When We Were

“Does it hurt?”

Emilia smiled softly around the top of her coffee cup, watching as Lionel spoke gently to Luca who was sat up in his hospital bed, tentatively nibbling on a piece of toast that the nurses had bought by for him. He hadn’t been awake for long, the anesthetic he’d had when he’d had his surgery had kept him drowsy for most of the day, but he had started to wake up a little under an hour previous, something which had come as a great relief to Emilia. She knew that he was OK, his doctor had reassured her of it a hundred times when he’d come to check on the little boy, and both Lionel and Isaac had told her more times than she could remember, but none of it compared to watching a sleepy smile light up Luca’s face or hearing him say ‘mama’ when he’d first woken up.

Luca shrugged. “It’s kind of tingly” he noted “I can’t really feel it” he added.

“That’s good” Lionel noted “You’ll let us know if it does start to hurt, though, won’t you? We’ll help make it stop” he insisted.

Luca nodded, gently placing the barely touched piece of toast back down onto its plate.

Emilia stepped closer to the bed, gently pushing Luca’s hair back out of his eyes. “You’ve got to eat something, baby” she cooed “You’ve not had anything since your breakfast and it’s getting pretty late now” she added, lifting the plate back towards him.

“I don’t like it” Luca protested tiredly “It’s hard” he added.

“Luca” Emilia sighed.

Lionel gently touched Emilia’s knee, causing her to look up at him. “I’ll go and get him something else” he noted “I was going to step out and call your brother to check on Maisie anyway. I can swing by the café and find him something else” he added, offering her a small, reassuring smile.

“You don’t mind?” Emilia asked.

Lionel didn’t hesitate in shaking his head.

“Is there something you really want, Luca?” Emilia asked as she turned to look at the little boy.

“Something sweet” Luca replied.

Emilia sighed, shaking her head. “You need to...”

“I’ll see what they’ve got” Lionel cut in “But this is a onetime thing. Tomorrow, you’re going to have two servings of vegetables. Your mama will check with your papa” he insisted.

Luca huffed, but conceded, something which made Lionel flash Emilia a grin and a wink before he got off of the side of the bed. “I’ll be back” he announced as he made his way towards the door.

Emilia couldn’t stop herself from smiling back at him. “We’ll be here” she called after him.

Lionel laughed before he pulled the door open, his steps stuttering slightly as he caught sight of Isaac, but he quickly composed himself, offering the doctor a tight smile and nod before he walked past him. Isaac watched him down the hall before he turned to step inside of the room, causing Emilia, who’d turned back to Luca, to look up at him. “Where’ve you been?” she asked softly.

Isaac shrugged, plopping down into the chair beside the bed. “I didn’t want to intrude” he noted.

Emilia shook her head, letting out a soft sigh. “You wouldn’t have been intruding” she replied.

“It felt like I would have been” Isaac replied, shrugging nonchalantly. It wasn’t a coincidence that his absence from Luca’s bedside coincided with Lionel’s presence, and Emilia knew it. Isaac would rather have hung around outside than be in the same room as Emilia’s fiancé, especially after the conversation they’d had when Emilia had dropped Luca off with Isaac.

Emilia thought about arguing with him, but stopped herself when Luca moved in his bed, reminding the two of them that he was in the room with them. Sighing again, she gently shook her head before she leant forwards, pressing a soft kiss against Luca’s forehead. “Are you OK?” she whispered softly.

Luca cuddled into her. “I’m still sleepy” he replied.

“You will be for a little while, buddy” Isaac mused, gently rubbing Luca’s shoulder “We had to give you some medicine to make you got to sleep so that we could fix your arm. You’re probably going to be sleepy for the rest of the day” he added.

“But try and stay awake until Leo gets back” Emilia contributed “You’ve got to eat something, but then you can go back to sleep” she fussed.

Luca nodded his head softly, his eyes blinking sleepily. “Will you stay, mama?” he asked “You and papa and Leo?” he added.

Isaac’s expression faltered at Luca’s inclusion of Lionel and Emilia noticed it before she looked at Luca, offering him a gentle smile despite the small pang of sympathy she felt for Isaac. “Me and papa will, definitely” she confirmed “But Leo will probably have to go home. Maisie’s with uncle Jordi and she’ll need to be picked up and taken home. But you’ll be ok with me and papa. We’re not so bad, are we?” she asked teasingly.

