchair Dante just vacated and wait for their return.

*

*

*

I wake up with a jolt as I feel my phone vibrating in my pocket. s**t, I must have fallen asleep waiting for Theo. I grab my phone and see its one o’clock in the morning. My mother is calling me and it dawns on me at this moment that I completely forgot to let her know where I was. She is going to murder me! I reluctantly answer the phone. Before I even get a chance to explain anything my mother is yelling into my ear.

“WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU? I’ve been worried sick. You weren’t in your room and the car is gone!” Charlotte bellows at me.

“Oh my god, I am so sorry mother! I forgot to let you know that I am fine. It will never happen again I promise! Theo’s brother Dante called me and asked to pick him up from work because Theo didn’t show up. When we got back to his house, no one was home. I am sitting in the waiting room at the hospital and I must have fallen asleep.” I ramble.

“Oh no, is Theo’s mother going to be all right?” She asks solemnly.

“I don’t know mama. They haven’t come back out of her room for a few hours now. Do you want me to come home?”

“No darling, stay with Theo. He is going to need you. Stay safe and I will see you in the morning.” She replies.

“Thank you mother, I love you.”

“I love you too baby.” I hang up the phone and look up to see Theo and Dante walking towards me.

“Hey …” I start to say.

“I didn’t realise you were still here, thank you.” Dante says.

“Do you want me to take you both home? You should get some rest.”

Dante looks at Theo who is unusually quiet. “Yes please.”

I take Theo’s hand and Dante puts his arm around his big brothers shoulders as we lead him towards the car. I think he is in shock.

The whole car ride back to the house is in silence, no one utters a word. I believe they are both trying to process this situation and all I can do is be there for them both. I won’t push them to open up to me about how they are feeling. People usually talk when they are ready.

We arrive back at their house and Theo unlocks the front door for us. We all immediately walk towards the kitchen and Dante turns on the light. I gasp as I see the glass shattered on the floor.

“Why don’t you two go get ready for bed and I’ll clean this up.” I announce. They both nod without a word and shuffle away to their rooms. I’ve never been to Theo’s house before but all the cottages in the village are laid out the same so I don’t have any trouble finding where everything is. I grab a broom to sweep up the glass and some cloths to clean up the droplets of blood I saw on the floor. I swiftly clean up the mess and fill two glasses of water for the boys. I make my way down the hall and knock on the first bedroom door.

“Just a second.” I hear Dante call from inside his room. The door swings open a moment later and he is standing there pulling a tight black t-shirt over his head. For a fourteen year old guy, he surely does have a great physique. I shake my head to snap out of it, I don’t want to be checking out my boyfriend’s younger brother.

“Hey, I brought you a glass of water. Can I get you anything else?” I ask him.

“Oh, thanks.” He says as he takes the glass from me. “I’ll be okay for tonight. Thanks for everything you’ve done for us.”

“No problem at all, it was the least I could do. Get some rest and I’ll take you guys back to the hospital in the morning.”

“Good night Lola.”

“Good night Dante.” He closes the door and I make my way to the next bedroom door and knock twice.

“Come in.” I barely hear Theo say in a small voice. I open the door to find him sitting up in his bed staring down at his hands. There is still pain written all over his face and I feel the need to hold him. I rush to the side of the bed to place the glass on the table and climb into his bed next to him. I can see his face glistening with his tears again.

“Oh Theo.” I whisper as I pull him into my arms. His body is stiff under my touch and I suddenly feel like I am intruding. “Do you want me to leave? I can give you some time alone to process what is happening?”

“Please stay with me.” He whispers back as his body relaxes. He clings to me tightly like he doesn’t want to let me go.

“Do you want to talk about what happened?” I ask nervously. He nods but doesn’t say anything else. A few minutes pass and he slowly pulls away from me. I readjust myself so I am now sitting in front of him between his legs and I hold his hands. He closes his eyes and takes a slow deep breath.