by Serena Light
"I'm going to check on Serafina," Rosalie stood from her place, her husband nodding before placing a kiss on her forehead, and watched her walk out.
"How's Serafina?" Nicole sniffled, looking out the window on the wall.
"Nothing," Her father in law shook her head. "Alessio is getting worse though, it's all weighing down on him too much,"
"Who's looking after the kids?" She looked up. "The twins? Who's with them?"
"Gun and Hulk,"
"Where is Major?"
"Both Major and Piero are beside Salvatore," He informed as a lump formed in Nicole's throat. "That's where you want to go, isn't it? To Salvatore?"
"I need to see it for myself,"
"It's going to hurt,"
"I don't care," Nicole shook her head, the tears welling in her eyes again. "I need to see it for myself,"
Arcangelo didn't say anything after that.
The nurse came and they helped her settle into the wheelchair, Nicole groaning at the pain that spread through her, but it was nothing like the pain in her chest.
"Where to?" The nurse inquired.
"Room 324," Arcangelo informed besides them as she nodded, beginning to push her out the room and down the hallway.
As they made their way to the other wing of the hospital, Nicole kept wiping at her cheeks, trying to will the tears away but they wouldn't stop. Her heart aching and her throat closing up in her as she sniffled, trying to keep strong, but breaking with every step they got closer.
Arriving at the room, Nicole noticed how the blinds had been drawn shut, knocking on the door, the nurse peeked inside, saying something incomprehensible to Nicole's ears before nodding and stepping out. She went to take hold of the wheelchair again when Arcangelo stopped her.
"I can take her from here," He stated as the nurse nodded and stepped away.
Inhaling deeply, Arcangelo pushed her inside as she pulled the blinds to the side, and was wheeled into the room, her breath catching in her throat to see the sight before her. Biting her lips, Nicole tried her hardest from crying out, covering her mouth and letting out a quiet sob, sagging against the wheelchair.
The room was like any other hospital room, white with glass walls, but his blinds had been drawn shut, leaving him completely isolated. Piero stood in the corner silently and on the bed lay none other than her husband.
"Closer," Nicole croaked, Arcangelo pushing her to the side of the bed as she looked at him.
He wore the standard hospital gown, but his black hair was covered by a surgical hair net. His bright blue eyes lay closed behind the lid with a tube going down his throat and various wires attached to his arms and disappearing into the fold of his gown with the beeping of the monitor being the only sound infiltrating the room, his chest rising and falling in rhythmic successions.
"Can he hear me?" She asked gently, the tears streaming down her cheeks.
"No, sweetheart," Arcangelo revealed solemnly. "He can't,"
Looking down at his hand, Nicole noticed the various tubes stuck into the back of the palm, causing her to clench her hands before her lips to realize she couldn't hold his hand, her eyes widening to notice something.
"Where..." She choked between her tears. "Where is his ring?" She looked up at Arcangelo and pointed at his left hand.
"Dad, where is his ring?"
"It's with Rosalie," He told her gently, squeezing her shoulder. "So is yours,"
"Why won't they let him wear his ring?" She sniffled, wheeling herself closer and placing her finger against his forearm, noticing the warmth of his body. "Why is he so white? Why did this have to happen?" Nicole buried her face into her hand, trying to stifle her sobs.
"Nicole," Piero's voice called out to her, his hand on her knee. "I'm so sorry, Nicole," He told her with a trembling voice.
"I-I don't where we went wrong, the plan was fool-proof," The words tumbled out of his mouth as Nicole looked up at him with bloodshot eyes and blotchy cheeks. "Jayson, Jayson took my Eva and said that I'll report everything to him. And I told Salvatore that he took my fiancée, and he said that he'll get her back but that I report to Jayson everything he tells me."
