Spasms jolted Ella’s body and with each one Dario’s heart clenched tighter. Uneven, fast beeping filled the tiny hospital room. At least the noise brought a nurse in on a whirlwind.
The woman turned off the sound on the machine and proceeded to check Ella’s vitals. She tapped the drip bringing fluids to Ella through the tube connected to the needle inserted into her vein.
“The doctor is still waiting for her lab test so we’ll know what’s in her system.” She studied the screen, then adjusted the wires connecting Ella to the monitor and pressed the red button. The beeping resumed, more steady now. Oxygen mask covering Ella’s mouth and nose fogged up with her even breaths.
He took his daughter’s hot hand and twined his fingers with her lifeless ones. His girl was suffering and there was nothing he could do for her. The tension in his neck and shoulders increased. A piercing headache in his temples caused him to shut his eyes tight. No amount of pestering the hospital staff would hurry those lab tests. He smoothed her hair and kissed her temple. What would he do if he never again heard her adorable giggle? Unimaginable.
His breath hitched and his nerves high-strung. “Baby girl, it’s your dad. You’re a fighter. Fight this and get back to us.”
Ante knocked on the door. “Hey, how’s she doing?”
“They took blood samples and are still waiting for the results.” Dario lowered Ella’s hand onto the bed but kept their fingers laced. He couldn’t let the fear of losing this new life he’d found a little over a month ago overwhelm him. “Irena’s in surgery. Her arm is mangled pretty badly. And I’m….”
Ante pursed his lips and nodded once, then joined him in his vigil over Ella. “Have you had that cut on your forehead looked at?”
Dario touched the wound. He winced at the contact of the bump under the dressing. His fingers came unbloodied. He was supposed to have had the laceration cleaned and taped, but he couldn’t leave Ella’s side. “It stopped bleeding.”
The long pause between him and Ante stretched into an uncomfortable silence. Unable to listen to the beeping of the life monitoring machine, Dario asked, “How’s Jasmin?”
Ante shifted in his chair, the metal legs scraping the tiled floor. “She’s finally asleep. They gave her a mild sedative. Physically, she isn’t hurt, but she’ll have to be assessed by a child psychologist. I’ve never seen her so excited and chatty. The doctor says it’s a defense mechanism.”
Dario placed his hand on Ante’s shoulder. “Kids are resilient.” But that didn’t excuse what Fred had done to her…what he tried to do. If Diego hadn’t got him first, he’d strangle Fred with his bare hands.
More silence stretched between them. Ante exhaled loudly and leaned his head on the green wall. “Martina’s on her way. Her brother returned to the
island to take her to the city after he lost track of Fred’s boat.”
Dario rubbed his tired eyes. He was beyond exhaustion but had refused the sedative the doctor offered him. He needed his head clear. “It’s a good thing or the bloodshed would have been worse.”
“You got that right and Fred could’ve escaped. Kris is still a hotheaded teenager at heart.” Ante yawned. “If he saw Jasmin in that dress and lipstick…God…I can’t think of that.” Ante shook his head as if to dispel the image. “What boggles my mind is why Fred put all his men outside while he sat in that dingy room with the kids.”
Dario blinked slowly, his eyelids sticking together. “Who knows? The man was deranged.”
Ante gave Ella’s hand a soft squeeze. “You must pull through this. That poor guy, Andy, took a vicious beating while protecting you girls. Don’t let his suffering be all for nothing.” Ante returned his gaze to Dario. “How many youngsters would do that nowadays?”
Remorse stirred in Dario. Andy deserved to date his daughter. “His mother must be crushed.”
“Yeah, I heard her wailing next door to Jasmin, so I went to see them. The boy’s on the mend. He’s asking about the girls.” Ante tapped his foot nervously against the chair leg.
More guilt coiled Dario’s insides. “I never expected Andy to find himself in the thick of it.”
“Andy said Fred wouldn’t allow his men near them. Fred would lose money if they weren’t virgins. The priest got the worst of it. The kid heard him crying and begging. Joe found him naked, tied to some strange
contraption, bloody and bruised on his…ahem…hind quarters.”
Fuck! Fred was a monster. “Sick pervert. We all had good reasons to kill him, but that priest had most.” Dario got to his feet and tried to shove the details in that room and Jasmin on Fred’s lap…some porcelain toy from his memory.
