by Avery Hawkes
It was all giving me a headache and the smell of hospital wasn't helping.
Instead of looking at magazines or stressing out about life, I watched the television. They had a political channel playing, and while everything they were talking about was negative, it was comforting in a sick way to know other people had issues too. Politics was never that much of an interest for me, so I was just able to turn off my brain and watch the images flash before me.
Time went by quickly. Before I knew it, I was being shaken from my daze by a strong hand. Standing over me was my father. His brows were knit together with worry. With him were all my brothers, who looked equally as worried.
"Where's Mom?" I asked, not seeing her in their group.
"She's on her way, but hit traffic. We'll see her in the next hour."
I stood and gave my father a hug. He embraced me tightly, squeezing me.
"She should be out of surgery soon," I told him when I stepped back from his arms. I could tell that his eyes were watering, but he tried to hide it from the boys. Since they were part of his business, he treated them much differently than he did myself or Regina. Appearances were everything.
"Any news on her condition?" Luca asked from the doorway.
I shook my head, no. This didn't seem to help anyone and that frustrated me as much as it did them. No one knew what happened and being in the dark wasn't something my family was used to.
We all took a seat and waited together. Minutes passed like hours now, and it was awkward amongst my brothers. No one seemed to want to look each other in the eye. We were all preparing ourselves to hear the worst.
Finally, a doctor opened the door and glanced around, "Rossi family?"
We all stood at the same time. The doctor was a young woman in a pony tail, she came over and looked at us. Her face was very serious and her tone firm.
"We just finished surgery with Regina. Thankfully, most of her injuries were minor and there was no internal bleeding."
"What happened?" Father asked.
"From what I know, there was a car accident. Her car flew off the road and hit a telephone pole. She sustained a few injuries, the most serious to her leg, which we operated on. She also seems to have blunt-force trauma to her head. We'll probably want to keep her here for a few days so we can watch her."
The group, while still stressed, breathed a sigh of relief. Since everyone expected the worst from The Call, minor injuries sounded like a God-send.
"When can we see her?" Matteo asked the doctor. She turned her body and made a motion to follow her down the hallway. My father was the first to go, the leader of his pack of adult children. I brought up the rear of the group, not as excited to see Regina, especially in such a sad state. With my emotions all over the place, I didn't know what I'd feel when I saw her. Since she had been such a shitty sister in the past, I expected not to feel so bad for her. Maybe the baby was playing with my hormones already, or maybe I cared about blood more than I thought.
When I stepped into the room Regina was siting in, I immediately was uncomfortable. She was lying there, bandaged and hooked up to countless tubes and lines. The steady beep of the heart monitor was the only sound in the room. She was still asleep from the surgery.
Dad walked to her side and grabbed her hand. She was always his favorite, even though he wouldn't admit it. Regina could do no wrong in his eyes. The sight of his baby girl in a hospital bed about drove him to tears. However, he was able to keep his composure, even when the boys standing behind him weren’t.
"What do you think happened?" I finally asked. My brothers either shrugged or shook their heads. Luca and I shared a knowing glance. We both had the same idea about what had happened. From what we knew about her partying and underage drinking, that was probably the cause of the wreck.
However, neither of us would say it out loud in front of Father. His angel could do no wrong and in a situation where emotions were high, it would probably cause a scene.
I bit my tongue and waited patiently with the rest of my brothers for my sister to wake up.
Mother arrived before Regina had gained consciousness. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying. She went from child to child, hugging and kissing them like her life depended on it. We told them what the doctors had told us, that Regina was going to be alright. Even so, she cried at the sight of her daughter hooked up to so many tubes and machines.
When a nurse came in to check on her, then write something down on her chart, I looked to Matteo.
"I'm going to grab a coffee, anyone else interested?" I took their orders and left on the heels of the nurse. When we were out of earshot from the room, I jogged to get closer to her.
"Excuse me," I said. She smiled in reply, all the nurses at the hospital had been so nice to us during our stay.
"What's up?"
"I'm a sister to Regina Rossi, back there. My father was wondering if you'd be able to tell us if there was anything in her system during the crash."
"Your father should ask me. She is a minor, but I can only give that information to a guardian."
Well, here we go again. Putting on my best face, I started lying and hated myself for it.
"He sent me because he couldn't face the information himself. If she had any drugs or alcohol in her system, it'd break his heart."
She nodded, then looked over my shoulder toward Regina's room. "Come with me," she said.
I was starting to feel uncomfortable as we made our way back to the hospital room filled with my family. As the nurse entered, everyone looked up at us.
"I'd like to update you all on the patient’s condition. Your daughter here," she motioned toward me, "seemed interested in more details."
They stared at me and I shrugged back at them. Thank God she didn't specifically call out the fact that I was prying for information on her blood alcohol content. I tried to breathe a sigh of relief, but I knew what was coming. My Father's world was going to be shattered. His beautiful little angel was going to fall from heaven and they would both have to face reality.
