17. Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Seventeen
Cavalari
Hours had passed and Cavalari still hadn’t been able to see Bronx.
He wasn’t even sure where he was inside the damn hospital.
He also hadn’t been given an update on Bronx’s condition for quite some time, even after relentlessly pushing the staff to give him one.
Out of pure frustration he decided to step outside and get some fresh air, and hopefully it would help clear his head, too.
He left the area of the emergency room where he’d been pacing a groove into the floor and walked toward the exit of the hospital.
He paused before leaving the building and glanced down a hallway that led to the main part of the hospital.
He saw Fizzbo talking privately with Dagger at the far end which likely meant everyone else had arrived at the hospital.
There were lots of hand gestures and posturing on display between the two men that was impossible for Cavalari to miss and that had his pulse speeding up.
They were likely talking about him and his role in what happened to Bronx.
Hopefully they both understood it was an accident, even though he knew horsing around wasn’t acceptable behavior for a guard and his principal.
Regardless, it was out of his hands and he had to accept the fact he’d done all he could for Bronx and hoped to hell he could be back at Bronx’s side guarding him as soon as possible.
It was a waiting game at this point to see what happened in regards to any repercussions he might be facing for his actions with Bronx.
He turned away from them and briefly stared at the exit door.
He really needed some time alone to absorb everything that had happened.
After his break he’d come back inside to deal with the nurses and see about getting an update on Bronx.
He was worried sick about him and it was truly eating at his soul that in some way he might be the cause of this.
When he turned again to leave he almost walked straight into a human wall of muscle that was Nacho. Cavalari’s eyes lifted and took in the sight of his co-worker sipping hospital coffee from a paper cup.
“I see you’ve finally arrived,” Cavalari said.
Nacho nodded and said, “We’ve been here almost as long as you have. You probably haven’t seen us because Fizzbo immediately put us in positions around the hospital to beef-up security. Where’re you running off to?”
“I’m not running. I’m going outside to get some air,” Cavalari answered. “By the way, how the hell did you get here so quickly?”
“Fizzbo had a military transport bird land for the guards right after the one carrying you and Bronx,” Nacho explained. “We were less thirty minutes behind you.”
“That was a good call,” Cavalari mumbled to himself.
“Anything new on Bronx?” Nacho questioned.
“Nothing yet, but hopefully soon,” Cavalari stated. Nacho nodded but remained quiet. “Well, if anyone is looking for me you can tell them where I went.”
Nacho paused as if deciding if he should say more, then cleared his throat.
“Dagger and Fizzbo were talking to a couple of the doctors treating Bronx,” Nacho explained.
“I’m pretty sure one is an ear specialist?
You were right about him. The situation is far more serious than I originally thought.
I feel like a schmuck for saying the shit I did to you back on the bus. ”
“Forget about it,” Cavalari said. “We’re good. You had no idea what was going on and I wasn’t exactly forthcoming, either, and that’s on me.”
“You most likely saved his life,” Nacho said and squeezed Cavalari’s shoulder.
“I’m not sure that particular detail will matter to our bosses,” Cavalari stated.
“Why the hell not?”
“It’s more complicated than you think,” Cavalari said.
“How so?”
Cavalari shook his head. “I’m not getting into it now,” he replied. “I need to clear my head before Fizzbo finds me and then drops the hammer on my employment.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong, Tony, and I’m happy to vouch for you if it becomes necessary,” Nacho declared.
“The level of my culpability is debatable for many reasons,” Cavalari admitted. “In the end, what we think doesn’t matter. I’m pretty sure Dagger will have the final say in this—certainly not me.”
Cavalari gave an up nod to Nacho before he pushed through the exit doors.
He took several steps outside and a thick layer of Houston’s infamous heat wrapped around him like an itchy wool blanket.
It felt heavy enough to suffocate him but he shook it off as best as he could and found a somewhat shady spot under an overhang at the corner of the building.
He leaned up against the brick wall and exhaled loudly.
