by K. J. Dahlen
I giggled.
“Jesus Christ, I’m not ready for this,” my dad muttered.
My mom pushed past him and came into the room, either oblivious to it all or ignoring it. “The doctors told us you were awake,” she said walking up next to my bed and squeezing my hand.
“What time is it?” I asked looking at the windows. The shades were drawn, but from the small cracks of light that peeked in, I could tell it was daytime.
“It’s like 11:30,” my mother said.
“Really?” Dante asked shocked. “I can’t believe I slept that long.”
“You slept in that chair, next to my bed all night?” I asked.
“No, not really,” Dante answered.
“It’s been a long night,” my mother explained. “You were brought in just after midnight. We all sat in the waiting room while you were in surgery. When you were in the recovery room, Dante and I sat with you. It was about eight or so this morning when they moved you to this room. Dante said he’d wait with you and I went home to shower and eat.”
“Did you eat?” I asked Dante, noticing how tired he looked.
“No, I’m not hungry.”
I raised my eyebrows. “You are always hungry,” I said, recalling how he devoured the food I brought to him each night.
“Well this food is different.” He laughed. “I’m sure I don’t want to know what they have in the cafeteria. Your food, and yours,” he said looking at my mom. “Was heavenly. This stuff will send you to an early grave.”
My mother smiled. “The next time I go home, I can bring you some food.”
“You really should go home and get some rest,” my father said to Dante.
“I can rest here. I really don’t want to leave her.”
He nodded. “You’re going to have to leave her sometime, but I guess until you start to smell so bad she asks you to go, there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Dante laughed, but he didn’t move. “I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I wasn’t here. I need to know she’s safe.”
“Does it help to know that there’s an armed officer stationed outside of her door?” my mother asked.
“No,” Dante and my father said at the same time.
“There’s a cop outside of my door?” I asked. “What on earth for?”
“Well, there was a shooting involving you,” my Dante said. “I’m sure they want to question you. I’m sure the officer outside your door has already called it in that you’re awake. They’ve come twice already before I fell asleep. I don’t know how many times after.”
As if on cue, two men walked into the room. You wouldn’t have known that they were police officers except they had badges clipped to their waistbands of their jeans.
“Hello Annalisa, I’m detective Quinton and this is detective Murphy. I know you’re probably tired and just got out of surgery, but we’d like to ask you a few questions while things are fresh in your mind.”
I looked over at Dante who was staring straight at me, as if willing me to read his mind.
“Do you recall what happened?”
I recalled it perfectly. I’d gone to the dock to meet Dante, but Jimmy had been there instead. He’d reached in my shirt and touched my breast. He was removing his pants so he could rape me when Dante showed up. Dante had shot him and Jimmy had shot me as he was going down. The problem was that I wasn’t sure if it was self defense if Dante shot first. I also had no idea what the officers knew so I did the only thing I could think of. “Everything is fuzzy. I don’t really remember anything.”
“Do you remember being on the dock?”
I shook my head then nodded. “I-I think so. I’m not sure.” I hoped I was a better actress than I felt like I was.
“Miss Moretti. It’s important to try. We need to get to the truth so justice can be served.”
Justice had already been served. I wanted it to be done. I laid back and closed my eyes.
“Can’t you see she’s tired,” Dante said.
I heard the officer sigh. “It’s important that we get her statement right away. Do you mind giving us a few minutes?” the officer asked.
My eyes flew open. I didn’t want to be left alone with them. I didn’t have to say anything because my father said, “NO! You are not going to badger her. She’s not a criminal. She was shot for fuck’s sake.”
The officer looked at my father and then at Dante. He seemed confused. He must have known of the rivalry.
It was Dante who spoke next. “Detectives, what is it you want to know? Annalisa and I were on a date, taking a walk down on the docks. I told you this. She’ll tell you this. Then we got mugged.”
The detective looked mad that Dante was able to say all of that in front of me.
It did give me a lot to go on as to what our story was. “I remember eating dinner and then walking on the dock,” I said, more to Dante than the officers, again hoping my acting skills were good.
“And then there was that man...who mugged us.”
“Did you know the man?” the detective asked.
I shook my head. It was the truth. I’d never met him before.
The detective turned to Dante. “And how about you? Did you know him?”
Dante shook his head.
The detective flipped to a page in his notebook. “How is that possible?” he asked Dante. “The man who you claim shot Miss Morelli is Jimmy Atolio. He worked with you for a dozen years. You’re telling me you didn’t recognize him?” he said in an accusatory tone.
Dante was quiet for a minute. I made a dramatic sigh. “Detectives, Dante doesn’t want to speak ill of the dead, but yes he knew Jimmy.” I paused and put my hand over Dante’s. “Jimmy didn’t like Dante and I being together. He believed those silly stories about our families being in a feud. He said he was going to show Dante what a… what a...” I let my voice break. “Anyway, he didn’t like it.”
The detective took a few notes then looked up. “I’m sorry that it was traumatic. I need to ask you about the shooting. Do you remember anything?”
I shook my head. I’d never say Dante shot him.
