No one talked after that. They waited for several hours to hear any news about Inéz. The longer it took, the worse ideas started appearing in their minds. Noah had half a mind to march in there and yell at the doctors to save her life. But he’d done enough damage for a while so he tried to stay as calm as possible.
After an hour Flavio showed up with Elio, reporting on Gastone’s whereabouts and the death of all his other associates. But no one really cared at the moment, least of all theCapohimself. That man had ruined his life enough as it was, and he wouldn’t waste another minute on him if it meant that Inéz would get better. Nothing else mattered.
Close to midnight, one of the doctors emerged. His eyes flashed with tiredness as a few drops of sweat ran down the side of his face. It wasn’t surprising after an almost seven-hour-long surgery. However, there was no hint of relief in his expression.
They all came up to the man, waiting for him to say something.
"Miss Díez suffered a blow to the thoracic nerves of her spine. This caused troubles with breathing and cardiac arrest. However, we were able to resuscitate her. There was also internal bleeding, so the next few hours will be crucial. She will be monitored closely in case of another heart arrest as the pulse is still weak, so it is, unfortunately, a possibility. Thankfully, her spine didn’t break. It fractured and until she’s awake we have no way of knowing how much long-term damage that might have caused," he explained.
"What long-term damage are you talking about?" asked Lynette.
"Hard to say. The most common one is a total loss of movement or at least partial one." the man added. "From what I heard she had an accident a while ago, right?"
Drew and Isaac nodded immediately. "It was a lower back injury. She went through rehabilitation and took pain meds for a few years," Isaac furthered.
They had both learned exactly how the injury in her childhood had been taken care of, and right now they couldn’t be more thankful for knowing it. In cases like this, it came in handy. Especially since Francisco was nowhere near.
The doctor grunted with worry. "Did the pain leave? And do you know maybe the extent of it?"
"She said that the pain was never unbearable unless she was putting too much pressure on her back. However, it was there all the same. It disappeared five years ago completely," Drew stated. He frowned because those questions required specific answers, so it wasn’t just the man’s curiosity talking. "Why? What’s wrong?"
"That injury caused problems in her lumbar spine, and one of the repercussions of this can be felt in her sexual organs. This pain that she has felt throughout the years, was most likely radiating from her reproductive organs. We will examine it further, but it looks like she will be unable to have a child."
Noah grew pale. To think how much pain and suffering Inéz had been through was like a punch in the guts. The anger towards her father had increased, and he knew that if it wasn’t for the girl’s acceptance of the man’s past mistakes, he would make a trip to Spain to mete. Still, he wasn’t sure whether her not being able to conceive was already known by her, or not. And this made him realize how little he knew about the girl.
CHAPTER 46
Noah knocked on the door of the hospital room where Inéz had been taken to after the long surgery. No answer. He slowly walked in, trying to be quiet as the girl could still be sleeping. However, it surprised him to see her lying in bed cuddled up into the sheets with tears streaming down her face. Her eyes were red and puffy, and as she looked up at him, they flashed with anxiety.
He breathed out. There were literally no words he could say to make her feel better. She hadn’t been a part of the underworld for long but had got to experience the most terrifying part of it just because she got involved with the Capowho had more enemies than supporters. It was his fault, and it made him feel even guiltier. If not for him, Inéz would have never been initiated, worked for him as a spy, or even become someone special in his life.
"I can’t, Noah," she whispered.
There was something in that whisper, a heart-wrenching pain behind it. He watched Inéz’s eyes, and he knew. It wasn’t the first time she indicated something was terribly wrong. Numerous moments flashed in his mind. He hadn’t listened. He’d been so consumed by the business that he hadn’t realized people were suffering because of his decisions. AsCapo dei capihe should put his Famiglia’sinterests above all, but hadn’t stopped to think that Inéz was now a part of it and he should have counted her well-being too. He wouldn’t care that much about a random soldier, however, she was a girl and an extremely important one to him at that. But he had failed her in so many ways it was horrifying.
He moved closer, sitting on the chair next to her bed. Reaching out for her palm, he lightly brushed his fingers on her skin. With the operation she’d had, she would be very sore for some time, and Noah didn’t want to do something that could bring her additional pain.
He smiled slightly. "You don’t have to do anything right now, cara," he said, without realizing what the girl really meant.
Ever since they met four years ago, there had been a strong pull between them, even though they hadn’t spent a lot of time together. After all those years, it seemed like nothing had really changed. It had even increased. Inéz had started to come out of her shell of uncertainty and grow
