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I moved around to it and opened the bag, finding the saline solution among all the other medical supplies in there. Even as we spoke, more supplies were being brought in, everyone eager to save Angelo’s life. A heartbeat monitor was brought in, as well as a ventilator. I quickly loaded the solution into a pressure canister and walked back to the table, holding it up for the doctor.
Once that was done, he grabbed a scalpel and made a five-inch incision across the area of the wound to give him better access to the area. As he looked at the wound, I moved to get the blood container from the bag and checked to make sure it was O- negative. Fortunately, it was the right blood type, according to those who knew Angelo. I began the transfusion and looked down at Angelo. He had turned pale, but he seemed to be stabilizing. The doctor confirmed that the bullet had grazed the spleen, and he would have to do a bit of stitching. I helped him get ready and watched as he sewed shut the small injury. Then he moved to the larger one on the artery, stitched that as well, and removed the clamps.
We searched for a secondary injury, another source of bleeding, but we found nothing. I cleaned up the rest of the wound and turned to the doctor.
“Sir, what do we have in the way of antibiotics?”
“Bottom shelf, one gram of Ceftriaxone, stat,” the doctor replied.
It had taken all of forty-five minutes, but it was done, Angelo was safe, and my mind finally felt at peace. As I put secured a bandage over his wound, the doctor looked over at me, “You’re an emergency room nurse?”
“Operating,” I replied, turning back to the body.
“You did a fine job in there. I couldn't have done it better myself. You kept Angelo alive, and for that, everyone here should be grateful… Especially our patient, when he wakes up. I’m making provisions for more antibiotics, so we should be fine. Keep up the good work, Maria.”
Angelo stirred beside me and opened his eyes wearily, looking at my face. He tried to reach up with his hand, but I grabbed it and placed it back down, letting my own hands linger over it. He tried to smile and then passed out again, falling into a deep sleep that I dared not wake him from.
“I’m here, Angelo,” I said at last. “Always.”
CHAPTERTWENTY
Maria
It had been almost two hours, and Angelo was still asleep. He had passed out like a light. It had me worried about how long he was going to stay unconscious. With my history in the medical field, I should have known that he would need a lot of rest after what he had been through today, but it didn’t shake the fact that I was beside myself with worry for him. I just hoped that everything turned out fine in the end, that he woke up strong. I couldn’t even imagine what his fate would have been if had he been… a lawyer, perhaps, and they couldn’t have gotten someone to operate on him in time. It was too scary to think about.
The bed was a bit too narrow for two people, but I didn’t mind how uncomfortable it was, as long as I was able to lay right there beside him. I wasn’t going to leave his side, not for anything in the world. I trailed kisses from his neck to his chest, and I drowned in his sweet scent.
“You better be okay,” I whispered, my voice unsteady. “You better be healthy. You’re the Don. Don’t tell me one bullet knocked youoffthat easily.” I chuckled, hoping he would open his eyes and deny being in the obvious pain he was in.
He was deep asleep; I could hear his breaths rattle in his chest. He looked more peaceful than I had ever seen him. Even the few times we had spent the night together, I could tell he wasn’t always at peace. He was always turning in his sleep, making sounds, talking. He had terrible dreams, and even though he did not like to talk about them, I noticed them every night he couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t sleep some of those nights, too, not until he left the room to get up for the day.
But now, he seemed so at ease that it was odd to look at. If I hadn’t felt his heartbeat beneath my hand, I would have thought the worst. I sighed and shut my eyes, caressing his chest. He would have to consider a different line of work. I wasn’t sure how I could handle this kind of fear again, if he was so adamant on us being together, not if this was the kind of danger he was endlessly facing.
That damn Vasquez. I was filled with so much anger and hate for a man I never knew—but I didn’t need to know him. All I knew was that he had shot Angelo; he shot the man I loved.
A sigh crept from my lips. I tried to silence the voices in my head just so I could fall asleep, too, but they would not agree to be hushed.
“Wake up already,” I whispered.
Everything was so boring and colorless without him. If only he had stayed home instead of meeting Vasquez, none of this would have happened. And Benny... I couldn’t shake the feeling that he had something to do with it. Ever since he had the big fight with Angelo, when he sent Benny away, I had a feeling that he would retaliate, and in the worst way. If he had anything to do with this, I would consider hunting him down myself and shooting him in the balls.
A knock on the door pulled me away from my angry thoughts. Whoever it was, they didn’t realize that the man inside was trying to get some rest. Or they didn’t care. I walked to the door and there was Dorothy, standing with a small tray in her hands.
Most of the anger I felt faded away at the sight of her. She never meant any harm.
She peeped inside and saw that he was still asleep. “Oh my, I’m so sorry. I thought I heard his voice earlier, so I thought he was awake. I’m sorry, didn’t mean to be a bother.” She was whispering.
I only smiled at her.
“I brought some green tea; it has good medicinal qualities. I thought he would like to have some. I slipped in a bit of my grandmother’s secret ingredient, it helped her with her muscles when she was ailing.”
“Oh, thank you so much. This is so nice of you.”
I stepped outside the room and quietly shut the door behind me. “I don’t want to wake him now. You know he needs his rest more than anything.”
“Of course, that’s very important. I guess I’ll just check back later when he will be up.”
“Thank you, Dorothy. Are you busy right now?”