"I didn't know where you were, but then Davide, Dave, he came with your ring and told us you were dying and we had to act quick and Salvatore came up with this whole elaborate plan to get you out at sunrise with grenades and dynamite and snipers and whatnot, and I told Jayson, and he just laughed saying that Salvatore is going to get trapped. I was meant to get him to the warehouse first, and knock him out and give him to Jayson and I told Salvatore and he told me to do it,"
"It killed me to hit him with my gun, to point my gun at him, but we had our roles to play and you were there, you were sitting there, dying and Jayson thought he had won. And he told Salvatore that he has to kill himself to save you, and he put the gun in his mouth, he was going to do it. But Jayson didn't know that his men had been shot and that he was surrounded by the Regnante Mafia. Someone threw a stun grenade inside the window, distracting them long enough for me to shoot the man who was pointing a gun at you and for Salvatore to stand before you. Snipers took down some of the men while another team rushed inside to take care of the other coming through the hatch, and we won, Nicole. We won! We got you and saved Eva and we won!" Piero spoke in hysteria, his eyes wide and tears streaming down his face as Nicole listened to him in silence.
"But then, I don't know, I don't know what happened," He choked out, bowing his head as he clutched the fabric of her gown. "I don't know, but, but, but, but Jayson was dead with a bullet through his head, and Salvatore lay dying with a bullet in his chest,"
"We thought, we thought, we thought we lost him, Nicole," Piero cried into her lap. "We got you both here and you both were taken into separate places and the doctor said, they said you had heavy metal toxicity and that Salvatore, that Salvatore needs a new heart."
"The bullet shattered his heart, Nicole, it broke it," He heaved out through his sobs. "He's living on machines and we're waiting for a donor and, and, and, and he's an O-positive, and, and,"
"Please forgive me, Nicole, please," He shook with his tears. "It wasn't supposed to be like this, it wasn't supposed to be like this,"
"Let me go, Piero," Nicole swallowed the lump in her throat, her heart aching with a fresh torrent of emotions at hearing the entire story. She tried to pull her gown out from beneath his fingers but the pain just wouldn't allow her to function.
Her hand trembled and her breathing came out ragged, the tears blinded her as the pain enflamed her from the inside, and it all just grew worse to see Salvatore lying like that before them.
"No, no, no, no," Nicole sobbed, trying to pull herself together. "No, no please, not Salvatore, not him,"
The pain hit her like a tidal wave, causing her to struggle to breathe and heaved through her tears. Every breath felt like acid was burning her from inside, and a laugh burst through her all of a sudden, she didn't know why she was laughing, but she was. Her laughter turned hysterical she looked at Arcangelo's face and then at Salvatore on the bed and she didn't know when, but that hysterical laughter morphed into broken sobs as each tear brought a new and intense wave of pain with it.
She was completely hysterical. Crying and begging for something...
She didn't even know what she was begging for, but clasped both hands over her chest, struggling to catch enough breath and feeling light-headed as the purest form of pain imaginable tore her up from inside. Like someone had grabbed her heart in a chokehold and tried to force it to combust with the pain.
"I-I-I..." Nicole struggled to catch her breath, tears streaming down as Arcangelo stepped forward, Piero kneeling before her with bloodshot eyes and watching. "I can't, I can't..." She heaved through her tears, a hand on her chest before the room began spinning around her.
"Nicole!" A voice called out to her as her world faded around her, and she could have sworn it was Salvatore's voice calling out to her.
Chapter XLIX: Official Mandate
No matter how hard the doctors tried, Nicole refused to stay in her room.
She would allow them to do their check-ups and would patiently sit through the 6-hour hemodialysis therapy, but the moment they would take her off the machine, she refused to sit in her room; instead, she would go and sit beside Salvatore.
Day by day, she was regaining her strength, she began walking around her room, but wasn't strong enough to walk all the way to his room as of yet. So she had insisted that the doctors shift her to a room closer to his and promised to rest more if they did. It had taken a day or two, but eventually, she was moved to the room beside his.
She even visited Serafina when the doctors would be in Salvatore's room.
Nicole had to wonder, how beautiful and peaceful Serafina looked. Her hair was washed and brushed, her complexion fair and her eyes closed, she looked like she was asleep, but everyone knew that she had been in a coma for over nineteen months, as a matter of fact, it would be twenty months next week.
