by Lux Miller
I throw the gun into the floorboard and jump out of the car, ignoring Mike’s exasperated protests. I hear his own door slam shut seconds later, but I don’t bother to turn around to confirm it’s him. I’m already running full speed into the hospital, breezing through the metal detector without issue. “Emily, wait!”
Ignoring him, I dash to the front desk and spit out a jumble of words. Gasping erratically, I grab my chest and try to calm myself. I’m only able to spit out two coherent words. “Dante Barresi…”
The nurse who sits behind the reception area clicks on her keyboard, then clucks her tongue. “I’m sorry, Miss. He’s in the ICU and isn’t taking visitors unless they’re family. Are you family?”
I’m about to lie my ass off, but something in her expression changes suddenly as she stares wide-eyed over my shoulder. Before I can gather my wits about me, I feel a pair of strong arms encircle my waist. “Emily? What? How? Why?”
I sigh heavily as the familiar, heady scent of him infiltrates my nose. Every muscle in my body tenses with apprehension as the nurse behind me stares with her mouth hanging open. She shakes her head quickly, then shuts her mouth. “Are... are you with him?”
“Yes, she is. She’s my girlfriend. Add her to the visitor’s list, please.”
The nurse nods slowly as she types on the keyboard in front of her, her eyes never leaving his. I exhale heavily and grind out the single word that causes all of the fight to drain from my body, “Luca…”
His arms tighten around my body and his hands grip my waist possessively. He turns me around in his embrace and his mouth is on mine before I can even make sure it’s really him. The electric jolt that sizzles through me leaves no doubt and every one of my defenses crumbles one by one.
Once I’m able to regain control of my flailing senses, I jerk my mouth away from his. “Luca, please… don’t.”
He groans as our lips part and presses his forehead to mine. “You came back… why did you come back?!?”
I bite my bottom lip, shaking my head. “I...I… I couldn’t let you face this alone. I couldn’t let you face the destruction of the only thing in your life that makes you human…”
Luca stiffens, then yanks himself away from me. He grabs my wrist and tugs me into a secluded corner. He presses my back up against the wall and then his body against mine. “I told you to leave! I tried to make you hate me so you would leave and never look back!”
I slam my fists against his chest. “That’s because you’re an asshole.”
He nods, his body shaking with emotion. “I know! I tried to tell you that… I told you I’m a heartless bastard. I warned you! I pushed you away! I tried to protect you and yet, here you are… right back in the crossfire of a life that won’t spare you from the pain. Look at Dante! He’s the purest soul I know, as pure as one can be when you’re raised by the mafia… and he’s lying in a bed dying because of me.”
I gasp, shaking my head. “You can’t possibly think this is your fault! You didn’t send him on a suicide mission, Luca! You didn’t even know! If this is anyone’s fault… it’s…”
My blood runs cold as Luca’s entire body tenses against mine. The stiff, emotionless voice that permeates my very being sends a wave of hopelessness through me. “It’s mine…”
SEVENTEEN
Six feet of well-dressed hatred stares back at me as my gaze fixates on the man over Luca’s shoulder. Luca’s grip on me is almost painfully tight. His voice is equally strained as he replies without bothering to turn around, “Father… nice of you to join us common folk in the main wing of the hospital instead of holing up in his room praying for forgiveness for sending him to slaughter…”
Luca is watching me intently as my gaze remains fixed on the man who was once as much a looker as his sons. Time has cut deep lines into the chiseled features of the man and his hair, while still full, alternates in shades of salt and pepper. He's a formidable man and I know there’s goose flesh on every exposed surface of my skin, but I have no choice except to stand my ground. Luca’s painful grasp on my body doesn’t allow me to hide behind him.
The man approaches until he’s dangerously close to me. If he wanted to reach out and touch me, he could do so easily. I’m suddenly very aware of my surroundings and thankful that the hospital is a no-gun zone.
He clears his throat and speaks with a tone of finality in his voice, “My son turns his back on his father in a time of crisis… for a woman who was all too happy to feed him to the wolves and walk away while he's torn limb from limb…”
Luca spins around so fast that he almost knocks me over. I gasp and grab for the wall, digging my fingers into the chair rail on the wall. Though he’s audibly seething with anger, he remains in front of me, blocking my view of the terrifying man before him.
His voice is low and tight as he grinds his words out. “Father… I would remind you that I ran her off on YOUR desire, not mine. Your ordered me to make her leave. After being warned that if I disobeyed another direct order regarding her that you would forever view me as weak and unable to lead la familia.”
Luca’s entire body thrums with electricity as he drops into Italian that’s spoken so quickly and with so much vitriol that I wouldn’t be able to translate even if I could decipher the words.
Luca’s father responds in the same vein in rapid-fire hostility. Luca hold up a hand and snarls, “Just shut up, Father. Shut up before you alienate the only son you didn’t try to kill today… You may not have succeeded yet, but I swear to you… if Dante dies, I will strike a match and watch the family legacy burn to the fucking ground.”
Luca’s father open his mouth to argue again, but a harried nurse interrupts their back-and-forth discussion. “Excuse me? Matteo Barresi?”