Dante interrupted once again, “I remember something else,” he said. “The guy who shot Jimmy, the mystery guy, he was wearing a Cubs hat.”
The detective turned back to me. “Do you remember him wearing a hat?”
“Who?” I asked. “The man who shot Jimmy?”
The detective nodded.
I was quiet and then I leaned over to Dante and whispered. “I’ve just got to tell them the truth.”
Dante’s eyes went wide. “Baby, you can rest and talk later.”
“Let her speak,” the detective said.
I took a deep breath. “I’ve got to do this.” I looked from Dante to my father. “I’m sorry Dad. I’ve got to tell them.” Before anyone could say anything, I went on. “So Dante and I were on a date walking on the dock. We’re just taking our relationship public. The next thing I know, this guy walks up to me and Dante. I didn’t realize who he was at first, but when he started saying things about a feud and being a traitor, I realized he was someone who didn’t like my father. He shouted at Dante and pulled out a gun. He was acting crazy and I was scared.”
“We found your phone in his possession, but not your purse. Dante said he robbed you. Can you explain that?” the detective asked.
“I didn’t have my purse. We were just walking on the dock. I said he was acting crazy. He told me to give him my stuff. I gave him my phone and some money in my pocket. He wanted my ring. I took it off and handed it to him. I was shaking and I dropped it. It fell between the boards of the dock. I’m sure you could send a diver to find it if you want to check.” I knew there was no way they were going looking.
The detective was writing and looking like he was believing my act.
I swallowed hard. The next part wasn’t acting. “He got really mad that I dropped the ring. He said he’d teach me a lesson. He started to remove his pants and Dante got in his face. He had
a gun but Dante didn’t seem to care. I was so scared he’d hurt me, but I was even more scared Dante would get hurt trying to stop him.” I turned to look at the cops. “I swear the next part was self defense.”
Dante shook his head. “You don’t have to talk Baby.”
I kept on going, “I wasn’t at the dock alone. My father made someone go with me all the time. Vito was with me. When he saw what Jimmy was doing, Vito came running. He was carrying a gun. I know that’s probably illegal, but he had one. He shouted something like stop. I don’t even know. I was trying to get away. I heard a loud pop and the guy jerked back and then I heard another pop. It was louder and then it felt like I was on fire.” I felt the tears come and I let them. “I guess that’s when he shot me.”
The detectives looked from Dante to me. “Is that what happened?”
Dante nodded. “I didn’t want to get Vito in trouble since he had shot the guy who was trying to rape my girl.”
“And where is Vito now?”
“I don’t know,” I answered.
“He ran off,” Dante said. “I thought he’d be in contact, but no one has heard from him.”
“It may be ruled self defense,” the detective said. “He’ll need to come in and give a statement.”
“I swear, the next time I talk to him, I’ll bring him in myself,” my father said.
I’m not so sure the officer bought that last part, but they seemed satisfied enough. “If you remember anything else,” he said, “give me a call.” He handed me a card and then left.
The room was quiet a full minute after the two officers left the room.
“I think that might be the end of that,” my mother said.
“Yeah, until they question Vito”
No one said anything. They just stared at me.
“What?” I asked. “It’s not like he’s loyal and is going to confess. Who knows what he’ll say.”
Still they stared at me until finally my father spoke, “He won’t be saying anything.”
“Are you going to…” I stopped my sentence. For me, it had been just a minute since I’d been shot on the dock. In reality, it had been nearly twelve hours. “Already?” I asked, though I knew the answer.
“Yes, and anyone else who threatened you or our family.”
I didn’t want to know who else or how many. I didn’t like to think about that stuff.
“It’s all over now,” is all you need to know n my dad said. “Everything is taken care of, so when you’re released from here, you will be safe. Things can go back to normal.”
My mother started talking about how they could set up a bed for me on the main floor if I couldn’t do stairs in the den off the living room. My father was going over specifics, but my mind was elsewhere.
What did they mean, back to normal? I didn’t want normal. Normal was me in the house, bored and lonely. I wanted the nightly visits to the basement and Dante. I knew that wasn’t going to happen. It’s not like he was going to say to my dad, “So, wanna cuff me back up?”
Still, I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen between Dante and I now that he wasn’t forced to be in our house. I bit my lip.
Dante leaned over and whispered into my ear, “Nothing about your life is going to be normal now. I’m going to be in it.”
“I want that,” I said.
“And I want to take you on a real date.” He leaned over and kissed my cheek then whispered in my ear. “And wake up with you in the morning.”
I felt myself blush with my parents in the same room. It occurred to me, just then, that they might not even know we had sex. I whispered to Dante, “So uh, my parents know we’re um...you know...we like each other?” I felt so silly saying it like that, but I didn’t know what else to say. He wasn’t my boyfriend, not really. We’d planned on running away together, yet we’d never gotten to that label.
“You like me?” Dante said, a silly grin on his face. “I told your parents that I like you too.” He chuckled. “Actually, I told them that I’m in love with you, Annalisa.”
