Ephraim 22.
I enter the waiting room, finding a couple I have never met before, but would recognize the woman anywhere. While Eve and Priscilla aren’t carbon copies, there is no mistaking they are mother and daughter. The man with her is a few inches taller than me, graying black hair and built like a train. He can still hold his own.
“Sir. Ma’am.” I incline my head in greeting. “I…I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to protect her.”
“Oh, no.” Eve wraps me in her arms, a motherly embrace I haven’t felt for years. “No, this isn’t your fault Garrett.” She cries with me for a few minutes.
“Have the doctors been out to talk to you?” I ask, not sure if I can handle the prognosis. She looked…
“The nurse told us she was taken immediately into surgery. It will be hours. She lost a lot of blood, she has multiple lacerations and possible organ damage, and her face…” Primo trails off, clenching his fists.
“X-rays and such will need to be done. She has several facial fractures, but until they stop the internal bleeding and some of the swelling goes down, they won’t know the extent.”
“Fuck!” I roar, picking up a chair and throwing it across the waiting room.
“Garrett!” Several shouts of my name bring me back to the present.
A firm hand on my shoulder, swings me around to face Primo. “I understand, son. Let’s get her fixed up, then you and I can go on a hunting trip. My brothers will be here in a few hours to join the fun.” It takes me a few minutes to understand his meaning, then I nod my head in agreement.
“I can see why my daughter is so in love with you, unhelpful manly displays of aggression aside.” Eve says laughing, then grabbing onto my biceps and squeezing, “Grr. Argh.”
It breaks the tension in the room, and we all settle in for the long wait.
As promised, a few hours later the hospital waiting room is overrun with very tall, muscular Italian men, a very tall Greek gentleman, women of all shapes, color and sizes, and several children. Plus, my club brothers.
After all the introductions, my brothers and I hold court over an impromptu book club for all the women, Silas and Wesley, explaining the differences between our Motorcycle Club and the ones they read about.
“I don’t have actual guns, like with bullets, but I have tattoo guns and know how to inflict pain on sensitive areas.” Priscilla’s Uncle Adam sits next to me, staring ahead, not making eye contact.
“I love her. You can promise any retribution of pain you need to, but I will never, EVER hurt her. She is my world, my son’s momma, for all intents and purposes, and she will be the mother of all our future children. And nothing you could do would hurt worse than what I feel right now.” I hang my head, my hands dropped between my knees.
“Duh. She wouldn’t have slobbed your knob if she didn’t love and respect you.”
I whip my head up, wondering what the hell is going on. “Huh?”
“I meant, when you and the Pipilini Mafia find the fucker or fuckers who did this to Miss Priss, I want in on the action.”
I bust out laughing at the sincerity of his tone. “I had no idea that Priscilla came from such a blood thirsty bunch.”
“When you mess with the dicks and boobs, you get titty fucked.” Uncle Nate says from the other side of the room. Everyone goes silent at his words.
“That probably didn’t go the way you thought it would, did it, dear?” Aunt KellyAnne responds drily.
“It did not, lollipop. It did not.”
“Ephraim. Judah.” I turn from the awkward conversation to see Bryan, a friend of ours who works on the police force.
“Hey, man. Thanks for coming.” Judah and I shake his hands.
“I talked to the officers on the scene, her car has been towed. I will be obtaining her medical reports once she is out of surgery. I just wanted to go over the timeline with you.”
I tell him what I know, and then urge him to talk to her charge nurse in the PICU. “She sounded distraught, which is natural, but she mentioned that she should have listened to what Priscilla said about something. She couldn’t tell me anything because of HIPPA, but maybe you can talk to her and get more out of her.”
“Will do. I’ll go there now, but I’ll be around for a while to talk to her doctors.” He gives me a back pat before he leaves the waiting room.
A bit later, a large delivery of food arrives, courtesy of Priscilla’s grandparents…all 18 of them.
“Family of Priscilla Pipilini?” A voice calls from the doorway of the waiting room. All of us stand at once, anxiously waiting for any news. “Uh, all of you?”
“We are her parents, and this is her boyfriend.” Primo gestures to me, so I join them.
“She is not out of the woods yet, there is significant damage that we are waiting for the swelling down before we can accurately assess and treat. We were able to stop the bleeding; her liver was damaged by one of the stab wounds. Luckily, no other major organs were affected, though a couple of arteries were nicked by the weapon. She has received several transfusions; she lost a considerable amount of blood. Broken bones throughout her face and her left arm. They left her for dead.”
Eve cries out at those words, but the doctor keeps talking. “But she didn’t die. She’s is a strong woman, I believe, given time, she will recover. We just need to take everything one step at a time and let her rest. She did suffer a severe concussion, that mixed with the anesthesia and pain medicine, she will be out for several days. It’s for her own safety, her body will need to recuperate. Do you have any questions right now?”
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