JESSICA'S POV
I could see how Santi's face changed to one of pain, and I knew if he had found out before he was going to get like this, that's why I didn't want to tell him, he already had enough insecurities to add more. "It's true?" He whispered, "I have no idea. According to him, we had been together for years."
"How many?" He asked, "Well, I don't know, I think I remember about six." I answered honestly "That… That can't be…" he whispered to himself "The thing is, I have no idea if he's telling the truth or not, but what I'm sure of is I don't want him around." I assured "Do you love him?" He asked "What? Of course not." I said, annoyed that idea crossed his mind.
"THEN WHY DOES HE SAY HE'S YOUR BOYFRIEND? DO YOU REALIZE IF WHAT HE SAYS IS TRUE, YOU WERE CHEATING ME FOR TWO YEARS? he shouted "I WOULD NOT DO A THING LIKE THAT SANTI. DO YOU REALLY THINK ME ABLE TO DO THAT?" I asked angrily, "IT'S NOT THAT I THINK YOU'RE CAPABLE, WHAT HAPPENED IS THAT I WAS NEVER ENOUGH FOR YOU, BUT YOU COULD AT LEAST TOLD ME INSTEAD OF CHEATING ME." He screamed and I froze.
"Wow… now I realize you never believed me when I told you that I love you." I said, letting out an ironic laugh. "That could have been because you felt sorry for me." He murmured, "And of course, because I felt sorry for you, I was with you for eighteen years. You know? Better get out."
With that, he got up from the chair and left, but I didn't last long alone, because Carla enters the room with a worried face. "Can I know why one, Santi left as he did, and two the screams between you? It could be heard practically throughout the entire hospital." Carla said, "Ask him, and now do me the favour of leaving, I want to be alone."
"I'm not going to leave until you tell me what the hell happened here." She said, crossing her arms, but I didn't want to be with anyone, much less talk about what had just happened, because I'm hurt enough without having to tell anyone else, but mostly I want to be alone, so I touched the ring and in a short time a nurse arrives.
"Do you need anything Miss Leone?" He asked "I want you to get this girl out of here and not let anyone in." I said seriously "Ok, please miss, follow me." The nurse asked kindly, "You can't be doing this Jessica." Carla protested this "I'm doing it."
And with that, the nurse took her out of the room, closing the door behind them and it's precisely at that moment I started to cry, because it hurt me that Santi didn't believe I loved him and above all that he didn't let me tell him as far as I knew.
CARLA'S POV
I don't know what the fuck just happened. I only know as soon as I got out of the elevator, I heard how both Santi and Jessica were screaming, and not long after, Santi came out with tears in his eyes, and as soon as I entered Jessica's room to see if I found out what had happened, she gets me kicked out of the room. Whatever happened between these two must be complicated if we consider Santi wouldn't leave Jessica's side just like that.
At this moment I'm outside the hospital calling Santi, but he didn't answer, which made me be in a bad mood and worried me at the same time, because if I know anything about him, it's that after having fought with Jessica, he would most likely do something stupid, and I don't think anyone, much less Jessica no matter how fighting they were, would want that to happen.
"Miss Bastianini?" I turned to see who was talking, because if it were the press, I'm sure I would tell them to go to hell, but it turns out to be the doctor who came from the United States to help with Jessica's case. "Need something?"
"Do you know anything about what happened in Jessica's room?" the doctor asked, "I don't know anything, as soon as I went in to ask, she practically kicked me out, and to make matters worse, her stupid fiancé doesn't answer the damn phone." I said frustrated, "That's why I didn't want the man to be in the room…" the man murmured.
"What are you talking about?" I asked, taking the phone away from my ear. "This morning I found out Lucas arrived in Italy, and he's looking for Jessica to take her with him to the United States again…" he started, but I stopped him before he could continue. "Wait, wait, wait... How to take Jessica to the United States? And who the hell is Lucas?
"He appeared a couple of years ago in Jessica's life saying he's her boyfriend, and obviously, she didn't remember anything…" he pointed out "Are you telling me Jessica had a boyfriend and he came looking for her?" I asked without believing what's happening "She never had a boyfriend. She told me that there was something she didn't like about that man, and as soon as she said no, he harassed her. We even went to the police and changed neighbourhoods. "We made him believe we had gone to another state."
"And what about Santi knowing?" I asked confused, "I don't think he would react very well." He responded, "If he didn't listen to Jessica, then you probably didn't. And since he hasn't done it, he's going to know how angry I am." I said seriously, "Well, good luck with me telling you, because I already told you Jessica isn't going to tell you."
