To be continued…
PARTII
30
GIO
All of the nurses and check-in receptionists were staring at me from the other side of the locked, see-through door. One of them even had their hand placed under the check-in desk where I imagined a button was designed to call the police in case of an emergency. It would have been my preference to go to somewhere that Merrick already had some inroads so that the people would be already well paid not alert the police. I hadn’t worried about setting up my own contacts at the closest hospital because loan-sharking was significantly less violent than what my father does, and I could always get to one of his hospitals in enough time if I or anyone else needed medical assistance.
But this was totally different.
Even though it had only been a couple of hours, it felt like I’d been waiting outside the emergency rooms for several days. The scene of Avion’s torso covered in blood and her going limp in my hold still gripped my mind. One second we were talking and the next she was dying in my arms and I still didn’t have definitive proof for who was responsible for the shooting. Milli was looking into it and I had Merrick rolling through the streets as well trying to find more information. Not that we needed it.
I had a feeling that my hunch about who shot Avion was right on the money.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t go looking for answers myself because I refused to leave until I was able to see that Avion was okay. All I wanted was to look at her, but though I’d been told Avion was officially out of surgery, the nurses almost immediately barred me from the room and wouldn’t let me go back to her. Because I wasn’t family, and likely because Avion’s files had strict information because she was the daughter of the governor, they told me the only way I could see her was if she awoke and asked for me personally or if her father called them and gave them permission for me to see her.
For which I wasn’t holding my breath.
Avion wouldn’t be in the situation she was in if Curtis and I hadn’t made that god-awful deal for the money he owed me. I should have just let Milli take his head off in retribution, but then again, I couldn’t bring myself to regret anything that happened because I wouldn’t have ended up with Avion the way I did. Still, Curtis hadn’t repaid his debt and clearly had no plans to do so, not to mention he willingly gave his daughter up to a mobster. Even if hewasconcerned enough about Avion to come down to the hospital to see her, he wouldn’t knowing I was here waiting.
In his defense, that was a good call. Immediately after he gave the hospital staff permission to let me see Avion, I’d have him killed.
And so all of the hospital staff were cowering away from me behind the locked door. Every single one of them had gotten an earful from me since I arrived, and thanks to the Merrick temper I was raised with, when I got angry enough, I got violent. I glanced sideways at the fish-tank that I’d already shattered by throwing a chair into it, thereby killing all of the fish. I’d already written a check for the damages, but that on its own was enough to clear out the waiting room. I was forced to threaten the staff so that they wouldn’t call the police, but it was obvious they would if I threatened them any further. I was holding out hope that Avion would wake up soon looking for me and then I could go back and see her. Involving the police or causing any more damage would only make things worse, so for the first time ever in my life I was attempting to control my anger.
I was being subservient to weak strangers.
“Do you have any more information?” I called out, relying on the reception desk’s open window to get my message to the other side of the door. “Anything. I just want to know that she’s okay.” The staff all exchanged nervous glances, each looking at me, then to one another, silently trying to decide who they were nominating to speak to me. I sunk down into one of the chairs and tried to project a calming aura. “I’m cool,” I said, holding up my hands. “Please. I just want to know what’s going on.”
Finally, all of their eyes landed on one of the nurses. He was wearing light blue scrubs and had a clipboard in his hand; by my best guess, he was the one with the information. He looked regretful of that fact at the moment, but nodded his head nonetheless. Slowly, the staff dispersed from where they’d all gathered in the back of the reception area. A couple of them returned to their seats, one stayed standing, and two of the nurses apart from the elected one, turned and disappeared down the hallway. One of the reception staff pressed a button on top of the desk and the glass doors buzzed before parting, then the nurse walked through.
“Giovanni?” he asked.
“You can call me Mr. Raines,” I said. They hadn’t asked for my name when I brought Avion in, meaning someone must have recognized me and looked me up.
“M-Mr. Raines…” He swallowed hard. The doors shut behind him automatically, and he jumped a little, turning to look at the receptionist, but she kept her hand prepped over the button and nodded to him as if to tell him she had him covered if he needed it. He gave her a weak response nod, then looked back at me, staying standing right near the door. “Avion--”
“Miss Narzand.”
“R-right, right. I’m sorry. Miss Narzand is, um… She’s out of surgery. The doctors were able to remove the bullet, but it pierced an organ and it’s touch-and-go right now.”
I shot up out of my chair and the nurse yelped and backed up. The receptionist slammed her hand down on the desk and the doors buzzed before opening. The nurse backed behind the doors, which then shut immediately upon the receptionist hitting the button again.
I let out a growl, but held my hands up. “I’m sorry. I’m not gonna do anything, that’s just shocking to hear. Please…” I sat back down and motioned for him to come back out. “I won’t do it again. I’m…” The words felt like poison coming out. “I’m sorry.”
If the situation wasn’t so delicate, I wouldn’t be expected to cater to people I could defeat with my eyes closed, but I tried to think of Avion and let it keep me grounded. The nurse was shaking, but stepped back to the door. The receptionist shook her head, but he took a deep breath and nodded and she tentatively pressed the button, releasing the doors yet again. He came striding out, this time with a little more confidence, I assume because he saw how quickly and effectively he was able to retreat.
If only he knew I could tear those doors off the hinges bare handed if I really wanted to, but again, violence wasn’t the answer here.
“I really can’t give you too much more information. Doctors are by her side, doing everything they can for her. It’s really up to her at this point to fight through it,” the nurse explained.
I bowed my head, trying to force away the thought that the last words exchanged between Avion and I were some hare-brained scheme for her to work off her father’s debt. I’d hoped to communicate a long time ago that I stopped expecting her father to pay back that money and that she was no longer my prisoner, but I was weak. When I thought about her actually choosing to go, I got afraid. If her thinking was that the one thing keeping her near me was the debt to me she had to pay, I didn’t want to take that one reason away. It was selfish, but I’d never had someone like her in my life.
“Is there anything I can do?” I asked, trying to keep my voice even and non-threatening. “Anything? Money isn’t an object. Are there better treatments? Better doctors?” I looked directly into his eyes. “No amount is too much. I’d do anything to make sure she comes through this.”
He forced a smile. “Unfortunately, as much as there are people who would probably take you up on such a generous offer, there’s nothing more that can be done. No doctor here wants to see someone die. They’re doing everything they can for her. If you really want to do something, pray that she’s strong enough on her own to come through this. That’s what it’s come down to at this point.”
Pray. If there was a god up there, he stopped caring about me a long time ago. “Fine. Then let me entice you one more time.” I held up my hands so he knew I wasn’t threatening and slowly rose from my chair. “Please just let me see her. You must have a car that needs paying off or want to buy a home.” I spied the gold band around his hand. “You’re married. Do you want children? Already have them? I can create a college fund for them. Do you have student loan debt? I’ll pay it off.”
