Carmine shook his head. “It’s all a blur.”
No food or drink had passed any of their lips since arriving. That had to be a record for the Amato family.
They reached the lobby and found a chain coffee shop. There would be grumbles from their mother at the quality of the bean.
As they joined the queue, Raoul stretched.
“Long night,” he said.
“I’ll say. Weirdly I’m not tired yet. Are you?”
“Nah. Mind you, we should probably get better organised.”
Carmine frowned. “What do you mean?”
“We can’t all go on for much longer,” Raoul replied. “There’s a hotel across the road. Why don’t we get a room and take it in shifts? At least we can encourage Mama to get her head down.”
Wow. Raoul has this under control.
“That’s a good idea.”
They ordered coffees and croissants. It wouldn’t do Stefano any good if one of them passed out.
As they waited for the drinks, Raoul shifted uncomfortably. He always fidgeted when he wanted to say something.
“Go on,” Carmine said. “Out with it.”
“I interrupted something yesterday, didn’t I?”
After everything that had happened, Carmine didn’t have the energy to lie.
“Yes.”
“What?”
“It doesn’t matter. Nothing came of it.”
Then a thought occurred to him.
“I hope you’re not blaming me for this.”
“Of course not. Don’t be so paranoid.”
The barista brought four cups in a holder and plonked them down on the counter.
Carmine grabbed the bag of croissants and left Raoul with the drinks.
“Carmine,” he said as they set off to the ward. “Please believe me, I didn’t mean that at all. I only wanted to see if you needed to talk. Then I suppose you’ve got Monica for that.”
This stopped Carmine dead in his tracks. He’d shortchanged his brother and he felt bad.
“I’m sorry, Raoul. I guess I’m more knackered than I realised. I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”
They resumed their journey.
Now Raoul had mentioned the hotel room, Carmine craved to lie on a bed for an hour or two. His bones were aching from sitting in one position all night.
When they got to the relatives’ room, Monica sat on her own.
