“Fuck! He snaps before shoving the clamp deeper into the wound, then he growls under his breath, “Got you.”
Laurie’s body stays frighteningly still while he works to fix her with the kind of precision that reminds me he’s done this before in places far worse than this room.
Seconds drag by like hours as my soul reaches from my body to get to Laurie’s.
Please, I can’t face a day without you. Stay with me.
Finally, the bleeding slows down until it stops, and when Big Ricky exhales a relieved breath, hope pours into my heart.
Dr. Milazzo suddenly runs into the room. “What are we dealing with?”
“You’re fucking late,” Big Ricky snaps at him. “Check on Tiny. He’s giving a lot of blood. I’ve got Laurie.”
My eyes latch onto Laurie’s pale face, and I don’t stop staring at my wife until she’s loaded onto a gurney so she can be taken to the Cosa Nostra’s hospital.
Chapter 26
Adriano
Gripping Laurie’s hand, I have her fingers pressed to my forehead while I keep whispering to her to wake up.
Dr. Milazzo gave her more blood, and after checking the work Big Ricky did, he said she’s out of the woods.
But she’s not waking up, and until I see those incredible blue eyes of hers, it feels as if the Grim Reaper is hovering over us.
As long as I hold onto her, he won’t be able to take her from me.
I fully believe it as I sit hours beside her bed, refusing to move a fucking muscle.
Suddenly her fingers stir, and my head snaps up so fast, pain shoots down my nape and across my shoulders.
“Fuck,” I growl, rolling my neck to ease the discomfort while my eyes sharpen on my butterfly’s pale face.
“What?” Mom asks, tossing the blanket to the floor and darting to her feet.
“She moved.”
“You sure?” Dad asks from where he’s still sitting in the other armchair.
Big Ricky comes into the private room, looking like he fought a war and lost. “Tiny is sleeping. He’ll be fine.”
“Oh good,” Mom sighs with relief.
Big Ricky checks all the monitors and looks pleased with what he sees.
It gives me some comfort.
Coming to me, he digs something out of his pocket. Seeing the bullet he removed from Laurie, I take it before locking eyes with him. “Thank you for saving her.”
He pats my back. “Anything for you, son. I’m dead on my feet. I’m going to crash in Tiny’s room. Call if you need anything.”
“Go rest.”
I tuck the bullet my wife took for me into my pocket, then return to staring at her face while pressing a kiss to her knuckles.
Every moment since I laid eyes on her plays through my mind.
Her fingers stir again, and this time her lashes flutter.