36. Anna
Anna
I wake to stomach cramps and half asleep walk to the bathroom to pee.
The tinge of blood on the toilet paper tells me another irregular period is coming on.
It hasn’t even been that long since the last one.
One of these days I swear I’m going to do something about this curse that’s been plaguing me since I was a young girl.
I wash my hands and head back to bed, barely curled into a comfortable position before cramps in my lower back cause me to grimace.
The door opens and Vincenzo’s mother comes in and turns on the overhead light.
I squint, pulling the sheet up to my chin as she closes the door behind her and comes to sit by my bed.
The kindly woman takes my hand. “Vincenzo told me how upset you are and that you think all of this is your fault. It’s not, sweetie.
Your father made this mess when he trusted a Gallini, but it’s Barcelo and Bastian and their father who are really at fault.
Your father was duped into believing they were honorable men of our kind.
We all know they are not, they don’t live by the same rules or loyalties that we do.
They’re out for themselves and will double-cross anyone that gets in their way.
I know, Vincenzo’s father had to deal with the Gallinis many years ago.
It wasn’t fun, but he was able to put them in their place.
I have no doubt Vincenzo will deal with them in a way that will keep them out of our life for good. ”
I nod, her words calming me. “Thank you for saying that. I hate that the entire family is at war because of me. I wish there was more I could do, but—". I close my eyes, wincing slightly as another wave of cramps hits my back.
Vincenzo’s mother’s face fills with concern. “What’s the matter?”
I shake my head, letting the pain subside but still wincing as it settles into my abdomen. “I have irregular periods, and they can be a little rough. I need to run to the bathroom again. Would you mind seeing if Lanah has some Midol or something for the cramps?”
“Certainly. Do you need help or are you able to manage alone?”
“I’ll be okay, just something for the cramps would be good, and maybe a pad if she has one. It’s so light that I can just make do with toilet paper if need be. I’ve never bled this light and had cramps.”
Her eyes meet mine as I try to sit up and wince. “When was your last period, Anna?”
I give her a wistful smile. I know what she thinks and what she wants, a baby, but that’s never going to be the case for me.
“I hate to tell you this when we’re already dealing with so much, but I’m not able to have children.
Vincenzo has known for quite some time. My life would be perfect if I could conceive. Maybe we’ll adopt at some point.”
She strokes my cheek. “You’re very pale. How long since your last period, sweetie?”
I shrug my shoulders, trying to remember.
“I just had my period not that long ago, I mean maybe three weeks? Believe me, irregular periods have been the bane of my existence for a very long time. It’s nothing to worry about.
” I take her hand. “You just focus on getting stronger and this crampy stuff will go away in no time. But I do need to use the bathroom again.”
Vincenzo’s mom still looks almost wistful.
I hate the fact that I’ll never be able to give her or her son an heir to their family legacy.
She stands and gives me an arm, but I stand on my own.
“I’m okay, I promise. I would tell you if I wasn’t.
Can you see if Lanah has some stuff while I’m in the bathroom? ” I ask.
She nods but looks a little uncertain. “Go, you are as protective as Vincenzo,” I tease.
She smiles and turns to go find Lanah. I’ve barely sat on the toilet when the cramps start again, the same lower back cramps that I’ve never experienced once until tonight.
I heave in a deep breath, and then blow it out, trying to relax, wiping only to find more of that pink discharge.
I swear for the umpteenth time that I’m going back to the gynecologist to get this issue resolved as soon as we are safe from the Gallinis.
I roll a few pieces of toilet paper up, folding square after square to create a makeshift pad and place it in my underwear, wash my hands and reach for the doorknob when a cramp so bad hits me that it takes me to my knees.
I heave through the pain and am still sitting on the bathroom floor when Vincenzo’s mother finds me. “Vincenzo!” she yells.
This is not happening, but it is, I can’t even find my voice through the pain. Something is very wrong and trying to get up just puts me back on the floor. “Something’s wrong,” I finally admit as she holds my hand. “Vincenzo!” she yells, just as my husband fills the doorway.
“What happened?” he growls, lowering to his knees to pick me up. Pain rolls through my lower back. “Pain, I need something for the pain,” I say, glancing at his mother who’s hopefully retrieved what I asked for.
She shakes her head. “She can’t have anything for the pain until we get her seen by the doctor, just in case she’s pregnant.”
Vincenzo’s eyes close, just for a moment. “It’s not that, we’ll explain later but it’s not that. But I’ll call the hospital and let them know we’re on the way. Do you have something to give her for the pain until we get there?”
Vincenzo’s already on the phone barking orders in a voice that I’ve never once heard before. My eyes close as another wave of cramps hits my lower back. I try to breathe through them but damn do they hurt. Vincenzo’s hand has mine clasped so tightly that I think I may lose the feeling.