The older man’s gaze snaps to the nurse. She swallows nervously and clears her throat. “I was, uh, told to inform you if his condition changed.”
He nods and licks his lips, a hopeful look flashing across his face. “He’s awake then?”
The nurse glances to Luca helplessly as she tries to speak, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. Finally, she buries her face in both of her hands with a groan. “No… he’s…”
Luca cuts her off as he stares at his father blankly. “He’s dying, Father. She came out here to tell us he’s dying and there’s nothing they can do. To tell us to prepare to say goodbye. Because your goddamned pride got wounded by a brotherly squabble and you sent him to an execution.”
The nurse gasps, shaking her head wildly. “I, uh… I wasn’t going to say that, but yes… his condition is deteriorating. He’s stable still, but his color is weak. He’s weak. He lost so much blood that he can’t regenerate it and his blood type… it’s rare. We don’t have enough here to keep him alive for much longer.”
Matteo growls, “Then find more!”
The nurse is shaking in place as she nods, her eyes cast to the floor. “We, uh… we’ve called for more, but it’s hours away. It’s in transit now, but… if he doesn’t get more… if we can’t find a proper donor in the next hour or two… it’s not going to matter… he’s not going to live long enough to get it.”
The entire room becomes so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. The only sound in the room is the clock ticking on the wall and my relentless heartbeat rushing in my ears. Did this nurse just say that Dante is going to die?!? I gasp and step from behind Luca, ignoring the narrowed gazes that follow my every move.
Matteo makes a motion to the guards that flank him on either side, but Luca holds his hand up. “Stop it, father. None of you in this room will touch her, do you understand me? You decide whose wrath you want to endure… the wrath of a grieving man or the wrath of an unhinged one.”
The two guards immediately stand down, looking to Matteo. One mutters, “Boss, we can’t move against Luca. He has done nothing that breaks any family laws.”
Matteo roars, “He has defied me!”
The two men nod and step toward Luca, apologetic looks o
n their faces. Luca sighs heavily, resigning himself to whatever punishment awaits him. The look of defeat etched on Luca’s face as the men each take up an arm is almost heartbreaking, but I’m not about to stand here while his ego and his father’s ego battle it out.
“I’ll donate…”
Again, the room goes eerily quiet as a dozen pairs of eyes turn to me. Luca shakes his head, gathering me in his arms tightly. “His blood type, it’s so rare… he can only get blood from someone with the same or—”
I nod and cut Luca off, “I know. I have O negative blood. I got typed once when I cut my foot on some glass and had to get stitches. They typed me because it was a trauma. I was never in any danger of needing blood, but I’m O negative… they called it golden blood. They said I was a universal donor.”
Luca’s gaze snaps to the nurse as she nods quickly. “If that’s true… if she’s O negative… she could buy him hours, even days… she could keep him alive long enough for the AB negative blood to get here.”
Without looking at Matteo or Luca, I walk to her and hold both arms out. “Take what you need.”
The nurse swallows, sighing. “He needed it an hour ago. He’s very weak. I don’t know if we have time to draw it, clean it and then transfuse it.”
I glance over my shoulder at Luca and cringe slightly. “Luca, are you clean?”
Luca nods, a flush creeping up his cheeks since I basically just announced to everyone that’s we’ve been fucking. “I was tested last week and I haven’t had sex with anyone… but you.”
Turning back to the nurse, I wave her close to me because I don’t want the men in the room to hear what I am about to tell her.
“It’s dangerous and it could get messy, but I’ve seen some crazy stuff go down on Bourbon Street. Do a direct transfusion. Granted, what I saw involved junkie needles, rubber bands, and drinking straws, but it worked. It saved a guy’s life.”
The nurse blinks at me in surprise, but nods. “It could work. But because we won’t have any way to test your blood, someone will have to sign a consent form that’s able to make legal decisions for Mr Barresi.”
I groan quietly, “So his father?”
The nurse shakes her head and looks over at Luca. She nods her head at him and whispers to me, “The son is the one with legal privileges. He’s made all of the decisions so far regarding care.”
I look up at Luca and motion him over, explaining my plan in a spill of words. Concern flashes across his face as he takes both of my hands in his. “Is this dangerous?”
The nurse nods. “Extremely. For both of them, but if it works… and it will work if we can hit a vein on each of them. If it works… Dante will be stable enough to wait for the dozen pints of blood we ordered to arrive. If he can make it that far, we’ll be able to remove the bullets in his chest.”
Luca groans as he shoves both hands into his hair, biting down hard on his bottom lip. He looks at me one more time, then to the nurse and nods. “Do it. But please, take care of them. They both mean more to me that I could ever admit.”
The reception area of the hospital becomes a whirlwind of activity as Matteo is restraining by half a dozen armed guards. I am pushed into a wheelchair and whisked away to an elevator.
I’ve barely gained awareness of my surroundings when they change yet again. Now I am being wheeled down a stark hallway, door after door whizzing by in sharp flashes of light.
