Once Callum got Nico back from the panic room, he reached him to Julian's and Isla's, whom were Rico's and Toni's parents' house because we couldn't afford to risk Nico's safety outside. A few of Rico's men were given the responsibility to lock Adrian up and guard his cell until we came back.

Right now, we were in a private hospital that was meant for all the members of the Mexican mafia. It was safer to go here rather than at a normal one so that their identities wouldn't be revealed to anybody who was not in the mafia. I sat outside the room where Rico was being held along with Callum and Antonio.

For the last hour, I have been trying to spend my time staring at everything happening around me; the low-volumed TV on the wall, doors sliding open and shut, people talking in low voices, intercom calling out codes, squeaky wheelchairs going past and the clack of the keyboard made by the receptionist nearby.

What's taking them so long? I asked myself.

"What I'm wondering is how they broke in without tripping the sensors?" Antonio spoke up.

"I know how they broke in." Callum stated while he looked at something on his iPad. "They disabled the security system by hacking into the servers."

"Mierda ." He let out, frustratingly. "Did you find out where they came in from?"

"Yeah. They're boot prints lead up to the back door." He informed.

Just as they were discussing, the doctor who had taken Rico in cleared his throat which caught all of out attention. Instantaneously, Antonio stood up from his seat while Callum and I did the same.

"Is he doing alright, Doc?" Toni asked the doctor as an emotion of hope flickered across his features.

"He's stable for now and you can go in but Don hasn't woken up yet." He stated, which almost made me sigh in relief but the way he said it didn't make it seem like he was going to tell us something that would make us happy.

"After he passed out, some sort of sleeping drug was injected into his bloodstream which contained an antihistamine called Diphenhydramine. This medication works by blocking a certain natural substance called Histamine that your body makes during an allergic reaction.

But, according to the tests that we ran, the reports show that his body isn't acting normally as ours would because he is allergic to Diphenhydramine." He explained, waiting for us to say something.

The three of us looked at him wide-eyed, being confused with all the terms he had just used.

"English, Doc." Callum half-smiled.

"Basically, the drug that was injected is blocking the production of is supposed to be healing him." He said in easier words. "His body shut down because of the sleeping pill and he isn't going to wake up until he's completely healed from the inside."

"How long?" Toni asked, tears building up in his eyes. When the doctor didn't answer and just looked down a little, he burst out, "How long? I asked you."

"It depends how strong his immunity is...it could be from days to weeks and even months." He sighed. "There's no telling that he'll wake up after that, though. But maybe if he's lucky, he'll be able to live after this."

As soon as he uttered the last word, the doctor turned around and walked away, leaving us shocked and even more worried than we were.

"I...uh...I'll tell Julian." Callum faltered, walking away with his phone to which I nodded.

Antonio didn't seem to move or even say a word so I placed my hand on his shoulder and asked him if he was alright. He didn't answer my question but rather came closer and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a hug.

Winding my arms around his shoulders, I did the same. He rested his face in the crook of my neck and whimpered a little, trying to control himself from crying.

"It's alright to let your emotions out once in a while, Nio." I whispered, knowing that he felt the pressure of being in-charge of the entire mafia as the under-boss, now as that that Rico wasn't doing well.

Gut-wrenching sobs tore through his chest as he let himself grieve at the news we had just gotten and all I did was hold him even tighter.

I tried so hard not to cry. The thought of losing him brought a pang of pain across my chest and the sadness that it would bring to Nico made me weak.

A minute later, he pulled away from the embrace and looked away from me, his face now a little red. Quickly composing himself again, he gave me a small smile and told me to go in the room where Rico was being kept.

"No, no. You go." I denied, not wanting to be selfish. That might be my boyfriend in there but it was also his brother whom he had just wept for. I couldn't do that to him. I would never.

"I know you wan to, Xi." He reassured me, but I still hesitated taking small steps.

"Just go, woman." He rolled his eyes and smiled just a little.

"I'm going, I'm going." I said and walked to the door

As I walked into the room, my nose was hit by the smell of a weird mixture of cleaning products with a scent of antiseptic and a hint of the stench of bleach wafting from the bedding.

My eyes roamed around, scanning the room until they landed on Rico. He had been laying down on a white bed with a white blanket draped over his body.

As I got closer, I saw him much clearly. He wore the hospital gown instead of his own clothes, his nose was swollen and a little red by the battering that he had been given, every inch of his face looked bruised, his hair was messier than it usually was and all I could see were tubes and wires were taped on to his arms and chest; I was so broken by his state.

I sat on the chair that was placed next to his bed and carefully took his hand in mine. Rico's hand felt really cold so I rubbed my hand against the back of his hand and softly kissed it, hoping that he would wake up any moment now.

It was so difficult to accept it. The thought of not being able to see those dark but loving eyes again, not being able to hear his voice again, to feel his touch.

The fear of losing him got the best of me and before I knew it, a tear escaped my eye and once that one tear broke free, the rest followed in a ceaseless stream the tears falling faster than my heartbeat.

"Xia?" A feminine voice called out to me which made me snap my head up and towards the door. I noticed an an elegant and beautiful middle-aged woman standing there, her almond-shaped,gray eyes looking at me with concern.

I sniffed and wiped my eyes, trying to pull myself together.

Based off of the way she dressed, the look of the sadness that she had in her eyes when she saw Rico and by her looks, I concluded that she was Isla, the mother who I hadn't met yet.

"I'm so sorry that you had to go through that, are you alright?" She asked me, coming closer.

I nodded, while he bent down a little to embrace m. "He'll be fine, don't worry about him. My son is very stubborn like that."

The last line made my lips crack into small smile, "He is."

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