44. Luciano
Chapter 44
Luciano
"Shots were fired."
Three words I always dreaded hearing, and to hear them over the phone from one of the bodyguards assigned to Juliet almost broke me then and there. I already hated hearing it from my own men in the field, but regarding Juliet, the chill that nearly ripped my spine out was indescribable. The words following those three didn't matter to me one bit because my mind was too hung up on Juliet's well-being to take them into account.
I didn't care if Juliet wasn't the one shot. What if she got grazed or scratched and bruised up from the fall? What about her mental well-being? Seeing someone shot up close wasn't easy, especially someone close. Physically, she may be fine, but mentally? That's what I worried about.
But fuck, I don't know what I would have done if it was Juliet who had been hit. I don't think I'd be able to live with myself if Juliet got hurt because of me. She's already been through too much to be hurt now because of me. For fuck's sake, it hasn't even been a year since her ordeal at the brothel, so to add a traumatic attempt on her life on top of her healing wound wasn't something I wanted her to shoulder.
None of that should matter or bother me, though. Juliet wasn't the one hit. I just needed to worry about how to help her through this mentally.
As I barreled my way down to the private section of the hospital reserved for us, I could hear Juliet's shouting down the hallway. "No! Let me see him, please! Please! I just want to see him!" Judging by the distress in her voice, she wasn't well.
"Mrs. Agosti, please, it is very critical for the provider to operate on your friend, and they cannot do that with others in the room. We are doing the best for your friend, promise, so please, I need you to calm down so we can look you over." It wasn't a voice I recognized, but from the words being said, it was probably a nurse or some other medical worker.
As I approached the door, the guards parted to let me through to the chaos behind the closed doors. Chaos was definitely the right word to describe the scene.
Juliet was restrained by one of her bodyguards with a medical personnel in front of her with their hands held out in a supposedly calming manner—I don't know how effective it was given Juliet's escalated affect.
"Move," I commanded, politely shoving the person and bodyguard away.
Fretting over Juliet needed to wait until after I calmed her down. If she fought against me and the medical workers, then examining her would be almost impossible without some sedation—something I didn't want.
Settling a firm hand around her neck, I backed her into a corner and crowded her personal space to shut everything else around us out. "Juliet." I firmly snapped at her, making her breath hitch and her body go rigid under me. "Breathe," I commanded in a softer voice, stroking my thumb against her thrumming pulse. "You need to breathe and recollect yourself."
No words left her heaving body, the only sounds being her heavy breaths with the deep rises and falls of her chest. Giving her a moment, I stared deeply into her frantic eyes to pull her out of whatever shit show her mind was in. "I know you want to see Gale, but he is in surgery right now. The doctors can't operate if you go in there and interrupt them. There is nothing we can do right now besides wait." I wish I had more to offer her, but I didn't. I couldn 't tell her Gale would be fine because I had no certainty about it, and to give her false hope would be beyond cruel.
Taking a deep breath, I leaned my head against hers. "You need to get checked out in the meantime." Sitting here biting her nails while her friend was in the operating room would do her no good.
"I'm fine." Juliet tersely spoke up with a shake of her head. "Only Gale was hit, he took the bullet, this blood isn't mine, it's his." Her words quickly became erratic with her breathing as she spoke in a single breath.
"Juliet." My hand tightened around her neck slightly. "Breathe." I waited for her breathing to even out before continuing, "We have to look you over still to make sure you don't have any other injuries or possibly got hit by some blowback or have any head injuries."
I hoped to all the high heavens that none of the blood on her came from inside her body. "We need to get you cleaned up and checked, amorina ." It was hard to tell if she had anything with the dirt and blood on her. "I'm going to take you to the shower rooms, get you cleaned up, and a doctor will check you out." I wasn't asking for permission, merely informing her.
Thankfully, she didn't fight me when I began to drag her away, but she seemed a little out of it the whole time. Juliet didn't utter a single word or make the slightest peep of sounds as I moved her body around, undressed her, showered her, dressed her again in a hospital gown, and set her on an exam table in an exam room. As much as I didn't mind the cooperation, her zombie-like state worried me.
My concern grew with every clench of my heart as I watched the doctor examine Juliet and question her, only to receive a silent movement of her head or a shrug of her shoulders. It'd been a long while since she shut down to the point of being nonverbal, something we worked past weeks after her trauma.
"Juliet." My voice trembled with dread as I helped her out of the hospital gown and into one of the outfits she'd bought at the mall today. "Sweetheart, talk to me, please." Physically, she was in perfect health considering things, according to the doctor.
