Chapter 25
Constant beeping noises brought Ralph back from the bizarre dream he was having. A nurse was at his bedside tapping his shoulder.
“Mr. Conti, wake up. You’re having a bad dream. Your heart rate is too fast. Mr. Conti, can you hear me?”
Ralph opened one eye, then the other. A woman was standing over him, a stethoscope around her neck, her long brown hair pulled back.
“Where am I? What happened?” He moved around in the bed and winced.
“Ouch, what the …” He glanced down at his arm and then at the nurse.
He touched his chest and felt a tube protruding out.
“What the hell!” His lips were dry, it felt like there was cotton in his mouth, and his throat was sore.
The nurse lightly touched his right arm.
“You’re in Northwestern Hospital. You were shot at City Hall yesterday.
You have a badly damaged left arm and a chest tube.
You lost a lot of blood, and you were in the operating room for a long time.
The doctor said you are in such good shape that you’ll likely bounce back quickly. ”
Ralph opened both eyes widely, looking all around and down at his body, which was covered by a white hospital blanket. He lifted his right arm slowly; there was an IV in it. He tried to move his left arm and let out a yell. “Holy shit! What day is it? What time is it?”
“It’s noon on Wednesday. How bad is your pain, one being nothing, ten being unbearable?”
“It’s a ten, but I have to be at the office before my business implodes. I was shot? Who the hell shot me?” Random thoughts pulsed through his mind in no particular order. Sharp pains shot from his left arm up into his chest and neck.
“I’m going to get you something for pain, then we’ll sit you up in bed.” The nurse left and was back quickly with a syringe. As she pushed the medication into his IV, she said, “You should feel some relief right away.”
Ralph felt a lightness in his head and then his whole body relaxed. “Wow … that was fast.”
The nurse brought the back of the bed up to a seated position and adjusted the pillows behind his head.
“Sometimes life is better with the help of pharmaceuticals. After you sit up for a while, we’ll get you out of bed and walking.
I’ll be back in about twenty minutes.” She gave him a glass of water.
“Sounds good to me, I have to get out of this place sooner than later. I have a business to run. Do you happen to have my cell phone?”
Before she could answer, a voice from the doorway responded. “I have your phone, boss. I knew you’d be going through withdrawals. We were pretty worried about you. Glad to have you back.” Eunice walked over to Ralph and handed him the phone.
“Eunice, good to see you.” He took the phone.
As the nurse was leaving, she looked at Eunice. “I’d be careful about leaving that phone with him while he’s getting pain medication. He may not remember who he talked to or what he said.”
Ralph watched Eunice’s facial expressions as she studied him from head to toe.
“You look like you’ve been to war, Ralph. Angie and I were so worried about you.”
“Angie knows I’m in here?”
“She feels awful that you got shot. She says it’s all her fault. She was a mess last night. We both waited up until you were transferred to a bed. We didn’t get home until after three this morning.”
Ralph let out a long sigh. “I don’t think she should come anywhere near me until we get this Mario thing resolved. I’m concerned for her safety. I think Mario likely hired a hit man to do this. He may go after Angie.”
There was a knock at the door. “Mr. Conti?”
Two men in overcoats walked in. The taller one spoke. “We’re detectives with Chicago PD. We need to ask you a few questions.”
Eunice turned. “He’s on pain medication and he just got through some intense surgery. Do you think it’s really a good time to talk to him?”
“That’s okay, Eunice. I’m a little loopy but I can talk.” Ralph sat up a little more.
“I’m Detective Mars. We need to hear what happened yesterday, to the best of your recollection. No detail is too small, including who you think did this to you.”
Eunice took a seat by his bedside. “Do we need to call our attorney?”
Mars shook his head. “Nice to see you again, Eunice. I don’t think that’s necessary.”
Ralph looked at Mars, then Eunice. “You two know each other?”
“Detective Mars and his buddy here interviewed Angie and me last night while you were in the recovery room.”
Ralph swallowed. He took a long sip of water, then looked at Mars. “These women have nothing to do with what happened to me. Please leave them alone.”
“We’re the detectives on this case, Mr. Conti, and we will speak to whomever we need to. We have an injured Chicago policeman, and whoever is after you is not going to stop. Nobody gets shot in front of City Hall. These people mean business.”
“I may not recall anything with much accuracy,” Ralph said.
“Why don’t you tell us what you remember? We can always come visit you again if we need to.”
Ralph explained that he was at City Hall checking on the status of his projects and then walked outside and heard shots.
“Any reason why someone would want you dead, Mr. Conti? Whoever did this appears to have been targeting you. The policeman—who is recovering, thankfully—may have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. But again, it appears that whoever did this was intent on killing you.”
Ralph wasn’t sure he should mention Mario, then went for it.
“Mario Longetti, who works for the city. He accused me of having him put on leave, punched me in the face when I was at the Four Seasons. I’m not sure if it was him or he had anything to do with it, but let’s say he’s not my biggest fan.
” Ralph watched the detectives’ faces to see if either of them reacted to Mario’s last name.
No telling who was on the take. They were both wearing poker faces.
After fifteen minutes of questions, they told Ralph he needed to stay local. Ralph raised his eyebrows and pointed to his arm and chest tubes. “Not going anywhere fast.”
As the detectives left the room, with a glance back, Detective Mars said, “Take care of yourself, Eunice.”
Eunice returned his smile, her fingers never leaving her laptop.
The nurse returned, helped Ralph out of bed, attached his IV and chest tube drainage bag to a pole on wheels, and helped him walk around his room first, then down the hall and back.
The pain medication did the trick and made his walk easier.
