I glanced behind me.
Firefighters and, behind them, the ambulance buzzed.
I stood aside and watched helplessly as they worked to save my wife.
Lucy was in a coma.
The traumatic brain injury she sustained in the accident led to a subdural hematoma that required immediate surgery. The neurosurgeon was cautious about my wife’s prognosis but assured me it was caught early, but we wouldn’t know the extent of her injuries until she woke up.
She had a broken wrist, had sprained both knees, and had dislocated a shoulder. She might require more surgery.
A cervical collar stabilized her neck. Bandages wrapped around her head and covered part of her face. I could barely recognize her.
She looked so helpless and fragile. Broken.
The hollowness in my chest that had disappeared in the past few days returned with a vengeance, and it became a soul-sucking abyss steeped in hellfire.
The monitor sounds in the room were my constant companion. Each beep was a drumbeat in my skull, taunting me about how I had failed to protect her.
I hadn’t left her side since they wheeled her into this room after the six hours of surgery. The waiting room had been in chaos when Dominic De Lucci went after me.
This is because of you! You did this to her!
Security tossed him out. After all, I was Lucy’s husband.
But those words repeated in my head. This was all my fault.
The De Luccis visited in pairs because the ICU limited visitors.
No one spoke a word to me, probably out of fear that I would ban them from the hospital like the heartless bastard they knew me to be. Their condemnation spoke volumes. And I kept to my brooding silence, alternating with thoughts of revenge and replaying the moments in the cabin. The only time I felt compelled to open my mouth was when Lucy’s parents came in. They were the first ones allowed to visit.
Paulie and Lottie broke down. More so Paulie. His face crumpled first, before his knees buckled. After seeing his baby girl laid up like that and the son of a bitch who did this to her was in the same room, he had every right to come after me. Lottie, the only De Lucci who had been a staunch supporter of my marriage, couldn’t even look at me.
Not that I was approachable. Because I wasn’t. When Irina and Ivan came in and after patting Lucy’s hand, my mother came over and sat beside me on the uncomfortable bench.
“I can’t imagine how you’re feeling.”
“Eaten with guilt.”
“It’s not your fault,” Ivan said quietly.
“Tell that to the De Luccis.” They were probably planning how to abduct me and toss me into a torture chamber.
“You need more ice for your jaw,” Irina said.
I touched my face and was reminded of the swing De Lucci took at me in the waiting room. Everything else was a blur.The words exchanged in anger. “Do me a favor. Talk to hospital security and allow Dominic De Lucci back into the hospital.”
“You sure about that?” Ivan grumbled.
“Ivan!” Irina whisper-yelled. “Now is not the time for hostilities. That’s bad for Lucy’s recovery. Lottie said the same thing.”
Movement behind the window of the ICU room drew my attention. Kolya signaled behind the glass. He was the one running point for me, checking on Sato, who had a concussion and a broken arm. Sato was my right-hand man. Kolya was…Kolya. He’d been the bratva’s enforcer, and I wasn’t sure if the brigadier position I tried to fit him in was the right one. He thrived on operating independently. This reminded me I needed to call a meeting with the other brigadier. We might be at war with the Moscow mob. We used to be called the Triumvirate. There’d been two vacancies when Ivan retired and Kolya’s cousin was killed. Kolya temporarily assumed his cousin’s position, but then he got arrested and went to jail. I had no replacement yet. That was why I’d been so busy until Kolya was released from prison.
I sighed and stood. “Can you stay with Lucy for a few minutes?”
“Sure,” Irina said.
I stepped out of the ICU.
