Mafia Fall-Out

Chapter Thirty

Luca

I followed the doctor out into the hallway, my nerves absolutely shot as I did. Why did we have to talk out in the hallway? What did he have to say to me that couldn't be said in front of Marco or Angelo? It was making me nauseous just thinking about it. This man held the key to my future. Whatever he said next would change my life forever.

"How are you feeling, Mr. Catalano?" He asked. "Were you able to get yourself checked out?"

"I'm fine." All I wanted him to do was tell me how Charlotte was. My own condition was obsolete, and I couldn't even begin to think about anything else until he told me what was going on.

He nodded, knowing I wasn't going to elaborate anymore. "And how about Lucy? Did her doctor have time to speak with you?"

"Yes, Lucy is just fine. She's sleeping now." I gritted my teeth. "Dr. Riley, with all due respect, all I care about right now is how my wife is doing."

He nodded hesitantly. "She is out of surgery and in recovery right now, but I'm going to be honest with you. She's not in good shape. We had to give her 3 blood transfusions just to get through the surgery. The bullet pierced both of her lungs and without oxygen for so long, her body had shut down. The surgery took much longer than we would have liked, and the next few hours will be crucial. Our team is going to monitor her closely, but we might have to go back into surgery if things don't progress like we'd like them to. Which, of course, would be a huge risk since she's already so weak."

I swallowed the lump in my throat, digesting everything he had just said. Charlotte was still alive, but it sounded like that was touch and go at this point. I thought of my beautiful girl lying down there, so broken and so hurt, and I couldn't stop the tears pooling in my eyes. Any persona I put on go a tough Mafia Don dissolved into a puddle at my feet. She had always been above all of this bullshit, and now she'd tuned into a casualty of it. All I wanted was to see her deep, chocolate eyes open again, to see the corners of her mouth turn up in a smile, to hear her sweet voice. I wanted to hear her tell me that she loved me and that everything would be okay, because after all, she was the one that kept us together. She was the one that kept us going. But that was what she needed from me right now, and I was going to do everything in my power to give it to her.

"So what does that mean? What are our next steps?" I wiped the tears off of my cheek, dialing in on what I needed to do. I had to focus on what I could control.

"Well, that's kind of up to Charlotte. We need to see how her body responds to what we're doing before we make any other decisions." He said.

"But you could repair everything, right? Her lungs?" I asked.

"For the most part." He said. "The body is pretty amazing in that it can regenerate some of the internal organs, and the lungs are one of those. Right now, she's still on a breathing tube, but I'm hopeful in the next few days we can take it out and she can breathe on her own."

In the next few days? He couldn't be serious. How was I supposed to get through the next few hours without knowing how this was going to turn out? Without knowing she would wake up? Survive this?

Dr. Riley must have read the expression on my face. "Mr. Catalano, I know how difficult this can be, and unfortunately all I can say is that this is a waiting game. We were lucky to revive her, and that gave us a chance. I think we need to focus on that right now."

"A chance." I repeated, scoffing.

"I'm sorry that I don't have better news for you." He frowned sympathetically.

I stared at the ground, balling my hands into fists to control my anger. I tried to remember all the steps our counselor had taught me, but it seemed lost to me right now. I was fucking furious. Furious with Dr. Riley for what he was telling me. Furious with myself for sending Charlotte on her own like that. Furious with Angelo and Marco for not getting there sooner. At Matteo for taking Lucy. At my dad for having a fucking affair in the first place. At the police for not doing their jobs and finding Lucy on their own. Furious at God for giving me just a glimmer of hope but leaving me hanging like this. It wasn't fair.