"When Regina came in, we did a battery of tests to make sure everything was normal before going forward. We found that your daughter is completely healthy and had no toxins to speak of in her system. Her recovery should be relatively quickly as long as she keeps up what she was doing."
"Thank you so much," my mother told her. It seemed to lift everyone's spirits, except for mine.
Luca and I looked at each other. His face was inquisitive, curious. I could imagine mine had a bit of confusion, dressed with stress. In any case, no one noticed as they were focused on our sister.
It sounded horrible and I kicked myself for thinking it. I just had assumed that she had been in an accident because she was drunk off her mind, but maybe she was the victim for once.
As I was having a moral crisis in my mind, which seemed to be a theme in my life as of late, Regina's eyes fluttered open.
The nurse, who was still in the room called a doctor in to look at Regina. It took a few moments, but soon the same young woman stepped forward as my parent's faces lit up. She explained she had to do a few tests now that my sister was awake. First she asked to see if Regina could hear her, asking her some basic question about her name, etc. Regina groaned, seeming to be too groggy to do much other than answer in one word sentences. The doctor shined a light in her face, asking Regina to look at her finger as she moved it back and forth in front of her eyes.
A few more tests later, both the nurse and doctor seemed to be happy with what they saw.
"It would be good to let her rest some, but you may visit with her for a few minutes," the nurse told us. "I'll come and get you once your time is up. Mom or Dad can stay longer, as long as Regina can get some space."
We all nodded, understanding. Once they gave us some privacy, we all moved forward to see how Regina was doing.
"Hi baby," Mother said, reaching out to squeeze her hand. Regina was still groggy from the drugs they had given her. Her eyes were half-l
idded as she looked around at the room.
"W-What happened?"
"Oh sweetie," Our mother replied, her voice wavering. "You were in a car accident."
She stared up at the ceiling, concentrating. Trying to remember. "I-I think I remember …."
"We're at the hospital now. The doctors say you're doing fine. You should be out in a few days."
"A-A few days?" she seemed distraught. Unlike the Regina I knew, she didn't throw a fit about having to miss out on partying or seeing her boyfriend. The drugs the doctors gave her must have worked really well to knock her out.
We all went around and talked to her. She seemed happy to see us, maybe a little bit too happy. Maybe she had hit her head and somehow turned into less of a brat? Who knew. It was like the sister I had known when I was a little girl was back. "Yes, you had to have leg surgery, but everything went smoothly." Matteo said.
"I remember―" she squinted, looking at the wall as she concentrated. "I remember driving down the road. I got to a turn, and as I turned the steering wheel … I lost control. It was like the car just stopped working. And then … then I blacked out. I was going the speed limit, it was nice outside … I could see the turn perfectly…."
"It's alright honey," Mother said, then kissed her daughters head. "We know it wasn't your fault."
"Where were you going?" My father asked. There was something about the way he looked at Regina that was strange. He was no longer a worried Father and taking on more of the role of the Mafia boss. It was apparent in his tone as well.
We all were aware since we were little kids that we had to be careful who we talked to. My Father would tell me that bad guys were lurking around every corner and that I was only safe when I was with him. Back then, I thought he was talking about monsters from the movies. What I didn't know was that it was true, there were men out to hurt us at any cost. One time, my mother had been attacked while she was picking up Matteo from school. That's when we doubled security in our home.
Whenever we were out in public, the men would keep their eyes out for anyone who looks suspicious. Sometimes, one of my brothers would disappear from our group when our family went on outings. Most of the time, they were taking care of business, but sometimes it was to confront someone they deemed a threat.
It was one of the many costs that the Mafia had on my family. Though we grew up never wanting anything, that sort of lifestyle came at a price. I sometimes wished we had been dirt poor and my father a door-to-door salesman.
Regina closed her eyes and for a moment I thought she had passed out again. After a few minutes, she opened them.
"I was picking up the car from Hermann and Son's Auto Repair," she said.
Father turned to glare at Luca. "I thought you said your man was clean," he hissed.
"He is," Luca said, crossing his arms defensively.
"Does he know that Regina is tied to us?" Father stood up and walked over to Luca, looming over him. I felt sorry for my brother. It wasn't easy to stand up against my Father, but he stood his ground.
"When he dropped my vehicle off, Regina was―" he stopped himself, thinking before he spoke. "I knew Reg was having trouble with her car, so I referred her to the same place. Yes, I tied her to us." He lowered his head. "I'm sorry."
My father's eyes blazed and he turned to my brothers, pointing at them and barking orders. "Find the car. Check it. Get the dirty cops to work with us on this." At the sound of the police, my stomach dropped.
"Daddy?" Regina's voice was small and squeaky like an animal's. Father turned to her and forced a smile.
"I'll be right back love, your mother will keep you company until then."
With that, the men headed for the door.
"Dad, I―" I reached out to touch his shoulder, but he breezed past me without a word. Anything I had to say about Lance Strong and his father's business meant nothing to him.
Once they were gone, my mother pretended like nothing out of the ordinary had happened, as she always did. She went about opening the curtains to the hospital room to look at the view from the window. As she wasn't looking, I felt a hand grasp my wrist, hard.
