The Truth (Mommy's House 2)

Part Two

"How's he doing?" I asked, standing in the fluorescent hallway of the hospital.

The doctor sucked air through his teeth as he looked down at his clipboard. "You know, he's doing as well as he possibly can. He lost a lot of blood, but he's recovered well over the past two days. He's awake, talking fine, everything seems as if it's getting back to normal."

I nodded, relieved. "That's great to hear."

"Yeah," the doctor responded, but he didn't sound too confident. He shook his head, his dark eyes lowering to the clipboard again. "You can tell he's traumatized. He's been having nightmares frequently, which means he's been getting little to no rest. Nobody can go near him without him flinching away... so, just, be careful when talking to him. Don't say anything related to the situation. We don't need anything getting him more off track than he already is, mentally."

"Of course, Doc," I responded. "I'm not going to ask him anything until he's ready."

"Great," the doctor said with a smile, before moving to the side and allowing me to walk into the hospital room.

My breath caught in my throat the second I saw him in the hospital bed. He was battered, with bandages covering his forehead, his cheekbone, and his arms. His leg was completely wrapped, and there were crutches leaning against the side of his bed.

A young nurse was working with the machine he was attached to. I watched as he mumbled something to her, and she giggled with her cheeks flushed, shaking her head.

Once I knocked on the door, the nurse and Cole both looked over at me. Cole looked confused, as he had no idea who I was, but I softened my expression as the nurse informed Cole she would be back later. She walked towards the doorway and flashed me a warm smile before moving past me, leaving me alone in the room with Cole.

I walked carefully up to him. "Hi there, my name is James. I'm one of the officers that helped you out. How are you doing, buddy?"

"Are you going to keep talking to me like I'm six?" Cole asked, his light eyes staring up at me. His voice was extremely raspy and tight, and held a light accent that I didn't expect.

I inhaled deeply and closed my eyes. "Right, I'm sorry. That's just... usually, it's how I ta-"

"It's fine, I'm just messing with you," Cole said with a smile, stifling a brief laugh before he then winced in pain.

I opened my mouth to say something before I was cut off by a woman walking in the room. Her strikingly light eyes and her thick, dark hair made it clear to me that she was his mother. Her eyebrows were furrowed as she stared at me, and I turned to hold my hand out to her.

"Hi, you must be Mrs. Mancini? My name is James Rocklin, I'm an officer that's working on his case. I just wanted to see how he was doing since I last saw him," I explained.

His mother ignored my introduction and walked over to the side of the bed, leaning down to kiss him. "Chi è quest'uomo? Gli dirò di andarsene," she said quietly.

"No, Mamma," he shook his head. "Sto bene."

I tilted my head in surprise at the sight of them speaking fluent Italian towards each other.

"Fammi sapere se ti dà fastidio, va bene, figlio mio?" her voice was very careful and soft as she spoke to him.

She leaned down and gently caressed her fingers along the side of his face, pressing her lips again to his bandaged forehead. She then turned to me, her electric eyes boring into mine.

"Do not say one thing to him about what happen to him. He must get better first," she said, her accent intensely thick.

I nodded. "I promise, I will not say anything to him."