Amplify (12 page)

"Did they say how long it would take?" Lucy asks.

I just shake my head and head to a chair. It’s been a long fucking day already and I’m exhausted and wired at the same time. My phone alert goes off and I ignore it.

"Is Giovanni on his way?" I ask as I sink into the soft chair, leaning forward with my elbows on my knees.

"Yes. He’ll be here any minute," Anthony answers.

I nod and look around the room and notice Meggie staring at me. I raise a brow and she raises hers in return. I look down at myself and realize my arms are exposed and I’m sure they haven’t ever been when she’s been around. I shrug. I haven’t had the best life and the tattoos symbolize each part of my struggle in some form or another. They reveal everything I don’t want people to know about me, but unless you know the meaning, one will never know that—unless you’ve been through something similar.

"Nice ink," Meggie says.

I nod and run my fingers through my still-damp hair.

"Are you alright?" Jace asks.

I just meet his gaze and stare blankly for a while, unsure how to answer that. Am I alright?

"No."

Jace nods.

I won’t be alright until I know—something, anything. Shit. I get up and start pacing. Being helpless is the one thing I hate most. I spent too many years of my life that way.

I head to the nurse’s station and am greeted by the same nurse who took care of me before. Toni. Toni’s her name. A light bulb goes on. Why am I not surprised? She’s one of the staff who took care of Lucy in Denver. I think when this young nurse is recognized, Regina and Anthony are going find themselves in hot water.

"Any word?" I ask.

"I just got back from up there. The bleeding is under control and—" she breaks off as Giovanni steps up beside me.

"Please, continue," he requests.

She nods. "The bleeding is under control and while she’s—well, I wouldn’t call it stable, but... it’s better than it was earlier but she’s still critical. She flat-lined once already. They’re doing everything they can to expedite the surgery but because she was hemorrhaging, they had to do an open procedure versus the keyhole procedure."

I swallow. Hard. "Why was she bleeding so much?"

"Why don’t we go to the waiting room so I can explain this to the entire family?" Toni suggests.

I turn and see everyone looking out the door. I nod and we head into the room.

"Hello everyone. I’m Toni. I just checked in on Serafina’s status and surgery. They’ve found that she has an ectopic pregnancy. Basically an ectopic pregnancy is when the fertilized egg attaches itself to the fallopian tube, and rarely in the ovary or stomach. In Serafina’s case it was in her left fallopian tube. She should have been experiencing some pain to that side, gradually worsening, or it may have come on suddenly."

Jace frowns. "She said she’d been having some pain but she thought it was from the intense vomiting she’d been doing."

I nod. "It got violent at times."

Toni nods. "I see. With women who can withstand large amounts of pain, they often ignore the earlier symptoms and write them off as something minor—like muscle pain or strain. At any length, what happened was the fertilized egg got too big for Sera’s tube and the tube ruptured, causing massive vaginal and internal bleeding."

"Oh my God," Regina cries. "What does this mean?"

"I don’t have all the details but I do know they’d already begun to remove that fallopian tube once the bleeding was under control. I’m so sorry but there was no way for the fetus to survive," Toni says, laying a hand on my forearm.

Jesus. I’m not sure how I feel about that, how Fee will feel about that, but what I need to know now is, "Will
Sera
survive?"

Toni nods. "With the bleeding under control, I’d have to say yes."

"This surgery..." Xander begins, "...it saved her life?"

Toni nods again. "Yes. It did."

Xander swallows hard and nods, his eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

"I’ll keep you all posted and let you know as soon as she’s out of surgery. And before you say it, I know what you’d like for accommodations and they are already being made available," Toni tells us with a smile.

"Thank you," Giovanni says to the thin nurse as she leaves the room. "She’s strong, our Serafina."

"That she is," Anthony agrees.

Celeste stands from a chair in the corner. "I’m going to get some refreshments. Does anyone want anything?"

I request coffee and others let their wants known.

