Dante stared back at the doctor, hate brewing inside of him. The presence of this man never failed to annoy him. It brought forth the painful thought of Ashley moving on with this man instead of coming back to him.

He knew he shouldn't be blaming Alessio but he does. Because Alessio is the only thing standing in between him and his happiness with Ashley. Ashley is not a problem. She will grow to love him again and her family will grow to accept her decision.

"I have nothing to say to you." Dante spoke, walking towards the door. All he wanted was talk to someone who could tell him about Ashley and he knew for a fact that Alessio was not that kind of person.

Alessio put a hand on his chest and pushed him back onto the chair. He stood over Dante, glaring down at him. "You may have nothing but my friend and I have a lot to say to you."

"Friend?"

Just as Dante said it, the door opened. In walked in the man who Dante knew would not let him off easily. He smirked. "Did you start without me?"

Alessio shook his head and walked over to his desk. He leaned up against it and crossed his arms over his chest. "Close the door, will you?"

Samuel chuckled with no humor. He closed the door and walked over to Alessio, leaning next to him. Samuel looked at Dante.

Fear crept into his body. He didn't know why but he knew these two men could destroy him and everything he has ever worked for. He didn't want to but these two men scared him. But he stood his ground because he knew he had to get through them before getting to Ashley.

"Now you see here, Dante." Samuel started, dragging the words out. "You have to understand, we didn't want to do this."

Dante's eyebrows furrowed. "Do what?"

"Be in the same room as you." Alessio said. "If I had a choice, I'd just send a bullet straight through your head and be done with it."

Dante froze at how casually Alessio said it. He said it as if he would not regret his decision and would feel no remorse. He said it as if he had done it before. What type of men were Ashley getting herself into.

"We want you to understand," Samuel walked around the desk and pulled out a file. "How many times Ashley have found her way into this hospital over the last five months that she has been here."

He threw the file onto Dante's lap. "Read it." he hissed out.

Dante gulped at what he could possibly find in the file. He knew anything in there could range from good to chaos. With shaking hands, he opened up the file and stared at the first page. Ashley's smiling face stared back at him.

But she wasn't really smiling. There was no light in her eyes. Her smile did not show the crease around her lips. She was smiling but wasn't. At least, it wasn't the smile that he came to know and love.

"Read it." Alessio demanded.

Dante shot a glare his way. "I will." He turned the page and he frowned when he saw the date. It was dated a full month after their divorce. She had fainted while shopping for baby clothes. Her father's bodyguards caught her before she could hit the ground.

He looked down at the reasoning and the graphs.

Stress had been the major cause of her fainting. She had been admitted for only four hours under the watch of Dr. Carson. Mother and children were all fine but under strict orders for bed rest.

Her second visit was just a month after that. She had abnormally bleeding and stomach pains. Once again, it had been due to her stress. But this time had been different from the first. Their children had been in danger the time and at risk for a miscarriage. She stayed for five days before Carson gave her the okay to leave.

Dante gulped and closed his eyes. He couldn't believe this. Within two months, she had two visits due to stress. And the second time, she was at risk to losing the babies. How could this happen?

He never blamed himself more for anything than this. All of this had been his fault. If he had listened to her, talked to her, they could have avoided this. They could be back in their house, as in love as ever.

But he messed up and here they are. Her in the hospital again and him regretting everything he has ever done and said to her.

"Keep reading. It gets even better."

A tear slipped down his eyes and he made no move to wipe it away. He turned the page again. This time, the words hit him like a hurricane.

Arabella May Denorro: Deceased May 20th 2016.

Dante's entire world froze and cracked. He shot out of his sheet and stared down at the paper, the words haunting him. His hand shook and he dropped the file. He fisted his mouth and shook his head, tears dripping down his face even more.

"No, no, no."

He looked up at Samuel and Alessio. Both had solemn look in their faces. "This isn't true." he shook his head.

Samuel looked away from him and nodded his head. "She lost one of the baby. That day killed her. She would have died if it weren't for," he turned to Alessio.

Samuel didn't need to say anything.

Dante knew who had saved her. He looked at Alessio and saw something that he didn't. He saw a man in Alessio. Someone who was ready to fight against all odds and protect those he care for.

"You know the worst part about all of this?" Samuel muttered.

Dante snapped his head back to him. "How could any of this get worse."

Samuel looked into his eyes and chuckled humorlessly. "They might not make it in the end."

Dante gulped. "What?" he whispered.

"Ashley and Isabella, your daughter. They're at a high chance of death right now." Alessio explained.

