“You promise?” she muttered.
I nodded, lifting my pinky for her, and she linked her finger with mine. “I promise, now, get into bed and sleep.”
She nodded, crawling off me and back under the covers. Reaching down, I dusted off one of her pillows, then put it back behind her head.
“Papa…your hand,” she whispered, touching my bandages.
“I touched the stove,” I lied, not sure what else to say to her.
“Don’t do that,” she ordered, and I nodded, tucking the covers around her.
“I won’t again, now sleep.” I petted her gently.
She nodded, her eyes drooping, and she turned over to one side. “Don’t tell Mommy…my mirror.”
I smiled. “I won’t.”
I watched as she drifted off to sleep, until she was softly snoring. The older she got, the more I wondered who she’d take after more. There were days she was all Calliope—food-loving, movie watching, outspoken, sociable, dramatic, and fun. Then there were days in which I saw a lot of me in her, like my temper, but I also saw a lot of my younger self in her. The me who asked a hundred questions a day, who thought the world of her parents and was fiercely loyal no matter what.
“Calliope brought her to me before she left,” my grandmother whispered from behind me. “We were both asleep, but she must have woken up sometime during the night and went to look for her mother. She ended up near the security room. You and Calliope were on the late-night news. She wouldn’t calm down no matter what I said. I thought it was best to call you so she could hear your voice. I didn’t expect you to leave the hospital.”
“I was going to come back to get her anyway,” I whispered, rising from the bed and turning back to her. “We’ll be leaving in the morning.”
She tilted her head confused. “You two will stay at the hospital with Calliope?”
I didn’t answer.
My head hurt. There were so many things I needed to figure out, re-plan. The first and most important thing now was getting to her. I’d wasted too much time on my parents out of anger.
But wasting that time could be to my advantage?
Fiorello had men with him. Where are they now?
This isn’t over. I need a new…
“Ethan, you need some rest, too,” she whispered, putting her hand on my head and hugging me, and I wondered if she’d still do it if she knew I had stabbed her son out of anger.
My mind was racing, and the more I thought about what to do next, the more the temptation grew in me just to leave.
“I know it feels as though you have been through hell. But that is the life of the Ceann Na Conairte sometimes.”
She would know. How many times had she seen the rise and fall? But my case was different. I was fighting on the inside to get out.
“Am I?” I asked. “Or is that, Father, still, Nana? I can’t tell anymore.”
She didn’t answer.
So that meant she couldn’t tell, either.
“Thank you for watching her.” It was all I could say, pulling out of her arms.
“Of course. We will talk later.”
I nodded, watching Gigi’s chest rise slowly. “You didn’t ask me how Calliope was,” I said when I heard her walk to the door.
“I don’t need to. I know what it looks like when you lose the one you love,” she said before closing the door behind her.
Exhaling, I leaned over, lying beside Gigi, resting my hand on my face. Her tears, Calliope’s condition, my rage…I wanted to strike back. I wanted to do more than just yell at them. I wanted to…I truly wanted to kill them.