"I’ll go with you," Damian announces.

Giovanni gives me a look, one that tells me he has business to discuss, but I just shake my head. I can’t. Not now. My head isn’t in the game. Just thinking about Sera’s blood covering my hands... Sera’s blood on my hands. I pull in an unsteady breath as I rest my hands and forehead onto the cold wall. I’m not a man to show weakness but knowing I nearly lost her—hell, I did lose her even for a short while on that operating table... I focus—breathe and focus, strengthening my resolve, then pull away from the wall.

I turn to Giovanni who’s watching me closely. I nod slightly and he nods in return and we walk out of the waiting room. He leads me to a private office.

"Tell me straight," is how he begins.

So I tell him. All of it. "Gio, there was so much fucking blood I don’t know how she had any left in her body." I pace back and forth. "This Toni, she’s one of ours. What is it exactly she does?"

"She’s a nurse," Giovanni explains. "One who is working her way through medical school so her knowledge is well-rounded, though she’s going to specialize in the OB/GYN field, at least that’s what she told me last time we spoke. She has much more schooling to go before she decides."

I nod and continue pacing, my mind on Sera.

"She’s alive, Cage."

I nod. Thank God. The darkness is already blurring at the edges at just the possibility of not having her in my life. I imagine it’d surround and envelop me in its gloominess, transporting me back to who I was before her.

"I can’t go back there. Without her, I will," I admit to one of the three people I trust.

Giovanni clamps a hand over my shoulder and squeezes slightly. "You won’t have to worry about that."

I nod. "We need to get this shit with Carina handled. I know she’s a threat to Sera and I don’t like it. I don’t know who she’s paid off or fucked into betraying us."

His mouth flattens. "She will be dealt with. Those we trust are going over security of your home as we speak. Then we will decide the next step."

I nod. "I’m going to marry her, Giovanni."

He smiles. "And you have my blessing. You’ve had it for a very long time."

I raise a brow in question.

The old man chuckles. I call him old, but in truth, Giovanni Russo is only in his early sixties but looks as if he were in his forties. The Russo family all seem to age well. That’s a secret I’d like to be privy to.

"I knew from the moment you set eyes on our Serafina she was the one for you and you for her. Both so stubborn, strong, and determined. I saw the look you gave her, and when she finally met you, I saw hers. It was as if you both discovered the part of you that was missing."

I grunt. That’s the truth. That’s exactly what it felt like, what it still feels like. And when that part of me is hurt, bleeding, and fighting for life, I want more than anything to breathe my life into her and make her whole again.

"Now," Giovanni says with a laugh, "all you have to do is convince Serafina."

"Laugh it up, Gio," I tell him with a smirk.

"I am and I will. I’m not so sure that our Serafina won’t surrender herself so easily. Think of the struggle it’s been to get this far," he finishes with a snicker.

"No shit," I smirk. "I think that’s part of why I love her."

"It’s exactly why you love
each other
."

"Y
OU TWO CAN GO FIRST
," Toni tells me and Giovanni while the rest of the family are still making their way to the room. "She’s still asleep but she’s stable. She should wake up any time now."

"Thanks," I murmur and make my way into the room. Giovanni curses under his breath as I take Sera’s hand in mine.

"I’m spending too much time in the hospital due to my granddaughters, Serafina," he scolds softly. "I’m thankful you will be okay."

I lean forward and run my nose along Sera’s cheek. "Fee," I breathe into her ear, my breath shuddering out, as my heart and soul settle back into place with each beat of her heart, each breath she takes. "I love you, Fee. I know I haven’t told you that yet, and I should have. A long time ago. But I do. I love you and," I pause, swallowing hard, "I won’t make it a day without you. So, you rest easy now and heal. Take your time and know I’ll be here waiting for you. I’ll always be here waiting for you."

