The nurse looks up from her chart. “She’s heavily sedated, but yes, I believe patients can sense when loved ones are close by.” She pats my shoulder over a t-shirt. “Talk to her.” Her smile is sympathetic before she walks out of the room, leaving us alone with nothing but the drone of machines and the beeping of her heart monitor.
I’m grateful that Elio paid for her to have her own room and be treated privately. His money might be from blood and bricks of cocaine, but right now, I couldn’t care less where it came from. As long as Rose get’s the best care possible.
“Fiore mio.” I kiss her fingers, hoping she can feel me, hear me. “I have plans for us, Rose. We’re going to spend the rest of our lives together. If you’ll have me.” I close my eyes, warming her hand against my face. We have a long road ahead and lots of bridges to build, but I pray she’ll still want me after all this.
“Do you remember when you took me to the Borghese gallery? You showed me around, pointed out all your favourite paintings.” A whimsical smile lifts my cheeks. “I can’t remember any of them because I was just watching you the whole time. The way you lit up the room when you talked. Nothing in that museum was as captivating as you and you had no idea how beautiful you were.”
I chuckle softly in the sterile quiet. “Stealing my heart wasn’t enough… now you’ve got a piece of me keeping you alive.”
I rest her hand over my bandaged side, where the ache pulses beneath my skin. “It hurts, but it’s nothing compared to the pain I felt when I thought I’d lost you for good. I’d rip out every part of me if it meant keeping you breathing. Our son needs you.”
The monitor hums in a steady rhythm, each beep matching my own fragile heart.
“I know we’ve got things to fix. Words left unsaid. But we’ve got time now. We’ve got a future, Rose. If you still want it. If you still wantme.”
I lower my head, my forehead brushing the back of her hand. “Come back to me,fiore mio. I’m not finished loving you yet.”
The door opens. Lucia rides into the room in her new electric wheelchair. “How are you, D’Angelo?”
“I’ve been better.” My lips lift in the corner. “Are you alone?”
“Elio’s just dropped me off. I wanted to sit with her for a while.” She pulls out her rosary and kisses the cross.
“You should get some rest. You look tired.”
She raises an eyebrow. “So do you.”
I huff out a sigh. “I won’t settle until she wakes up and I know she’s all right.”
She hums softly, rolling her chair closer to the bed, her aged fingers smoothing over the rosary beads. "You're a good man, D’Angelo."
I let out a dry chuckle, shaking my head. "Not sure everyone would agree with that."
She tilts her head, watching me carefully. "You saved my daughter’s life. That makes you good in my book."
I glance at Rose, her face tinged with jaundice against the white hospital sheets. I wish I could believe that. But there’s too much blood on my hands, too many things I’ve done.
Her mother exhales softly, her fingers tightening around the rosary. "I owe you an apology, Dan."
I lift my gaze to hers, my eyes widening. "For what?"
She hesitates, as if she’s gathering the strength to say it. “For what my husband did to your mother. For what I caused.”
The words land like a heavy stone in my chest. I swallow, my throat tight. "You didn’t order the hit. He did."
“But it was because of me. He wanted to punish your father in the cruelest way,” she whispers, her eyes glassy. "I knew what kind of man he was. I knew what he was capable of. And still, I couldn’t stay away from your father when he visited Rome on business. I loved him. Seeing him was the only joy I had, but our love ruined so many lives—including yours."
I sit back, rubbing a hand over my jaw, my muscles tense. “Did he love my mother?”
A tear drips onto her hollowed cheek. “Yes, he did. He told me he had met someone, and he was going to marry her. We agreed we wouldn’t see each other again, but then Elio came along. He wanted to see his son when he could.”
“Did Rose’s father know about Elio?”
“No. He never let on if he did. I don’t think he ever realised just how far back our affair went. But I met your father before my marriage. Then several months later, he noticed the change in me. The brokenness that even my own family failed to acknowledge, or maybe they just turned a blind eye to it.”
I wrap both my hands around Rose’s fingers. Her mother’s story is very similar to hers, as if it’s a generational curse. But that curse ends with us. Lucia may never have got her happy ever after, but I’ll make it my mission that Rose lives the rest of her days like a princess in a fairy tale. I gaze down at my sleeping beauty, wishing one kiss would make her wake. Only I’m no Prince Charming. I’m not even a white knight.
A small laugh shakes my shoulders, causing a sharp pain behind my ribs as I remember what Dom called me. I’m just a guy in a hospital gown donating an organ. But I’d give up my life for hers if it came to that. Dom’s right. She’s always been the one.
