Yeah, I suck at keeping promises, I know... Sorry! Really! But now on Thursday Christmas break starts and I'll probably be writing a lot more after that...

And yes, I LOVE cliffhangers... I can't help but keep my readers hanging...hehe...

I wish I'd get more reviews, really! I havent gotten ANY since chapter six, and thats discouraging, it really is....

R&R

-Via

Chapter 15: Oh really?

The scene in front of me as I entered the kitchen made my stomach churn and I felt the spaghetti threathen to make a reappearence.

Gianna was lying on the floor, blood seeping from her abdomen, with Armando holding a hand over the gash, desperately trying to stop the bloodstream.

Caleb was fighting two masked men at the same time, and I couldn't see Alessandro anywhere.

The eyes of the masked men lit up with fear as they saw my glowing figure enter the kitchen. Their few seconds of unfocus was all Caleb needed to knock out one of them. I pointed at the other and sent him a dazzling smile, before hitting him square in the jaw with a ball of energy.

He fell to the floor, twitching just like Sabretooth, and the other one was knocked out cold.

-"Caleb!" I said and ran over to him, wrapping my arms around his neck as I hugged him tightly. He hugged me even tighter back, and kissed the top of my head.

Gianna's moans of pain and Armando's desperate attemps to calm her, made me and Caleb release each other.

It hit me; I knew what to do; I could help Gianna. I ran over to her and Armando and kneeled on the floor beside her. I ripped a piece of my shirt of and wrapped it tightly around the gun wound to stop the bleeding.

-"Caleb, we have to get her to the hospital right now!" I yelled, and started to get her off of the floor. She was at that point unconscious, and Armando was completely freaking out.

Caleb picked her up in his strong arms and we ran out to the car.

-"Put her in the back seat, I'll take care of her 'til we get there!" I said and climbed into the car. Armando ran after us and got into the front seat, mumbling what sounded like Latin prayers.

As soon as we were all in the car, Caleb fired up the engine and drove as fast as possible to the closest hospital. He took all the right shortcuts and we arrived at the hospital only a few minutes later.

Caleb once again carried Gianna as we ran into the building with Armando running after. Gianna was rushed off to surgery and Caleb and I was left in the waiting room. Armando had been sent to the psychiatric ward, since he was, as previously mentioned, freaking out.

So there Caleb and I sat for an entire hour, waiting for news of his grandmother. We were holding hands and my head rested on his shoulder. Since I'd used parts of my shirt as bandage on Gianna, they'd given me a blanket and a hospital gown. I wore the gown over my jeans and wrapped the blanket around both myself and Caleb.

I'd curled up in the chair and Caleb had wrapped his arm around my shoulder. A few tears escaped my self-control and I tried to hide it, but hiding things from Caleb was close to impossible it would seem; he saw it at once.

-"Hey you, it's going to be okay," he said and released my hand and wiped a tear of my cheek with his thumb. 'Shouldn't I be the one to comfort him, and not the other way around? It's his grandmother in there, not mine,' I thought. A flash of worry fired through me and I tightened my grip on his hand.

-"She's been in there so long…." I answered, and buried my face in his chest. He held me as I cried, and I could feel a few tears of his own hit the back of my head.

Two hours later:

-"Are you Gianna De Luca's relatives?" a doctor asked us. We hadn't moved from our seats, afraid that the second we weren't there the doctor's would have news.

-"Yes," Caleb answered and straightened up.

-"Well, I have good news for you! Mrs. De Luca's surgery was successful, and she's going to be fine. We'd like to keep her here a few days, just as a precaution," the doctor said and smiled at us.

"Oh, and ms…?" he asked and nodded at me.

-"It's Hale, Amelia Hale," I answered in a shaky voice.

-"You probably saved Mrs. De Luca's life with that shirt of yours, hadn't it been for the fact that you stopped the bleeding she wouldn't have made it."

I smiled at Caleb, who was rubbing soothing circles on my back. He smiled back and gave me a hug. He muttered "thank you" over and over again in my hair, hugging me closer. I wrapped my arms around his neck and whispered back:

-"No Caleb, it was nothing. I'd give anything to save her; she's wonderful ". We held each other a few more seconds, before we let each other go.

-"When can we see her?" Caleb asked.

-"She's in recovery now, so in a few minutes I'd say," the doctor answered and motioned for us to follow him. Caleb stood and helped me up from the chair, wrapping the blanket around me in the process. He put his arm around my shoulder as we walked down the hall and I wrapped my arms around his waist.

