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I don’t remember that. The last thing I can recall is Jackson’s voice cutting through the onslaught of blows raining down on me. The rest is a blur.
Luckily, the doctor knocks on the door and makes his entrance. He’s an older man with salt and pepper sprouting from his beard and a kindness in his hazel eyes that reminds me of warm hugs on a cold day. “Miss Lucatello,” he greets, “I’m Dr. Stone, Head of Emergency Medicine. I was on-call when this young man brought you in last night. Do you remember me?”
I shake my head no.
“That’s okay.” His smile is compassionate and sympathetic. “You had a mild concussion and three fractured ribs. There was some internal bleeding, but we isolated the source and embolized the blood vessels. You had to have a blood transfusion and antibiotics, and you’re on pain meds for now, but you’re through the worst of it. You have a lot of superficial injuries, several facial lacerations, muscle strains, and some torn ligaments, but I don’t think any of them will need surgery. Considering what you looked like when you showed up with Mr. Reid, this is all positive news.”
What universe is this clown living in? In what world are three fractured ribs, multiple facial lacerations, and torn ligaments positive news?
The doctor pauses for a minute before breaking more news. “Now that you’re awake, I should tell you that I’ll be reaching out to Dante Terlizzi to update him about your condition.”
A frown blossoms on my face. “Wh-what?” I turn to Jackson to pin him with a glare. “I thought you said you didn’t tell them about my family.”
Dr. Stone clears his throat. “He didn’t, Miss Lucatello. However, Niccolo Terlizzi is named as your emergency contact. I am very familiar with the Terlizzi family… if you know what I mean.” He pauses to give me a knowing look. “And I made a personal call to Dante after you were out of critical condition.”
I shouldn’t be surprised. Why else would the Head of the ER be interested in my case? I’m sure the hospital gets drifters like me coming through their doors every day. I’m not special; I am just related to important people.
“While we are happy to respect your wishes and allow your boyfriend to stay, I feel like it’s my duty to inform you that I will be sharing progress updates with Dante.”
That means Niccolo is going to know what happened if he doesn’t already. I’m surprised he hasn’t busted down the door to see me.
“We’ll need to monitor you for a couple of days, Miss Lucatello. In that time, if you’d like us to reach out to any of your family members, we’re happy to do so. Do you have any questions for me?”
I guess he already answered when I’m getting out of here. “No,” I reply sulkily.
It’s only a matter of time until Niccolo shows up. He won’t care if I’ve specified no family allowed. I reckon he’ll fight every doctor and nurse that stands in his way to get to me.
“Can I tell Kaye now?” Jackson asks in a stage whisper. “She’s called you twelve times.”
I look over at Jackson to see him waving my phone in the air. “Oh, god,” I groan. She’s going to lose her shit when she finds out what my uncle did.
“If you think that’s bad, wait until you see how many times your stepfather called.”
Chapter 43
Niccolo
“I’m going to find her and kill her,” I growl, my voice dripping with a blend of anger and desperation. The living room serves as my battleground, my restless pacing back and forth from one end to another amplifying my frustration with every step.
Dante’s been here for hours. I called him after class was over to let him know that Christine hadn’t shown up. At first, he said he wasn’t my stepdaughter’s babysitter, and he didn’t care about her whereabouts. But as every phone call went unanswered, when even Kaye had no idea where she was, Dante was willing to admit that something was wrong. He showed up after dinner and has been steadily plying me with drinks ever since.
“You won’t kill her,” Dante interjects calmly, his voice a steady balm to my raging storm. “Especially if her being gone is through no fault of her own.”
I ignore him. “And after I kill her, I’m going to chain her to her bed and never let her leave again.”
Dante chuckles, amusement dancing in his eyes as he gets up to pour me another Scotch. “Careful, brother. You’re starting to sound more and more like me every day.”
With a wrinkle of my nose, I take the glass from his hands and sip. The familiar burn of the amber liquid provides a temporary respite from the chaos swirling within me. “What if she’s hurt, D?” I finally vocalize the fear gnawing at my insides.
“She’s not hurt,” he announces with a suppressed yawn. “Her phone died or something. She’s probably in the library.”
I pause in my pacing to give him a pointed look. “It’s 11:00 pm. The library is closed.” Besides, my class was at 2:00. There’s no way her phone’s been dead for nine hours. “Also, Kaye said she’d let me know the second Christine returns.”
Dante looks like he doesn’t think much of my relying on one college girl to inform me about another’s whereabouts. “Our greatest concern should be if her uncles had anything to do with this. But considering she was on campus all day, someone would’ve noticed if the two of them were forcibly dragging a screaming redhead into their car.”
His words may lack comfort, but the logic behind them is sound. If someone had been kidnapped from campus, we would have heard about it by now. “So you’re saying she’s fine.”
“I’msayingif Giovanni taking her to Kansas City is ourprimaryconcern, we’re probably in the clear.”