Dante dropped back down onto the chair and buried his face into his hands. He cried and shook his head. "This can't be happening." He looked up at Alessio. "She must be so scared right now."

Alessio shook his head and glared at Dante. "She doesn't know and you'll keep it that way. Telling her will only add more onto her stress. Stress that she doesn't need right now. It would destroy her if she finds out."

"She deserves the right to know." Dante stood up and glared back at Alessio. "It's our baby and it's her body.

"No. It's not your baby. It's hers and only hers." Samuel whispered. "And don't you think I don't know that? Do you know how much it pains me to lie to her like this? But I won't risk the life of the baby."

"The life of the baby?" Dante whispered back. He shook his head and shoved a finger at Samuel. "What about Ashley huh?!"

"You don't understand do you?" Alessio whispered. "The love of a mother is a strongest bond there is. You weren't there to see Ashley when she lost Arabella. You didn't witness her trying to kill herself after finding out about the miscarriage. You didn't see the strongest doctor in the country break down in desperation, trying to save her. You saw none of that. So you don't understand why we made the decisions we did."

"We can have another baby. Just save Ashley." Dante hissed.

"If we let the baby die, do you think she'll be able to live at all?" Samuel shouted at him. He rolled his eyes. "Of course you do. You think as long as you're in the picture, she's going to be fine."

Samuel shook his head and smirked. "News flash Hastings, you will never get with her ever again. She's not going to be fine with you."

Dante closed his eyes. Samuel is right. She's not going to be fine with him but he's willing to do whatever it takes to get her back into his arms. "I know but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to fight."

Alessio stared at him. "Do whatever you want to do but if you stress out my patient and cause her harm in any way, shape, or form," he stood in front of Dante and glared into his eyes, "I send that bullet through your f*cking head."

Alessio stepped back and nodded at Samuel. "I will go check on her. It's ideal that we start moving her in now and not wait until the five days is up."

Samuel nodded his head back at him, both of them acting as though Dante is not in the room. "I agree with you. I don't want any more accidents from happening."

Samuel shot Dante and look before both he and Alessio walked out of the room.

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"Are you alright?" Alessio asked her, sitting down next to her on the bed.

Ashley nodded her head and cracked a smile. "We have to stop interacting like this, don't we? I'm sure you're tired of seeing my face in this bed every single day."

Alessio chuckled and stood up. He face then became serious again. "I know we agreed on five days but circumstances have changed it."

Ashley sighed and looked down at her fingers. "I know."

Alessio sighed and brushed her hair back. "Listen, you're not a prisoner here. I will allow you to leave the vicinity once in awhile but I want you here to be able to monitor you. I want to make sure events such as tonight never happen again."

Ashley nodded her head and smiled at him. She grabbed his hand and held it, feeling sparks the moment she came into contact with him. Her heart sped up and she's grateful for not being hooked up to a machine. "Thank you for everything that you have done with me Alessio."

Alessio smiled back at him and placed his hand over hers. It didn't seem to bother him as much as it bothered her. But he was Alessio afterall. The only person he seemed to show any emotion around is her.

And she couldn't be more elated to know that.

"You can trust me to take good care of your and the little bambina." He placed his hand over her stomach.

She felt a pressure and smiled. "The baby seems to know who our savior is."

Alessio smiled although it did not reach his eyes. "I wouldn't be a saint enough to be a savior, Ashley."

"Babies have a way of knowing who's good or bad. I think you're a good man Alessio." She whispered, holding his hand.

Alessio smiled down at her and shook his head. "No, Ashley. I'm no angel. I'm not the good person you painted me out to be."

"You are though. You try to keep up this brave front but I can see through it Alessio." Ashley whispered.

Alessio closed his eyes and removed his hand away from her. He opened them again and Ashley saw them. Pain. Raw and strong pain in his eyes. They didn't seem as if they ever left him.

"I'm not the man you think I am Ashley. I don't want to ruin the image you have of me but please, don't settle for me." he whispered.

"Alessio."

"I know you feel something for me. And I admit, I do feel something for you too despite how short our time together had been. But you need to stop settling for less. Find the best guy for you." Alessio whispered.

"What if I just want you?" She asked him, staring straight into his eyes.

Alessio sighed. He leaned forward.

Ashley closed her eyes.

Seconds passed before she felt it. Something soft touching her forehead and staying there for a few seconds.

He pulled away from her and held her cheek.

"Alessio." she whispered.

"You deserve better than me." he whispered back at her. He stood up straight and then walked out of the room.

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