Kiss of Heaven
Chapter Three
Rogue opened Pietro's bedroom's windows to let in the fresh morning air, before climbing into bed beside her fiancé with her chest against his back and an arm propping her head up, she began combing her fingers lovingly through his silver mane with her other hand until he started to stir.
"Are yah awake?"
"Mmm."
"Its time tah wake up sugar."
"Mmm."
"Yah have tah go pick up your friends from the airport."
"Mmm."
"Come on Pietro. Get up."
The southerner was answered by an arm wrapped tightly around her small waist, and a smile from Pietro. "I love how your voice sounds in the morning."
"Yeah?"
"Uh huh, they should put you on alarm clocks, but then again I wouldn't want sharing my girl's talents with the world…"
"No."
"I can't wait to wake up to your voice every single day."
Rogue laughed a little before drawing a little closer for the first kiss of the day. Pietro was about to do the same when he heard muffled sounds outside and jolted awake instead.
"Is Wanda still here?"
"Ahh yeah, Ah think she's outside talking on the phone with John." She replied as she resumed playing with his silver mane, then lowering her fingers to trace his food-deprived lips.
"What?! Doesn't she know how expensive it is to call Australia?!" Pietro replied angrily, as he sat up in bed and began pulling on his pants. "I can't stand that Aussie, but he needs to Wanda needs to get him a ticket, and send his ass over here pronto."
Rogue looked at him in confusion. "Sugar, if you don't like him, why do you want him here?"
"Because the longer he's in Australia, the more expensive my phone bills going to be! Besides, he's coming for the wedding anyway, I'm sure he's not going to mind coming a little sooner."
"Don't worry Ah heard Wanda booking a flight for him for tomorrow. By the way, does she know your credit card number? Cause Ah think she just placed the tab on you." Rogue adjusted herself in a sitting position bracing herself for any negative reaction from her boyfriend. Pietro on the other hand, opened his eyes wide and stared at her.
"What?! See this is the very reason why I didn't want to pick her up from the airport yesterday. We're gonna be broke before we're even married!"
Rogue only chuckled at the thought of them in the streets of New York, with nothing but a pushcart filled with dirty clothes… nope, not gonna happen she thought to herself.
"I'm not getting out of bed, nor leaving my apartment to get anything done… until she leaves."
"Calm yerself down would yah, yah can't lock yerself here forever and besides yah can't just kick your sister out. She's family."
"I don't care! I just want her out! I can't take her anymore! She's driving me crazy!" He said, as he pulled at his hair. "Maybe you could take her to the mall, and leave her there, or better yet, auction her off on E-bay."
"Pietro!"
"What?"
Rogue only rolled her eyes. "Tell you what, why don't you shower and get dressed then Ah'll talk to Wanda and ask her stay at my place or something."
"You will?"
"Yea, and if you're a good boy, Ah might even ask her to stay in a hotel instead, so you'll see less of her and more of someone else." Rogue said placing her hands on her waist.
"Hmmm, I like how you think, so when will that be huh, tomorrow, tonight, now maybe?"
"Maybe." Rogue answered playfully, "But then again Ah wouldn't want yah sister tah have weird thoughts about us."
"We could be quiet." Pietro replied inching a little more towards her. He was just about to kiss her when Wanda decided to violently bang the bedroom door."
"Hey Rogue is he awake yet, were gonna be late for the fitting schedule? And can I borrow your phone for a sec? I think this one's broken?"
Pietro lost the mood for anything the moment he heard his twin complaining about some house appliances. "Don't tell me she blew up my phone?"
"Don't be silly, maybe it just ran out of batteries. You know Wanda she can be patient."
"Well I hope she doesn't throw it out like last time."
BANG! "Stupid phone."
"Man I just got that one." Pietro wailed in complaint. "Remind me to get a restraining order for my utensils."
Rogue flashed a half smile before touching Pietro's face, "Calm down sugah, Ah'll talk to her." She said in a whisper before stepping into the living room closing the door behind her.
Pietro smiled at the door the moment she left, even in the littlest of things he wouldn't know what to do without Rogue by his side. He felt secure having someone like her taking care of him and all his businesses that he was having trouble with, including dealing with his dysfunctional family. Since he was a young boy, he never knew the meaning of loving someone who's dear to you, never felt protected nor appreciated. A moment of weakness or any hint of tears would get them beaten up. His father, Eric was a lieutenant at the military and wanted nothing but his kids in top shape and with a future that he himself planned for them. The result, an over acting, hormonal twin sister and him, a hysterical business man who kept himself together by taking cancer sticks.
Neither of them even came close to joining the military, or the army or anything in the line of fire for that matter. Instead two 18 year old twins found themselves in grand central trying to run away from their father then going separate ways, Wanda went to Australia as Pietro found his life in New York with Rogue five years after.
They never saw their father since. The incident made Wanda and Pietro closer but was neither emotional nor too open with each other. They were often in this kind of mode, destructive, bickering and secretly caring.
Pietro then snapped from his trance, he sure wasn't going to let that happen to his new family, this was his life now and finally he found his peace… with Rogue and he sure is looking forward to it. He stood up in a flash, excited and grinning from ear to ear when suddenly he felt his heart burn inside him. He tried to stand up and walk towards the door, but the pain kept him crouched to the ground as his hands clutched the bed covers tightly.