Alessio was sitting there most of the time, and the first time she had come into the room, he couldn't bring himself to look at her, and he had to walk out when Nicole began talking about the twins to her.
Marina and Michele would come and visit Nicole, she loved it when they came and it provided her with strength. The 2-year-olds loved coming to her too, having missed her horribly the three months she had been away. She wanted to take them to Serafina but didn't understand if she should. But having noticed that she would stay in her room with the kids, the doctors asked if they could be brought more often, just to ensure that she gets the rest that she needs.
Even now, the twins were with Nicole when Rosalie had come in to take them back home, finding her daughter-in-law asleep with both the twins cuddled on either side of her. The scene reminding her a lot of her own twins and how they could sleep cuddled with her when they had been this little.
Exhaling shakily, she wiped away the tears before they could fall and walked back outside, settling beside her husband on the waiting chairs.
"Where are the kids?" Her husband asked without opening his eyes.
"They were sleeping and I didn't want to disturb them," Rosalie admitted as he nodded, interlacing their fingers together. From where they sat, they could see all three hospital rooms.
Nicole with the twins sleeping in her sides, Salvatore on life support with Arsenio sitting beside him and reading, and Serafina with Marco talking to her comatose body. The entire Regnante family was here, and breaking from the inside. Neither Arsenio nor Marco took it well when they were informed of Salvatore's condition. But then again, neither did Rosalie.
Being their mother, it tore her apart more than any of the else. Yes, she loved all four of her kids equally, adopted and biological alike, but she carried her twins inside her for nine months, nearly having lost both at their birth. Salvatore was a severely asthmatic baby and the doctors were afraid he wouldn't make it by how fragile his lungs were, and by the time she had to push Serafina, she had passed out from exhaustion. The nurses had to hurry before her daughter could suffocate. When they had finally gotten her out, she didn't cry and Rosalie feared they had been too late, but after some time of rubbing her back and pressing down on her chest, she had given a loud cry, as did Rosalie in relief to know her baby was alright.
And now, 30 years later, she just might lose them both again.
"Mr. and Mrs. Regnante?" The doctor called out, jolting Rosalie out of her reverie as they both stood up.
"Yes?" Arcangelo inquired as his wife hastily wiped away her tears.
"I think it's time to talk about alternatives for Salvatore," The doctor informed softly. "It's been two weeks, and still there isn't a heart available, and with his blood type, it is extremely difficult too-"
"-We're not pulling the plug," Arcangelo stated with determination.
"I'm sorry sir," He folded his hands before him. "But that decision doesn't rest with you,"
"And what is that supposed to mean?" His voice rose as his wife calmed him with a hand on his chest, noticing her sons making their way towards them.
"What's going on?" Arsenio inquired.
"Your father is not the medical proxy of your brother," The doctor informed patiently.
"Then who is?" Marco inquired in confusion.
"I am," A voice informed behind the doctor.
Stepping forward, Major bowed his head to Arcangelo, seemingly in apology as the former Mafia Boss stared at him in shock.
"A month ago, Salvatore made me his medical proxy and told me what to do in the events of something like this happening," Major explained, gesturing for the family to settle down as they all took their seats. "Because he knew he couldn't ask you guys to do what he has decided,"
"What has he decided?" Marco asked, leaning forward in his seat as Rosalie clasped Arcangelo's hand in her own.
"Well, things none of you would like," Major swallowed, turning towards the doctor and informing him that he'll talk to him later.
Instantly the Regnante family was on high alert and waited for him to continue.
"Well, to begin with," He cleared his throat, loosening the tie around his neck. "Along with changing his medical proxy, Salvatore also changed his will,"
"He has set up a trust fund for all four kids and mentioned what would go to whom in the events of his death," The guard looked towards Rosalie who looked at him impassively. "And...he changed his heir,"
"What?" Marco stood from his seat. "Why?"