His mother takes his arm. “We can’t give her anything in case they take her to surgery, or it hurts the baby.
We need to get her to the hospital, right now.
She already told me that she didn’t think she could get pregnant, but God has a funny way of deciding who comes into the world and when.
She may be pregnant and could lose the baby if we don’t. ”
Vincenzo’s eyes darken as he carries me from the bathroom to his bed. “Get the chopper here now! I don’t fucking care if you have to break every air traffic rule there is, pay the fuckers off, but get here now.” He turns to his mom. “Get Saint. Tell him to come in here, I’m not leaving her.”
She doesn’t dawdle. He turns to me. “Whatever this is, we’re going to get you to the hospital. We have the best physicians on payroll. You’re going to be okay, Anna.” He caresses my face as another wave of cramps hit, this time in my lower abdomen. I wince through the pain.
“God damn it get your ass in here, Saint,” he roars.
“I’m here, boss. Anna’s sick?”
“Very fucking sick. We need to get her to the hospital. The chopper’s going to land in about ten minutes max. I need any and all available soldiers guarding that fucking roof when we come out that roof door, you got me?”
“I got you, boss. No one’s going to get through me or my guys.”
“I tried to call Nicolo but he’s up to his eyes in a ton of shit on the dock.
And Saint, I know you trust your men, but I need you to watch them like a fucking hawk, you make damn sure one of them hasn’t been turned and gets close to Anna.
Once we’re up in the helicopter, you let us go, and you come back here and guard my sister and mother.
I’m trusting you with my entire life right here. ”
Vincenzo lifts me from the bed, covers and all. “Hang onto me, princessa. We’re going to have you to the hospital in record time.”
Saint leads the way out the door, through the tunnel where we came, and guards us as he and others swarm around us and Vincenzo makes his way with me in his arms through the penthouse, and up the elevator another floor to the roof.
We’re surrounded by men with automatics as we walk onto the roof to the awaiting helicopter.
Vincenzo yells to Saint, who’s already jumped in.
Vincenzo hands me to him and jumps into the helicopter and takes me back.
“Get a headset for her from up front,” Vincenzo yells to one of the crew over the whirring of the chopper blades.
Saint jumps out. “Get this bird in the air,” Vincenzo yells.
He turns back to me and strokes my cheek. “How’s the pain, princessa?”
“Bearable. I snuggle into his chest, embarrassed to be this much bother after all that I’ve put this family through already. “I’m so sorry. I tried to tell your mom, but she just wouldn’t listen.”
Vincenzo quiets me with a kiss but his eyes go dark as I wince through another intense wave of pain.
“Faster!” he yells to the pilot as we make our way over the boardwalk and the ocean to the other side of the bridge.
I close my eyes, unable to really concentrate on anything except my breathing and the sound of Vincenzo’s voice, telling me it’s going to be okay, rubbing his thumb against the pulse on my neck.
His phone rings. “About fucking time,” he growls. “I’m on the way to the hospital with my wife. You better tell me you’re already there.”
He takes a pause. “We’re about three minutes away. The minute we land you have a gurney to put her on with the security team surrounding her, you got me?”
The minute we start to descend he’s barking orders at the pilot. “The minute we get on the ground. There’s going to be a medical team. You see anything suspicious, someone looks like they’re taking aim at Anna or me, you better shoot the fuckers dead, capisce?”
The pilot doesn’t turn to look at us. “Yes boss.”
Vincenzo’s arms wrap tightly around me. “We’re almost there, princessa. You hang on.”
I swallow through the emotion. “The pain is better now. My periods are so messed up, I tried to explain to your mother but she wants to believe what she wants to believe,” I say as tears well in my eyes.
He strokes a tear before it has a chance to fall down my cheeks. “They’re going to fix this. I’m never going to see you in this kind of pain again.”
I give him a gentle smile, my lower back finally relaxing until a spasm hits me so hard I can barely breathe. “Vincenzo.”
His eyes close. “Get us there now!”
The pilot lands in less than a minute after that and total chaos erupts as men with machine guns surround us and a doctor in a white coat walks with the gurney they’ve placed me on as they wheel me through the doors of the sanctuary and hospital Vincenzo had built.
The physician fires question after question at me as we make the trip inside, but once in the procedure room, he steps out to let the nurse help me into a gown. When he returns he begins palpating my skin, pushing and prodding, asking me more personal questions.
Vincenzo is livid. “She’s answered all these fucking questions before. Anna can’t get pregnant; it’s got something to do with her abnormal period. You make sure her fucking appendix isn’t about to burst or something worse, you got me?” Vincenzo shouts.
The good doctor takes it in stride. He takes two tubes from a lab tray. “I’m going to get a little blood to rule out a few things. He turns to his nurse. “Get the ultrasound machine in here stat.”