Gonna say this on my main because I don't want to say it on the forgettable-au account but....the next pages are so good...!!! I can't waitttt to post them...!!!
When Sophia woke up, the first thing she felt was giddy.
The last thing she remembered was fear, bone chilling fear, and humiliation and nausea. Now she was floating, her head feeling fuzzy and disconnected from her body and she was very clearly not dead...
The lights in the room were dim and she nearly fell right back asleep, wasn't it for a noise to her left. Sophia craned her neck, biting down a groan as her body came back to her. She felt clammy and tingly, her stomach felt numb, which was a little horrifying...
Vince had a hand wrapped around her wrist and the noise had been his soft snoring, which ceased immediately at her movement, his eyes snapping open, wide and afraid.
"Soph...?" He lunged forward and Sophia inched back, spooked.
Vince let out a watery chuckle and held himself from crushing her into a hug, instead only pressing a kiss to her forehead and Sophia refrained from wiping it away, since she was pretty sure it'd make her stomach start aching all over again and she was scared of it.
"What- What'ned?" She croaked, throat horribly dry and Vince reached for a little paper cup of water, bringing it to her mouth just long enough she could wet her mouth, but barely a sip. She whined as he pulled it back.
"Sorry, bambi, you just had surgery. I'll wait until the nurses greenlight you for water," he sat back down, ignoring her glare, "your appendix ruptured, Soph..."
Vin snorted, "god, I wish," he leaned back on the armchair he had been occupying, "you had an emergency surgery. Appendicitis is bad enough, but a rupture...? It was nasty, Soph."
The thought of it caused her heart to start racing and Sophia sucked in a breath, feeling like a goddamn coward as panic prickled her face-
"Hey!" Vince grabbed her by the shoulders, "bambi, nothing happened. You're here, you're safe, you're alright... Breathe, Soph..."
Her chin wobbled, eyes prickled and Sophia turned her face in order to hide the tears threatening to fall off. She wanted her parents.
"You're alright, baby," Vin cooed, pulling his armchair so he was petting her hair, talking softly until she was pulled from the sudden anxiety attack.
She let out a sigh as the squeeze in her chest loosened, feeling boneless and exhausted, "Vin?"
"Yeah?" He moved so she could look at him without needing to turn her head, "you want me to call a nurse? Are you in pain? I can-"
"Can you stay...?"
"Of course I'm staying," his brows furrowed, confused and offended, "take a nap, I'll wake you up when your doctor comes over."
"Okay," she yawned, closing her eyes and being pulled under again.
Next time she was up, Sophia was annoyed. Her stitches were itchy, she felt like crap, her brother looked like a truck had run him over and she felt partially guilty, she felt humiliated over causing such a circus in Luke's place... And fucking Angelina Banks was in her room.
Vince was useless, as per usual, head tipped back as he scrolled on his phone, offering no respite to the absolute humiliation that was having Little Miss Sunshine standing in front of her bed as if Sophia had undergone some life altering surgery.
"How are you?" The other girl asked and Sophia felt doubly self conscious about the stupid hospital gown and her unkept hair. Vince hadn't offered her a hairbrush because he was a man who never thought of anything and she now felt like a scarecrow when compared to how Angie just... Glowed.
She was in a dark plum mini dress that tied around her neck, wearing a black long sleeved mesh top under it and kitten heels. Sophia vaguely commended her fashion taste, while glaring at the big sunflowers bouquet Angie carried.
"Those are for me?"
"Uhm, yeah," Angie smiled, stepping closer so she could plant the bouquet on Soph's bedside table, "I wanted to... Apologize..."
Sophia blinked quickly, confused, "apologize...?" What for?
She turned her head to look at Vince, who had lowered his phone just a smidge to pay attention to their conversation.
"You were sick in the ride over... I thought-"
Sophia would've snorted if she didn't already know it'd hurt her stomach like a bitch. Little angel-faced Angelina had thought she had been faking. Ha!
"You thought I was faking," Soph guessed and Angie's cheeks turned a whole shade darker.
"I thought you were exaggerating it... But if I had realized, maybe you'd have come to the hospital sooner and your appendix wouldn't have burst..."
"Oh fuck off," Sophia groaned, causing Angie's big brown eyes to go even wider. She sort of looked like a deer now, "not even you believe that shit."
