A Rediscovered Love Part 11

Casey roughly pushed Antonio out of the way so he could tend to Ricardo. Michael knelt beside him as well to check his pulse. Antonio had gotten to his feet and was staring in a panic at his brother. The hand he had used to check on Ricardo's head was still covered with blood. His brother's blood. He quickly wiped his hands on his shirt, trying desperately to erase the stains from his hands. If he could have, Antonio would have erased any of this from ever have happening. He waited anxiously and nervously to hear something about Ricardo's condition. Michael had taken off his tank top and ripped it in half. Casey took the piece of cloth and very gently placed it around Ricardo's head. Antonio couldn't take it any longer.

"Casey! Michael! Is he alright? Is my brother going to be alright?" Antonio was racked in worry. He couldn't stand still. If anything happened to his brother, he would not forgive himself. God help him then.

Michael looked over at Antonio as he continued helping Casey tie the temporary bandage. "He should ok. His head came down hard on the edge of this pillar. It's pure wood and metal. He has a deep cut and my guess a concussion. But his pulse is fine and breathing normally. He should come to soon." Michael to see that Antonio was a mess. He kept looking at him with surprise. Antonio and Ricardo had always been close. He wondered what could have happened to make them want to literally tear each other apart. Someone could have been killed. He got up to ease his pain. Antonio looked over at Michael with worry all over his face. "He'll be ok." Michael put his shoulder over his arm and tried to relax him.

As Casey finished tying the mock bandage, Ricardo started coming too. He moved his head from side to side slowly until he was able to focus on someone kneeling over him. It was Casey. "Wha…..What..happened?" Ricardo was trying to focus on other than Casey but the more he moved his head the more he became dizzy.

"You hit your head hard on this pillar. You have a bad cut in your head and your gonna need stitches. My guess is you also have a bad concussion. We need to get you to the hospital to get you checked out. Can you get up….try slowly?" Casey helped Ricardo slowly sit upright. As Ricardo sat up, his head began to spin. He then began to focus on the beach and the two other people next to him. One was Michael and the other was ……Antonio. Antonio. He looked at his brother and remembered everything again. His finding out, the confrontation between Gabi and Antonio, and ultimately his fight with him. Ricardo continued to stare at his brother weakly and then turned his attention toward Casey. "Well, if I need to visit the doctor, then lets go." He tried getting up himself but was to weak to lift himself. Casey put his arm around him and helped him. Once on his feet, Ricardo once again looked at Antonio. The two of them had so much to say but couldn't get the words out. Antonio was overwhelmingly relieved that Ricardo was ok. His bottom lip began to tremble as he let the tears flow. Without even thinking he ran towards his brother and put his arms around him. He was so happy his brother was ok. Ricardo looked straight on without really any emotion showing. He let his brother hug him, but he did not hug him in return. Antonio didn't want to let go but Ricardo gently unlatched himself from Antonio and began to walk off with Casey. Antonio merely looked on as his brother descended away from view. As his tears fought to be released, he was sorry for everything that had happened. He almost killed his brother. The thought of that possibly happening propelled him onto his knees as he let his emotions flow……..

Gabi was pacing anxiously at Surf Central. She was not going to be able to sleep until she knew that Ricardo was alright. Why had he reacted to oddly when she had seen her? He couldn't know? There was no way that Carmen would have told him. She couldn't have after she had left Sunset Beach. Gabi was going crazy with all of these thoughts running through her head. Trying to calm herself, she sat down and swayed back and forth staring looking at nothing in particular. She checked her watch again and time seemed to be moving like a snail. Her eyes then caught sight of her engagement ring. She smiled sadly as she looked lovingly at the ring. It represented so much to her. This ring signified the love they had for each other. She remembered back to when he proposed to her. How loving and sweet he had been. If only she could change what had happened but she couldn't. She couldn't change the fact that she had betrayed him. Betrayed the love she felt so strongly for him. Her love for Ricardo was so powerful that she agonized over losing it. She couldn't bear not loving him. Regardless of what happened, Gabi would love Ricardo forever. He would always be the love of her life. As she kissed the ring on her finger, the door opened. She quickly got up and saw Antonio enter. Her mouth dropped open and her heart sank as she looked at him. Antonio was covered in blood. His face was bruised all over his from his cheeks to his chin. He had blood coming down his lip and nose. She immediately ran to him and put her arms around his. Antonio winced at her touch. He his side was bruised from where Ricardo had punched him. He pulled back from Gabi a bit as he began to explain.

