13. Doc
W aiting for permission to enter Cristian’s office is weird. I’ve never had to, always having the same rights as Tennant, to come and go as I please, but this situation isn’t a normal one. I need to at least pretend I have manners in front of Allesandro.
When the call to enter rings out, I open the door, but gesture for Sarah to go first. When I step in behind her, the tension in the room is almost staggering. For a moment, I wish I had brought my Daddy with us, because facing down not one but two pissed off Bosses doesn’t sound like a good time.
I only have so much self-control. And with tension this thick, how long that control lasts before I respond to it is anyone’s guess.
We stand before the Bosses, and the weight of their stares has me standing ramrod straight, my mother’s lessons in etiquette and proper posture coming out to play.
“Please, tell me you have good news,” Cristian says, with an edge to his voice that I don’t like.
Narrowing my eyes at my friend, he gives me a miniscule shake of his head. Fine. Later. But if he thinks he’ll get out of telling me…
“Depends on your definition of good news,” I say carefully. “I’ll let Dr. Ranlen go first.”
She shoots me a look that is not grateful at all, but neither of us is stupid. Allesandro already looks ready to kill someone, like hell am I making him wait.
“We’ve narrowed down the window of opportunity to break Lio out of the hospital,” Sarah tells them.
“Why hasn’t that been done already?” Allesandro barks, and I deserve a fucking cookie for keeping my mouth shut.
“It’s a…delicate situation,” she says carefully. “He’s in rough shape. We have him in a medically induced coma. It's necessary to give his body time to heal, and for the swelling in his brain to go down.”
Allesandro goes to stand, and Cristian sets a hand on him, staying his friend. Please don’t tell me Cristian has a death wish.
“I need to see him!”
“You know why that’s impossible while he’s at the hospital,” Sarah replies.
How she keeps her cool is something I admire.
“We are already dodging questions from the staff and police inquiry, the last thing we need is for you to show up. The swelling is going down, and he’s proven to be stable since his surgery.
“If there are no changes overnight, we will take the first available opportunity to transfer him out of the ICU to here. Doc and I have worked hard on making sure we have everything he will need to finish his recovery. You know I would not take any risks with Lio’s health. I need you to trust me.”
“I'm running very short on that,” Allesandro says caustically. But he does sit back in the chair, waving Cristian’s hand off. “I need to see him.”
Sarah’s tone gentles. “I know. And you will be the first person who does, as soon as he’s settled. By tomorrow afternoon, you will be able to see him.”
I don’t like the promise in her tone. There are never any guarantees with this type of thing, but…we’ve finally got our friendship back on track, so I don’t bother contradicting her.
When it’s my turn, I say, “Your Emilio is strong, sir. I don’t foresee any issues with transferring him tomorrow. He still has a long road ahead of him, but he has proven what a fighter he is.”
Something soft plays on the Martelli Boss’s face, before his expression smooths out again. His love for the boy is clear, and that will both make the recovery easy and hard on them both.
Knowing Cris is as desperate for answers on Tennant as Allesandro has been for Emilio, I continue.
“I am keeping Tennant sedated until at least the day after tomorrow. I don’t believe we have to worry about any internal bleeding, but I wouldn’t rule it out once he’s up and moving, which is partly why I’ve kept him under for so long.
I’m waiting until after Emilio gets here, and Allesandro has been able to sit with him for a while, in order to try to reduce the number of people and stressors in the room. ”
“Have you let his lovers in to see him yet?” Cristian asks.
Allesandro tenses at that question and I eye him, wondering if they’ve been clued in to the…fun everyone’s been having without supervision. From the dark look that crosses Allesandro’s face, I’m going to take a wager and say yes.
“Not yet. I’m going to do that today, with the caveat that they give Emilio space tomorrow.
I know you probably don’t want any more people around than necessary, once you finally get to see your fiancé, but that is as much space as I can offer.
Tennant will need twenty-four hours or more to fully wake once I ease up on the sedation.
He’ll need to be monitored for a bit once he’s coherent.
“I’d estimate a good four or five days of them sharing the medical office, before I’m comfortable moving Tennant to one of the off-set rooms we’ve prepared for the medical overflow.
He’ll probably argue that he’s well enough to be moved upstairs, but this was a major surgery, and I don’t trust the fucker to behave.
So, he can have the room next to Nicolo for a bit. ”
Cristian grimaces. “As soon as it’s safe, we’re expanding your office.”
“That would be appreciated, yes.” I look between the two Bosses. “Any questions?”
“How bad was it?” Allesandro asks. And the pain underneath his hard tone makes me wince.
“If it wasn’t for the impressive set up, and competent staff Doc has…
there’s a good chance Lio wouldn’t have made it,” Sarah says.
“I am good, my staff is good, but it took every single skill that everyone who worked on him had to keep him alive. He’s stable now, and as Doc said, he’s a fighter.
It’s a waiting game to let his body heal before we can assess how much physical therapy and other supplemental help he’ll need. ”
Cristian once more sets his hand on Allesandro’s shoulder, offering comfort to his fellow Boss. “Have faith, Amico Mio. I trust Doc with my life, and I’ve heard good things about Dr. Ranlen. Emilio won’t leave you so easily.”
“He better not,” is Allesandro’s dark reply. If the look in those cold blue eyes of his is any indication, it’ll be mine and Dr. Ranlen’s asses on the line if the little Boss doesn’t make it. No pressure.