"He'll be fine. The doctors are in with him now, but the bleeding was under control by the time the ambulance got him here. He's been asking for you, though. A nurse just came out to ask if you were here yet, because he's raising hell back there."
"What about Tony?"
"He's getting about ten stitches or so on his arm. He's more pissed that the blood ruined his T-shirt," Matt joked, trying to lighten the atmosphere in the room.
I felt my body sag in relief. I still needed to see Nico for myself though. Michael flagged down a nurse, who let me back in to Nico's room once Michael told him that I was Nico's fiancée.
"I'm glad you're here," the nurse said as he led me through a maze of hallways. He flashed a smile at me as he told me, "He's been very anxious to see you, and has refused to be taken down for his scans until he sees for himself that you're OK."
At my startled look, he assured me, "He's not in any imminent danger. We would have taken him down to radiology despite his protests if that were the case." He stopped in front of a room and gave a quick knock before opening the door.
I walked in to find a doctor in the corner of the room looking at something on the computer in front of her, and Nico lying on his uninjured side with his eyes closed.He opened them when he heard my footsteps. He tried to sit up, but the nurse and I both urged him to stay still. I reached for his hand as tearsstreamed down my face. I took in a deep breath, feeling as if it were the first breath I'd taken since this whole nightmare began.
"Oh, hell, Sunshine, please don't cry. I'm OK. I just need a few stitches, but are you all right?" he asked, eyeing me carefully. "Michael said that the paramedics on-scene cleared you, but are you sure you aren't hurt? I tackled you pretty hard, I'm so sorry, love."
I reached out and cupped his face, so very grateful that he seemed to be more or less OK. I couldn't stop the tears at the thought that I could have lost him tonight.
"Allie?" Nico looked at me questioningly, and I realized that I hadn't answered him.
"I'm just fine, honey. A few bumps and bruises maybe, but nothing to worry at all about. I need to know that you're going to be all right though. How do you know you only need a few stitches when you haven't let them run their tests and scans yet?" I wasn't at all happy that he'd delayed treatment just to wait on me.
Nico looked at me and smiled a little sheepishly. "I'm sorry, Sunshine, but I just had to see for myself that you were OK."
I looked at the nurse and then the doctor for confirmation. She cleared her throat and introduced herself.
"I'm Dr. Patel. I'm glad you're here, Allie. He's been quite adamant about seeing you before we proceed, but I assure you he is stable atthe moment. Mr. Peretti has given us permission to speak with you about his condition, so I can let you know that his vital signs are good, considering his injury. We've just given him something for the pain, so he shouldn't feel much discomfort once that kicks in. The blood flow is controlled, andwe believe this is just a soft tissue injury. However, we will be transporting him down to radiology to be certain there is no hidden damage." I flinched, and she smiled reassuringly."Even if something shows on the scans, it is doubtful that it would be anything serious considering the placement of the wound and how stable he is right now."
Another member of the hospital staff arrived, and the nurse, Nathan, explained that they would be transporting Nico to radiology now, and that I could wait in the room until he returned.He assured me they wouldn't be long, and Dr. Patel patted my arm and told me she would be back as soon as she had viewed the images.
I gave Nico a quick kiss, much to his dismay.
"Wait a minute, will ya?" he groused to Nathan and thetransport aide. "I need to kiss my girl." He seemed to be slurring his words just a bit, and his eyelids were heavy.
"Sorry, Mr. Peretti. We don't want your pulse and blood pressure spiking. Dr. Patel will be back in here giving us all grief if that happens."
Nico smirked and tried to wink at me, but ended up opening and closing both eyes, then squinting at me."Yeah, that would happen, guaranteed. Have you looked at the curves on my girl? She's hot!" I blushed and looked at Nathan in alarm as Nico continued rambling.
"Never mind, don't you look at 'er." He shook his finger at Nathan. "I don't want anybody lookin' at her. She's mine. All mine. My Sunshine. My only Sunshine. Forever and ever. She promised me." The more he spoke, the worse the slurring was.
Nathan and the transport aide laughed, and Nathan explained, "The meds are kicking in. He's feeling no pain now, believe me. He'll be pretty out of it for a while."
I chuckled, relieved that Nico was apparently just loopy from the pain meds, not having some kind of neurological issue.
Nico started singing "You Are My Sunshine" as they wheeled his gurney down the hall toward radiology, his voice sounding surprisingly in tune for a man who was stoned out of his gourd.
Less than twenty minutes later, Nathan brought Nico back into the room. He was no longer singing, and was propped on his good side sound asleep.
"Dr. Patel will be in to speak with you in just a few minutes, but the scans looked good, she said. I think he'll be just fine. Uh, you will need to watch him with the pain medication when he goes home though. He reacted pretty strongly to it."
I raised my eyebrow in question, and Nathan laughed as he explained.
"He's a lightweight. He serenaded us all the way down to radiology, then wouldn't lie still for the scans until he'd told us all about how wonderful you are and how much he loves you and his princess?" He looked confused, and I explained that's what he calls my daughter.
"OK, that makes sense then, because he kept saying he was so happy because his princess calls him Daddy now. He zonked out mid-sentence after telling us that he wanted you to give him a sponge bath, and hasn't moved a muscle since then."
I blushed and hid my face in my hands as Nathan chuckled.
"It's OK, ma'am. I've heard a lot of people say a lot of things under the influence of pain meds. His was pretty mild, and really sweet, actually. I've always been a big fan, and I'm even more of one now," he confessed with a shy smile. "He seems like a genuinely nice guy."