I didn't care about any of that, though. Physical wounds healed with time, but psychologically, she might never heal. " Amorina , please," I begged with a cracked voice as I held her face, making her look at me.
The emptiness dulling her normally bright eyes took me by surprise when her eyes slowly locked with mine. Correction: the way her empty eyes starkened with burning fury surprised me with her slow, deep, seething breaths. "Get me my laptop." She demanded in a voice as calm as a turbulent ocean.
"Juliet, that—"
Juliet pushing off the exam table caused my words to cut off with my step back. "Get. Me. My. Lap. Top." She demanded through gritted teeth, tilting her chin up at me with her scowl.
"No." I defied her with a step up to her. "You are not in the right headspace to do anything right now. I understand how you feel. Believe me, I have been there more than I can recount."
Reaching out, I gently wrapped a hand around her arm, only to have her jerk herself away. Too bad I refuse to have any of that. So, I reached out again, this time wrapping my arm around her waist, pulling her against me, and wrapping a hand around her neck again. "You are going to do something you regret later once your mind is set right. I won't let you do anything detrimental to yourself."
Nothing good would come from her ill-thought-out actions. If anything, they might make whatever the situation was worse. Or worse, Juliet might get into a dangerous situation because of her potential recklessness.
I understood her, and I truly did, which is why I refused to let her act. She wasn't experienced enough to handle things right now. Hell, even I had to force myself to step back a lot of the time when I got caught in similar situations that riled my emotions.
"If you don't get me my laptop, I swear—"
Now, it was my turn to cut her off. "No. You won't do anything because I won't give in to your demands. I am doing this for your own good, not because I am an ass." Refusing to let Juliet get a word in, I shut her up with a hard kiss before finishing my piece. "I am not saying you can't do anything, just not right now. Once you are in a better headspace where you can think straight, I will let you do what you want."
Lingering a kiss against her forehead, I shifted my hand from around her neck to the back of her head. "I have my men pulling up street cam footage and going through it to track down the car and the men who did this. So you don't have to worry about anything. I have it taken care of, promise." I informed her while stroking the back of her head. "They won't get away, and I swear, I will do whatever you want to them once we catch them."
"I want their lives gutted, their families ruined, and anyone else who is tied to them." Juliet's dark tone threatened to send shivers down my spine, especially after I caught a glance of her dead eyes.
"Let's save those decisions for after we catch the bastards who did this," I suggested strongly, bringing her into a kiss in hopes of clearing her mind a little.
Last thing I wanted was for her to be hit with a dump truck of regret after the fact. It might all sound good now because she was angry with a fire of vengeance, but Juliet wasn't a hardened criminal like me or the others. I knew for a fact she wouldn't be able to handle the consequences of her choices now if she made them.
Kissing her forehead, I scooped her into my arms and brought her back to the main area where Gale's parents had shown up. The older couple were obviously distraught as they held each other and cried. "Juliet, what happened? What happened to my baby?" Gale's mother barely held herself together as she gave Juliet a look of desperation.
"Someone shot at us from a car. A drive-by. We were heading back to the car after dinner, and the next thing I knew, I was on the ground with Gale on top of me after I heard a loud pop." Juliet hung her head in shame, shying behind me a little.
Guilt scribbled across Juliet's face as she slowly hid herself in me. "Hey, don't," I spoke softly to her with a shake of my head. "It's not your fault."
An unfortunate incident, yes, but in no way was Juliet at any fault. Gale's parents didn't seem to accuse Juliet too much, but there was no doubt that Juliet placed the blame on herself after seeing his parents. It was a typical reaction, one most of us have been guilty of in the past. This won't be an easy bump for Juliet to overcome, but she would have to.
"And before you come up with stupid excuses, just don't. What happened wasn't your fault. You didn't ask for a drive-by, nor did you ask to have Gale shot at. You were just out having a good time with your best friend, and something shitty happened." The only fault she had in this was being involved with me, but she didn't need any of that to slap her in the face right now.
After leading Juliet over to a chair and making her sit, I left briefly to gather some snacks and drinks for everyone, using the moment to remove myself from the suffocating room. Probably shitty of me to leave Juliet alone right now, even if it was for a second, but I needed to get myself straight to be of use to her.
Unfortunately, the eerie tension in the room did not improve upon my return. If anything, the air got thicker and heavier, as if we were in a humid bog. Everything turned deadly silent as we sat around waiting for news from anyone beyond the operating doors, but hours dragged onto days, it felt like.
I wasn't close to the kid but felt bad by proxy. Honestly, I could somewhat care less about the boy, but unfortunately, he meant something to Juliet. So, I had to care somewhat. Juliet would be devastated if something bad happened to him, which I didn't want—Juliet being devastated, of course.