Luca shook his head. “You’re OK” he mused.

Isaac scoffed playfully. “Only OK?” he pressed.

Emilia laughed gently as Luca flashed his father an impish smile, something which was quickly taken over with another yawn before he shook his head. “Will Leo come back and see me in the morning?” he asked, glancing up at his mother.

Isaac didn’t try and hide the scoff beneath his breath, but Emilia didn’t acknowledge it, instead focusing on Luca with a smile and a nod. “If we ask him nicely, I am sure that he will” she cooed “He might even bring Maisie with him. I’m sure she’s worried about her big brother” she added.

Luca smiled. “I’d like that” he mused.

Emilia nodded her head gently but couldn’t resist sneaking a glance over at Isaac, not missing the frown which was fixed on his face. Pulling her attention back towards Luca, she gently pushed his hair back off of his face again before the door opened, allowing Lionel to pad back inside, a box clutched in his hand.

Luca lit up. “What’d you get me?” he pressed.

“They didn’t have too much” Lionel replied “But I think you’d probably like these” he added as he placed the box down, opening it up to reveal a small stack of chocolate chip cookies.

Luca grinned, eagerly taking one of the biscuits out of the box.

“Hey” Emilia chided softly “What do you say to Leo before you start eating?” she asked.

Luca rolled his eyes. “Thank you, Leo” he mumbled before he proceeded to stuff the cookie into his mouth.

Lionel chuckled. “You’re very welcome, Luca” he mused.

Isaac shoved his chair back, scraping it across the flaw. “I’m going to update my parents” he muttered.

“You don’t have to leave” Emilia objected.

“Yeah, I do” Isaac replied “I’m not going to be here while he is” he added, pointing at Lionel who looked at him, eyes wide.

“Isaac” Emilia warned.

“I’m not the one who kissed someone else’s fiancée” Lionel replied quietly.

“Lionel” Emilia hissed.

Lionel held up a hand in apology. It wasn’t the time or the place. “I’ll go” he noted “You should stay, Isaac” he added.

Isaac scoffed. “Thank you for permission to spend time with my own son” he shot back.

“I am trying really hard to be nice, right now” Lionel warned.

“Because you’re just so fucking wonderful” Isaac yelled.

“Papa said a bad word” Luca pointed out through a mouthful of cookie.

“You’re behaving like a child” Lionel pointed out.

Isaac didn’t even hesitate, his fist making an instant connection with Lionel’s nose which caused him to stumble backwards, his hands covering the contact point as blood began to ooze away from it.

“Papa!” Luca yelled.

Isaac shook his hand out, his eyes flitting between Luca and Emilia for a moment before he breathed out a soft sigh. “Emmy” he breathed.

Emilia just stared at Lionel, watching as his blood trickled between his fingers.

“I’m sorry” Isaac said quietly.

Emilia didn’t look at him as she moved towards Lionel, gently prying his hand away from his face. “You need this looked at” she whispered.

Lionel nodded, dabbing the blood away with his fingers. “I’ll get Jordi to check it over” he noted “I’ve got to get back to Maisie, anyway” he added.

“Will you be OK?” Emilia asked.

Lionel flashed her a small smile and nodded. “I’ll see you soon, Luca” he quipped, waving to the little boy.

Luca waved back. “Bye” he said.

Lionel went to kiss Emilia’s temple, but stopped himself, smiling bashfully. “The blood” he mumbled.

Emilia nodded. “I’ll call you tonight” she mused “Give Maisie a kiss for me when you put her to bed” she added.

“Of course” Lionel replied before he stepped out of the room, allowing a long silence to linger before Isaac finally cleared his throat.

“Emmy...”

“Didn’t you have a phone call to make?” Emilia’s voice was cold.

Isaac blinked. “Emilia....”

“Just get out of here, Isaac” Emilia snapped “I don’t really want to look at you right now” she added.

Isaac went to protest, but stopped himself, knowing just how much worse he’d already made a bad situation.