Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 75699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
He raises his eyebrows, taken aback.
Damned right. I know what kind of presence I look like. I know my effect on people when I’m angry, determined.
“Sir…”
“Don’t ‘sir’ me. I want some information on my mother.”
“I’ll see what I can find out. We’re doing everything we can. But please…have a seat.” He leans down. “I understand that you are upset, but it is an issue of safety for non-staff to be in the treatment area. If you come back there again, we’ll have no choice but to call the police.”
I don’t fucking care. They can throw me in jail if they want. My asshole grandfather will just bail me out. He’s going to force me to do his bidding until his dying gasp.
But the guy in scrubs was right about one thing. My getting in the doctors’ way isn’t going to help my mother. I finally let out a breath and move a few seats down in the waiting room, getting as close to the double doors as I can. The magazines on the table next to me are wrinkled and outdated.
Doesn’t anyone ever think to update the magazines in a hospital waiting room?
It’s always like this. Always.
Five minutes go by.
Then ten.
And all I can think about is my mother lying dead on the table. Without Dad. Without me. Without Savannah. Without anyone to hold her hand and give her comfort. Tell her that she’s loved.
I stand, pace around the waiting room, running my fingers through my hair.
Please.
I can’t lose my mother.
Then I laugh at myself. Hell, I went seventeen years without seeing her. Without seeing my father. Without having any contact with either of them.
I walked away from all of this. Perhaps this is my punishment now.
But if there’s a God in heaven, He ought to know I’m trying to do the right thing. Sure, I arranged Puzo’s death, but he was a derelict, a guy who deserved to die. I have to look at the bigger picture here.
The bigger picture of…
Shit. Puzo had kids.
Maybe he was a bad man, but he had two kids. Raven’s friend was their nanny.
And I took their father away from them.
And now maybe it’s only fair for me to lose a parent as well.
An eye for an eye.
But even if I deserve this, Savannah doesn’t deserve to lose her mother. My father doesn’t deserve to lose his wife.
Fuck. I’ve got to get out of here.
I’m going to go slowly crazy—
“Anyone here for Caroline Gallo?”
I jerk and turn toward the sound of the man’s voice. He stands by the double doors.
I stride quickly toward him. “I’m her son. Vincent Gallo.”
“Mr. Gallo, I’m Dr. Fife.” He shakes my hand. “We’ve been able to get your mother stabilized, but she’s going to need a triple bypass surgery.”
“So she’s not… I saw the paddles…”
He nods. “Yes, her heart did stop, but we were able to get it going again. We’re going to keep her under observation, and if she remains stable, we’ll be operating on her first thing in the morning.”
“How did my mother have a heart attack? She’s active, and she eats right.”
But does she? She and Dad always ate a lot of pasta and cheese.
“Heart issues in women are more common than most people think,” he says. “In the meantime, she was asking for her husband. Is he here?”
Nope. He’s locked up. “He can’t be here at the moment. May I see her?”
“Yes. I’ll take you back. We’ll be moving her to the ICU as soon as we can.”
I hold myself steady as I follow the doctor back.
My mother is still hooked up to all kinds of machines, and her eyes are closed.
“She needs her rest,” the doctor says. “Like I said, we’ll be transferring her up to the ICU as soon as we get a bed ready.”
I swallow and nod. “Thank you. Thank you for saving her.”
“She’s strong. She should recover well after surgery.” He gives me a smile—I can’t tell if it’s forced or not—and turns to the door. “I’ll give you a moment.” He whisks out of the area.
“Mom?” I say gently, tugging on her arm.
Her eyes open. “Vinnie? Savannah?”
Crap. I haven’t called Savannah. “She’ll be here as soon as she can, Mom.”
“What about your father?” She blinks heavily. “I need to see…my husband.”
She is delirious.
“You know he can’t be here, Mom. He’s…”
“Yes, I know.” Her eyes close again.
There’s not much else I can say to her, so I’ll let her rest. I’ll stay with her until they get her transferred up to the ICU, and of course I’ll be back for her surgery in the morning.
In the meantime, I have to call my grandfather. Tell him I didn’t get on that plane.
Not looking forward to that one. I punch in his number and hold the phone to my ear.
“Shouldn’t you be airborne about now?” his voice says.