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"Of course, mia cara. You think I'm going to stay in this hospital with this sub-par food? Nonno would roll in his grave."
"And who's going to stay here with you?"
"Why, I do have another grandchild, Gabriella. And if memory serves me correctly, you did say he was in the waiting room waiting for me. Plus, Shera's here. And she'll take good care of me."
I scoff, wiping the wetness under my eyes. "I don't know. After you threatened Shera with 'attack by prune juice', she might not be so inclined to stick around. I mean, you've seen what kind of container that juice comes in. The glass is thicker than my head."
Nonna laughs, a sound that's strong and clear, and I join in.
"Oh mia cara, you always know how to make me laugh." She pats my hand before taking it back. "Now go on. Grab Jacob. Get that kitchen in order and teach this old lady something new. Who knows when I'll be back on my feet?"
I feel my heart squeeze at the thought of Nonna never getting on her feet again.
I lift my chin. "We'll be back tomorrow, Nonna. Lasagna in hand."
"Good girl." She pats my hand one more time before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.
Grunting as I get to my feet, I head toward the door and open it carefully. I make it about two steps before I run into a hard, unmoving chest.
It belongs to Jacob, who stares down at me, his sandy-brown hair disheveled, his sea-blue eyes almost sunken in as he blinks.
"Hey," he whispers.
"Hi." I glance back at Nonna's room. "How long have you been standing outside the door?"
"A while now." He clears his throat. "I didn't want to intrude on your moment with Nonna."
I nod, sniffling. "Uh, of course. Where's Gio?"
"Still in the waiting room. I think he's trying to offer some space..."
"To me, Nonna, or you?"
Jacob's jaw ticks. "All three of us. He's not the happiest camper with two out of three right now."
"Yeah, I figured that. Well...in case you didn't overhear, you and I have been issued a mission. Go to Nonna's. Make her some food that's actually edible. Bring it back to her tomorrow. I know we could make her food at your place but it’s obviously important to her that we do it at her house."
"I see. And Gio?"
"His mission is to keep watch over her tonight."
"Got it. So...our moratorium on being around each other is on hold then?"
"Jacob..."
"I know. I know. I'm just..." He sighs. "It's been a long fucking day. And I'm not handling it well."
"Me too," I admit, reaching out to squeeze his hand briefly before pulling back. "But we have more important things to focus on right now. Nonna's hungry and we need to make sure she gets some decent food in her system."
Jacob nods, a small smile tugging at his lips. "I guess that means I'll be doing the bulk of the cooking then."
I lift a brow. "Is that a dig at my cooking skills?"
His blue eyes sparkle somewhere from within. "Only the ones you have when it comes to making lasagna."
"Hey, I'll have you know my lasagna is a crowd-pleaser."
He chuckles. "If by crowd, you mean the local raccoons when they dig through the trash, then sure."