Shouldering the weight of the world was no easy feat on any day but this was personal because it involved Bronx.
He was man enough to take his punishment but there was no way in fucking hell he’d allow anyone to shame him for falling for Bronx.
Besides, he had more important things to worry about right now than his job.
As long as Bronx’s wellbeing hung in the balance absolutely nothing else mattered.
And if Bronx didn’t fully recover from this he didn’t know how he would cope since the responsibility of what happened fell at his feet.
He tipped his head back and closed his eyes.
He never thought he’d miss the snarky banter he shared with Bronx but he did and he desperately wanted to hear it again.
The sound of Bronx’s smooth timbre soothed an ache inside his chest which he couldn’t explain but it didn’t make the feelings attached any less real.
Cavalari used to be a smoker, a hundred years ago when he was a Marine Corp grunt fresh out of boot camp and neck-deep into his first deployment.
But not once in the years since had he been tempted to stuff a cigarette between his lips again.
Back then, he’d been an impressionable noob and wanted to fit in with the rest of his unit.
He no longer had the need nor any real interest in smoking.
But in stressful moments like this he actually missed the crutch smoking offered and having something to do with his hands.
He felt antsy as he pressed his back to the brick wall and wanted to crawl out of his skin.
All he could do now was wait for the inevitable conversation with Fizzbo and hope he still had a job afterward.
Turned out he didn’t have to wait long for Fizzbo to join him.
“Nacho told me I’d find you out here,” Fizzbo said as he approached him. There was an edge to his voice—a sternness Cavalari had never heard directed toward him, and he felt a new rush of anxiety lifting the fine hairs on his arms.
“Just getting some fresh air,” Cavalari answered.
He squared his shoulders and lifted his chin at Fizzbo as if he was ready for anything that came out of his boss’s mouth.
At times like this his military training came back to him in full force.
Marines on-duty aren’t allowed to show or have emotions and that’s what Cavalari had to do now—no matter how personal the situation was to him.
“I’d like to hear the complete details of what happened on that bus,” Fizzbo stated with firmness, “and not just the sugar-coated, dumbed-down version you want me to know. I mean everything , the entire truth. No bullshit. This is your chance to go on record.”
Cavalari nodded and collected his thoughts. Being a man of honor, he understood now was the time to speak his truth—the whole truth.
“It feels like this is my fault, even though I know that’s not possible,” Cavalari said.
“You mentioned something along those lines on the phone but I’m gonna need you to explain why you feel that way,” Fizzbo said and set his hands on his hips.
“We bicker all the time. You already know that, but on the bus everything somehow felt . . . bigger and more serious,” Cavalari began.
“Our word fights increased and at one point we ended up wrestling on the floor. At no point were punches thrown or any moves made that would cause the other physical pain, I made sure of it, but during our last scuffle Bronx hit his head on the support pole beneath the kitchen table. I remember how loud it sounded and wondered if he’d been hurt but he told me he was fine.
Shortly after that his ears began to ring and there was some pain involved.
None of which he admitted to me at first. Not long after that he told me his hearing started to fade in and out.
I immediately arranged an appointment for him to see an ear specialist once we made it to Houston but things changed when he started bleeding from the ear and the pain was over the top.
My main concern was the possibility of a concussion but from what I’m hearing now it’s a lot worse than that. ”
“What prompted the arguments to escalate into wrestling matches?”
“We’ve always verbally been at each other’s throats.
Nothing new there, but it’s never spilled over into wrestling—and I swear to you it was not fighting.
I want to be clear about that. It was like something you might do with a brother but I would never jeopardize his health by allowing fists to fly.
Dagger thought we’d bond on the bus and in some ways we did, but it was after a lot of yelling.
When the shouting finally stopped we were able to sort through some of our history together and it was healing for us both.
It sucks that what led up to those moments of resolve are marred with a stupid wrestling match that ultimately hurt Bronx. ”
“Is that everything?” Fizzbo asked and I shook my head. If Fizzbo wanted the whole truth, that’s what he’d get.