What had Fred planned to do? Would Fred have kept her as his newest pet until her body blossomed, then discard her in his school where grown freaks would have their way with her? What kind of twisted sexual fetishes had those weirdos inflicted on children? Powerful people who should protect the young, instead they allowed the horrors to go on for their own sick perversions. The train of thought was entering a dangerous territory, churned his stomach. He needed a distraction. “Irena should be out of surgery by now. I’ll go check with the nurse.”
“Before I forget…” Ante dug into his pants pocket and pulled out Irena’s half of their amulet. “Jasmin had this inside her dress. Fred let her hold it so she would stop crying.”
“The amulet! Irena has my half Buddy took from that guard.” Dario reached for the rock in Ante’s hand. “Ella believes she can make it whole again.”
Ante’s expression of disbelief irked Dario, but he ignored his brother and approached the nurses’ station. One girl in light blue scrubs typed fast on the keyboard, a pencil between her teeth.
“I’m sorry to bother you.” He leaned over the counter.
“Yes?” she said, not breaking her glance from the computer monitor, keys clicking under her flying
fingers.
“Are there any updates on Irena Novak?”
She plucked the pencil from her mouth. “Let me check.” The nurse took the phone receiver and four beeps sounded as she dialed the extension. She doodled on the pad. After several um-hums and uh-has, and a couple of yes’s and okay’s punctured by chuckles, she finally hung up and turned to him. “They are just finishing up in OR and will transfer your fiancée to the recovery.”
“When can I see her?”
“When she wakes from the general anesthesia and her doctor says she’s fine to go to her room.” The nurse nodded. Her hair pulled into a tight ponytail bobbed, then she returned to her typing. The phone on the nurse’s desk rang and she swiveled her chair toward the sound.
He caught sight of Ella’s doctor entering her room and hurried back.
The doctor pulled his glasses off and rubbed bloodshot eyes. It must’ve been a long night for him too. “Her tests are back. Traces of multiple drugs were found in her blood. On their own, none are lethal. Together, however, they can wreak havoc on the nervous system, especially of one so young. The Naloxone is the best treatment. I’ll give her some other medication to stimulate urination and flush any remaining drugs out of her system faster. The next forty-eight hours are critical, but I expect her to recover.”
Pressure eased from Dario’s chest. Still, his Ella wasn’t out of the woods. “Can she have any permanent damage?”
“It’s possible, but a person who overdoses usually recovers fully with assistance.” The doctor pushed his frameless glasses up his thin nose. The beeper clipped to his waist emitted a high-pitched sound. He pressed the button and tilted a narrow window up to read the message. “I’ve got to run. See a nurse for that cut on your forehead.”
“Thank you, I will.” Dario smiled for the first time since Irena accepted his proposal. Then she’d had her premonition and happiness vanished.
“Finally some good news.” Ante patted Dario’s back. “I’ll try to get some shut-eye before Martina gets here. Hey, did I hear that nurse say Irena was your fiancée? Are congrats in order, bro?”
“They will be after we put this ugliness behind us. Go get some sleep.” After his brother left Ella’s room, Dario returned to his chair and brushed his daughter’s hair. “You’ll be fine.”
Ella’s lids twitched, but otherwise, she remained the same, pale and warm. Her chest rose and fell in equal intervals.
An older nurse came in to clean and dress his cut. At least the fresh bandage eased some of his discomforts. He glanced at the nurse from the desk who stepped into the room after the older one left. “Any news?”
“Yes, your fiancée’s moved into her room. You can see her now.”
He sprang to his feet, then locked his gaze on Ella. How was he to leave her and go see Irena? “Um…can my daughter get moved in with her mother?”
“No, they are treated for different things. Plus, the rooms are single occupancy. I can monitor her from my
desk. If there are any changes, I’ll page her doctor and call you over the hospital’s PA.”
He stared at Ella, uncertain, but the nurse in her pale blue scrubs pointed at the corridor. “The elevator is down that hall. Your fiancée is one floor up in room two-oh-two.”
He stepped to Ella’s bed and kissed her forehead. “I’m going to see Mom. Please wake up by the time I return.”