By the time the wheelchair comes to a stop, I’m feeling slightly nauseous and completely disoriented. Two nurses, one of whom is the young girl from downstairs, help me up onto a bed. They chatter back and forth over me, their voices tittering with excitement.
The older of the two women looks down at me and shakes her head, motioning to my clothes. “Those won’t do… off with the shirt so we have unrestricted access to your arm.”
I obey, whipping Luca’s shirt off over my head, thankful that I managed to slip into one of my cozy bralettes in the backseat of the car on the way to wherever Mike was going to dump me. The younger nurse starts spouting off instructions, but the words fly by me in a blur. I’m unable to hold onto any of them.
I’m forcefully laid down on the bed. I stare at the ceiling and count the lights that flash by in a hazy glow. The sound of machines beeping increases as we pass through several sets of doors, each requiring a badge for access. Once I finally come to a stop, I groan and sit up slightly, but the younger nurse holds me down.
She shakes her head firmly. “No, not yet… it’s best if you stay lying down for this. Sitting up could make you lightheaded. It will just be a moment. The anesthesiologist is coming up to be on-hand just in case something happens… to either of you. Though rare, some people experience complications while donating blood. Considering that this is going to be a bit ‘third-year residency pipe-dream’ in nature, we thought it best to have someone on-hand.”
Wincing, I glance down at my arm as the older nurse taps around, undoubtedly looking for a vein. I’ve never given blood before and can count on one hand the number of times I’ve had it drawn. I don’t remember it ever being a painful experience, but the frenzied nature of the bodies in this room are making me nervous too.
A slender, tall man steps into the room. The older nurse approaches him and he nods. “All the paperwork is signed. Barresi’s health care power of attorney has granted permission. All we need is her signature… Miss…?”
I gasp as something cold and wet is spread over my arm. I assume it’s alcohol of some kind, but it’s dark red and covers a large area, completely obscuring the inside of my elbow. I nod and motion for them to bring me the paperwork. Half a dozen sheets are presented to me and I sign each without bothering to read them.
Staring beyond the small team of people at my bedside, I’m able to get my first glimpse at Dante. The sight before me causes my stomach to churn. He’s pale and lifeless in the bed with dozens of tubes connected to him. Several machines beep and hiss and I realize as my heart drops that those machines are keeping him alive. I snatch my left hand to my face as I gasp loudly.
The nurse at my side uses my moment of distraction to insert an enormous needle into my arm. It pinches and my entire body tenses with the sudden intrusion, but as soon as the initial pain begins to subside, she begins barking orders.
The younger nurse is up by my head, telling me step by step what they are doing. “Okay, you’re connected to the saline line. Your blood is flowing well. Oh, they’ve got a hit on him. They’re in… it’s flowing. By God, it’s working… your blood… it’s flowing directly to him. As direct as it can anyway.”
She sounds like she’s in awe, but my adrenaline is pumping through my veins so fast right now that I can’t focus on any one thing in front of me. My mind is bouncing all over the place with worry. After the hysteria around getting me here to provide the possible life-saving donation for Dante, things have leveled out a bit.
The younger nurse smiles down at me, her face beaming with pride. “It’s incredible for you to do this for your boyfriend’s brother.”
I nod slightly, feeling a bit lightheaded. “He’s… he’s important to me, too. A friend if you will. Hey, am I supposed to feel woozy?”
The nurse frowns and shakes her head. “No, you’re not. It’s probably stress and some anxiety. Take some deep breaths, close your eyes and relax… it’s okay if you fall asleep, just don’t pass out. Then we’ll have two patients on our hands.”
I nod and yawn softly. Just the mention of sleep makes me feel like my legs weigh a ton and a thick blackness begins to creep in around the edges of my vision. “So I can…?” A soft laugh surrounds me as someone brushes my hair gently. “Yes, now relax… picture yourself on an idyllic island somewhere in the middle of nowhere... “
I don’t hear the rest of what she’s saying as a warm and fuzzy feeling blankets me and I lose the battle to stay awake, slipping under as the dull throb in my arm begins to burn…
I awake to the familiar sound of machines beeping an
d… arguing… Loud, boorish arguing between multiple men. Struggling to pull myself out of my haze, I focus on the voice that I would recognize anywhere, even while half-conscious… Luca…
“You will not touch her! She will stay here, in this room under my protection. Dante owes her his life and we ALL owe her our respect. What she did for us was a fucking miracle. A miracle this family didn’t deserve, but I’ll be damned if I make the mistake of not showing her my appreciation again.
“No, I’m not drinking Kool-Aid! She just saved your son’s life! Something she didn’t have to do! Because of YOU, she should be halfway to Houston by now. Instead, she’s laid up in a New Orleans hospital bed after donating the absolute maximum amount of blood her body could handle. She CHOSE to come back, despite knowing the danger it would put her in.
“She did this despite the horrible things I said to her this morning! After making love to her all night long. Like I’ve wanted to do since the first time I fucking saw her! I had everything I’ve ever wanted in my arms and you ripped it away because it didn’t fit with your narrative. She was good enough for you when it was fake, but when it started to get real… you just couldn’t accept that I might have a shot at happiness.