His Mafia Queen

Pain

The doctor tells me he's going to do a physical exam, and checks my heartbeat, looks in my throat, and in my ears. Then he presses on my stomach and side, and I howl in pain.

Gabriel, who is standing almost as close as the doctor, gapes at me, probably wishing he never got involved. Wishing he never came to my house tonight, wishing he never met me.

"This definitely seems kidney related," the doctor mutters, clearly concerned at my distress. "I'm going to check on that sample. Excuse me."

He sweeps out of the room and for the first time since we arrived at the hospital, Gabriel and I are alone in the room.

With my brows knitted from pain, I try to settle back onto the uncomfortable pillow. Gabriel paces around the small room, pulling one slat of the blind down to peer out the lone window. I shut my eyes, wanting the pain and everything else to go away.

A few seconds later, I hear the click of the door opening, and my eyes peel open. It's the nurse with the earrings. She's toting a scary-looking pole with a bag of liquid attached.

"I've been cleared to give you some pain medicine, so you should be feeling better soon. All I'm going to need is your arm..." she cheerfully rattles on about how she's going to put an IV line into my vein.

"Is that okay?' she asks.

I nod. "Anything, if it will take away what I'm feeling right now."

Okay, we're going to need to get you out of those clothes and into a gown," the nurse says. She holds up a blue and white floral printed gown and then eyeballs Gabriel.

"Could you step out, please?"

At first, I expect him to balk, but he looks sheepish and answers, "of course, of course," and scurries out of the room.

The nurse, bless her, helps me slowly shed my clothes and gets me comfortable in bed. She even finds another pillow in a cabinet, one that's not so lumpy, and raises the head of the bed so I'm sitting upright.

"Much better?"

This woman is a certified saint. "Definitely."

"Do you want your husband back in here while I give you the meds?"

I blink, confused. In the midst of my pain I'm trying to determine who she's referring to, and that's when it hits me she thinks I'm married to Gabriel. "Um, sure."

She leaves me and opens the door, beckoning him back into the room. He must've been right outside, because he stalks in with a worried look.

I glance at Gabriel, who's standing in the middle of the room with his hands stuffed in his pockets. He has dark circles under his eyes, and his black hair is messy.

That's when it hits me: he looks anguished. Not annoyed.

The nurse takes out a needle and Gabriel shakes his head. "I'm sorry, I can't watch."

The nurse gently squeezes my leg and winks. "Men aren't as tough as we are, right?"

For the first time in what seems like hours, I muster a smile. She pricks the crook of my arm and attaches an IV line.

"What are you giving me, anyway?" I ask, as she arranges all of the plastic tubes.

"Morphine," she says briskly.

Within seconds, my entire body feels warm, and the pain evaporates. It's the most blissful feeling, and I sigh contentedly as I sink into the pillow.

# # #

Gabriel

"Gabriel?"

Riley's voice has none of the strained, painful tone that it did earlier. Her voice is dreamy, almost happy, which means the morphine is kicking in.

Thank fuck.

"Yes, babe?" I sit next to her on the bed.

"I'm feeling a lot better. Maybe we should go home now. All I needed was the pain meds."

I let out a sad chuckle. "Tesoro. No. You need to be in here for more tests. That's what the doctor says."

She frowns and moves her arm — the one that's not attached to the IV line — toward me. I think she's trying to touch my face, and she giggles.

"Are you sure? Because I'm so much better. I need to get some sleep because I have to be at work tomorrow. I can't be here all night."

I lean in to softly kiss Riley's forehead. "I don't think you're going anywhere for a day or two."

"Gabriel, I'm needed at the paper. Don't mess with my schedule." She says this like it's an irrefutable fact.

"Riley, you're extremely sick." I don't tell her that the doctor pulled me aside when the nurse was helping her change, and that he said she might be in here for a few days at least while they pump her full of powerful antibiotics. That's if she has a kidney infection, like the doctor thinks. If she has something else...

Christ, I can't think like that. It has to be something simple. She's young, she's healthy, she's...

Mine.

I'd informed the doc that she should be in here as long, no, longer, than she needs, so she gets proper care.

"Only the best for her," I'd told Dr. Nessman.

"Hmm," she hums. "I'm starting to feel good. Maybe sleepy. How do you know this doctor, anyway?"

"He knew my family, and I've been going to him for years." I don't tell her that the good doctor has been known to make house calls when certain gangsters need patching up after a gunfight, or that he took a hefty cash payment tonight to come out in the middle of the night. All that matters is that he has hospital privileges and found a bed in the VIP wing for Riley.

"I see. But how much is this going to cost me? Why haven't they taken my insurance card?" She starts to sit up, but I gently guide her back to the pillow.

"I don't want you to worry about one thing while you're here, and that includes money. You're my responsibility now."

"I don't like the sound of that," she mumbles.

I'm about to tell her that I don't care what she likes, because I'm taking care of her now, when she looks at me with one eye squinted shut.

She stares at me and twists her mouth into a lopsided smile. "I feel warm. Have you ever had morphine? It feels weird. Like I'm high."

I nod. "I had my appendix out when I was twelve. Right in this hospital, in fact."

"Hm. Will they have to take out my kidney?" She must be high, because she's asking questions that make no sense.

"I sure hope not, because I love your kidney. Just like I love everything about you. Now please, rest. Be a good girl and rest." I smooth back her hair. "Close your eyes and think of happy thoughts."

She does, with the cutest smile on her face. Then her eyelids flip open. "I can't be here for long because we're going to the Bahamas this weekend."

I lean in and nuzzle her cheek. "We're not going anywhere until you get better. Don't even think about doing anything but resting. And I'm not going to leave your side."

Her eyes flutter shut and I stare at her pretty face. Watching her squirm in pain was excruciating, almost as if it was happening to me. I don't think my heart rate has recovered from her collapsing into my arms at her apartment. On the way here, I could barely stand to watch her cry, knowing I was powerless to help.

And when the nurse went to stick her with that needle?

I thought I was going to cry.

Me, Gabriel Greco, who kills people without remorse.