I kiss her cheek softly, the tip of her nose, then her lips. My heart aches at the sight of the woman I love so pale and fragile in the hospital bed. Serafina is normally neither of those things and I think that’s why this is so hard. Maybe it’s just hard because... it is.

I sit in the chair beside the bed, still holding her warm but lifeless hand in mine. I bring it to my mouth and hold it against my lips, my cheek, nuzzling it to comfort myself as much as it is to comfort her.

The family walks in and I notice Lucy in a wheelchair.

"What’s going on?" I ask.

Jesse rakes a hand through his already messy hair, his frustration evident in the gesture. "She’s had some cramping."

"She saw the doctor?"

Jesse nods and Lucy huffs. "I did. It’s no big deal. They did an ultrasound which showed everything is normal so it’s normal growing pains as my body adjusts to—"

"—carrying the Kingston litter," Xander teases.

Lucy snickers, Jesse frowns and flips Xander off.

"Kingston litter," Giovanni says with a smirk. "Just remember they’re part of
la Famiglia
."

Xander swallows hard and I bite back a laugh.

"Yeah, apparently carrying triplets is going to cause more than the normal amount of discomfort—yay me! With abdominal, uterine, back, and who-knows-what-else pain." Lucy cuts Jesse a death glare. "And you, Kingston, better get used to not running to the doctor every five seconds or I’ll invent ways to hurt you that won’t somehow come back to haunt me."

"Now you did it," Ben chides.

"Dude," Ethan shakes his head.

"What the fuck?" Kennedy asks Jesse.

"Oh fuck all of you. Every one of you were just as worried as I was." Jesse’s eyes cut to Xander, "And you," he points, "were the worst of everyone."

"Dude, she’s so small. I don’t know how she’s going to be able to fit three babies in there," Xander shakes his head in doubt.

"Xan my man, I hate to break it to you but there are
already
three babies in there," Lucy tells him with a roll of her eyes.

"I mean when they’re all," he makes some weird hand gesture, "full grown."

Lucy snorts. "You make them sound like pod people."

Xander nods. "They kinda are if you think about it. Kinda like that sac thing they’re in, that’s their pod. You’re their incubator."

"Dude," Kennedy says. "What the fuck? I’m cutting off your Netflix."

Lucy smirks.

"I think Jesse is doing a fantastic job taking care of our Luciana. You should appreciate the efforts he’s making to ensure you and the babies are well. His attentions are out of love and concern," Giovanni says, defending Jesse.

Lucy gapes at him, then looks at Jesse. "You’re right, Gampy. Jesse is the best husband and already an amazing father. I’ll try to be more understanding but worrying himself and everyone else sick when it’s just natural progression is silly."

"Until it’s more," Giovanni corrects.

Lucy huffs. "Fine. I’ll do better. Can you...?" Lucy asks, directing Jesse to push her closer over to Sera. She goes around to the other side of the bed and grabs Sera’s other hand, pulling it up to her cheek in the same way I didn’t realize I still held this one.

"Thank you," Lucy whispers, looking at me.

"For what?"

"For saving her."

"Luce, I didn’t. I couldn’t save her from that. The doctors did all that," I tell her truthfully.

"I didn’t mean just today."

I nod. "She saved me back," I admit.

Lucy nods. Neither of us say anything as one of Sera’s two personal nurses take her vitals.

"She should be waking up soon," she tells us as she enters information into Sera’s chart.

"Not soon enough," Lucy says.

I nod in agreement and kiss Sera’s hand once more.

There’s a knock at the door and a click of heels. I turn and it’s all I can do not to tell her to get the fuck out because she doesn’t belong here, but I don’t have to.

"Who are you?" Regina demands.

"Carina."

"I don’t know you and you’re not family. You need to leave," Regina tells her, leaving no wiggle room.

"I am—"

"No," Giovanni interrupts, "you aren’t. Not this family. You don’t belong here. What do you want?"

Carina’s jaw clenches and her spine goes ramrod straight. Offended. Good.