The nurse gave him an encouraging smile. He headed for the elevators. He would run if he had the energy. His tired feet moved, one then the other on his wobbly legs and he almost believed those were not his steps, someone else was walking.
The sight of Irena froze him at the doorway, even in the dimmed light of her room. Metal spikes supported her left arm in a white cast from the base of her fingers to her shoulder. Her face bruised. Her beautiful pale blue eyes swollen shut.
He cleared the lump from his throat and stepped to her bed. “Hey, babe, how are you feeling?”
“About as good as I must look.” “You look fine.”
“Liar.” A shadow of a smile touched her lips. The effort made her moan and clench her jaw. “How are the kids?”
“On the mend.” He couldn’t burden her with Ella’s condition yet. He straightened the covers over her chest. “Rest now.”
“Stay with me. Until I fall asleep.” She reached her right hand to him. “Tell me I didn’t dream Fred’s dead.”
“He’s gone, babe and can’t hurt us.” Dario pulled
the chair closer to the bed and took her hand. “I need my half of the amulet. You wouldn’t believe it, but Fred gave Jasmin your piece.”
“He had it all this time? Oh, God. I blamed Ella for losing it.” Irena’s voice held regret. “Why do you need it?”
“Ella thinks she could make it whole again.” Dario’s doubts surfaced. He believed in impossible, but unexplainable urge pushed him forward.
Irena sighed. “It’s just a story I told her when she was little. It came to me in a dream. Kids at school were mean to her when she made a Father’s Day card for you and I needed something to tell her how special she is. I thought she’d forgotten about it.”
His heart clenched, his child had faced scrutiny from her peers for being fatherless, yet she loved him from afar while he had no idea she existed.
“What if that story is true? Ella told me of your dreams. I had the same nightmares.” Had someone told him things he’d dismissed as absurd might be doable, he’d have a good laugh, but right now, he was ready to accept anything.
“God, that Gypsy woman from the fair would scare me every time. I was glad when the horror ceased. But what would that amulet do if it’s whole again?” Irena rolled her head away from him and yawned. “Pain killers are kicking in. I need to sleep now.”
“Yes, rest.” He yawned too and lowered his head on the bed. The Gypsy woman had tried to communicate with them through their dreams. What had she tried to tell them? Something about mending, if he read her lips correctly. At the time, the message hadn’t made any sense, now it seemed logical. “The
amulet could have healing powers.”
Irena muttered something incoherent. Her even breathing said she was asleep. With his family out of immediate danger, his mind and body relaxed. Listening to Irena’s even breathing, he drifted to sleep.
****
Gentle fingers combed his hair and woke him. He rubbed his eyes and slowly sat up. Sleeping slouched over the bed had put a nasty kink in his back. At least Irena’s swelling had gone down and she could open her eyes.
Sun shone through the slits of the vertical blinds on the square window. The new day promised beautiful weather. If Ella were conscious, perhaps the doctor would allow a short stroll in the gardens on the hospital grounds.
Ella! Could she have woken yet? The doctor had said forty-eight hours, but Dario hoped she might recover sooner.
He took Irena’s hand, the one not in the cast, and kissed her palm. “How are you feeling this morning?”
The light of the new day revealed the true extent of her bruises. Her eyes were bloodshot and pain clearly reflected in them.
She moaned. “The meds they gave me during the surgery wore off some two hours ago. I paged the nurse twice and she hasn’t come yet.”
“Why didn’t you wake me up sooner?” Dread spiraled through Dario. Irena’s tolerance for pain was high. If she couldn’t take it, no one could.
“You were so exhausted, I just didn’t have a heart.” “I’ll go find someone.”
He stepped into the hallway. The nurses’ station to
the left stood unattended. Which way should he go? A nurse came out of a room two doors away from Irena’s. A young doctor followed her, walking backward, still talking to the patient inside.
“Doctor,” Dario rushed toward the team. “My fiancée is in a lot of pain. She’s in the room two-o- two.”
The doctor flipped the papers on his clipboard and expelled a breath. “Oh yes, she’s our next patient to see. We’ll be there in a minute.”
“Just bring something for pain.” Dario hurried back to Irena’s bedside, pulling his cell out and dialing Ante’s number.
