This can’t be happening.
“They said six to eight weeks! That was ten days ago!”
The doctor’s words flow in and out of my head. Blood clots near Rinaldo’s heart. Surgery is risky. They’ve never seen such rapid growth. A few days at best…
Lele is in tears, and Lucia is arguing with the diagnosis and whether or not heart surgery will buy Rinaldo more time, and Nick is on the other side of the wall, listening but not included. The doctor’s expression says it all—there’s nothing they can do. Rinaldo will be gone by the weekend.
I can’t listen anymore.
I stand and walk away from the small conference area without a word. Lele and Lucia will just have to deal without me. I’m not family any more than Nick is, and I’m not ready for this. I’m not ready for him to be gone.
It isn’t supposed to happen this fast.
With my hands balled into fists, I glance down at Nick, sitting in a chair and staring at his hands clasped between his knees. He looks even worse than I feel, so I step up to talk to him.
“You all right?” Nick startles when I speak and then glares up at me.
“What do you think?” he snaps. “My father’s got a few days left to live, and I’m not even allowed to go back and see him. Lele won’t make eye contact, and Lucia is always with her. They let Jonathan and Becca back there but not me.”
I nod. He’s got every right to be pissed off.
“I’ll talk to Lucia.” I sit down next to him, and he flinches from me. “I’m sure she’ll add you to the visitor’s list. You know we were just trying to protect him.”
“From who? Me? What exactly are we going to save him from at this point, huh? Afraid someone’s going to put him out of his misery before the cancer can take him?”
“There are still people out there who would betray him.” I think of Beni and wonder where he’s been during all of this. I haven’t seen a sign of him in days. “People are going to wonder what happens next, and there are those who would try to move too soon.”
“It’s bullshit.” He sits back and crosses his arms over his chest.
“What is?”
“All your talk about betrayal…” Nick snorts through his nose. “It’s bullshit.”
“Nick, what are you talking about? You know situations like this can be turmoil. We have to be on the lookout to protect Rinaldo and his business.”
Nick turns and narrows his eyes at me, and I’m taken aback by the look he gives me. Nick is always so docile; it’s strange to see him this angry.
“You know what? Fuck it.” He points a finger at me. “I don’t care if you do kill me.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I’m getting pissed off at his cryptic talk. “I’m not after you!”
Nick looks around to see if anyone’s listening before leaning in close to me. He lowers his voice as he speaks.
“It means I know what you did. I found Felisa’s bracelet in your car. I know what you did to her. You set it up to look like it was the gangs, but I know it was you.”
My body goes a little cold as we look at each other, and I remember the remnants of the broken bracelet that must have been left in my car. I thought I had gotten them all out. I also remember Nick going quiet after I came back from the gas station. I noticed that he might have had something in his hand but didn’t think much of it. It must have been the bracelet. At least now I know what has him so tense.
He’s right—I might kill him now.
I can’t count the number of times someone has accused me of murder. Like now, they were usually spot-on. I’ve always approached it calmly and with threatening silence. However, I’m nowhere near calm now.
I grab Nick by the sleeve of his shirt and pull him outside the hospital door. I glance around quickly, looking for some kind of cover. There’s not much out there besides a row of hedges, so I haul him behind them.
I shove him against the brick wall behind the shrubs, draw my gum, and point it at his face.
“You have some fucking balls, don’t you?”
I can feel him shaking in my grip, but he still glares at me.