The Woman at the Docks - Jessica Gadziala Page 0,81
moment, I was pretty sure an argument could be made that I wasn't exactly in my right mind.
"Romy, hon, you can't be here," Matteo's voice said from behind me, voice calm.
"Oh, not you too," I snapped, turning to face him, hearing the nurse's slip-resistant shoes squeak a little with her retreat. "I have every right to be here. I might even have more of a right to be here than you right now," I added, anger igniting. And I would burn this fucking place to the ground if one more person told me I couldn't sit and wait and make sure Luca was okay.
"Rome, you're covered in blood," he told me, making me look down at myself.
"Most of it is Luca's," I told him, watching as he paled a little. "I have to be here. I have to know he's okay."
"But you can't, honey. It is family only."
"We will make sure you stay updated," Matteo insisted. "But you have to leave," he said, nodding his chin behind me. "You're covered in blood and freaking out."
I didn't need to turn to know what I would find there.
The security team the nurse had called.
Rightfully so, but I felt more anger bubbling up, exploding outward.
"Don't you touch—" I started as the elevator dinged open, bringing a swaggering Lucky onto the floor as well.
"I got it, boys," he said, clapping a hand on their shoulders.
The security staff looked at me, then him, then at Antony, giving them all a nod, backing away.
"You don't want to touch me right now, Lucky," I warned him.
"I won't have to if you just come with me."
"I'm not going anywhere."
"I'm afraid you are," he told me, stalking toward me, squatting down a bit, and throwing me over his shoulder.
"Let me go!" I yelled as he led me to the elevator, my fists slamming into his back, my knees trying to kick inward at his body. "Let me go, damnit," I cried, voice breaking, the dam busting open once again.
At the sound, Lucky lowered me down, pulling me against his chest, anchoring an arm around my back, the other holding the back of my head, just letting me purge it all out.
The shock.
The disgust.
The terror.
The worry.
The pain.
All of it.
I don't know how long we were in that elevator, how many people we inconvenienced when Lucky wouldn't let anyone else on, but by the time I finally pulled away, my face felt swollen, my skin burning from the salt of my tears.
"Come on," he said, leading me out of the elevator on the emergency room floor once again, giving a nod to Bishop as he led me out the doors.
This area was familiar.
It was where I had hung out that night I ran away from Lucky and Matteo and the whole of their family.
It was the place Luca had come to pick me up, take me home, welcome me into his life, start to build something with me.
"Luca's tough, Romy," he reminded me as we walked up to the railing looking over the water.
I could see Luca's apartment building across the water. And my heart crushed to dust in my chest at the idea of him never going there again, never making his coffee way too early in the morning, never going through the process of getting dressed, never pulling me to his chest in bed.
"He was shot a lot, Lucky," I told him, feeling tears spring to my eyes again, but they didn't break free.
"I know he was. But he's strong. And you protected him. And you kept the pressure on. He's going to be alright."
"You don't know that," I insisted.
"No," he admitted, shaking his head. "But I have to believe it. And you do too."
"I can't stop picturing it," I admitted.
"It's traumatizing to shoot someone," he agreed, speaking from experience.
"No," I said, shaking my head. I hadn't even thought about that since leaving the scene. "I mean when he passed out. I saw the light kind of go out of his eyes right before."
"No, Romy. You didn't. If the light went out, he would have been dead when they brought him in. He wasn't. His vitals were pretty strong, considering. They just need to get the bullets out. And repair the damage. And then he will be in recovery for a while. And then they will move him onto a normal floor where you can visit him."
"Oh, somebody is going to make sure I can visit him before then." I told him, chin lifting.