Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Every muscle in Kara’s body had gone taut like bows strings pulled too far and desperate for a release of the building tension. Angelo’s mother put an arm around her shoulders as the emergency room doctor spoke.
“We have finished a laparotomy surgery,” she began. “His wound is deep, so there was a chance it had perforated the intestines and damaged major blood vessels, which can lead to internal bleeding and peritonitis.”
“What’s that? Peritonitis?” Francesca asked.
“Sorry.” The surgeon rubbed her temples.
“It means an infection. Fortunately, we didn’t see any damage when we were inside, but we’re going to treat him in advance for any possible infection he might get in the near future.
He’s resting now, and I would say unless something changes, he’ll be all right once he’s rested and recovered from the surgery.
We’ll check his blood work and liver values over the next two days and if everything looks good, we can send him home.
He has some staples to hold the wound together, and those can be removed in a week or so.
Do you have questions?” the surgeon asked.
Kara let out a shuddering breath. Angelo was all right. He hadn’t died because of her.
Matteo and Dante asked the surgeon a few more questions. Kara closed her eyes, allowing the tidal wave of relief she felt to wash over her. Angelo was okay. He hadn’t died because of her. That was all that mattered.
Matteo shook the woman’s hand when she’d finished answering his questions. “Thank you, doctor.”
The doctor then smiled at Kara, her expression weary with fatigue but happy. “Your fiancée will be okay.”
Her fiancée. Crap. She had to figure out a way out of this mess.
“Thank you,” Kara replied and she meant it. She couldn’t have borne Angelo not getting better.
“You should go home and rest,” Jared suggested to Angelo’s parents.
Matteo shook his head. “We aren’t going anywhere. No sense in going home when Angelo isn’t there.”
“Fair enough,” Jared agreed, and looked to Kara. “Can I speak to you a moment?”
Kara followed Jared to a corner of the waiting room, a pit of dread forming in her stomach. She knew where this was going, even before he spoke.
“Angelo is like a brother to me. That’s why I know you aren’t his fiancée.” Jared’s gaze was hard, watching her reaction as if she were under a microscope.
Her breath was squeezed out in a painful rush. Alessia said this man was a lawyer. What if he thought she was running some sort of a scam on Angelo? He could get the law involved. They’d check her background, flags would go up, her father could find her… Kara’s vision swam a little.
Her mind raced to find a way to cover her tracks, but then Jared surprised her.
“I want you to know you can trust me,” he said.
Of all the words she’d expected to hear, those were the least expected, and the most welcome.
“Trust you?”
“With whatever this situation really is. If Angelo saved you, then you’re someone worth saving. I won’t tell his family, but I need to know what’s really happening in case I can help.” That harsh look in his eyes had faded enough that the pressure against Kara’s chest eased.
Kara weighed the honesty in his tone against her own fears. Trust him… a quiet voice said inside her head. It might have sounded like Angelo’s.
She drew in a deep breath. “I didn’t mean for this to happen…
I didn’t think it through.” Kara struggled to make her words make sense as she tried to start at the beginning.
“I’ve never met Angelo before tonight. We were both working at the soup kitchen.
After we finished serving everyone, I left to go home, and a man attacked me in an alley by the soup kitchen.
Angelo… he saved my life. He…” She held back fresh tears.
“He asked me to stay with him and I said I would. When the ambulance arrived, the only way I could go with him was if I was his family, so I said I was his fiancée. I didn’t expect his family to get here so fast, and then the attendant said I was his fiancée and…
it all just spiraled out of control…” Her voice trailed off as she waited to see how Jared would react.
His face slowly broke into a smile. “Well, I have to admit, it’s not as crazy a story as I was expecting, but if anyone was going to end up with a fake fiancée it would be Angelo.
It’s almost like a sit-com episode.” His smile faded slightly as he glanced over her head at Angelo’s family.
“The thing is, his family has had enough shock and worry for one day. Let’s not add to it by disappointing them with the news that Angelo isn’t engaged.
When Angelo wakes up, we’ll talk to him to decide how to let his family down gently.
” Jared’s lips twitched. “His mother’s had her heart set on Angelo getting married for years. ”
“She mentioned something like that,” Kara muttered miserably. “I wish I hadn’t lied to the EMTs.”
Jared placed a hand on her shoulder. “I’m glad you did. He wanted you to stay with him and you stayed. He’s going to appreciate that.”