Angie's mouth fell into a comical O and Vince let out a sigh, lowering his phone as the other woman floundered and stumbled over her words, saying "I... I-uh-"
"What my prick of a sister means," Vince scoffed, glaring at Sophia, "is that it wasn't your fault, Ange. You couldn't have forced her to head to a hospital, no one could've. It's not on you, at all."
Angie seemed so incredibly relieved by Vince's interruption, that Sophia pouted. There was no way she had been that rude, this girl was just... So damn sensitive. Obviously it wasn't her fault, what was Angie supposed to have done? Kicked her to the passenger seat and changed routes straight to a hospital over a mild upset stomach?
"That's exactly what I said," Sophia grumbled, picking at her chipping nail polish.
Angie opened a sheepish smile, "of course," she said, causing Vince to chuckle and Soph to pout even more, "uhm- Do you need anything...?"
A thousand dollars and her stomach to stop aching, Sophia thought sourly, but instead she said, "uhm, a hairbrush would be great. My darling brother thinks I like looking like the wicked witch of the west."
"You look lovely," Vince smiled brightly at her, and Sophia could see the clear mockery in his tone. Asshole. She raised a middle finger his way, catching Angie balking at them from the corner of her eye. Didn't Angelina have a brother too? Why was she so appalled?
"I... I'll bring you a hairbrush-"
"Hello, am I interrupting?" There was a knock on the door, already opening, and Sophia groaned at what she thought was another visit- But then there she was. The Cunt Supreme. Wendy Marshall standing in front of her, with a white doctor coat hanging off her shoulders, in all of her 5'2 glory.
Sophia's blood sped up, a warmth spreading through her chest that she hadn't felt since like- 11th grade and the grand incident with Cindy Brown, the cheer traitor. That little boyfriend stealing cow.
She glanced to the side, catching Vince paling, then nearly hurt her neck with how quickly she turned her head to catch Wendy's reaction at seeing him there. Wendy had probably been warned that Vin was there— by a nurse or Jon or whoever — because she didn't so much as glance his way, eyes fixed on Sophia's bed, holding a clipboard in front of her as if it was a shield.
As if that thin acrylic could protect her.
"I'm the doctor doing rounds, let's take a look at these stitches?"
"Isn't there someone else who can see me?" Sophia asked, squinting at Wendy, "like... Someone competent?"
Wendy breathed out briskly through her nose, "I can assure you I can separate relationships from work, Sophia, I'm an adult," she looked pointedly at her, "but if you're uncomfortable, we can call a different doctor in."
"She's fine," Vince said, before Soph could answer that if Wendy was such an adult, then why had she been behaving like a fucking toddler?
Angie, to her credit, had her back pressed to the opposite wall, near the TV, and clearly wanted to disappear. She looked even more spooked than she had looked a minute before when Sophia told her to fuck off.
"Continue the examination," Vince said, then to Soph, "you want to go home soon, right? So don't cause a scene."
A SCENE??
This fucking idiot had some nerve to say she'd be causing a scene when WENDY had been the one to trample all over him. There was being a doormat and then there was Vincenzo Monacelli, who was just straight up the floor, that's how much he liked being stepped on.
"Can I examine you?" Wendy asked in a deadpan tone, that betrayed how little she cared about the whole situation. Sophia curled her firsts tightly, anger causing her mouth to taste metallic.
"Yes," she said through her teeth, pushing the blankets down so Wendy could get a look at her stitches. At least Bella had had the forethought to bring Sophia boxers, so she wasn't butt naked under the hospital gown. They were large on her and hanging loosely on her hips, but that was good, because her stomach was bloated and tender due to the surgery-
Wendy leaned in to inspect the stitches, tsk tsking under her breath and scribbling down on her clipboard.
"So," Sophia said, glaring at the crown of Wen's head, "when did you decide it'd be a smart idea to act like a cunt to all of your friends? Before or after you called my brother a snake?"
Wendy's fingers froze a little over Sophia's belly button, as she snapped her head to look at her. Her green eyes squinted, "you don't know what you're talking about, Sophia. Stay out of it."
"So you're calling my brother a liar?" Soph rolled her eyes dramatically, "you hear that, Vin? She's saying it wasn't like that! How's life now that no one talks with you? Are you enjoying it?"
