Gio
Gio stared at the news reports numbly, switching from one channel to another as they went to commercial, ashamed to admit the stories and images of Felix and Bianca hurt just as much as the coverage of the fire.
His second home, 5th Street, had been destroyed. Jack was gone, and Gio still had room to mourn for Bianca. He watched the latest reports that showed her getting into Felix’s car with her luggage and flipping off the photographers. They were now said to be on their way here—together.
Gio had never felt so stupid in his life. He’d hardly said two words since he came to over an hour ago, and the doctors advised him that the pain he was feeling was from his body being slammed against the wall. He’d been bruised and scraped up pretty bad from all the flying debris, but otherwise the worst injury he’d suffered was a concussion. They didn’t think it was too bad, but they did warn the pain would probably worsen in the coming days when the whiplash and soreness really set in.
Even that had him thinking of Bianca. Memories flashed of the day they’d gone snowboarding for the first time and the days after when he’d barely been able to walk, but it had been worth every single ache.
Then they let Noah and Abel in. Both looked wretched and he knew something was very wrong. When they told him Jack hadn’t made it, he’d gone mute. Not even his mom or sisters could get him to talk until he said the only thing to them he’d said at all: “Can I be alone?”
The only other thing he’d been sure to say after flipping through the channels on the television for nearly an hour was to Noah. “Whatever you do. Do not let Bianca in my room. I don’t even wanna see her.”
He knew it was stupid to continue to obsess over the reports on TV, but even when Trinidad died, it was the only thing that numbed him. Staring at the television put him almost in a trance. After a while, he wasn’t even listening anymore, just staring and watching the images: images of the charred remains of 5th Street; then images of Felix and Bianca laughing and hugging—getting in his car together; and now the latest of the two of them arriving at LAX hand in hand, rushing past the paparazzi to his car.
He switched the channel again and froze. The most painful image he’d seen all night was on the screen: Jack’s smiling face with his birth date and today’s date across the bottom of the image. They’d just released the name and photo of the person who’d died in the fire, and the agonizing reality really hit home. Jarring memories of his own father’s death assaulted him and his body shook violently.
Dropping the remote, he brought his hands to his face and let the massive buildup of sorrow out, crying like he hadn’t cried since he was a kid—since his father’s death.
~*~
Bianca
Even knowing her last conversation with Gio had ended the way it had and Toni warning her that the stories were damning, nothing could’ve prepared Bianca for the cold reception she received at the hospital. Nor did it prepare her for what Noah informed her almost as soon as she arrived.
All eyes were on them as they rushed into the waiting room. Noah quickly met them near the entrance.
After hugging Felix tightly and explaining what he knew about the gas leak, he turned to Bianca. Felix walked away to talk to Abel. Noah’s eyes were red and swollen from all the crying he’d obviously been doing. They also held a mixture of determination and sympathy.
“Gio’s okay,” he said immediately, giving her what she needed to hear to keep herself from breaking down too.
On her way there, she’d held it together for Felix’s sake. He was so inconsolable. “When can I see him?”
“You can’t.”
That panicked her. “Why? You said he’s okay. Is there something you’re not telling me?”
“No.” He shook his head. “He has a concussion, but the docs say he’s gonna be all right. He just . . . ” He took a deep breath and glanced away.
“He just what?” Bianca’s heart couldn’t take anymore. “What is it?”
“It’s not a good time right now. C’mere.” He placed a gentle hand on her arm and walked her further away from where everyone else was crowded in the small waiting room and lowered his voice. “He’s real upset about Jack. We all are. He just suffered a concussion, and, well, that may cause him to be even more upset than the norm. He’s hardly spoken since he came to and we told him about Jack.” He turned around and glanced at where Felix stood with Abel. “This is isn’t the time or place for this. Gio is gonna need time. It’s none of my business what’s going on with you two, but whatever it is, I’m asking, as a favor to me and the rest of everyone who’s grieving, respect Gio’s wishes for now.”
“His wishes? What wishes?”
“He doesn’t want to see you right now.” Noah said firmly. “The last thing we need right now is any emotional outbursts or arguments. He’s real broken up right now about everything. This next week is gonna be real rough for everyone. Maybe you should just hold off until after all the services to try and talk to him.”
He doesn’t want to see you right now.
The words stung like nothing Bianca had ever felt in her life. He actually believed it: all the bullshit they were saying on television, the stupid pictures. She didn’t care how damning they were. She could not believe he’d bought into it—believed them without so much as giving her a chance to explain.
Barely able to see through the tears, Bianca’s breathing began to accelerate. She glanced back, taking in the desolate crowd. Even Roni kept dabbing tears away. It took everything she had to hold it together, because Noah was absolutely right. This was not the time or place for it.
“Can you tell me which direction the restrooms are?”
Clearly relieved that she didn’t push, he walked her out into the hallway and pointed. Bianca rushed away without another word. She barely made it into the restroom, glad that it was a single restroom because she burst out crying as soon as she closed the door behind her.
Waves of painfully anguished sobs came again and again: Everything she was forced to hold in when her grandmother and mother begged her to calm down. The entire trip down when she refused to add to Felix’s grief by letting out her own incredible fear that Gio could be seriously injured. Then the slap in the face that Gio didn’t want to see her. It all came out now as she curled up in the corner of the cold little room and cried until she thought she couldn’t cry anymore.