Erik was given enough morphine to put him to sleep for the rest of the night and well into the next day. Gaia was loathe to leave his side for even a moment while he slept, even though the physician had promised the wound wouldn't be deadly as long as it was kept clean. The bullet had gone clean through Erik's shoulder, a grace since the bullet did not have to be dug out risking infection, but a curse since bullets had a way of causing more damage when leaving the body than when entering in cases like this. The boy would live, but whether or not he would retain the use of his arm once it healed. The doctor stayed until Erik woke late in the afternoon, speaking mostly with Giovanni in quiet whispers down it in the dining room while Gaia watched over Erik in his sleep.
This was a delicate situation. There was no doubt in anybody's mind that Erik had saved Gaia from a horrible act, but there was also no doubt Erik reacted to a great extreme. His face and the mask he wore already made him an unpopular figure among many people in Rome, and rumor followed him wherever he went. It wouldn't be long before whispers of murder began and the story was twisted into something hideous and unrecognizable.
"Gaia, would you please explain to me what happened one more time?" The doctor asked, and Giovanni nodded to Gaia that it was okay to tell him. The girl took a breath, and squeezed Erik's hand while he slept.
"I went to bed not long after sundown, but it was too warm to sleep. I opened the windows to let in a breeze, and fell right asleep… The next thing I know, Marcos was standing over me with his shirt off. Before I could scream he shoved his shirt in my mouth and tied the sleeves around my head. I kicked and scratched at him as hard as I could. I even got a hold of a flower vase and tried to throw it at him, but I missed and it hit the floor. He somehow turned me over onto my stomach, and he tied my hands with his belt behind my back. I kept trying to scream but I couldn't get to the gag to take it off. I turned over to kick at Marco. I had just got him good in the shin when I saw Erik come in. He got on top of Marco on the bed and they started struggling. Marco was so drunk I'm sure he couldn't have felt a single blow Erik landed. Erik finally wretched him off the bed and fought him on the floor until he got ahold of the vase that I threw and broke it against the wall. Normally Erik keeps a knife in his boot for protection but he wasn't wearing his boots… so he took up a shard of ceramic from the vase and wielded it like a blade. He got ahold of Marco by the neck, and dragged him to the open window. He pushed Marco awfully far back out the window, and Marco got this terrified look on his face. The rest happened so fast… I really don't know if Marco fired at Erik first or if Erik stabbed him. Either way, Marco fell out the window when Erik fell back. Right after the gun fired is when Papa came in and untied me, and then I went to get you, Signore." Gaia explained, wiping at her eyes. "Please Signore, you can't think poorly of Erik. If Marco had a gun think of what he might have done… he's been harassing me for over a year, and he's hated Erik since that fight where his arm was broken."
The physician rubbed Gaia's back comfortingly. "I'm going to do everything I can to keep Erik's name clear, you have my word." The man promised, and Gaia nodded quietly. He turned to the old man at the back of the room and spoke to him. "Giovanni, it is my professional opinion that your son was shot before he stabbed Marco, and that the boy died from the fall and not from the stab wound. The boy is a hero, and I won't stand anyone saying otherwise," the doctor told his old friend firmly, and Giovanni embraced the man tightly.
"Thank you, Sergio. I appreciate all your help. You'll come and check on him tomorrow?"
"Of course I will. Get some rest, both of you," with that the physician left the house to return to his practice.
Gaia finally pried herself from Erik's side to prepare lunch for her and he father. She was mid way through her cooking when her heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Moving from the kitchen, she smiled at the sight of Giovanni helping his son down the stairs. As soon as Erik was at the bottom of the stairs she embraced him tightly, letting go immediately when she heard him wince and felt his body tense.
"Oh! I'm so sorry Erik I didn't think-"
"It's fine," the boy promised, forcing a smile through his pain. "Are you okay? He didn't hurt you did he?"
The young woman shook her head, brown eyes tearing up some. "No, no he didn't. You came just in time," Gaia promised, taking over for her father to help Erik into the kitchen. It was clear his head was still foggy from the morphine, but Erik had always been stubborn and was clearly determined not to sit around in bed for any longer than he had to.
Gaia plated him with a generous helping of pasta with fresh clams and a large helping of white wine. "If there's anything else I can get you?"
"No this looks wonderful," Erik promised with a painful smile, though between the morphine and the pain he didn't have much of an appetite. Gaia kept his water and wine glass full as he picked at his food, but she was worried about his concerned quiet. "Erik what's wrong?"
"Have you decided what's going to happen to me?" He asked them quietly, and Gaia frowned looking to her father.
"You haven't committed any crimes," Giovanni told Erik simply. "You don't have anything to be worried about."
"But I-"
"But nothing, Erik. It is the official word of the physician that you did not kill Marco Lupis, and that you stabbed him in self defense and in defense of my daughter's virtue," this elicited a frown from Erik, but the boy nodded his understanding but the concern did not leave his face.
Sitting next to him, Gaia rested her head gently on Erik's bad shoulder. "It's going to be okay, Erik. You quite possibly saved my life, and at the very least you saved me from something that might have changed me forever. I am forever in your debt, Erik."
"I had to do it," he told her quietly. "I couldn't stand to think of what might have happened…"
Gaia hushed him gently. "I know, Erik. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart," she smiled. "Which reminds me… Papà, Erika and I have news for you."
Erik looked to her, confused. Giovanni's expression mimicked the one Erik hid under his mask. "Well, what news is this?" The old man asked curiously, and the young woman smiled some to Erik.
"A few weeks ago, Erik proposed to me. I've decided to accept," Gaia could not remember ever seeing her father so happy and excited in her entire life. The old man moved to them both, pulling them up from their chairs and embracing them tightly. Erik laughed through his pain, a sound Gaia wasn't sure she had ever heard from him before.
"You will, you'll marry me?" The young man asked with the eagerness of a child.
"I would be honored to marry you, Erik," Gaia smiled to him, pecking his lips gently. "You've been nothing but wonderful to me and my family from the moment you came into this house, I would be a damned fool to not call you my husband."
Giovanni embraced his children tightly. "My son is to be my son after all! What wonderful, wonderful news! I'll begin making arrangements immediately. Oh Gaia, if only your mother were here. She would be so, so happy for you both."
Gaia kissed her father's cheek. "She's here somewhere, Papà, even if we can't see her," the old man nodded his agreement, and embraced the pair again.
"I couldn't be happier! Let's open another bottle of wine and celebrate!" The old man announced cheerfully, and Gaia pulled herself away to get another bottle of wine from the kitchen, and returned to find Erik and her father sitting, Erik rubbing his arm absently in its sling while Giovanni sang the boy's praises. "You are by far the best of my daughters' husbands," the old man announced. "You really should meet some of the half wits my children have picked, all beauty and no brains just like they are. But Gaia has always been different. You're going to have your hands full my boy."
The young woman smacked her father's arm gently. "I'm not so bad!"
"Not bad, simply stubborn as a mule," Giovanni teased, gently. "But a doting daughter and a wonderful cook, with a heart of gold no less," he promised, and Gaia smiled. "You two will be immensely happy together."