The Weekends He Never Gave Me Chapter 02

The Weekends He Never Gave Me Chapter 02

After work on Friday, Dario tossed me his car keys as usual. “Drive my car home tonight. I won’t need it over the weekend.”

This used to be the moment I’d ask the same question. “What time will you pick me up Monday?”

Dario would tease me for being clingy, yet he loved hearing it all the same.

He’d lean in and press a kiss to my forehead. “Nine o’clock sharp. Your boyfriend reports back for duty.”

This time, I caught the keys and handed them straight back. “No thanks.”

“What do you mean, no thanks?”

“The car. I don’t need it.”

Dario studied my face for a couple of seconds. “You’re still bent out of shape about the mugs?”

“I’m not.”

“Then why the long face?”

I packed my laptop away. “I’ve got plans this weekend.”

He blinked in surprise. “What plans?”

It was the first time he’d ever asked how I spent my free weekends. Before this, he’d just tell me to enjoy myself and say he’d see me Monday.

I slung my purse over my shoulder. “Going to a play.”

“With who?”

“A friend.”

Dario stared at me, then huffed a laugh. “Good. Finally figured out how to entertain yourself.”

He reached out and ruffled my hair. “Saves you from moping around all weekend, starving for my attention.”

That line would have once felt like flirty banter. Now, it just sounded harsh.

Saturday afternoon, half an hour before curtain time, my phone rang. It was the hospital.

My nonna, Rosa, had slipped on the stairs and broken her leg. I rushed over right away.

Nonna’s forehead was beaded with sweat from the pain, yet she squeezed my hand to soothe me. “Don’t cry, it’s nothing serious.”

The doctor ordered imaging scans.

I stood alone at the registration desk, filling out paperwork, verifying insurance, and signing consent forms before chasing down test results.

My battery was in the red when I scrolled to Dario’s name.

My finger hovered over the screen for a long moment. Eventually, I dialed.

The line rang five times before he picked up. Loud chatter and laughter echoed in the background.

I heard Giada giggling. “Dario, hurry! It got loose again!”

Dario must have covered the mouthpiece; the background noise dulled slightly. “Livia?”

“My Nonna fell and hurt her leg.”

His tone turned serious at once. “Is it bad?”

“She’s being admitted overnight.”

“I’ll send the Bellandi family doctor over, or upgrade her to a private room. If insurance or billing is a hassle, I’ll have the office handle it.”

“Don’t.” My grip tightened around the lab report. “Can you come?”

A beat of silence on the other end.

Two beats. Exactly like the night I’d burned with fever.

“Livia.” His voice softened. “It’s Saturday.”

Words completely failed me.

“What could I do if I showed up? Doctors and nurses are already there. If you can’t handle everything alone, I can send a private nurse. Does that work?”

Giada called out again. “Dario, Milo bit me!”

Dario snapped back immediately. “Don’t put your bare hands near its mouth!”

Only then did he turn back to our call. “Giada just adopted a dog. She just had her spay surgery today. She’s groggy from the anesthesia and snapping at everything. I’ve got my hands full right now.”

I glanced down the bustling emergency hallway. “So you’re at an animal hospital?”

“Yeah.”

“So her dog qualifies as your private weekend territory?”

Dario went quiet. After a long pause, he sighed. “Do you really have to be so passive-aggressive at a moment like this?”

A nurse called my name, and I ended the call.

At ten that night, once Nonna drifted off to sleep, I headed downstairs to buy bottled water.

The elevator stopped on the seventh floor. The doors slid open, and I saw Dario.

He was carrying pet supplies in one hand; Giada cradled a puppy wearing an Elizabethan collar in the other arm.

Our eyes locked. All the color drained from Dario’s face. “Livia?”

Giada looked equally stunned. “Livia, what are you doing here?”

I glanced at the dog in her lap.

This was one of Manhattan’s top private medical centers. A 24-hour animal hospital sat right next door. The two buildings shared an underground parking garage and a bank of elevators.

He had been that close. Close enough to share an elevator with Giada, yet unable to spare five minutes to come see me.

Dario chased after me as soon as we stepped out of the elevator. “She couldn’t manage the dog all by herself.”

I nodded slowly. “I see.”

“How’s Nonna doing?”

“She’s fine.”

“Quit talking to me like that.” He frowned and reached for my hand. “If you really needed me, why didn’t you tell me you were in this very hospital?”

I stared down at his fingers wrapped around mine.

Somehow, in his mind, it was still my fault.

I gently pulled my hand free. “It’s alright.”

From now on, I wouldn’t turn to him when things fell apart.