Chapter 44
Chapter forty-four
“Dad please help me,” I whisper, making the sign of the cross.
I stand in the hallway of the emergency room watching them rush Nonna to ICU.
I feel paralyzed by the chain of events that have occurred in less than twenty-four hours.
Gigi getting kidnapped and drugged. Nonna possibly dying.
My family is collapsing before me.
Breadcrumbs of blood and chess pieces are scattered about, leading me nowhere.
I have never felt so helpless in my life.
“Cipi!” Lucia comes running through the doors. She stops and bends over, panting. “What is going on?”
“Nonna was rushed to the ICU. They’re trying to stabilize her now. It’s looking like she may have had a stroke. Her blood pressure is low. They’re going to try to run some tests…” My voice trails off as an idea floods my brain. “Cyanide poisoning.”
“What?” Lucia rights herself and looks at me.
“Cyanide poisoning.” I sprint down the hall, past the rooms filled with patients.
Around the corner is the nurse’s station. Three RN’s are seated in front of computers.
“Agostina Capuano. She was just rushed to ICU a few minutes ago,” I blurt out. “Let the doctors know she might have been poisoned. Cyanide.”
The nurses look at each other. Our family is well-known in this hospital so this news shouldn’t come as a surprise. One of the RN’s rushes off through the authorized personnel door.
“Thank you.” The other nurse grabs a clipboard. “We’ll alert them to get a sodium nitrite IV started. Once she’s stable and out of ICU, you’ll be able to see her.” She walks quickly down the hall.
Lucia grabs my arm. “What made you think it was poison?” she whispers. “That’s going to make it look really suspicious, especially given this family’s reputation.”
“At this point, who gives a fuck. I’d rather have people think what they want than Nonna be dead.” I shove my hands into my pockets. “I don’t know…seeing her laying there with the muffin in her hand…it felt like déjà vu.”
“Given the circumstances lately, I can see why.”
I turn back to the nurse station. “Is Ginevra Capuano still here in the ER?”
The nurse types into the computer screen. “They moved her to the third floor. She will be staying overnight. She’s in Room 321.”
“Thank you.” I grab Lucia’s arm and we head to the elevator.
Once we reach the third floor, our eyes scan the numbered plaques positioned outside each door.
“Here it is.” Wrapping my fingers around the knob, I open the door.
The room is clean and bare with walls painted a soft white. A set of cabinets and a closet are near the entrance. A dry erase board hangs on the opposite wall. Gigi’s name is scrawled across and beneath it are listed the names of her patient care team.
Gigi lies in a medical bed. A hospital gown clothes her thin frame.
White sheets are drawn to her waist and her hands rest on top of it.
Faint red marks from the zip ties highlight her wrists.
In her right hand is a needle that’s attached to a tube that leads to a clear bag hanging on the pole next to her.
The hospital band is around her opposite wrist. Her eyes are closed, her skin is pale, and I notice a bruise starting to come out along her jawline.
Mom sits in a chair by her bedside, her head is bowed and her hands are clasped in prayer. Matteo leans against the window. His arms are crossed and he stares into the parking lot.
They both look up when they hear the door open.
I see the worry lining their faces. They don’t even know things are about to get worse with Nonna’s predicament.
“How is she?” I walk over to Mama.
She hugs me and I catch a glimpse of the rosary between her fingers. “She has been in and out but hasn’t said much. The drugs she was given are still in her system. They are running a bunch of tests as we speak. Her blood pressure is a little high, but her heart rate is stable.”
Lucia moves to the other side of the bed and brushes a strand of hair away from Gigi’s face. “She looks so frail,” she murmurs. “How could Elio do that to her for money?”
Mama gasps. “What are you talking about? You’re telling me Elio did this to my baby. He was such a nice boy.”
“Nice like the devil is more like it,” I mutter. Then I proceed to tell her the story, finishing with “Don’t worry Mom, I’m on it.”
“We need to find out who the person is that told Elio to bring Gigi to the place,” Matteo sits down in the chair.
“We will get to that in a bit.” I take a deep breath. “Something else happened when we went back to the compound.”
Mama clutches her rosary tight. “More bad news?”
“Gigi isn’t the only one in the hospital right now. Nonna is too.” I tell them everything that happened.
The blood drains from Mama’s face.
Madonna mia, we are cursed,” she hisses, “We need to ward off il malocchio.” She touches her cross necklace. “We need to check on her. I can’t be in two places at once.”
“Relax, Mama, the staff said they would notify us when Nonna was stable,” I pat her shoulder.
Mama places her hand over her heart. “I don’t know how much more I can take of this. First your father fourteen years ago, and now everyone in this family is dropping like flies.”
“What would make you think there would be poison in one of Nonna’s muffins?” Matteo shifts in his chair. “I had one yesterday, fresh out of the oven. I was fine.”
“Nonna didn’t make those muffins.” Mama’s shaky hands tighten around her rosary. “Madeline stopped by and brought them over.”
“Madeline Toma?” I gasp.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Mama shrugs. “She brought them over as a gift since our family has been going through so many hardships. But Nonna would never eat one of Madeline’s muffins. She always said they weren’t as good as hers…”
Words become background noise as my mind races. Nonna had said Madeline brought over muffins the day my father died. Half a muffin had been found near his body. Now Nonna is found with half a muffin and Madeline baked them…again.
I look at Lucia and Matteo. “Mama stay here and keep watch on everything. I’ll be back soon.” I snap my fingers. “Lucia. Matteo. Come with me.”
I give Gigi a kiss on the forehead. The machines hum beside her, each beep a reminder of how we could have lost her.
Anger fills me.
How can a man put a woman in harm’s way for money and not even care what happens to her?
My fingers curl into fists as I leave the room. If Elio thought getting beaten with an iron pipe was bad. He has no idea what’s coming to him.