Chapter 28
Day by day I grew stronger, and the pain gradually became more manageable. My headaches lessened, and I engaged in activities other than sleeping. I read the entirety of Looking for Alaska and The Fault in our Stars, listened constantly to Il Volo's music, and wrote reassuring notes back to the children at the hospital. Piero continued to administer my medicine to me, and each day I felt more hopeful about dealing with the pain. Piero cooked for me, sang to me, rocked me, and showered me with kisses. I encouraged him to do the things he needed to do outside of the house, and with my blessing he left me alone more often. My sense of security was gradually restored, and I stopping fearing Ray's impossible entrance to the house. The phantoms shrank, and as Piero observantly cared for my physical health, his love filled and cared for my heart.
I asked him one day why he didn't play the piano and the guitar anymore, and he admitted that he was afraid the noise would hurt my head. I encouraged him to play, and he serenaded me occasionally with music that touched my heart and left my head alone.
I tired of things quickly, but I started to move around, sitting up without help and even standing on my own. Piero bought me crutches, and I practiced using them.
"They're not so bad," I said as I tried them out "They're tiring, but they're actually kind of fun!"
This inspired Piero to play with them, and I laughed as he swung as fast as he could throughout the house.
I started to take on some of the household cores, despite Piero's protests: folding clothes, washing dishes, and sewing up his shirt when it caught on a nail and ripped.
Piero insisted on sleeping in the armchair at night, where he could watch over me, and I decided not to protest. I liked having him close to me if I needed him, or if I just wanted to see him.
One day when Piero was in the shower, his cell phone rang. Upon his request, I answered it for him and spoke to one of Il Volo's producers, who wanted to know if he would finally return to the recording studio. I reassured him that Piero would return the following day, and when I later spoke to Piero he seemed concerned.
"I'd be there the whole day," he said, "Are you sure it's okay for me to be away from you for so long?"
I encouraged him to go, and after thinking a minute he asked if I was strong enough to go with him. He admitted that Gianluca and Ignazio had been asking to visit me since the night Piero called them from the hospital, but he had kept them away to let me rest. I agreed to go with him, and the next morning he drove me to the recording studio and helped me inside on my crutches.
Gianluca and Ignazio greeted me as lovingly as if they were my own brothers, hugging me gently and kissing my cheeks. I spent the morning with the boys in the studio, laughing and playing around with them, filling in Gianluca and Ignazio on my condition, being serenaded, and being kissed and fretted over by Piero. I stayed with them until Piero observed that I was getting weary and decided to bring me home, insisting on carrying me so I didn't have to exert myself on the crutches.
The next day Piero returned to the recording studio without me, and I restlessly hung around his house looking for things to do.
When I awoke the subsequent morning, the birds were singing and the sun was shining into the room. The shades were up because I wasn't sensitive to the light anymore, and the room was bright with the golden sunlight. I looked around the quiet house at the messy kitchen, the pool waters shimmering outside the back door, at the piano and the music sheets spilling over it, and at Piero sleeping peacefully in the armchair. His head was leaning back against the chair, his mouth slightly open, his arms folded on his stomach, with his glasses beside him. I looked around his house from my place on the sofa, thinking quietly, and watched as Piero eventually stirred and opened his eyes.
"Piero," I said.
He reached out for his glasses and slid them on, and smiled sleepily at me.
"Piero, I think it's time," I said firmly.
The smile faded, and he thought about this.
Then he nodded, and that afternoon I met with the landlord of the apartment complex and moved into my own apartment.
Piero accompanied me to my old house to help me get my things. I found the house empty, my mother's car gone, and I used my key to get inside. Piero and I packed up my things and I left a note telling her that we had stopped by.
My apartment was roomy and comfortable, and I loved it. I quickly began to feel at home inside it, and Piero presented me with a collection of all the Il Volo CDs to listen to if I got lonely.
He promised to stop by every day to check on me, and I stayed exclusively in the apartment for a few days before deciding to go back to work at the hospital.
Piero protested that it was too soon, but I was determined to get back to the children. They were overjoyed to have me back, and it was unbelievable the number of hugs and kisses I both received and gave. Many of the children made remarks about my fall down the stairs, and I gratefully agreed that I should have been more careful.
I settled into a routine of seeing Piero in the morning, going to work, and then going back to my apartment, where Piero was often waiting to help me up the steps and make dinner for me.
I was healing nicely, my back pain and headaches decreasing, and my breathing deeply becoming easier. Soon my wrist and ankle were released from their bandages, and I was able to forsake the crutches.
By the end of June, I was even well enough to ride shortly with Piero on the four-wheeler Gianluca and Ignazio gave him for his birthday. I made him a cake and presented him with concert tickets to see Adele when she came to California later in the year. We went out to the beach with Gianluca and Ignazio to celebrate, and I loved watching Piero laugh and joke around with them. After sunset we picked up the party and said our good-nights, and Piero came to my apartment after bringing his things home. Though it was his birthday, he said he had something for me, and after making me close my eyes, he placed a soft squirming ball in my arms. I looked in delighted surprise at the white Persian kitten in my arms, and I cuddled it and cooed to it. Piero said the joy on my face was another great present to him. The day ended wonderfully with a tender good-night kiss under a beautifully lucent moon.
