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When he didn’t answer her, she continued on. “They made me wait to come in, so I went up and saw the baby first. Your son is beautiful, Riker. Absolutely beautiful. All that black hair and I think he definitely has the Abruzzi nose.” Valentina said with a sad smile. “He’s had a rough start, but he’s gonna be just fine. I’m sure of it.”
When Riker still didn’t respond Valentina fell silent. She pulled up a chair, sat next to Gia and held her cousin’s hand in hers.
“It's too much." He heard Valentina softly say. "This family has been through too much. I'm so afraid for her." She rubbed her forehead. "I sound like such a coward, don't I?"
Riker shook his head. "No, you don’t. You’d have to be seriously screwed up not to be scared for her."
That elicited a small, dry laugh from Valentina. "In that case I am definitely not screwed up.” Then she added gently. “I’ll stay with Gia, you can go visit with your son.”
“We’ll see the baby together for the first time. Gia and me. I’m not leaving her.” Riker said with determination.
Valentina raised an eyebrow when she realized Riker hadn’t been to see the baby, but when he looked back at her, it was with a challenge. Valentina realized in that moment Riker was calling all the shots. Well, then, so be it. Valentina was too tired, too worried, and too overwrought with emotion to put a chink in Riker’s tightly woven armor. Besides, he almost looked as bad as Gia did. His eyes were bloodshot, his jaw was tense, and his fists clenched and unclenched by his sides as he spoke. Riker couldn’t seem to stand still, but shifted his weight on one foot then another, like a boxer getting ready for a fight. All the while an aura of haunted emotion settled like steam around him.
If Valentina had harbored any doubt about the wisdom of Gia’s decision to marry Riker, it had disappeared the moment she saw his face. Valentina had no doubt that given the opportunity Riker would gladly trade his life for Gia’s.
On Riker’s part, he was surprised to find that he was strangely comforted by Valentina’s presence. It was a feeling of profound relief to have someone else there who loved his wife as much as he did. Riker slowly felt his body begin to relax. His breath became more even and his shoulders lost some of their tension. Riker leaned his head against the wall, felt his eyes grow heavy, and against all odds finally dozed off.
He was in a hospital room, but this one was more comfortable than functional, more cheery than sedate, with soft butter yellow walls and a field of daisies visible through the window. A fresh soft breeze perfumed the room with the smell of clean linen. Colorful scatter rugs replaced industrial tiled flooring. Although the machines still sat bedside like soldiers waiting for a command, Gia was no longer hooked up to them. Instead she lay peacefully asleep in a bed covered in white lace sheets, while her head rested comfortably on soft down-filled pillows.
As Riker looked on, Gia suddenly woke up, smiled serenely at him, and rose from the bed. When she climbed onto his lap, Riker wrapped his arms tight around her and buried his nose in the sweet smell of her hair. But the longer Riker held Gia, the stiffer she became. Her warm, pliant body grew rigid with cold. Suddenly, Riker had the overwhelming feeling that the only thing that was keeping Gia’s spirit from leaving her body was the strength of his arms holding her back. Even so, it wasn’t long before he felt her begin to slip away from him. When Riker tried to reach for Gia, tried to stop her from leaving him, his hand went right through her and caught nothing but thin air.
As she floated above Riker, Gia’s eyes were filled with despair and her voice was filled with quiet sorrow, “I’m so sorry. So, so, sorry. I’m not going to live through this, Riker.”
“No!” Riker felt an arctic cold enter and consume his body until all the warmth was gone.
“I’ll be gone soon, and I can’t take you with me.” She whispered gently.
“You think you’re leaving me behind, Gia? Not gonna happen.” But even as he spoke the words, he couldn’t see her any longer.
“Gia! Gia!” Riker tried to yell to her but there was no sound. The mist grew heavier and colder until he was lost in a void of frigid darkness. Riker was alone and bereft. He felt a sense of despair so deep that it left him shattered. Then out of the darkness came tiny sparks of warm light. They danced around him until the light became whispers and the whispers became words. “Take care of our baby, Riker. Love him enough. Enough for the both of us.”