"I know, I hope to find him. Call me if anything happens with Jess, right now she's angry and she's not going to let anyone in the room." I said, knowing well what my best friend's temperament was like, "Don't worry, I'll call you if something happens."
"Thank you." I thanked him with a small smile on my face and with that I left the hospital grounds and started looking for Santi to see what the fuck had happened, and hope Jessica isn't too angry when he comes back.
A week later
A week had passed since Santi and Jessica's argument, and Jessica hadn't allowed anyone other than a doctor or nurse into the room, and apparently, she hadn't spoken. Santi is missing. I was looking for him for days and calling him constantly to find out where he was, but there's no sign of him.
Today is the day Jessica would leave the hospital, and this time she wouldn't be able to ignore us like she had been doing all this time. Now is time to take advantage and find out what had happened between the two of them, because if there's one thing that's more than clear to me, I'm not going to let them separate because of an argument I'm sure is too stupid.
"Carla, take Jessica's things. If you see Jessica is feeling unwell or notice anything weird, call me immediately." He reported "I will, thanks Eric." I thanked "You're welcome. Do you know anything about your friend?" He asked and I denied "He's still missing, and I swear I'm starting to get seriously angry. And Jess, has said anything to you?"
"She asked me a couple of times about him, but as soon as I tell her I don't know anything about him, she shuts down and doesn't talk anymore." He confessed, "As soon as I find that man, I'll kill him, seriously." Just then Jessica comes out with a couple of things in her hand and walks past me without saying anything, leaving the hospital. I quickly say goodbye to Eric and follow her.
When I see her leaning on the car door, I open it, put her things in the trunk, get in the car and for most of the way to the house everything is silent until she decided to speak. "Do you know anything about Santi?" She whispered and I denied "No. I don't even know where the hell he's gotten into, and let me tell you, I'm planning on killing your fiancé. Now, can you explain to me what happened? Santi wouldn't let you if it wasn't something serious."
"Can we talk about this another time?" She asked, "Okay, but it will be today after the kids go to bed and your family leaves." I seriously said "As you wish." And with that, we did the rest of the way in silence. I could tell she wasn't well, but not because of the surgery, but because she didn't know anything about Santi. It's the first time in all their time together it seemed this bad, and really, I had planned to kill Santi for what he was doing, because if there's one thing, I'm more than sure of, it's he's having a bad time too.
When we got to the house, Jessica changed her face to a happier one, or at least that's her attempt, because I could see it for miles, and as soon as Sofia saw her, she would fume.
We stayed for about an hour until Jessica said she's tired and would go rest for a while. This had to end, and now. I'm not going to allow to run the risk of losing Jessica again because of a misunderstanding. "Can we know where Santi is and why my sister isn't well?" Sofia asked, trying to contain her anger. "I don't have the slightest idea where Santi is, but I assure you as soon as I find him, I'll kill him with my own hands if necessary."
"How do you not know where he is?" She asked, suddenly calming down. "I have no idea, they had a misunderstanding, got angry and he left without saying where." I said, angry at the situation, "How long has it been since you heard from him?" Sofia asked calmly. "A week." I confessed, "Could something have happened to him?"
"I hope not, because then I have no idea how Jessica might react if something happened to her." I said sincerely, "Have you called him?" She asked and I showed her the call history "That's what I've been doing all these days, but there's no way he's answering the damn phone."
"What if we report him missing?" Camille asked "I don't think he's missing, but we'll do it in case he doesn't show up tomorrow." I assured, "Well, we're going home. Are you sure you don't want any of us to stay to help take care of her?" Jessica's sister asked softly, "No, but I would ask you a favour if you could take the children with you, I want to see if I can find out what happened, and I don't think I can with them around."
"Okay, call us if you need anything, okay?" their father asked and I agreed. I gave everyone a hug, made sure to tell the kids to behave, and when they walked out the door, I went upstairs to make sure Jessica is okay. When I saw her asleep, I closed the door carefully and went down to the living room, I sat on the couch calling Santi and thinking about where the hell he could be.
After a couple of hours, I heard a noise coming from upstairs, so I quickly went upstairs to make sure nothing happened to Jessica. When I enter the room, I see her sitting on the bed crying and on the other side of the room the cell phone with the broken screen. I'm almost sure she would have to buy a new one. I approached her, sat on the bed and hugged her for a while so she could calm down a little and see if she could tell me what the fuck had happened between the two of them.
