Chapter Eleven: Feeble Fire

"Slow down!" Ignoring the voice panting somewhere behind him, Antonio slid around the corner. Well, more like hopped around it since it was impossible to slide on dry concrete. There was only a block left, half a block and he could see the edge of the crystalline doors. Hopefully, the Belgian was there today, or even more easily found since she had managed to evade to people looking for her and trying to reach her via phone. It couldn't be that she had disappeared, he knew that for sure. Bella wasn't one to leave her job, and it wasn't likely for her to to have taken an unexpected vacation from her job, especially when the holidays were still a ways away. "Anton- hey!"

Antonio looked back quickly, not bothering to laugh at the misfortune of the Italian that had been run into by another pedestrian, or stop to help him. He'd be able to catch up later, it wasn't like the clinic was across town from their position.

The instant he had time for a break from the mounds of paperwork he had rushed out the door, briefcase and leftover soda from his lunch in hand. Maybe it had been an overreaction, though he didn't care if it was... wouldn't anyone overreact to hearing about something happening to the person they love with their whole being and soul? Especially if it meant life or death?

Finally reaching the doors, he let out a quiet 'ha!' as he pushed past them into the lobby. At first he didn't see Bella anywhere, just the same nurse he had talked to the day before. Without waiting for the Italian, he rushed up to the reception desk, coming to a sudden halt a mere inch from hitting it. "Bella. Where is she?"

The women smiled at him, and despite his obvious hurry, made small chat. "Antonio, I see your back today," he gave a hasty nod, barely noticing Feliciano stop a foot behind him out of breath. "She's busy right now taking care of a critical patient. Do you want to wait? It'll be a while before she's willing to come out here."

"I need to talk her now though," he tried to stay calm, making sure his words didn't seem rushed. "It's only one question, I'm sure she could come out for just moment to answer it! It won't take long!" Antonio frowned, looking around the desk hoping to catch a glimpse of her walking around. "Can you at least tell her that I'm here and need to see her?"

Pursing her lips, the woman tapped at the desk with a pen, a thoughtful expression on her face. "I don't think she'd want to be disturbed. Though she is being secretive…"

"Is she really that busy?" Feliciano spoke up, moving right up next to the desk and leaning against it, one foot crossing the other at the ankles. The women nodded towards him, blushing lightly. "What is she doing?"

"I can't exactly say, Mr. Vargas..."

Fed up with the chitchat, the Spaniard let out a quiet groan. "What she's doing doesn't matter! I just need an answer already!" He felt close to tearing his hair out at that point, but instead fisted his hands at his sides, shoving them inside the pockets of his coat to stop himself. Hadn't he once almost made himself bleed by doing that? His mind seemed to faintly revisit the memory, though it wasn't the time to reminisce in the past like he was prone to do. In front of him, he saw Feliciano push away from his support, moving to get closer, when he felt a tap on his shoulder and caught sight of the lady at the desk smile at something behind him. The little bit of hope he had left sparked up again as he turned, waiting to see the Belgian. "Be- Oh," he fumbled with his words, eyebrows wrinkled slightly as he watched the women in front of him.

"Ah, you are Mr. Antonio Carriedo, right?" He nodded, confused at seeing the bright smile aimed towards him. "I haven't had the pleasure to meet you, though Arabella tends to talk quite a bit about you."

"Wait, as in Janssen? You've talked with her, er..."

"Sophia, I'm a friend and collegue of hers," she answered quickly, making Antonio nod again at the information. "Bella told me to come check in case you had arrived." For a second, he thought he saw a nervous expression flicker across her face, though it could have been his own mind pulling a trick on him. Sophia gave off a small laugh, making him cast a glance towards Feliciano who just shrugged, "I guess she was right in having me come out here. Anyhow, please follow me, she's just taking a few notes on patient one-eight-six-one at the moment."

Following behind the... well endowed women (it was hard not to notice, even if he was homosexual), Antonio couldn't fight the frown that had once again settled onto his features. He knew Bella loved her job,to the point where it had claimed a piece of her heart, but not coming to meet Feliciano and him herself over a few research notes? That seemed like a bit a stretch. He sighed mentally, pushing the thought back for the time being, his other questions persistant enough to keep bubbling at the top of his priorities. He barely registered that they were going down a different hallway and waiting for an elevator to the second floor, only doing so when Feliciano pulled at his sleeve in a childish manner.

"Antonio, do you really think that Lovino's container is just being cleaned?" The Italian questioned quietly, glancing around them. Briefly, he rembered that Feliciano hadn't ever been into that part of the clinic, though in reality, he himself had only been there once. He breathed out, just about to answer when Sophia cut in.

"Not to be called an eavesdropper, but..." she trailed off, a conflicted look across her face as she stopped in her tracks, "I-I could answer that question, though I think it'd be best if Arabel-"

"You know what's happening?" Seeing the women nod (though hesitantly) rekindled the bit of hope he had. "Then could you...?" Antonio let the question hang in the air, eyes flickering over Sophia's face with a hopeful gleam in his eyes.

It seemed to take her aback, subconsiously actually taking a literal step backwards. "It'll be best if Bella explains and tells you everything. I'll just take you to her, okay?" The shaky smile disappeared from Sophia's face as she turned around and started walking forwards again, automatically making the two men follow her.

Antonio chewed on the inside of his cheek, was it possible to want the answers quicker, knowing that one of the people who knew wouldn't tell you? It certainly seemed like that was what was happening. It also seemed like they had been walking down the exact same hallway for a long time. It wasn't that it all looked the same to him, it felt more like each step seemed further away from where they were going instead of closer.