"Antonio! What happened? My God, your face! Your shirt is covered in blood!" Gabi cupped his face in her hands and tried to get him to meet her eyes. He couldn't and looked down at the floor. Where was Ricardo, was her next thought. "Where's Ricardo? Did he do this to you?" Gabi's whole body began to tremble as she prepared herself for what Antonio was about to say.

"He knows Gabi. Ricardo knows we made love. He saw the tape. He knows everything." Antonio couldn't bear to hurt Gabi. Antonio could not bear to see Gabi's reaction. She backed away from him and brought her hands to her face. She continued to back away never taking her eyes off of him. It killed him that there was nothing he could do to take away the pain she was now feeling. He understood it. He was going through the same thing.

Gabi didn't want to believe it. She had imagined Ricardo finding out a thousand times but for it to now actually happen was torture for her. She felt the life being sucked out of her. Ricardo knew. She was terrified now. She had lost him. He would never forgive her. How could he forgive her for this? "OH MY GOD!! He hates me! He hates you!" Gabi is now fully consumed in tears and she grabs the edge of the couch to steady her balance for she feels she is about to fall to the ground. Antonio lets her sob. There is really nothing he can do. He is in pain too and as far as he is concerned, the pain the were going through was the punishment they deserved. Although he wished he could do something to alleviate Gabi's pain. Gabi once again turned around to face him. She began to calm herself before asking where Ricardo was. "Where is he?"

Antonio didn't want to tell her. She would bolt directly to the hospital once she found out that Ricardo had almost been seriously hurt due to their fight. But he had no choice. He had to tell her. He cleared his throat. " He's in the hospital." Antonio fell silent once he saw Gabi's face drop. "We had a fight and he fell cut his head. He was bleeding a lot and Casey took him to the hospital. It was my fault Gabi." Antonio's voice begins to crack with emotion. "I struck him first. I was so angry. He pushed him and my brother could have been killed because of me." At this point Antonio is consumed in tears. "I'm sorry Gabi, I didn't know what I was doing…..my anger took o----"

Gabi did not stay to hear more. She ran past Antonio and through the front door. Antonio called after her. "GABI!!" He ran after her as he knew where she was going. Gabi was headed to the hospital……

Ricardo was seated on one of the hospital beds in the emergency room, waiting for Tyus to release him. He had been given thirty stitches to the back of his head and he had a huge white bandage over being held with tape. His head was severely tender and as he brought his hand to touch where the wound was, he winced in pain. He was still weak from the blow. But nothing compared to how weak his soul was. Inside Ricardo was a mess. As much as he despised his brother right now, he was feeling awful for having gotten into a fight with him. They had both been so angry with one another. Angry enough to hurt each other drastically. He had never felt that way before and he hoped he never would again. Ricardo thought back to the pier when he and Antonio were exchanging words. Once Ricardo had channeled his anger at Gabi, Antonio was quick to defend her. What's more, he had provoked him into becoming angry enough to fight him. Regardless of what he did, Ricardo realized that Antonio was in love with Gabi. Otherwise, he would not have defended her so gallantly. This hurt Ricardo even more. If Antonio loved Gabi, then Gabi must also be in love with Antonio. What she had said after their wedding had been canceled was true. She never loved him. Ricardo jumped off the bed abruntly and began to pace the room, his mind racing once again. Why? Why? He thought. How could they do this to him! He could never forgive this. Ricardo grabbed the edge of the bed and squeezed so tight his knuckles turned white. How could he forgive this kind of betrayal. He couldn't. No man was that forgiving. He had to forget both of them. That was the only way he was going to gain any peace of mind back. His hatred returned again as the image of the two of them making love entered his mind. He grabbed his head and moderately yelled in pain. He had grazed his head wound. His eyes shut in pain, holding his head, he felt someone's arms grabbing his hands from his head. As he opened his eyes to see who was grabbing him, his heart jumped and he weakened at an instance. Gabi stood there looking at him, ready to speak…..

Part 12