His brother answered on the third ring. “I’m sitting with Ella. She’s still out of it. Jasmin is being discharged today, but won’t leave without her big cousin. Martina’s having a hard time convincing her Ella will come home when she gets better.”
No! Dario’s insides twisted. He had hoped she’d at least have stirred by now.
“Are there any signs of Ella waking up?”
“Her vitals are stronger and her fever has broken.” His brother’s chipper voice instilled Dario with hope. After a short pause Ante spoke again. “Her body needs a bit more rest, that’s all.”
Laughter sounded on the other side of the door. Dario gave Irena’s shoulder an encouraging squeeze. “The doctor’s here to check on Irena. I have to go.”
The doctor and the nurse stepped through the door, greeting them with their cheerful voices. At least the morning crew seemed a bit more chipper than the overworked night one.
The doctor stopped at the foot of the bed. “I hear
the pain’s too much for you.”
“Yes,” Irena panted, clutching her arm in the cast. “Can’t you give me something? Preferably stronger.”
The doctor glanced at the papers in his hands. “No, I can’t do that, but let’s see if this will take your mind off the pain.”
He scribbled on the notepad, ripped out the top page and handed the sheet to her. She took it in her good hand. Her eyes widened then she stared at the doctor. “Really?”
“I wouldn’t joke about this.” The doctor smiled. “I doubt you suspected.”
A grin lit up her face. “Oh my gosh. I did suspect, but…” Her melodious laughter replaced her earlier panting. She passed the paper to Dario. “I wanted to be sure before I told you.”
Puzzled, he took the sheet with a shaky hand.
You’re pregnant, the note read written in red ink. His jaw dropped and he gasped with excitement. Joy replaced all the dread and sadness he carried for so long. Careful of her arm and shoulder, he pulled her into a hug. They were about to become parents for the second time. Once the doctor and nurse leave, Dario would kiss her senseless.
“How’s the pain now?” the doctor asked. “If this didn’t work, I could get you a shot of Demerol.”
Irena chuckled. “No need. Your miracle cure worked. I don’t feel anything, but hunger. When can I eat?”
“Anytime, but keep the first meal light. The nurse will make you decent.” The doctor left the room.
The nurse stepped to her bed and glanced at Dario. “Would you mind waiting outside?”
He kissed Irena’s head “I’ll check on Ella. Be back in five minutes.”
He rushed out of the room, unable to restrain his giddiness. He would have to marry Irena before this baby came. No way would his second child be born out of wedlock.
The frosty paned double doors silently slid open and Buddy stepped through. “Hey man, how are your girls?”
“Better, but Ella hasn’t woken up yet. I’m worried. They both need me and I’m stretched between the two of them on the different floors.” His grin vanished at the thought his girl hadn’t regained consciousness yet. Guilt for not telling Irena about Ella stung his core, increased his tension.
Buddy tapped his shoulder. “It’ll work out, you’ll see. I’m transporting Fred’s men to prison.”
Dario scowled. Had he known their rooms, he wouldn’t have been able to control his anger and not done something stupid.
“What will happen to the Father Diego?”
“He was treated, in the ER, he left. There’s no doubt in my mind he’s a good man. He defrocked after he ratted on Fred. Fred got him before he could go into a protective custody.” Buddy reached inside his jacket and pulled out a small envelope. “He left this for Irena.” Dario harrumphed, so he’d been right in his assumption about the cleric. “If it weren’t for him, Fred’s child prostitution ring would never be destroyed.
Still, so many lives so callously wrecked. Fred’s death isn’t enough to right all his wrongdoings.”
“Fred’s corporation is ordered to pay damages, but they are in financial trouble. That school was their
biggest money-maker. Fred’s assets will be liquidated. Still, won’t pull the company through. People are losing their jobs. It’s ugly. Hard to believe their slogan is ‘we value the person and always see others as people, not things’. Words on paper if you ask me. The company didn’t adhere to their own catchphrase. Many can’t believe nothing goes to his wife and child.” Buddy’s mouth twisted in an awkward frown. “Fred had Irena sign a prenup.”
Dario examined Diego’s neat handwriting on the envelope to hide the pain in his eyes. After their breakup, people assumed she’d naturally choose to marry money instead of living in poverty, but they were so wrong.