"Salvatore felt that you were too young and impulsively to look after such a huge empire as the Regnante Mafia, and said Arsenio would take over, with the nightclubs and company going to Marco,"
"What?" The eldest looked up at him in shock. "I can't! I'm a pilot! I don't know anything about the Mafia,"
"Salvatore dealt with that by taking you with him to all Mafia-related matters and having you sit through his meetings and listening, by asking for your input in various dealings and having you officially trained for defense," Major stated. "He was preparing you to take over the Mafia without you realizing it,"
Arsenio opened and closed his mouth, not understanding what to say to that.
"I-I can't" He stammered. "I'm a pilot, my daughters-"
"-Salvatore won't force you, but it is his dying wish," The guard halted him. "However, if you were to refuse, Marco would take over,"
"No, forget it, I'm not taking sloppy seconds," The youngest bristled with rage, having trained and learned beside his elder brother for over 2 years and this was the amount of faith he had in him. "I won't take over if Salvatore wants Arsenio to be his successor,"
"He said you'd say that," Major nodded with a small smile. "In that case, the Mafia will be dismantled,"
"You're...joking," Arcangelo stared up at the man. "He wants to dismantle the Mafia?"
"Being the boss, he has that power, and given that he doesn't have a successor, it's either that or some outsider takes over,"
"He can't do that!"
"Quite the contrary. He just did." Major informed patiently. "The papers have been signed and just need to be handed over. And he knows how you all yearn for a normal life, now he is providing that opportunity,"
"I don't want a normal life at the cost of my children," Rosalie shook her head. "I refuse this,"
"With all due respect, ma'am. Neither I nor you have the power to refute this decision."
"No," She shook her head, pressing her lips into a thin line as the tears welled up in her eyes.
"And I was given the order that in the events of Salvatore being put on life support, I am to pull the plug after two and a half weeks," Major informed slowly, watching as the entire Regnante family stared at him in shock. "He said he does not want to live on a machine and would rather die having protected his family than giving up his soul to technology,"
Rosalie stared at him in shock, trying to say something, but the lump in her throat made it difficult for her to make a coherent sentence. Standing u
p from her place, she took a couple of steps before stopping before Salvatore's room, a hand on her chest at the reality that her baby would die.
"This is why he made you his proxy," Arcangelo murmured quietly, the two men behind him far too stunned to say anything. "Because he knew that no matter what, you would not deny him,"
He looked up at the man, seeing the tears brimming in his eyes and the bittersweet smile as he nodded in confirmation.
"He knew I love him too much to go against him,"
"Fuck," Arcangelo hissed, leaning back in his seat and rubbed his forehead, the reality suddenly hit him that maybe by this time next week, Salvatore wouldn't be there anymore, the tears trailing down without his permission.
"What..." Marco swallowed thickly. "What about Serafina? What about Stephen? And what of Nicole? What did he say regarding them?"
"They're all part of his will," Major wiped the tears from his eyes. "He even wrote you all personalized letters for when he died. That bastard even wrote me a letter," He chuckled humorlessly and shook his head.
"If you'd excuse me," He inhaled deeply. "I need to see the doctor, now,"
The entire Regnante family sat in stunned silence, Arsenio clutching at his head and sniffling while Marco stared blankly at his hands. Arcangelo crying silently at the fact that he would lose one of his own children with Rosalie standing before the glass doors, biting on her finger from crying out.
"What will we tell Nicole?" Rosalie cried softly. "It would kill her. And Serafina? Serafina doesn't know anything, it would be too cruel for her to lose her twin. And the twins. And the girls, God, the girls. It would break them. And Stephen, that boy would stop smiling. It would break them. It would break them," She choked, clutching her knees before lowering herself to the floor, threading her fingers through her hair.
"I'll lose him, Arcangelo," Rosalie whimpered, kneeling before the glass doors. "I'll lose my baby. My baby, Arcangelo, he can't take my baby from me. He's so little, please, no, he's just a boy," She hunched forward, hugging herself and sobbing quietly, feeling like a wolf was devouring her heart from inside.