Page 105 of Marcus

It felt like she’d been doing that for so long.

Screaming without sound.

Inside, where no one knew.

Now it was all coming out.

“It wouldn’t hurt to stay in the hospital for another day, fils,” Gian said even as Marcus continued to heave himself from the uncomfortable bed. Honestly, what did Canadians pay all their taxes for if that was the piece of shit they had to rest on? “The doctor said—”

“I could leave or stay. I’m leaving.”

Jesus.

Marcus felt like the floor wobbled under his feet when he stood from the bed, and he was sure that wasn’t supposed to happen. He didn’t acknowledge the dizziness because it would only make his family worry more, and he had other things on his mind to handle.

“I’ll get the walking papers,” Chris muttered near the door, turning to leave right after.

“Has anyone else arrived?” Cara asked. “Corrado was coming in, right?”

“Lands around noon.”

Marcus let out a hard sigh. The only show of his annoyance, really. “Why? He doesn’t need to come—he has enough things to handle at home with Les and Ginevra, and the kids. I am fine.”

“Beni will be here Tuesday,” Bene spoke up.

“Great, are we just having a fucking get well soon party, or …?”

He appreciated his family’s efforts, certainly, but he didn’t want or need everyone to gather around him like he was about to die. He hadn’t even almost died. Well … that depended on who you asked, but Marcus felt how he felt. Simple as that.

His mother and father shared a look. Then, Gian nodded his head at the door and without needing told verbally, his mother said she was going to step out of the room for a moment. That left Marcus alone with his father, and Bene.

“I’m checking out,” he told them.

“I’m not going to argue with you if it’s what you want to do,” Gian replied, “but we should also go over some of the information we’ve gathered since yesterday regarding the bikers and their attack, don’t you think?”

“What I’d really like to know,” Marcus replied instead of answering his father’s question, “is why no one has told me where Cella and Tiffany are despite the fact I’ve asked at least a dozen times since I woke up this morning.”

Shit, whatever medication the paramedic gave him knocked him clean out. It was possible—very likely, really—that the doctor had given him something to help him sleep and relax through the night once they figured out he wasn’t suffering from burn injuries, and mostly just needed oxygen to help his lungs.

He woke up to a room full of people.

All people he loved, yes.

Except for two.

Cella and Tiff.

Where was she?

The silence that coated his hospital room wasn’t lost on Marcus. He let his father and brother chew on whatever they didn’t want to say as he shedded the fucking awful, scratchy hospital-issued gown to change into the three-piece suit someone had brought him. He recognized the clothes as his own, so someone must have gone to his house.

Cella?

He doubted it.

A part of him just knew …

“Well?” he asked, yanking the pants up around his hips.