After an eternity, or what he thought was an eternity, Antonio noticed Sophia stop and turn around the corner, reaching out to grab hold of a knob on the other side of the wall. He stopped near the edge of the wall with Feliciano, waiting until he heard Bella's voice greet the women who had walked them there. Very faintly, he could hear a machine releasing a steady stream of beeps into the air, and the scrape of a chair followed by a pair heels rhythmacally hitting against the ground.

"Bella, are you done yet? I have Antonio waiting right outside," he could just barely see the edge of Sophia's mouth moving as she talked from his spot.

Although he couldn't see her, he could almost tell that the Belgian was nodding to Sophia's words. "Just about," a sigh came from inside the room along with some shuffing of papers, "I just need his heart rate, could you take note of it? I want to take careful steps and moniter him at all times in case something... happens."

He never heard a reply, instead seeing Bella's head pop out from behind the doorway with a smile aimed towards him. "Hey Antonio, Feliciano. I'm guessing you want-"

"-to know where Lovino is and why no one told me anything!" Antonio felt Feliciano move closer slowly amd place a hand on his arm, but he shook it away quickly, not taking his eyes off of the blonde haired women. "His container is..." He didn't finish the sentence noticing the look on Bella's face, conflict prominent on her features. Forcing a smile, Antonio tried to make sure his heart didn't start beating frantically, "is something wrong?"

Bella shook her head, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear before speaking, "It's nothing serious... although, oh, how can I word this?"

"Word what? It has to do with Lovino, right?" The Belgian eyed Feliciano nodding and vocally stating so. Antonio gestured for her to continue, fed up with having to wait any longer for the briefing he was sure to recieve over Lovino.

"...how about I show you first, then I explain?"

"That means he's in a different container?" A sigh of relief escaped from his throat, only to be sucked back sharply when Bella replied.

"No... Lovino was taken out." Bella tried to smile reassuringly, instead coming out like a slight grimace if Antonio had any say. She breathed out, motioning her hand towards the corner, "do you want to come see?"

"Wait, so my brother is-" Feliciano frowned, and from the side of his face that Antonio could see, he didn't seem all that happy. "I mean, he still has a chance, yes? Maybe?" Bella just smiled and motioned forward again and sending Antonio a questioning look, only managing to make him stay quiet. He frowned, it wasn't a straight out answer, though it was better than not being able to contact the Belgian girl.

"Lead the way," he hoped his voice hadn't cracked as badly as it had sounded to himself, or cracked at all. Lovino wasn't even cryonically frozen anymore, they had let him thaw out, hadn't they? So that was it? There was no way that his love would be able to come back. Was that what that one dream had meant? That he would make Lovino wait until he died himself? Caught up in his thoughts again, he didn't notice Bella slip back into the room, barely feeling Feliciano pushing him forward. He only knew he had entered the room form seeing the door post out of the corner of his eyes, having had his head down.

From beside him, he heard Feliciano gasp quietly, and Bella telling him to look up. Annoyed, he snapped his gaze back up to Bella's, about to tell her to spit whatever it was out, but the words caught in his throat. A small sound escaped him, ignoring what the Belgian was trying to explain and walking purposely to the bed, kneeling down once he got there. All his past thoughts fled, leaving only relief and a variety of new questions.

It had to be a joke, but it didn't seem like one... Antonio reached out a tentative hand to grasp at the paler one on top of the white sheets. His hand was encased in warmth as he intertwined his fingers between the unresponsive ones. He glanced up at Bella questioningly, "How...? I thought..." Turning back towards the breathing Italian laying still on the bed. Lovino had full ventilator covering his nose and mouth, but he could see every little feature of his face and there wasn't piece of glass separating him from the other.

"We think we have the cure, Antonio," she smiled at him and urged Feliciano to move closer to the bed, "but... his reanimation wasn't supposed to happen. In fact, our head doctors said 'no' when I proposed it."

Glancing up, Antonio's gaze settled on Feliciano's shocked face for a second before meeting Bella's green eyes, "But-" He shook his head, settling back into just watching the ventilator on Lovino's face fog up, looking like he was just peacefully sleeping instead of having been reanimated. His grip tightened, "Isn't that dangerous?" Had his voice really come out as a whisper? He was sure it seemed louder than that.

"It's worth the risk, isn't it?" Startled, he had almost forgotten that Feliciano could talk with how quiet he seemed to have become. Bella walked to the Italian and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Lovino used to say that," she commented, still smiling.

It made Antonio smile as well, albeit it was small, just barely there. Gently running his hand through the dark hair spread on the pillow, he felt as though he was dreaming again. "You're going to be fine," it was just above a whisper, the other two in the room probably couldn't even hear it, "you're back, tesoro..."


Translations:

tesoro- treasure, in context it would be 'my treasure' (Spanish)

A/N: Sorry this is late (again), I was not expecting writer's block to hit me or for a few deadlines to come so quickly! This isn't the best chapter (like a few others), but hopefully it's not the worst. I'm actually thinking about putting this on a one month hiatus, most probably until at least Valentine's. This is because of a writing competition and something else that I promised I'd do, both of which have deadlines in this month and I've barely started them. I'll see how it goes. In other news, thanks to the new followers, people who have added this as a favorite, and anyone who left a review! This did reach fifty reviews, but I don't think I'll be able to do the one-shot for the reviewer (sorry) due to the same reasons I already had...
Moving on from that, I hope you all had a great holiday season and new year's (first post of the year here!)! Thank you everyone again! Please leave a review if you can!