We entered a room and saw Gianna lying on a bed with IV's sticking out from her arm. I shuddered and we walked over to her.

She stirred lightly as a chair scratched along the floor and she woke up.

-"Ai, mi fa male la testa, ho mal di testa," she said in an exasperhated voice.

-"Doctor, she says her head hurts," Caleb said worriedly.

-"Yes, that's the narcosis; it can give headaches as a side affect. It should surpass quickly," the doctor replied before leaving us with Gianna.

-"Mi bello Caleb, where is your grandfather?" she asked as she looked around her.

-"He'll be here soon, he had a small meltdown," Caleb answered calmly and took one of her hands.

-"And where is the stellina? I saw her shine like an angel before everything went black; she truly is a stellina," Gianna continued. She must've done a quick improvement, by now she'd pressed a few buttons on a remote and her bed was straightening up so she could semi-sit.

-"I'm here, Gianna," I answered and emerged from behind Caleb. She smiled at me, and motioned for me to come closer. She gave me a hug and thanked me for saving her life. Apparently, the doctors had told her that story too.

-"Really Gianna, it's nothing," I said as she let me go.

-"Nothing? Amelia, stellina, you saved my life!" the woman exclaimed. I smiled at her, giving in. No need to get the poor woman worked up in this state.

-"I'll go find a nurse and ask where grandfather is," Caleb told us and walked out of the room.

-"Amelia, do we know where Alessandro is?" Gianna asked me.

-"No, we haven't seen him since before dinner"

-"Mhm… There were four of them; he probably went after the one who got away"

-"Do you know what they wanted?"

-"Money. It's always money. I think it was just a simple robbery, but they didn't expect that they were trying to steal from a restaurant filled with mutants," Gianna answered and laughed.

-"Are you all…?" I asked and sat down on the chair next to her bed.

-"Yes. Well, Alessandro and I are, Armando is not. Caleb's mother, my daughter, is one as well. The gene is powerful in our family."

I nodded and started fidgeting nervously with my fingers for some reason.

-"Amelia, do you know why I call you stellina?" Gianna asked after a minute of silence. I shook my head and looked at her curiously.

-"Stellina means little star in Italian. I've never seen Caleb this way before, he is happier then he's been in a long time. He was very close to his uncle, although he was only nine years old when he died; Caleb took it very hard, almost as hard as Alessandro did.

But when Caleb is with you, he's changed. Like you are the star in the horizon; the one he has to follow to find his way home. You are like a little star to him, even though he might not see it himself just how different he is, yet," Gianna told me in her Italian accented warm loving voice.

I felt tears prick in my eyes and they also made an appearance on Gianna.

-"I can't wait to get to know you, Amelia. If you make such a difference on Caleb, you must really be something special," she said. I stood and gave her a hug. She wrapped her thin arms around me and hugged me back.

Caleb walked in the doorway but didn't say anything to interrupt the moment. Armando appeared and laughed triumphantly when he saw that his wife was indeed awake and well. Gianna and I let each other go so that Armando could take over.

I walked over to Caleb and looked at the scene: Armando was sitting in the chair I'd previously occupied, and held Gianna's hand, stroking strands of hair behind her ear. It was the most affectionate things I'd ever seen.

-"Let's go home," Caleb whispered in my ear. I looked up at him and nodded.

-"We'll head back to the institute, I expect Kitty to throw a fit over us being late with her clothes, so might as well face her now then later," Caleb said to the elderly pair in front of us. Gianna winked and smiled at me, and Armando got up and gave me a hug goodbye.

Caleb and I walked out of the hospital to where his car stood and headed back.

-"Are you okay, Amelia? It seemed like you were about to cry when I walked in earlier," Caleb asked me, worry splayed across his face.

-"Yeah, I'm fine. Your grandmother is just so loving, she made me a bit overemotional," I answered and brushed it off.

-"Oh really?" Caleb responded in a questioning voice and laughed.

I know it's moving quite fast with our young lovers here, but in order to keep the story going it sort of has to. But don't worry, there will still be some surprises ahead, as well as fluff AND drama! And let's not forget the action and torment that comes with....? Haha...Now you can wonder.... Tell me what you think is going to happen in a review or a pm, and I'll give you a sneek peek into the future!

R&R!

Loves,

-Via