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“The sooner I’m out of this place, the better. Hospitals give me the creeps.” Hospitals usually meant that we were waiting for news about fellow Fratellanza members hurt in the course of our business, and they had to be pretty seriously injured if Dr. Cotrone couldn’t patch them up and instead sent them to the hospital.
“I know what you mean. I hated it when we had to come here yesterday for Juliana’s scan. I didn’t expect to be back here so soon again.”
“Hey, how did the scan go?” I remembered now that I hadn’t had a chance to ask him about it.
“Yeah, it’s all looking good.” he grinned. “We’re having a boy.”
“That’s awesome, congratulations to you both.”
“Thanks, man. I wouldn’t have minded a boy or a girl, although I know that boys can be more of a handful. I just hope he doesn’t bring us grief like Camillo and Danio.”
“I can’t believe you’re going to be a dad.”
“Me neither. I never thought I would be married, happy, and looking forward to having kids.”
“You’ll make a great dad, especially after all the practice we had with bringing up Camillo, Danio, and Debi.”
“We had to grow up pretty fast,” Marco recalled.
“Definitely, what with looking after them and you taking over as Capo back then. Now it’s your time to enjoy your wife and baby. At least having all our siblings living with us means that there’ll be plenty of babysitters.”
Marco chuckled. “There has to be some advantage to having Camillo living with us.”
“Anyway, I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me. You should get home to Juliana.”
“I might just go back and check on her. I’ll catch some shut-eye, and then head back here later.”
“Take Cate with you.” I looked across at her sleeping form.
“She won’t come. I’ve already tried, believe me, but she refuses to leave your side.”
“I’ll try to persuade her once she wakes up. She’s pretty out of it right now.” Cate hadn’t stirred even while we spoke around her.
“Yeah, she hardly slept a wink until you regained consciousness. That one’s a keeper. I have to admit, I wasn’t sure at the start when we thought that perhaps she was involved with her father’s dealings, but I can tell she loves you.”
I frowned. Again, I got the sense that something didn’t feel right about all this. I wasn’t used to having to give in to pain or drowsiness, and both these things were dulling my senses and making it hard to think completely straight.
***
Later that day, after finishing my meal, the nurse brought me some more painkillers. I refused to take them. “No more painkillers. They knock me out and I need to be able to think straight.”
“You don’t need to be able to do anything while you’re in here,” admonished Cate. “You’re to rest. That’s doctor’s orders and also Marco’s orders.”
“We’ll see about that. I’m hoping to head home today.”
“You make a really lousy patient, do you know that?”
“There’s nothing wrong with me.” The pain and my frustration about being stuck here was making me irritable.
“Apart from the hole in your side and the fact that you can’t move without groaning in pain.”
“I’m used to pain. It comes with the job.”
“You don’t need to suffer—that’s what painkillers are for.”
“Look, Cate, you should head home now. You’ve been here long enough, and as I said, I hope I’ll be home soon.”
“Marco said he would be heading back here later to talk to the doctor and see how you’re doing, so when he arrives, I’ll go home and grab a shower and maybe a bit of sleep.”
