Love and Liquor

Hospital Visits

XXIV.
Hospital Visits

It had been hours since Luca and his brothers had rushed to the hospital, and so far, Grace had yet to hear any news. There had been no phone call, no messenger, no nothing.

It was quiet in the usually lively house. Nothing had stirred all afternoon. Gia sat in her upholstered chair in the corner of the family room, muttering over the Bible she clutched in her hands.

Her eyes were squeezed shut so tightly; she was creating more wrinkles than normally appeared on her matronly face. Grace attributed it to stress and fear. Everyone knew Gia thought of Nina as a daughter. Grace knew she was suffering the most second only to Vincent and the sleeping child now resting in her arms.

Milo was in a fitful sleep, as he kept tossing and turning to get comfortable in his Bella Gracie’s hold. Grace felt horrible for the child. The poor thing hadn’t the slightest inkling what was going on earlier. All he knew was that his father, an already very intimidating man, was shouting at the top of his lungs, and that his mamma was lying unconscious on the floor.

Grace placed a gentle kiss to the little boy’s temple as Luca often did to her when he needed to calm down. She felt herself relax at the familiar gesture, and went back to wondering what was wrong with the cigars.

Unfortunately, her comfort was short lived. A booming knock came from the other side of the front door. There must be news from the hospital. As carefully as she could, Grace rearranged Milo’s sleeping form so he was lying on the couch. She got up to answer the door.

Standing on the porch in a black trench coat and fedora, towering over her was a familiar man with blonde hair.

“Mrs. Venzetto?” the man asked.

“Yes?"

“My name is Donny Palmero. I’m a friend of Luca’s.”

“Donny,” she was glad he had supplied his name, which she had previously forgotten. “Of course. Is there news? Has Nina woken up?”

“No, but Luca has asked for you, Mrs. Venzetto and the little one to come to the hospital,” he explained, stepping into the foyer.

“Right. I’ll go tell Gia and grab a coat. Please wait here,” Grace said before going off to complete the tasks.

Gia had overheard the conversation and was quick to her feet, saying a quick prayer to the ceiling.

“Grace, be a dear and grab Milo?” It was the first thing Grace had heard her mother-in-law say all day since they were in the kitchen early that afternoon.

“Of course."

Gathering Milo in her arms was more of a feat than she had predicted it would be. The little boy did not weigh more than he should, but he was dead weight asleep and she was not the strongest woman in the world.

The two women met Donny back in the foyer and followed him to the black car he had brought around. After helping Gia into the car, Donny turned around to offer Grace a hand. She took it and nearly fell over because of how off balanced she felt carrying the child on her right hip.

“Would you like me to take him, Mrs. Venzetto?” Donny said with a hint of a smirk at her obvious struggling.

Grace narrowed her eyes at him. He thought she wasn’t capable and although she probably wouldn’t be for much longer, she was a stubborn woman.

“No. I would not. I’ve got everything well in hand. Oh, and Donny? Call me Grace. I believe Gia is the only one deserving enough of that title for now.”

Donny watched as she struggled to get situated in the car.

“Whatever you say, Mrs. Venzetto.” He shut the car door with a laugh.




Twenty minutes later, Donny was escorting them down a long, white hallway that led to a waiting room full of wooden chairs and side tables where the rest of the family was.

Grace paused in the doorway to take in the somber scene before her. Everyone seemed so distant. Russo and Luca were sitting in controlled agitation with grave faces and cigarettes between their lips. Valentino was standing in the corner, carrying on a conversation in whispers with a man Grace was unfamiliar with. Most notable was Vincent. He sat with his elbows on his knees and his face buried in his hands.

She felt her heart break at the sight. Luca stood upon seeing her and came to stand behind her, holding her waist with one arm. She kissed his cheek and pulled away from his embrace to go sit next to Vincent.

Milo had woken during the trip, but was still groggy enough he was content to stay in Grace’s arms. That was, until he saw his father.

“Papa!” Milo shouted with excitement, not understanding the grave atmosphere of the room. Vincent didn’t seem to mind. He opened his arms for his son and accepted him with a bear hug and a strong kiss.

“Figlio mio, ti amo,” Vincent muttered into his son’s hair.

“Where’s mommy?” Milo asked with such an innocence and naiveté that only a child could possess.

Vincent swallowed hard.

“Sleeping,” Grace interjected. “She’s sleeping, like you were earlier. Milo? Why don’t you go sit with Zio Luca? He missed you too.”

