Chapter 16
Chapter
Sixteen
DANTE
I watch helplessly as Kate flees the room, my fingers still tingling from touching her knee. Tipping my head back, I let out an exaggerated breath. This isn’t me, I don’t lust after any woman, not since Bella.
The vibrating phone in my pocket prevents me from a trip down Depressive Lane. Glancing at the screen, I’m not surprised to see our uncle's name on the screen.
“Zio?” I answer in a low voice, taking several steps away from Angelo’s bed.
“Dante, what’s wrong ?”
“Nothing,” I lie, “Doc is checking over Angelo is all.” Another lie, this one guaranteeing my seat on the train to Hell.
“ How are you holding up, son ?”
Reaching into my pocket, I grip the beads of my rosary. An automatic reaction when I speak with my uncle given he is also our priest.. “I could use a stiff drink.” An honest answer to counteract the lie.
“Some time in confession I would imagine, as well .”
He wasn’t wrong, I was hard pressed to recall the last time I’d stepped foot into the confession box. There was a time, when I attended mass regularly, confessing every sin I’d committed. I wanted different things back then. Now, I feel as if I'm waiting for my turn to die.
“When I get back to Boston, you have my word.”
“I’m holding you to it, Dante .”
Moving to end the call, a scraping sound behind me pulls my attention to Angelo’s bed. My heart quickens when I notice his face is drenched with sweat and skin so pale it's nearly translucent.
“Frankie!” I shout, rushing to Angelo’s side. “Get Kate in here.” Fear grips me as I touch his face, skin burning up as if he is on fire from within. Checking the wound on his chest, the skin there is red, almost purple and swollen as if a golf ball is trapped underneath.
“What is…” I hear Kate drift off, followed by the sound of her shoes hitting the hardwood floor.
I watch as she feels his skin, lifting Angelo’s eyelids and checking the inside of his mouth.
“Those idiots.”
Lifting my attention to her face, I find the area between her brows wrinkled in what I suspect is anger.
“What idiots? What the fuck is happening?” I demand as I follow her gaze to the wound on his chest.
“He’s septic,” she growls between clenched teeth. Pressing her fingertip into the angry flesh. “Motherfucking…” Kate’s oath shocks me, stirring something deep inside my chest. I find myself appreciating the soft look of her skin and the way the ringlets of her hair bounce around her shoulders. I’m lost to the essence of her, so much so I fail to notice when she pushes on a weak area in the suture line, releasing the putrid drainage, which lands in the center of my shirt-covered chest.
“Shit.” Jumping back, I look from the green-colored splatter on my black shirt to her amused smirk.
“Oh, good Lord, it isn’t like you haven't had bodily fluids on you before.”
Reaching up, I begin unbuttoning my shirt, careful to avoid the green shit in the center. “You’re right, Tesoro, however, they’ve never come from my brother.” Tossing my destroyed shirt to the corner. Lifting my gaze, I find Kate staring at my chest, her green eyes fixed on the tattoo of the praying hands over my heart.
“You okay, Doc?”
“Y-yes.” She blinks several times, turning her attention to the stack of towels Frankie brought in earlier. “You said you could get any supplies I need?” Wiping the blood on the cotton towel, Kate’s furrowed brow makes me want to reach out and rub it smooth.
“Make a list and Frankie will take care of it,” I offer instead, keeping my hands at my side.
“I need authentic pharmaceuticals, not the back alley crap from the streets.”
Frankie nods his head, as Kate begins listing the supplies she needs.
“A newer model metal detector, like the ones they use at the airport, not the kind you find on the beach.”
Her request surprises me, by the confused look on Frankie’s face he feels the same.
“Metal detector?”
Kate’s attention shifts to me. “Angelo is septic, my suspicion is there is a bullet fragment still in there. I highly doubt you can find an x-ray machine and get it in here, but a metal detector...”
“Will detect the metal of the bullet,” I finished for her.
Hooking her hands on her hips, Kate silently smiles as she turns her attention to Frankie. “If you can’t find?—”
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t even have the thought I couldn’t get all this shit.” Pocketing his phone, Frankie turns for the door, “I can have it here in about an hour. Is that too long?”
“An hour?” Kate chuckles. “In the hospital, I can’t get an open OR in less than an hour.”
“Good,” Frankie sends her a wink. “There is food in the kitchen and clean clothes for you in the bedroom I made up for you. That is if you’ve made up your mind about helping?”
My heart hammers against my chest as I wait for her decision.
“My nona once said, we are put into positions for a reason. Sometimes it's to learn.”
“And sometimes it’s to love,” Frankie spoke the second half of the proverb with her.
“Angelo needs my help, which is a form of love.” She pauses, dropping her gaze to the floor and letting out breath. “Supplies, my safety, and enough money to keep my promise to my nona.” Raising her head, Kate crosses the room with her hand extended in my direction. “You have a deal, Mr. Cavaletti.”
As I take her hand in mine, relishing in the buzz which shoots up my arm and settles in my heart, I wasn’t so certain I would be able to return her to her world.
“Deal,” I lie, confirming my place in hell.