His body seemed to suck at the very air he's breathing; his hands grew cold and trembling. He pressed his hands to his stomach, putting as much pressure as he can to prevented the impending vomit his body wanted to release, his fight to reach his private bath didn't work well because the throbbing feeling of his heart made him weaker by the second, and as his legs gave way and fell down on the floor, he found it harder to breathe. With each passing moment his restlessness becomes greater and by the time he heard Rogue calling out his name from the living room, he coughed so dry his throat became sore, with each blur of his vision he felt numb, and saw red and tasted copper.
…XXX…
Bayville Hospital
Pietro woke up to the sounds of familiar voices echoing in his ear, one sounded angry like he was sure she hated the very earth she was stepping on, the other voice was sort of a whisper, it was so soft he can barely make out the words.
There was eeriness in his surroundings and as soon as he remembered the little incident he had, he knew he was in the hospital. For some reason he didn't feel at ease, he was conscious but he didn't want to open his eyes, afraid of meeting the worried eyes of his sister and his fiancé.
He didn't know what was going on with his body, and for the life of him he didn't want to find out, he just wanted to go home to his apartment and enjoy the day with his sister hugging the phone making costly long distance calls to her Aussie boyfriend, and his girlfriend who smiles at them bickering and throwing in her usual sarcasm every now and then.
He felt Rogue ran her silky hands on his forehead and he longed to touch hers with his, but he contented himself by listening to their voices that got a lot clearer as his senses cleared.
"I don't understand, this could have happened to anyone, why Pietro? He's the only one I've got. We don't always act like we want to be in each other's presence but that's just us. Why this now? I thought you said he quit smoking months ago?"Wanda said tearfully as she clutched his hand.
"He did, 2 months ago, Ah never saw him with a stick ever again. Ah don't know what else he could have done to cause his lungs to fail. This is very sudden, he was feeling normal all the time, he didn't even get sick."
"You mean to say, none of you guys knew this was coming?"
"Of course not! Ah would have dragged him to the doctor's office if Ah knew something was wrong with him!"
"So what the hell are we supposed to do now?" Wanda turned away from Rogue and the bed and began pacing the room. Her expression from the moment she came in the hospital didn't change.
"Wanda…"
"Rogue, can I be alone with Pietro for awhile? You should get some food or even go home and get some rest. I promise to get you if his condition changes."
Rogue didn't want to leave; she wanted to stay by his side in case he woke up, and wanted her face to be the first thing he saw but she granted Wanda's request, and with one last kiss she left the siblings alone.
A few minutes after Rogue left the room Pietro opened his eyes and focus them on Wanda's, who was sitting in a chair besides him. They never had a conversation without things flying everywhere, not even when they were joking around. It felt very different and comforting at the same time for the siblings, when a weak Pietro tried to clasp Wanda's hand on his chest.
"Lung failure huh… How bad is it?"
Wanda only shrugged in reply, while forcing a smile she failed to sincerely show.
"I guess calling John to come early is right timing, we might have to move the wedding a earlier… You think the guests would mind at all…"
"…" Wanda only stared at him tears beaming in her eyes, as she clutched his hand tighter.
"Or we might even cancel the whole thing altogether; I don't know if all this is alright with Rogue, it's unfair to her."
"Pietro, you're going to be alright." Wanda forced herself to say, she didn't know if it was Pietro or herself that she was trying to comfort or assure, she didn't even know what to feel.
"Wanda, I know when you're lying."
Not able to keep her brave front anymore, Wanda burst into tears and threw he arms around her brother neck.
…xxx…
15 minutes later, Rogue was still walking aimlessly in the corridors of the hospital, clutching the half empty cup of coffee she couldn't seem to finish. The news of Pietro's lung failure wasn't easy to grasp. The x-rays and test shown to them were clear, but she still called her doctor friend from college hoping he could help her, and give Pietro a different alternative then death.
The coffee got too cold to enjoy and after she threw it into the trash, her hands started shaking but not due to the cold. As she clasped them together, she felt the small diamond on her fingers. She felt like crying but she didn't, they were so close to getting married, so close to starting their life together, now suddenly everything could be taken from her in a matter of weeks…or maybe even days.
Rogue's thoughts were interrupted when she felt someone clasp one of her wrists. She looked at the man who was sitting down on a wheelchair, wearing a hospital gown and looked too handsome and happy to be sick, if not for his shortage of breath and the dextrose on his left arm; he looked as if he could have been a movie star. With the tussled unkempt hair, unshaven goatee broad jaw line and tanned skin. His sultry reassuring eyes were focused on her as if undressing her and his touch soft in contrast to his rough skin.
"Chere, would you mind picking that up for Remy?"
Rogue directed her gaze to the item he was pointing to on the floor, and frowned when she saw that it was a pack of cigarettes. She felt like giving him a lecture about the dangers of cigarettes, but she figured he probably already heard it all, and bent to pick up the cigarettes and placed it into his outreached hand.
"Thanks chere." He replied before folding his arms and closing his eyes.
Rogue stared at him unable to turn away. All the anger she'd felt earlier somehow seemed to vanish as she looked at him, and felt as if she knew this man from somewhere, even though she knew she'd never seen him because he had a face that she would have remembered, even so, it felt as if he was someone very important to her, and had a need to touch him. Just as she reached out, she pulled her hand back as if she touched a hot iron.
What the hell am I doing? My fiancé is dying, and I'm attracted to some stranger!
Rogue did a 180 degree turn, and as fast as her feet could go, she rushed out of the hospital, feeling too guilty to face Pietro or more likely, herself.