Riker awoke with a start. After that first time, whenever he managed to catch a few moments rest, he had the exact same dream.
“Why the fuck ain’t she waking up?” Riker paced the room. Gia had been off the ventilator and had been given meds to bring her out of the coma a week ago to no apparent avail. She still lay in that same sleep state. It was totally frustrating, frightening, and freaking Riker way the hell out. Her eyes would twitch occasionally, and sometimes Gia might move a hand or finger. But that was all. Gianni and Valentina had been taking turns being Riker’s plus one in the hospital room. Gianni constantly had his rosary beads out, and Valentina did the same. Riker thought about praying, but he refused to acknowledge any god that threatened to take Gia away from him.
“These things take time.” Doctor Cahill, the physician in charge of Gia’s case, answered him.
“Calling bullshit, Cahill, she’s been off the shit you pumped into her almost a week.” Riker ran a frustrated shaking hand through his hair.
“I must agree, doctor, it appears the concerns that I have already discussed with you at length have fallen on deaf ears. I believe that my niece should be awake by now.” Gianni agreed.
The doctor, who did not have the best bed side manner to begin with, was getting tired of answering to the mob boss and this biker thug. “Oh, you believe? And where did you get your medical degree? How about I won’t tell you how to beat a RICO charge and you don’t tell me how to treat a patient?”
Riker, who had been itching for a fight, leapt up ready to beat the fuck out of the superior acting piece of shit doctor. But before Riker could get to him, Gianni shocked the hell out of Riker by beating him to it. While Riker watched on, Gianni slammed Cahill against the wall, then pressed the elbow of his heavily starched, white dress shirt into the doctor’s throat.
“Who the hell do you think you’re talking to? You self-righteous, egotistical, cocksucker.” Gianni’s voice was low and rife with promised violence.
The physician gave Gianni a look of startled outrage but when he tried to open his mouth, Gianni pressed tighter against his larynx. “Make no fucking mistake, my niece doesn’t walk out of this hospital alive? Neither do you. Now, you want to tell us why Gia hasn’t woken up. And you want to tell us in nice polite, clear terms. Or I will crush your larynx, and have you rolled out in a body bag.” Gianni shrugged. “Makes no difference to me. This place is crawling with doctors. They’re like ants at a church picnic.”
Just then Nurse Nightingale arrived at the hospital room door. Riker moved in front of her. “We need a minute here.” She looked past Riker to see the doctor being shoved up against the wall with an elbow to his throat. Her look of surprise quickly turned to a gleam of satisfaction. Nurse Nightingale gave Riker an undisguised look of approval and an efficient nod. Then she muttered low enough for only Riker to hear. “It’s about time someone put that pompous ass in his place.” Nightingale made a great show of looking looked down at the fully stocked medicine cart. She said aloud with cunning, “Oh dear, it appears I have forgotten to put juice on the tray. It looks like I’ll have to go back to the nurse’s station on the second floor. I will be back in… oh… let’s say about ten minutes or so.” As the stern Nurse turned sharply on her heels and headed down the hallway, Riker could have sworn he heard her humming.
Gianni still had his elbow dug into Cahill’s throat and didn’t seem to be willing to let him go anytime soon. Riker understood the inclination, he felt like killing someone too. It took a few minutes more for Gianni to release the doctor. The physician slumped into a chair and clawed at his throat in an effort to catch his breath. Gianni gave him a look of pure contempt, then poured a glass of ice water from Gia’s bedside stand and handed it to the doctor After a brief hesitation, the doctor gulped down the water. Riker could see that his hand was shaking.
“I know that you are concerned about your niece’s condition. The only thing I can tell you is that Gia will wake up when she is ready.” Riker let out a low growl and Gianni arched an eyebrow in displeasure. The doctor went on to quickly add, “I know it’s probably not what you expected or want to hear, but it’s the truth.”
“Explain.” Riker demanded.
“Coming out of a coma, even one that is chemically induced, is tricky business. It’s like switching on a light with a dimmer rather than a switch. It’s a slow process that can take days or sometimes even weeks. In a case of head and brain injuries like Gia has, it can sometimes take months. There’s just no way of knowing.”
