Hold Me

The walk to room 205 in the hospital, that Emilio is currently occupying, feels like the longest walk of my life. The atmosphere is gloomy and sad as I wonder what to say to Valentina, bout her father, and Lorenzo, bout his uncle.

When we get to the door, I turn towards Jason.

“I’m going to go in first. Could you watch the children?” He gives me a curt nod and I turn towards Val and Lorenzo, already sitting in the benches outside the room. They both look like they’ll fall asleep any second now. I smile softly and go to place them as comfortable as possible.

Jason takes a set beside Val and picks up Lorenzo. He places Val’s head on his lap and mouths ‘don’t worry’ to me. I take a deep breath and turn to Emilio’s room door. My hand trembles as I reach for the door handle and open it. The sight that greets me when I walk into the room, makes my heart drop to my stomach.

I quickly make my way to the side of the bed and grab his hand, careful of the peg that’s helping to monitor his v