Milo seemed to ponder this for a moment.

“Okay!” Grace and Vincent watched as Milo bounded over to where Luca and Russo sat. Grace smiled as Luca snatched him up in a warm embrace.

Vincent cleared his throat, “Thank you. I’ve been trying to think of a way to explain things to him all afternoon. Nothing seemed to suffice.”

“How are you holding up?”

“Alright, I suppose. They said she’ll wake up and will make a full recovery,” he explained, all the while taking the focus off himself.

“Vincent, that is great news. You should be ha-“

“She was pregnant,” he interrupted.

“What?”

“She was pregnant. We found out a few weeks ago, but Nina wanted to wait to tell everyone until after the wedding. Today was the first day we were all together and we were going to tell everyone, but when she fell to the floor earlier, she- she…”

“She miscarried,” Grace breathed. Hot tears burned tracks down her cheeks after realizing what terrible thing had happened in the midst of a horrible situation.

“Oh, Vincent,” She didn’t know what else to say. Nothing could be said to ease their aching hearts. Grace could only imagine what agony Nina would feel once she woke up. Just the thought sent more tears streaming down her face.

Just then, a doctor came out from behind a nondescript doorway.

“Mr. Venzetto?” he called, glancing at the clipboard in his hands.

Naturally, all four men turned their heads, but they all knew the doctor wanted to speak with Vincent.

“We have sedated your wife to help with the pain and the swelling in her throat. She should wake up sometime late tomorrow.”

Vincent nodded as he took in the information.

“Also, I wanted you to know that we did some tests on samples of her saliva and blood. We found traces of Cyanide.”

“So she was poisoned,” Vincent affirmed.

“Yes, she was poisoned. But, what we found to be interesting was that there were also traces of ingredients used in a pill made to help individuals with a certain blood illness.

“What are you implying?” It was Russo who spoke this time.

“I am saying that whoever poisoned this woman, had access to very specific medications, access that is not easy to come by.”

“You think a doctor did this?” Grace exclaimed.

The three brothers shared a knowing look.

“All I am saying is that these drugs are very hard to come by, and that one would need to know the drug in order to dose the Cyanide correctly.”

Grace watched as Luca and his brothers all clenched their jaws so tight, she was surprised she didn’t hear teeth cracking.

“Thank you for this information.”

The doctor nodded before disappearing back through the doorway.

Luca came up to Grace.

“It’s late. We should go home.” There was an edge to his voice she didn’t like.

“Of course. Vincent, please let us know if there is any change.”

“I will,” he ground out.

Grace grabbed her coat, waiting for her husband, who surprisingly picked his nephew up and carrying him over to where she stood.

He watched as her eyebrows knitted together. 

“I told Vince we’d keep Milo until things went back to normal.”

She nodded and rubbed her husband’s strong arm.

Grace followed him out into the cold night. Once she was situated in the front seat of a different car, Luca placed the once again sleeping Milo in her lap.

They drove in silence all the way into the city.

Through the mirrors, Grace saw another set of headlights following them.

“Luca, that car has been following us since we left the hospital.”

He put a strong hand on her leg.

“Don’t worry, Love. It’s just Donny and the boys. They’re good guys, I promise.”

They continued to drive until their building came into view.

Luca helped Grace out of the car, and adjusted Milo in his arms again. Grace’s heart couldn’t help but swell at the sight. Any outsider would assume Luca was the child’s father with the tender, loving way he cared for the boy.

Once inside, Luca spoke to his wife.

“Milo can sleep with you in our bed tonight.”

 “Don’t you mean with us?”

There was a knock at the door.

Luca opened it and let Donny into the apartment.

Donny tipped his hat, “Mrs. Venzetto,” he said with a smirk.

Grace rolled her eyes. “What are you doing here?”

“Donny’s staying in the apartment with you tonight. You’ll be perfectly safe, and Joey and John are right outside in the hall if you need them. I’ll be home in the morning.

Luca kissed her and started reaching for the doorknob.

“Wait! Where are you going, Luca?”

“I’ve got some business to take care of.”



I would just like you all to know that it is very late where I am, I can't really see (cause I'm too lazy to get my glasses) and that I almost cried while writing this chapter, but I did it start to finish tonight because after the response to the last chapter, I felt inspired to keep going!! So good job team, pat on the back. 

SOOO, now that we know Nina was in fact poisoned, WHO DUNNIT?

Let me know by leaving a COMMENT.

SW