"What's happening? Does your head hurt? Do you need a pill or for me to call Eric?" I asked, worried about my best friend's health. She denied and I hugged her and ran my hand along her arm for a while longer, until she decided to move away from me and wipe her tears. "Where are the kids?"
"Don't worry about them, they went with your parents." I reported "Why?" She questioned "Because I need to understand what happened at the hospital so Santi doesn't show up and you're like you are at this moment." I said calmly "Lucas… That's what happened."
"I don't understand Jess, and I'd like to understand it" I asked "Basically Eric came in telling me we had to talk about something important and it was better for Santi to go out… I didn't want to, in the end Santi knows everything about me… and when I told him that according to that guy, I was his girlfriend of six years he started to shout…"
"Did he let you explain that to him?" I asked, not liking the image Jess is describing "No, he started to say if that was true, I had been cheating on him for two years… it would have been better if I left him instead of cheating on him… I would never do something like that Carla, I love him…" Jess said with tears in her eyes. "I know you wouldn't, but why do I get the feeling that's not what bothers you?"
"Because he never believed I love him… He thinks I was with him out of pity…" she whispered the last thing "And you were together for eighteen years? That makes no sense." I mumbled the last part, "I told him the same thing, but he doesn't believe me." She answered, "I'll kill him, I'm really telling you that." I muttered angrily "Leave him, but can we go look for him?"
"I don't have the slightest idea where he could be. Can you think of any place?" I asked, hoping to find Santi. "A couple…" she whispered. "Well, tell me and I'll go look for your fiancé." I said, getting out of bed, "I'll go." My best friend said seriously "You have to rest Jess, you had surgery a couple of weeks ago and Eric said…" I started, but she denied "I know exactly what Eric said… I just want to make sure Santi is okay."
"If you don't think about yourself, think about your child." I tried, "Carla, you're not going to change my mind. If you want to come, fine, I'm not going to stop you, but I also know how to go alone." Jessica replied, "I'm not going to let you go alone, but I think you should rest." I insisted, "I'm not going to do it." My best friend assured, "Okay, let me call Jackson and a couple of bodyguards to come with us."
"We do not have time." She said "Of course we have it. You yourself said we should all walk with them, and this is no different." I responded, "Well, hurry up, because I really don't have time… I have a bad feeling." Jessica murmured the last part "You'll see Santi is going to be fine, don't worry. It doesn't do any good for either of you. We're going to find him, you'll see."
With that I left the room, because I'm sure if I didn't find Jackson in the next couple of minutes, she would leave on her own, and I didn't want to have to search for both of them. "Jackson, I finally found you." I said relieved "What's wrong? Do you need me for something?" He asked, frowning. "I need you to prepare the car and take a couple more bodyguards with us."
"What are we going to do? Are you seriously thinking about leaving Jessica home alone?" He asked surprised "I'm not going to leave her alone… Hey Jessica, wait for us… Let's go before I have to look for someone else." Jackson called a couple more bodyguards and we ran out the door before Jessica decided it's best to leave on her own.
On the way everything was silent. The tension is evident everywhere, and to make matters worse, Jessica hadn't let Jackson drive, sometimes I hate her stubbornness, I really do. We went to a couple of places, but there's no sign of Santi, and I could tell how with every minute that passed, Jessica is getting more worried, which shouldn't be happening.
After a couple of minutes, the path became familiar to me, and it's not until we stop, I realize we're in front of the cemetery, which I don't understand what we're doing here. "Can you wait here for a while?" Jess asked. "We're going with you, Jess."
"Please…" she whispered and I sighed "Okay." I could see Jackson's face and he didn't like the idea at all, but I'm going to let her do this, at least think it. Once Jessica gets out of the car, Jackson turns in my direction. "Can you know why we let her go alone?" He asked without believing it. "That's what she's going to think… we better go out before we lose her."
With that we got out of the car and followed Jessica at a safe distance so she wouldn't realize we're following her. The truth is I don't know how she knew where all those places were, or why we're heading to where her grave was, but above all, how she knew where her grave was.
As we were about to turn the last corner to get to where Jessica's grave was, we heard a scream that made us run in the direction it come, because we both know it's Jessica.
As soon as we arrive with Jessica, we see Santi lying on the ground with various injuries. Apparently, he's been like this for quite some time and here, I crouch down next to Jessica to try to separate her from him, but there's no way, so I give up while Jackson talks to the emergency services. This couldn't be happening... Jessica couldn't be losing the love of her life again.