Juliette

Chapter- 12 Anger

Not Edited. Read at your own Risk. 

Stefano Ricci quietly followed the doctor; his face was cold, void of any expressions. Nothing else mattered to him more than the well-being of his family, which now included his newly discovered sister. Raw anger was flaring inside him as he recalled all the incidents under his own roof from the morning.

"Dr Neir- brief me on the medical reports you have regarding my sister"

He posed the question as soon as he stepped inside the Doctor's cabin. His eyes keenly captured the perturbed look on the doctor's face. The doctor tried to hide his anxiety as he flitted through the sheets of the report, and placed it carefully in front of him.

Stefano folded his hands slowly, gathering his attention, "Hmm? So tell me. "

The Doctor stiffened, and replied with a hesitant nod, "You need to be prepared for this, sir. I would like to request that you be patient while I get into the details and particulars of all the test results. But, before I proceed, I would just like to clarify something," he responded with a pleading look in his eyes.

"What is it?" Stefano asked sharply.

The hesitation was clearly seen in his eyes. The Ricci brothers grew up in a world of bloodshed with people fearing their power, and hence the hesitant and scared look on Dr Neir's face wasn't anything new.

With a loud gulp, the doctor asked the question that had been circulating in his mind,

"Has Madam Ricci ever been in an abusive environment?"

Suddenly, the room felt much colder and more ominous than earlier.

"Abusive environment?" Stefano repeated slowly.

"The ankle injury that Madam Ricci has sustained indicates the signs of an abusive household. Further, she is severely underweight and small for her age," Dr Neir immediately explained, trying to keep his life intact. The sweat beads slowly rolled down his forehead as he tried to maintain his composure.

"Hmm, anything else?" He tilted his chin up, signalling the doctor to continue.

"There are mild traces of a paralyzing drug in her blood system. We are currently running an IV to neutralize any remaining effects and counteract the drug. But," the doctor hesitated as he looked down at the reports, not daring to meet his boss's gaze.

"But the drug in her blood couldn't be identified. It could be a test drug that's found on the streets," Dr Neir gulped loudly and looked at his boss, whose deep eyes seemed completely blank. But the air around him turned bleak.

He slowly continued, "Or it could be an underdeveloped drug that someone injected on the young Miss to paralyze her.."

"Continue.." Stefano ordered, his jaw clenched tightly in fury.

"Currently there are no signs of drug addiction, so this might not be anything to worry about. But, it's better to keep an eye on her, along with regular health checkups."

Something was stirring deep within Stefano as the doctor finished the report. The rage he generally concealed to maintain a neutral facade in any situation seemed to slip up. His sister, though the word entirely sounded foreign to him along with its whole concept; no one gets to touch a Ricci and live.

And as much as he might try to deny it, he felt drawn to protect his sister. Further, he wasn't alone in it, his brothers also seemed to feel the intense need to protect her from all the evils in this world, which might also include shielding her from all the sins that they themselves were known for.