He lay there, not moving, his eyes closed. For someone with such a big reputation, she thought, he sure seemed… small.
"I want to be clear here that complications are not allowed," Crabtree said. "I'd rather we do too much than not enough. So we're going to monitor him closely and get him the hell out of here as soon as possible. Understand?"
A murmur of agreement flowed through the room.
Once Dante was stable, the room cleared out, all except for Gabriella and the doctor. She continued to stare down at him, not moving, watching as a tear slid from the corner of his eye, running down the side of his face, the pillow beneath his head absorbing all evidence of it.
"Are you okay, Nurse Russo?" Crabtree asked. "I need you on the same page with us here."
"I'm fine," she said quietly. "He's, uh… crying."
Crabtree scribbled something in the chart before closing it, not even looking at the patient. "It's a natural defense. All it means are his tear ducts are working. A miracle, really, considering everything else on him seems to be broken. Someone worked him over good."
Good. That word felt so wrong in that context.
There was nothing good about the condition he was in.
"I know you were taking your break when you got pulled into this, so go ahead and grab a few minutes to yourself," Crabtree suggested. "Catch your breath."
"Yes, sir."
"Oh, and the patient's father is his decision-maker, so make sure you introduce yourself properly, you know, since everything will have to flow through him."
Gabriella scowled. Being a critical care nurse meant that a good chunk of her job was spent dealing with families. No matter how distraught, Gabriella had to help them see what was best for the patient. Just as she occasionally offered hope, more often than not, she was in the business of crushing dreams with realism. Often people clung to every miniscule sign of life, ignoring the blatant signs of an inevitable death, causing more suffering than what would've been natural.
But how do you explain that to someone without sounding like the worst person in the world?
Stepping out of the room, she hesitated, coming face to face with Primo. "Mr. Galante, I'm—"
"I don't care." His voice was sharp. "Who you are means nothing to me. Just… fix him."
Despite the harshness of his tone, Gabriella sensed the fear in those words.
"We'll do everything we can," she said. "They're going to be running some tests soon, but you're welcome to visit with him for a few minutes, if you'd like."
Primo looked past her, into the room. "I would."
"And I know he's unconscious, and he looks like he's sleeping, but it's widely believed that people in his condition are capable of hearing what everyone is saying. Talking to him may help him wake up sooner."
Primo simply nodded before stepping into the room, passing the doctor on his way out. Gabriella watched as Primo stalled at the end of the bed, just staring at his son in silence.
He didn't utter a single word.
Sighing, Gabriella walked away, giving the man some privacy. She headed to the elevator, taking it down to the first floor, and steered toward the cafeteria, desperate for some coffee. Strong coffee. The blackest, bitterest coffee ever produced, with obscene amounts of caffeine in it, the kind with enough of a jolt to jumpstart a racecar.
Still a few hours left in her shift before she could even think of going home.
"Oh my God, it's so crazy, right?" a young girl whisper-shouted into her cell phone, sitting alone at a small table inside the little on-site coffee shop. She wore a set of scrubs, a nursing assistant badge clipped to her. "Cindy that works up there texted me a minute ago and said he is all fucked up."
Gabriella shook her head before ordering a large coffee. Un-friggin-believable. The folks at the hospital would figure out how to cure cancer before they ever came up with a solution to eradicate the infectious gossip.
"It just makes me wonder, you know, about the other one," the girl continued, her voice no quieter. "You know, that thing that happened last night? The explosion? I heard that guy was one of them, too. I mean, maybe not as bad." She paused, laughing. "Don't you think it's all kind of… I don't know… exciting?"
Walking by the table, Gabriella snatched the girl's phone right out of her hand, pressing the button on the screen to hang it