Part of me wanted to tell her things would be alright, but my logical side knew better than to give false hope like that. So, all I could do was hold Juliet in silence while she bore holes into the double steel doors of the operating room with her worried eyes.
Hours dragged to days, it felt like, as we sat there baking in the growing tension. Relief was too brief when the double doors opened, and a crestfallen doctor walked through. "Doctor, my baby, please—"
"Let's go somewhere private." The doctor quickly cut off Gale's mother politely, gesturing to an empty exam room.
Dread and guilt sank into my chest like an anchor into an endless sea when I turned my attention to Juliet, who looked much too hopeful at the closed exam room. "Juliet, I am so sorry." I knew better after seeing this familiar scene one too many times.
I hated seeing all her faith shatter and detest fill her eyes as she looked at me like I was some villain. "What do you mean? The doctor hasn't said anything yet. He's still talking with Gale's parents." Juliet quickly threw up the wall of denial as she pulled herself away from me.
"Sweetheart, if Gale was fine, the doctor would have let us know the moment he stepped out, and he wouldn't have looked so down. He pulled Gale's parents aside to give them privacy and tell them their son is gone." I pointed the facts out to her bluntly with an apologetic smile.
Juliet's mouth dropped with her shoulders as she stared at me in disbelief. I could see her rebuttal twisting at her tongue and hardening her eyes, but nothing came out, no matter how much her mouth gasped like a suffocating fish. She really couldn't say anything after a wail came from the closed exam room.
"No… No…! No! Nonononono!" And there followed Juliet.
And once again, I was helpless to her. All I could do was hold her and offer her words of comfort and support, but I couldn't take away her pain and suffering.
Juliet seethed through her anguished sobs. "I'm gonna kill them. I'm going to fucking kill them when I get my hands on them." Deep, angry breaths heaved her body as she glared holes into the floor for a moment before looking up at me with demanding eyes. "You make them suffer as much as you plan on making my rapists suffer. Swear that to me." Her last demands were drilled into me along with her finger in my chest.
At least she didn't ask for something ridiculous, but even if she did, I'd still fulfill it. "I swear on my life, they will know Hell on earth and after death." Torture, I could definitely do it, no problem.
Slumping against me, Juliet hugged me tightly and sobbed into my chest for a good moment before recollecting herself just enough. "I want to go home after a moment with Gale." She sniffled, wiping her tears away with the back of her hands.
"Do you need me to go with you?" Honestly, I might go with her either way because the last thing I needed was to check her into the hospital for fainting or snapping.
Sad but grateful, she flashed me a smile and nod before getting up and dragging her feet over to the operating room. Staying right behind her, I watched her hesitate to open the doors the moment she settled her hands against them. For her sake, I had to let her go through with this plan of hers. Taking away her last moments with her best friend would not bode well for me unless I wanted to face Juliet's wrath.
Her slender throat clenched and bobbed with her hard swallow right before her trembling hands shoved the doors open. A gasping cry of horror stifled out of her the moment the room came into full view. "Oh my… Gale…"
Heavy steps and small sobs echoed through the chilly room as we approached the once lively boy. All the equipment had been removed from the body, and only a sheet pulled up to his pale neck remained. "Gale, I'm so sorry. You wouldn't be like this if we didn't go out today… You wouldn't be dead if you didn't know me." Her pained whispers tore at me like claws to my chest.
Lingering by the table side, she tenderly ran her hand through Gale's hair and down his cheek. "I love you, Gale, not how you might have wanted me to, but I love you." Her voice steeled with her calming breaths. "I swear, the people that did this will pay. You'll be able to watch them suffer down in Hell while you sit on your happy little cloud in Heaven." The last thing to fill the air was the faint sound of her kiss upon Gale's forehead before we silently left.
Was I happy about what transpired? No, not particularly, but to be jealous of a dead man would be a new low for me. The man was dead. No competition there. Besides, Juliet didn't love that boy in such a way; everything between them was only ever friendly or sibling-like at best.
My feelings were irrelevant to this situation because the person was dead, and secondly, it was closure for Juliet.
But that wasn't the main point; Juliet and her well-being were.
Fucking hell, what is wrong with me? Jealous of a dead teenager.
Grumbling to myself mentally, I kept a calm composure for Juliet as I led her to the car. "Do you want me to pick anything up for you on the way back?" I asked after opening the car door for Juliet.
Juliet gave me a flat smile and a shake of her head after she settled into the passenger seat. "I just want to go home and be with you, and I want you to make me forget about today."
"Whatever you want and need, principessa , I will provide."