Page 132 of Fought and Freed

As they started talking to each other, the older guy with the cane walked up to Maddy.

He tilted his head. “You look like your mother.”

“Did you know her?” she asked.

“You could say that she was my older sister.”

Maddy’s mouth fell open, and she looked at him more closely, noticing he had the same eyes and nose as she did. “Lucca never told me.”

He lowered his head. “Don’t be pissed at Lucca. I asked him not to tell you about me. I was embarrassed that I had failed my sister. The night she gave birth to you, I was there.”

His eyes turned misty. “You were so beautiful, with a full head of red hair, and Maria panicked, saying no, she can’t have red hair, he’ll figure it out. The next time I saw my sister, she told me you had a complication and died.”

He shook his head in disbelief. “I didn’t believe her. You were so healthy. How could you pass? But even though I didn’t believe her, I never looked for you. It kills me to hear what you went through. I should have searched for you. I’m so sorry, mia nipote.”

Maddy was at a loss. She suddenly had family coming out of the woodwork.

Harry stepped in to intervene. “Marco, my man, I think you’ve stunned your niece.”

“Yes, of course, I did. I’m so sorry, Maddy. Please forgive me.” He backed up and turned to walk away.

“Wait, please.” Maddy reached out to catch his arm. “A lot has been thrown at me today, but I’d love to get to know you. Can we get together later? You can come over for dinner. I’d love for you to meet my guys.”

“I would love to have dinner with you.” He smiled.

They exchanged numbers, and he promised to call.

As Harry walked her out to her car, she punched him in the arm. “How could you and Lucca keep Uncle Marco a secret from me? What else aren’t you telling me?”

Harry raised both his hands. “Don’t get mad at me. I was just following Lucca’s orders.”

“When he gets back, we’re going to have a long talk,” she grumbled.

Sliding into her car, she took off for the hospital.

It was close to visiting hours, and when she arrived at the ICU, the nurse told her that Dr. Ash wanted to speak to her.

They put her in a small conference room, which gave her a really bad feeling about what they needed to discuss.

Dr. Ash opened the door and seemed surprised to find her standing. “Please, take a seat.”

Maddy settled on the edge of one chair.

Dr. Ash sat across from her. “Mr. Turner hasn’t improved over the last few days. His left eye is still blown, even with the swelling having gone down. I want to do some tests to see if there’s any brain activity.”

A lump formed in her throat. “You don’t think he’s going to come back from this, do you?”

“I’ll be honest with you, Ms. Walsh. With all my years doing this, no, I don’t think Mr. Turner will come back. I think those machines are the only thing keeping him alive,” Dr. Ash said gently. “I still want to run the test, but you need to think about whether you want to keep him alive with machines or take him off.”

Tears trailed down her face. “How long until we find out the results?”

“If you approve running the tests, I’ll do them today, and we can discuss the results tomorrow.”

Maddy nodded sadly. “Thank you, doctor. Please run the tests.”

He nodded and left the room.

She stood and walked to Grant’s room. This was so unfair. How could she know what Grant would want?

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