The nurse stepped out of Irena’s room and called Dario. “She’s asking for you.”
Dario tapped Buddy’s arm. “I’ve got to go. Thank you for all the help.”
“Don’t mention it. It’s my job. Wish there are no more child prostitution rings to take down.” Buddy waved over his shoulder on his way down the hallway.
The fact Irena wasn’t getting a single red cent out of Fred’s estate made Dario happy. They didn’t need anything from her now dead husband. Hopefully, they could get a marriage license fast and put the last fourteen years behind them.
Irena’s bed was raised to a semi-seated position, a couple of pillows propped under her head. Her smile warmed his insides, yet the fact Ella hadn’t opened her eyes sent shivers down his spine. How was she to make the amulet whole again if she couldn’t hold it in her hand?
“Bumped into Buddy in the hallway.” He extended
his arm to Irena, envelope in his hand. “Father Diego, err…just Diego now left this for you.”
“Opening this is a two-handed job. You’ll have to do this for me.” She stared at the letter clamped between his fingers. “And read it for me too.”
He opened the envelope and pulled out a sheet with neat handwriting.
“My dearest friend,” he began, taking a seat on the edge of Irena’s bed. “You were still in surgery when I stopped by to say goodbye. It’s with great sadness that I must leave you, but before I do, it is my turn to confess. Though I performed the wedding ceremony, I did not file the paperwork with the local municipality.” Dario gasped and glanced at Irena’s astonished face, her eyebrow arched and her mouth gaped. He returned his gaze to the short letter in his hand. “I hope you can forgive me. I was angry, jealous and, above all, confused. You are a free woman to marry and love whom you want. I’ll find my solace in righting the wrong Fred did to this world. Farewell my friend, yours truly, Diego. P.S. Perhaps our paths will cross again.”
Irena sniffed and shook her head. “I could never be angry at him, I only wish he told me this before. To rid the world of Fred’s evil will take some time. At least you and I can marry as soon as this cast comes off. It’ll take us a few weeks to organize the wedding.”
A few weeks? Dario scooted closer to her and kissed her temple. “I waited this long, I guess I could curb my enthusiasm for a bit longer.”
A knock on the door shattered their blissful moment. A young man pushed the wheelchair inside and set the brakes on next to the bed. A heavy stench of stale tobacco wafted from him. “I’ll help you into the
chair.”
“I can do it, thanks.” Irena flipped the covers and slid one leg at a time over the mattress.
The orderly’s gaze fixed on her bare skin under her hospital gown. He cleared his throat and moved the wheelchair closer to her.
Dario smirked. That’s right, keep dreaming kiddo, she’s mine. He stepped to the wheelchair and grabbed the handles. “I’ll take it from here.”
The orderly nodded and left the room. Dario was about to push Irena out the door when he remembered the amulet. “I need that rock.”
Irena pointed to the white cupboard by the bed. The small doors squeaked as he pulled them open. The panels wiggled and he was afraid they would fall off. His initial search of Irena’s clothes did not produce the amulet.
“It’s not here.”
“It has to be.” Disbelief colored her words. “Look again. I’d hate it if the amulet were lost again.”
He dug through the cupboard. Grabbing onto the something hard inside, he pulled his arm out revealing the amulet safely stored in a plastic bag.
“Yes!” He pumped the air in excitement.
Everything would work out just fine.
Irena’s aunt, Divina, left Ella’s room as he stepped out of the elevator.
Divina’s face contorted in a mass of wrinkles when she saw her niece. She pulled out a lacy handkerchief from her black purse and dabbed her eyes. “Oh, you poor child.” She enveloped Irena in an awkward hug. “Your mother sends her love.”
Irena cast her a steely gaze. “Does she? Why
couldn’t she bring her love down here?”
Divina patted Irena’s un-cast hand. “There’s one thing you must know about your mother, dear. She let others make decisions for her. When things went sour, she would say it wasn’t her decision and no one could blame her.”
Irena tilted her head toward Dario, her eyebrows knitted. “That’s what she said to me the night I left for Canada. No one would blame you when your marriage fails, it wasn’t your decision. I thought she assumed the marriage wouldn’t last because in her mind’s eye I was incapable.”
Dario smoothed Irena’s hair. “Let the past stay in the past. We have to live our lives for what tomorrow has to offer, not what yesterday has taken away.”