He sat in the high-backed chair as the nurse’s aide made his bed and tidied his room.
Eunice worked on her laptop all the while.
After he was settled back in the bed, he turned to Eunice. “Give it to me straight. Do we still have a company? Are any of our jobs back up and running?”
“You know that two jobs went back online before this shooting happened, and there are three more that should start in a couple days. The investors all send their best, but you know all they really care about is their money. Our lawyers have drafted the necessary documents to assure them that if they do incur any losses, we have reinsurance that will take care of things.”
Ralph let out a sigh. “Please, let Angie know I’m on the mend and I’ll be in touch.”
“Angie did say she was going to get some papers Vinnie left her out of her safety deposit box, and she and her friend Ben were going to meet with someone at City Hall about her pension and Mario.”
“Please tell her to be extra careful, Eunice. Mario is connected inside and outside City Hall, as you well know. I would hate anything bad to happen to Angie or Ben.” Ralph closed his eyes for a moment. He was so tired.
“I’ll take care of things, boss. I’ve got a handle on this. Get some rest.” Eunice collected her things and left him dozing off.
Ralph spent the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon resting, interspersed with several walks up and down the hallway.
He spent some time getting an X-ray to check the status of his lungs, and his pulmonary team came in to inform him that his chest tube could come out in the evening.
If he did well, he might well be discharged the next day as long as ortho signed off on it.
His lungs were in excellent shape since he was an avid runner, so he was healing well.
Eunice came in around dinnertime and brought him a fresh chopped salad and garlic bread, which he enjoyed. “Thanks for dinner. Looks like I may get out tomorrow. Ready to sleep in my own bed without a million interruptions. There’s no sleeping in a hospital, I learned that when I was with Alice.”
“I called Angie and told her you wanted her to know it wasn’t her fault and that you’d call her in the next couple days. She’s making up time at her job and said she’s planning on seeing you with her own eyes. Apparently she didn’t quite believe me.”
“Sounds like Angie.” Ralph cleared his throat. “I hope she’ll talk to me now. The last time I saw her she said never to speak to her again.”
“Why don’t you wait until you get home and get settled to call her,” Eunice said.
“Good idea. These pain meds are doing funny things to my mind, and I sure don’t want to make her mad again. She’s got quite a temper,” Ralph said.
“Sounds like a plan. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
As Eunice was leaving, one of the residents from the pulmonary team walked in.
“I’m here to remove your chest tube, Mr. Conti. Your lung looks clear.”
The rest of the evening went without incident and Ralph only needed pain medication once during the night.
He was discharged the next morning, and Eunice brought him home after all the paperwork was completed and follow-up appointments were made.
He was back in his apartment, tucked in bed, by lunchtime.
Eunice helped him get settled and then went back to the office.
Several large flower arrangements adorned his living room, one from his attorneys, one from the investors, and bright yellow daisies from Angie.
He read her note. Some fresh flowers to brighten your day.
Hope you’re feeling better. Warmly, Angie Sortino.
He called Angie. “Hi. Thanks for the flowers, that was very thoughtful but not necessary.”
“This whole thing was my fault; the least I can do is send you flowers.”
“Angie, I want to be clear with you, this is not your fault. Mario is after me, and I don’t think he’ll stop until I can figure out a way to handle this. It’s my problem, not yours. I’m home now and recuperating. How about you come by tomorrow for lunch before you go to work.”
“Mario is my problem too. He took my pension money and he’s not getting away with it; we’ve got the goods on him. By the time I get done with him, he’ll be working on a chain gang. How about we work together on this.”
Ralph started to laugh and then stopped. It hurt too badly. “I don’t think they have chain gangs in prison anymore, but I like where you’re going with this. I’m happy to be your partner in crime on this, Angie.”
“Good, we’re in agreement then. I’ll bring lunch and we can map out a plan. See you tomorrow around noon. I’ll be with Gina in the morning. Her new catering business is booming. They can’t keep up with all the funerals they’re booking.”
“Well, my aunt Marge always said, ‘Every day above ground is a good one, but when it’s your time, it’s your time.’”
“Thankfully it’s not your time. Take it easy. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Ralph took a few naps during the day, walked around almost every hour, his arm in a sling, taking deep breaths as instructed and blowing in some contraption that had three balls in three plastic tubes.
This is fun. Let’s see how high I can get them to go this time.
He checked his email with one hand and reviewed some new potential projects.
Good thing he wasn’t a lefty, or he wouldn’t be able to do anything.
He looked in the mirror and startled himself for a moment.
He’d been so focused on his lungs and arm that he had temporarily forgotten about the big white bandage over his nose, and his blackening eyes.
He looked like a battered raccoon. What a train wreck.
He called Dr. Hoffman, the plastic surgeon who fixed his nose, and asked when he could remove the packing and bandage.
She informed him that she would not be removing anything for now, instructing him to not do it himself.
He could come in at the end of the week and she would assess his progress.
Eunice called Ralph at the end of the day.
“I saw your emails; you are not supposed to be working. I’ve got things covered here.
Four of the ten jobs are back on track. The unions were happy with the downtime pay for their teams. Seems that one of the Tribune reporters was covering another story at the hospital when you were brought in, so you made the papers again.
No details, just that you were shot, gunman at large, but no mention at all of the cop.
Detective Mars told Angie and me that they didn’t want the media to print too much about a policeman being shot, didn’t want to rile up the public. ”
“Great, just what we need. More stories in the paper,” Ralph said.
“I’ve gotten some calls from your colleagues genuinely concerned about you and sending you their best wishes for a speedy recovery. They offered to help you in any way they can. Other than that, all is well in the construction world. Now get some rest.”