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)
“Hello to you too.”
“That’s not funny, Vincent. What the hell is going on?”
“You may have to take care of this Colombia thing yourself. My mother—your daughter—has had a heart attack.”
No response.
Not that I expected one. Why should he care? It’s only his daughter. His only child.
“You have anything to say, old man?”
His voice is steady. “Where is she? What hospital?”
I relay the information.
“I’ll be there right away.”
I don’t particularly want to see him, but so be it. She is his daughter. If he wants to see her—which I doubt; I’m sure he has some ulterior motive for coming—I won’t stop him.
A few orderlies enter the curtained-off area. “We’re going to take Mrs. Gallo to the ICU now,” one of them says.
“Thank you. I’m her son. I’ll be coming along.”
“Of course. We found a private room, and you’re welcome to stay with her if you’d like.”
Perhaps I should. But she’s in good hands.
Several minutes later, when they’ve got my mother transferred and hooked up to all the machines in the ICU room, I finally call Savannah.
“Vinnie?” Her voice is hoarse. I probably woke her up. “Is everything all right? It’s awfully late to be calling.”
“Don’t freak out, Sav, because she’s going to be all right, but Mom had a heart attack this evening.”
She gasps, and I hear the phone clatter to the floor.
“Vinnie?” Falcon’s voice.
“Is she okay?”
“She’s in shock, I think. What happened?”
“Our mother had a heart attack. They had to revive her with the paddles. But they got her back. She’s scheduled to have a triple bypass in the morning.”
“Oh my God. We’ll be there right away. What hospital?”
“Just be here for the surgery in the morning. It’s scheduled for 9 a.m. You guys don’t have to come now.”
“I don’t think I can keep Savannah away.”
“All right. Have it your way. But she is in the ICU. I don’t know if they limit the number of people we can have in the room with her. I’ll have to check.”
“All right. We’re on the way. Call us when you know.”
“Of course. I’ll step out if I must to let Savannah have some time with Mom.”
“Of course. And Vinnie?”
“Yeah?”
“You and I need to have a talk.”
My grandfather doesn’t show up. Big surprise.
But two hours later, Savannah, in tears, sits with our mother.
And I follow Falcon out into the hallway.
“We need someplace private,” he says.
“There’s an alcove at the end of the hallway on the other side from the elevators. With vending machines and all.”
“It’s late enough that we can probably be alone there,” he says.
I lead him to the alcove, take a seat, and gesture for him to sit down across from me.
“What is it?” I ask.
He frowns. “Raven came clean.”
“About what?”
“About the two of you, Vinnie.”
I try to read Falcon’s expression. He doesn’t look angry. He doesn’t look anything. Maybe he’s worried about his future mother-in-law. About his fiancée.
I’m not sure what to think.
“And?” I prod.
“And you already know what I’m going to say.” He takes a deep breath and looks me dead in the eye. “Right now…you’re not good for her, Vinnie.”
I let out an exasperated huff. “You think that’s something I don’t know? Look, I didn’t plan what happened between Raven and me. And as her big brother, you have every right to pummel me. Though I could do the same to you for my little sister.”
He doesn’t react.
Not that I expect him to.
“I understand.” He lets out a humorless chuckle. “And yeah, I kind of do want to pummel you. And believe me, I see the irony of the situation. But this isn’t about me wanting to protect my baby sister’s virginity.” He sighs. “I’m more concerned about Raven’s safety. She just got her life back, man.”
“At the risk of repeating myself, do you think that’s something I don’t know?”
He crosses his arms. “I just don’t know what you were thinking.”
“Thinking had nothing to do with it, on either of our parts. We both knew what we were getting into. She did as well as I did. She’s a grown woman, Falcon.”
“She is.” He casts his gaze to the hospital tiles. “I just… I need you to understand that I can’t imagine life without her. I already lost out on so much time when I was in the clink. And when she got sick, she had to start missing visitation as well. Do you know how that felt, Vinnie? To know my sister was literally dying, and there was nothing I could do?”
“You ended up doing more than anyone else.”
“You’re right. By some miracle, my bone marrow was a match for her. Over her twin sister. But that’s not even what I mean. They put her through so much chemo and radiation before they even considered the bone marrow transplant. Apparently her type of leukemia normally responds to traditional treatment better than bone marrow. I was a last resort, and thank God it worked, but she went through years of misery before that. And now that she’s got a second chance at living a normal, happy life, you come waltzing in with another series of threats to her wellbeing.” He closes his eyes and rubs at his temples. “The least you could have done was keep it in your pants.”