“There,” Davina said, patting Dario’s elbow. “You should listen to him.”
Irena squeezed Davina’s hand and nodded. “Thank you, Aunt. There’s still hope my mother and I will see eye to eye someday.”
“As long as one of you is willing to extend a hand.” Davina headed for the elevators, her sensible heels clicking on the hospital’s floor.
Dario pushed Irena’s chair in Ella’s room and parked her next to the bed. Ante and his family sat around the bed. Jasmin on Martina’s lap, sucked her thumb, her eyelids drooped, but she plucked her thumb out and reached her hands to him.
He hugged her and pecked her cheek. “Nice to see you smiling again, sweetheart.”
Martina gave him a one-arm hug. A diamond ring on her finger he hadn’t seen before caught the light from the ceiling fixture. Perhaps there could be another
wedding in the family. “Thank you for saving her.”
“It was a joint effort.” Dario wrapped his arm around Martina’s shoulder. “Your man proved brave too.”
Martina jerked her head at Ante in a let’s go gesture. Ante followed her to the door. “Need anything before we leave?”
“I have a feeling Irena could eat, but keep it light. We’ll join you at the condo when Ella gets discharged.” He turned to look at Irena. She stared at her daughter. The tears welling in her eyes broke his heart all over again.
In one step he was by her side. “I know it’s hard to see Ella like this, but trust me, she’ll be fine. The doctor says we need to give her time.”
“The amulet!” Irena reached out her hand. “Give me the amulet and the other piece too.”
He placed the two halves in her hand.
“Push this blasted chair closer,” she demanded. When she could reach Ella’s hand not pricked with
IV tubes, she lowered the rocks and closed Ella’s limp fingers. Irena motioned to him to join his hand with theirs. He covered Irena’s and Ella’s hands with his. In a few short moments, heat radiated to his palm.
He stared at Ella’s unchanging face. “Come on baby girl, make this whole again, make us whole. You can do it.”
Her eyelids fluttered, then opened slowly. She stared at the ceiling, blinking, but her lids drooped again.
“No, Ella, wake up. We’re here with you, baby.” Irena’s voice quivered.
Ella’s eyelids opened again. This time she seemed
more focused. She turned her head in the direction of Irena’s voice.
“Mom? Dad?” Ella barely whispered, but it was enough to loosen the dread from Dario’s chest.
“It’s us. You’re safe, love.” Dario removed his hand from their joined pile.
Irena followed suit. Ella opened her palm. The two amulet pieces, fused together as if they had never been broken.
“I’ll be damned.” Ante’s astonished voice had Dario turning toward his brother standing by the door. “How did she do that?”
Dario cast him a wary glance through his narrowing gaze. “I thought you’re getting us food.”
Ante put his hands up. “Okay, heading for the cafeteria now.”
Ella gave Irena a weak grin. “Mom, where’s the little boy?”
Irena exchanged a puzzled glance with Dario. She turned to Ella. “A little boy with chocolate brown hair and piercing blue eyes, like Dad’s?”
“Yes, him. Is he here? He led me toward the light. I didn’t want to leave him in that dark place, but he said he’s already in my world.”
“I had the same dream during my surgery, only now I’m not sure it was a dream.”
Dario rubbed Irena’s stomach and beamed at Ella. “Could it be we’re having a boy?”
Ella’s wide-eyed glance traveled back and forth between him and Irena. “Mom’s having a baby?”
“Yes, love. I am.” Irena squeezed Ella’s hand, a slight blush coloring her cheeks.
The way she looked at him made him feel alive.
“Maybe the boy we dreamt of is here after all.”
The face of the Gypsy woman flashed before his eyes, a colorful bandanna covered the top of her head, thick curls of her dark hair hung loosely on her shoulders, and a wide smile lit up her young, vibrant face. The Gypsy amulet was whole again, its prophecy fulfilled, and The Fates smiled down on him.
Dario crouched between Ella’s bed and Irena’s wheelchair. Mindful of the cannula in Ella’s hand and Irena’s arm in the cast, he enveloped them in a protective hug as best as he could. His new, growing family was his reason for living. The years apart were nothing but a test of his love for Irena. She was always the one.