“They know that?” I asked, looking over at my father and mother who instantly stopped talking and looked back at us.
“Know what?” my father questioned.
I felt my face burning. “Uh, know that we like each other.”
He looked from Dante to me like it was some sort of joke. “Aware that you like each other? Ha! I’m aware that he seduced you and that he didn’t seem to know how to keep from knocking you up.”
So there it was. Not only did they know that we’d slept together, they knew I was pregnant. It wasn’t that I was ashamed of any of it, but somehow having your parents look at you after made me feel about six years old. I did have to set the record straight though. “Dad...Mom...he didn’t seduce me though. I mean, he might have made the first move sometimes, but I came down to his room every night. That was me. I wanted him to.”
My father visibly cringed.
“And the baby is my fault too. I thought I was on birth control.”
“How can someone think they are on birth control,” my mom asked.
“Well, I found all these partial packs of birth control pills at our house. Lina left them laying around. She always skipped a row.”
“The sugar pills?” my mom asked.
I nodded.
My mother smacked my dad on the arm. “See, I told you so.”
My mom was smiling, my dad was doing his best.
Dante was holding my hand, looking exhausted, but happy.
I wasn’t though. We’d just been talking about the baby, but I wasn’t even sure there was one. I hadn’t been sure how I felt about it when I’d first had the hint I might be pregnant, but once I knew, once I’d let myself love it, I wanted it more than anything. My hands went to my stomach.
“I know,” Dante said, his smile faltering.
“Is it...gone?” I asked.
Dante put his hands over mine. “The doctors don’t know. They won’t know for about a month honey. Do you really want to talk about this now?”
I looked over at my parents as I felt the tears start to fall.
“Why don’t we give you two a minute,” my mother said, pulling my dad from the room.
“A month?” I asked him when they’d left.
“Well, they did some blood work when you came in last night, and they said they were going to do it again today. I guess there are some numbers in it and they double each day, so if they go up, then, well, it’s a good sign.”
I squeezed his hand. “And if they don’t, it’s done right?”
He nodded. “But if they go up, they said that doesn’t necessarily mean...well, sometimes it takes time for things to change. They said they’d schedule an ultra sound in three weeks. You’ll be five weeks along then, and I guess there are things you can see better then.”
He sounded like a doctor. It was comforting that he’d asked the questions I didn’t want to or even know to ask.
He leaned over and took my face into his hands. I hadn’t realized I was crying until he touched my cheeks. “Annalisa, Babygirl, we have to stay positive. And if things, well, if things are meant to be another way, then...well...I know this wasn’t planned, but I’m truly excited about it. I really want this baby, and if you want one too, we can get you pregnant again as soon as the doctor says it’s okay.”
It was okay. That was exactly what I wanted to hear. I knew I loved him, or at least I thought I did. It had all happened so fast. He’d said he loved me, and he’d even said it before he knew about the baby, but the baby had tied the two of us together. It was a bond that would keep us connected forever. It gave me security. The fact that he wanted another child, if we lost this one, meant the world to me.
A few hours later, a nurse came in and drew blood. She said it was routine, and it might have been, but I knew that there would also be the test to see if I was still pregnant.
It seemed that the doctors and nurses never stopped coming in, checking on me, loo
king at my wound, which was really small for how much it had hurt. Dante was there through it all. I hadn’t even noticed that the sun had set until a nurse came in and closed the curtains. She checked my vitals and then turned to Dante. “How are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m fine,” he said, sounding surprised by the question.
“I was just checking,” the nurse said. “I figure you’ll be my patient by tomorrow. It would be nice to get to know you.”
“Patient?” Dante asked.
The nurse smirked. “Yeah. You’ll be suffering from exhaustion and dehydration.”
“I’m fine,” Dante said.
“Okay,” the nurse said with a smile. “I’m sure you guys can get a couples suite.”
I giggled. I liked the nurse. She did have a point though. Dante had been with me all day and hadn’t gotten anything to eat. He’d had a cup of coffee that Marco had brought him when he came to check on me, but that was it.
I looked at the clock. It was nearly seven. “Dante. She’s right. You need to eat and get rest.”
“I’m not leaving you,” he said.
Before I could respond, the nurse was back at the door. She had a small box in her hands. “It turns out we’re pretty busy here, and I don’t have time for another patient, will you eat this?”
She gave the box to Dante and left.
He didn’t open it.
“Dante, why aren’t you eating?” I asked.
“I don’t want to eat in front of you and I know you can’t eat.”
“Yeah, but I’m not hungry,” I said honestly. “I don’t know why, but I’m not, but it’s bothering me you’re not eating or sleeping.”
Dante reluctantly agreed and I wasn’t surprised when he ate the entire sandwich that was in the box along with the chips, apple and cookie.
The doctor came in not long after that with the nurse. “I have your test results, Miss Morelli. Would you like some privacy?” He was looking from me to Dante.
“No, it concerns him too,” I said, not liking the look on the doctor’s face. He looked like he had bad news.
He nodded and opened the folder. “Well, things look good in regards to your levels from the surgery. There are no signs of infection.”