I about jumped out of my skin, I was so on edge. When I turned, Regina was looking at me. The sweet, hurt face that she had on earlier was gone. Instead, she was grinning maniacally at me. Something was horribly wrong.
"Check mate." she whispered. "The inheritance is mine."
I burst from the doors of the hospital, scanning the parking lot for any sign of my brothers. My phone was in my hand, with Lance’s number ringing and ringing.
“Hey, what’s up?” Lance asked from the other end of the line.
“Oh my goodness, Lance, thank―"
“Haha, gotcha! I’m not at my phone right now, but please leave a message after the beep.”
“Shit,” I said, just as the voicemail started recording. “Lance, when you get this voicemail, LEAVE TOWN. My sister―I don’t know what my sister did, but I think you’re in trouble with my family.”
As I was leaving the recording, I spotted Luca on the other side of the parking lot, having a heated conversation on the phone. I waved, jumping up and down as I talked.
“I’ll call you later, but right now you need to get somewhere safe. Take back roads, get as far out of town as possible until this is cleared up.”
I pocketed my phone and jogged up to my brother. Simone was sitting in the passenger seat, playing a mobile game. Luca said goodbye and hung up the phone as I got closer.
“What’s happening? Why did you guys leave the room so quickly?”
“I am sick and tired of being in the middle of this little fight you’re having with Regina,” he said, his tone terse. “Please tell me you didn’t cause this.”
“What?” My eyes widened and I raised my hands in a defensive stance. “Regina is a horrible person, but I would never want her to be seriously hurt! How could you ask that?”
“Because Father thinks your boyfriend rigged Regina’s car to crash.” He crossed his arms, waiting for my reaction, watching me.
“You think I told Lance to hurt Regina?”
“I don’t know what to think. You’re a Rossi just like us, unpredictably violent.”
We had gotten the attention of Simone, who had opened the passenger door to watch us bicker back and forth. He always watched our fights, but wasn’t one to take part in it.
“For starters,” I said pointedly, “He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Sure looked like he was interested at the club.”
“TWO,” I said, ignoring his comment. “You should be grilling Regina, not Lance or me.”
“You think she did that to herself?”
“Yeah, she’s up to something. I think she’s trying to frame Lance for the accident.”
“Why … does she care about what happens to Lance?” The twins looked at each other in confusion, having a quick conversation with their eyes. I was used to it, but it was still strange. There wasn’t much time for me to stand there in front of them, looking like a lost puppy. If my father was on the trail and Regina had given him some crumbs that pointed toward Lance, he would stop at nothing to spill blood.
So I spilled the beans. It took a few minutes, but I covered the will, Lance coming back into town, our relationship, my pregnancy and our plan. The further I got into the explanation, the wider both of my brother’s eyes got. Simone’s mouth was hanging open by the time I had finished my explanation.
“Jesus Christ.” Luca said.
“I … um … yeah,” was all I could reply with after dropping such a huge bomb in their laps.
“Why are you telling us this, if we stand to gain the inheritance when your plan fails?” Simone asked. It was a good question, but boy did it deflate me. Their faces didn’t betray whose side they were on, or how they felt about what I just told them.
“Because you’re the only people in this hell-hole of a family that I feel I can talk to.”
“Noted,” Luca said. “But r
ight now, we’ll stay as neutral as possible.” He motioned to his brother.
I was disappointed not to have someone on my side, but I nodded in reply.
“I understand.”
“But, we’ll keep you updated on what Father is up to,” he winked. That was better than nothing.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Lance
It had been a slow day, with fewer people bringing their cars in for repairs. With the garage all organized and no clients, I spent the day writing with a pad and paper. The paper was for the priest―about my thoughts on getting hitched, about Rosa and our marriage. As I added small notes throughout the day, it grew paragraph-by-paragraph. Before I knew it, I was done. Afterword, when I read it over I wondered, ‘I hope the priest will take the essay in sticky notes.’
Dad had gone home early, leaving me to man the shop until closing. I took any calls, swept near the front desk and emptied out the cash register. It was cooling off from the mid-day heat and I was happy the day was near an end.
I was crossing out and replacing a sentence on one of the sticky notes, when I noted that my phone had gone off across the shop. My mind was distracted with what words to use on the damn paper that I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings. The cell phone fell silent as soon as I made my way to it.
Rosabella had called, leaving a quick voicemail on my phone. Weird, she always texted when she wanted to talk with me. I picked up the phone and listened to what was on the other end.
My body stiffened as her words hit me with a ton of bricks. She begged me to flee from where ever I was. My knuckles were white from gripping the phone so hard. Shit, shit, shit. Her family was after me, and this time it wasn’t just Matteo. What did she mean? Had they found out about our relationship, the baby? Had her sister tattled about me being around Rosa at the club?
I heard the squeal of tires on the main road, the the crunch of gravel. My pencil tapped the wood table in thought, it sounded like someone needed to get their car to the shop in a hurry. My muscles tensed.
