My hand finds the rosary. The beads click between my fingers. No words come.
I let go of the rosary. Step over Romano’s body.
The stairs stretch upward.
The medical wing is on the other side of the compound. Every second stretches.
I pass soldiers in the hallway. They look at me. Look away. No one asks about Romano. They know.
The medical wing doors. White. Clinical.
I stop. My hand is on the handle.
Right now, he’s alive. Right now, I don’t know. Not knowing is better than the alternative.
Coward.
I push open the door.
The first thing I see is Gia. Exhausted. Blood on her scrubs. Her eyes find mine.
“Is he alive?”
“Barely.” Her voice cracks. “I don’t know what Romano used, but it’s aggressive. I’m treating him blind.”
“Tetrodotoxin.” I cross the room. “Pufferfish toxin. The Benedettis modified it, made it faster. He didn’t know the full compound.”
Dr.Biagi looks up from the monitors. His face changes at the word.
“Tetrodotoxin.” He moves to the bedside, checks Dante’s pupils, his reflexes. “That explains the paralysis pattern. The respiratory depression.” He turns to Gia. “No true antidote, but now we know what we’re fighting. Keep him ventilated.Maintain blood pressure. The toxin will clear in twenty-four to forty-eight hours if his organs hold.”
“They’ll hold.” Gia’s voice is steel. “I’ll make sure of it.”
Dr. Biagi nods. Pulls off his gloves. “The critical window is the next six hours. After that, if he’s stable, he’ll make it.”
He writes on a pad. “My cell. Call if anything changes. I’ll check back at dawn.”
He pauses at the door. Looks at Dante, then at me. “Your brother is a fighter. I’ve seen men half his size die from less. He’s still here.”
Then he’s gone.
Gia adjusts the ventilator. Checks the IV lines. Her hands are steady.
She looks at me.
“You might have just saved his life.”
I nod. My hands hang at my sides. Empty.
Cassia is in the corner. Curled in a chair. Face swollen from crying. She looks at me.
Doesn’t ask about Romano.
She knows.
I cross to Dante’s bed. He’s pale. Too pale. Tubes and wires and machines keeping him here.
His chest rises. Falls.