“Thank you,” she whispered. “I just wanted to help somehow.” What she couldn’t say aloud was that she was afraid he would die, and she didn’t want him to die alone.
Jared shot her a soft smile. “Angelo has that effect on people. He goes the extra mile for others. It’s only natural you’d want to do the same for him.” He gently squeezed her arm. “I’m guessing you won’t be leaving the hospital either?”
“No way,” she said resolutely. “It’s not like I have anywhere else to be.”
“Not for Christmas?” Jared’s brows rose.
She shook her head. “It’s just me. And being here is okay. Now that I know the surgery went well, I feel I can relax a little.”
“Try to get some rest. I don’t know if that’s possible in those chairs or not, but try.” He looked at the waiting room chairs with skepticism. “And whatever you do, don’t say anything else that might give Mrs. Vertucci hope.”
“Like what?” she didn’t answer what he meant.
Jared was grinning again and in that moment Kara understood how he and Angelo seemed to be such good friends. They emanated that same “the world delights me” sort of energy she only experienced every now and then.
“I don’t know… like don’t tell her you’re pregnant or anything.” He winked at her.
Pregnant? Yeah, definitely not possible. She was hoping to be long gone before they’d get to any point where she’d really have to fake being his fiancée.
Kara took a seat beside Matteo, who insisted she use his coat as a pillow.
When she woke up, it was about lunch time on Christmas day. She blinked and looked around the waiting room. How had she slept for nearly ten hours? At least she felt less tired than she had last night when they’d first arrived at the hospital.
A pretty blonde woman and an attractive brown-haired man who wore expensive, elegant looking clothes had joined Angelo’s family in the waiting room.
Kara was still getting the sleep out of her eyes as Jared stood up to greet them.
The woman hugged Jared and Angelo’s family, who had clustered all around her.
She had no problem being the center of attention, but not in any kind of self-centered way.
The man who accompanied her hung back to the edge of the room.
Much like Kara, he carried the aura of an outsider.
“How’s Angelo doing?” the woman asked Jared.
“He was only stabbed once, but it was deep. The surgeon told us he came through the surgery well. He’s going to be okay. He’ll be able to have visitors once he’s awake. It might be another hour or so before he comes around.”
The woman glanced around the waiting room until her eyes settled on Kara, her eyes full of tears.
“That’s Kara. She’s the woman who rescued Angelo,” Jared said just loud enough for Kara to overhear but his voice broke a little. He’d been so well composed before. She could only assume reality was catching up with him, and all the might-have-beens that had been narrowly avoided.
Angelo’s life had to be a charmed one if he was surrounded by so many family and friends, people who were relieved and overjoyed to know he was going to be okay.
He must be an incredible man to foster such love and loyalty with so many people…
The woman turned back to Jared, her lips tightening in bravado. “Angelo is tough. He’ll pull through and be back in his restaurant, cooking in no time.” She kissed his cheek. “Where are Felicity and Hayley?”
That had to be Jared’s wife and daughter. Alessia had mentioned them earlier.
“At home. I didn’t want them here watching everyone stress over this. Hayley is at that age where she cries if she sees other people cry.” Jared smiled a little, but his expression was sad.
The woman speaking to Jared nodded in understanding. “Jared, you should go home. You have a family, and it’s Christmas. I’ll call you when Angelo’s awake. Thad and Veronica will be on a flight home tomorrow morning. It was the earliest they could manage.”
Jared seemed to think it over for a moment, and she knew he was weighing it in his mind.
“Seriously, Jared. You’ve been here all night. I’ll take over for at least half the day. At least go home and shower.”
“Okay, call me the minute he’s awake.” Jared told the blonde woman.
“I will,” she promised him.
Kara closed her eyes, hoping that no one would focus on her so she could try and sleep again.
She was gently wakened a while later when a man in the elegant clothes held out a cup of hot chocolate.
He was the man who’d come with the pretty blonde woman.
It was from the hospital cafeteria, and probably as average as it got, but at that moment, that first sip was the best thing she’d ever tasted.
“Thank you.”
“I thought you could use something to warm up,” the man said, his smile compassionate. “I’m Roarke. Roarke Covington. I’m with Shana Pimms over there.” He nodded toward the blonde woman who was talking with Angelo’s father.
“I’m Kara Gallagher.”