"I think we should get you a different doctor," Wendy's voice wavered with the barely contained anger, her face all pink.
"What? But I thought you were so good at separating work from relationships, staaaay," Sophia scoffed, "but then again, if you were that great of a doctor, I'd guess you'd have checked up on Vin when he was at the hospital last week."
"How was that my responsibility?" Wendy glared at her and Sophia did a little victory dance in her head. Now Wendy was fully invested, no longer pretending she was better than them. A reaction was exactly what she wanted.
"Oh, my bad, I forgot you don't care what the people whom you supposedly love do or say," she said in a cheerful tone, "you didn't care he was sick when you called him a snake, you didn't show up at the hospital last week, gee-"
"Vince aren't you a grown man?" Wendy turned to look at her ex and Sophia's temper rose a notch or two, "do you really your baby sister to defend you?"
"Hey, bitch," Sophia snapped her fingers as if Wen was a dog, "I'm talking to you, look at me."
"I don't have to listen to this bullshit, I'm gonna send in a different doctor-"
"Sophia, what the hell are you doing," Vince seemed to break from his stupor, where he had been frozen in place, his voice low and baffled, "stop this-"
"You have no idea how thankful I am you showed your little claws before he put a ring on your finger," Sophia hissed, completely ignoring Vince and zeroing Wendy, "you deserve to be alone-"
"SOPHIA!" Vince lurched forward to physically shut her up, just as Wendy's eyes widened as if she had been slapped. It was almost satisfying enough for Sophia, would've been better if she had been able to actually punch her.
"Wow, Vin," Wendy's voice wavered, choked up and Sophia muffled a smile behind Vin's palm firmly pressed to her mouth. She considered biting him just so she could keep at it- "I knew you were spineless, but siccing your psycho sister on me is a new low."
"Don't talk about my sister like that," Vince's voice was a whole new note and Sophia's eyebrows jumped up, surprised. She could count in one hand the amount of times she had seen Vin angry on her behalf, this was new.
"What exactly would you call her behavior?" Wendy rolled her eyes, as if Sophia could miss how overtly shiny they were. Her heart skipped a beat. One more sentence and she could make Wendy fucking cry, she knew it-
"I think you're right," Vince kept his hand firmly pressed to Soph's mouth, but his voice was steel, "Sophia needs a different doctor."
Wendy let out a huff, "of course," she relented, all professional, "a shrink."
Sophia snorted, glaring at her, and grabbed at Vin's arm in an attempt to free herself, as she said, "look who's calling someone mentally unstable-"
"You're crossing a line," Vince ignored Sophia's muffled words, so did Wendy. If anything, he seemed to have forgotten anyone else was in the room, "a line you cannot uncross, Wendy. Do not insult my sister."
"Oh yeah, I forgot you pick the side of literally anyone but your girlfriend."
If Sophia thought her brother spineless, apparently he was angry enough on her behalf that he had found one along the way.
"Good thing you're not my girlfriend, uh?"
This did it. Soph saw Wendy's eyes well up with tears and she turned around and left the room, mumbling a choked up, "I'll send a different doctor."
Vince dropped his hand and Sophia spluttered, giddy with joy, "DUDE!" She exclaimed, "you stood your ground, that was-"
"Horrible," Vince glared at her, eyes bloodshot and face milk white, brows meeting, "what the fuck did you think you were doing? Why the fuck you said that to her, Sophia, what did she ever do-"
"Oh shut the fuck up, she hurts you and I'm supposed to play nice?" Sophia exclaimed, offended and hurt. Couldn't he see she was on his side?!
"I don't need your childish defending! I don't need you to pick a fight with my ex or tell her to die in a ditch! I need you to be a decent fucking person, Sophia!"
"Are you saying I'm not?!" She cried out, hurt, "I HELP you and this is how-"
"You weren't helping me, otherwise you've asked me what I wanted! You wanted to hurt her!" Vince glared at her, "you need to think real long and hard about your actions, because you're not sounding any better than Wendy, Sophia."
And with that, he grabbed his ditched phone on the armchair and stormed out of the room... Leaving Sophia with Angelina Fucking Banks, who looked about five seconds away from passing out.
