Page 82 of Volatile Vice

We find a nurse who leads us back into the ICU wing into our mother’s room.

“She’s still asleep,” the nurse says. “But her vitals look good for now. She may be out for another couple of hours. Even after that, she’s going to be groggy.”

“The drugs last that long?” Savannah asks.

“Not so much the drugs. Although yes, they will make her groggy for the next twenty-four hours or so. But remember that sleep is the way the body heals. This has been traumatic on her body. She’s had her chest cut open, her sternum cracked and split, her heart?—”

“Please,” Savannah interrupts. “We know the details. We don’t need to hear them again. It’s just so difficult to think of my mother that way.”

The nurse nods. “I understand. But please don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions.”

“We won’t,” I assure her.

“I’ll give you some privacy then. I can only let you stay for a few moments. Like I said, she’s asleep, but she will probably be able to sense your presence. Feel free to talk to her. Reassure her that you’re here and that everything’s okay.”

Once the nurse leaves, Savannah turns to me. “You should go first, Vinnie.”

“Why me?”

She scratches her arm. “Because we both know how Mom feels about me at the moment. She’s not my biggest fan.”

I lay a hand on her shoulder. “Sav, she nearly died. However she was feeling about you has no bearing now. She’s alive, and she loves you. In fact, I was just thinking about how close you two were when you were a kid. How she would take you to do mother-daughter things.”

Savannah smiles at that. “Yeah. I remember this one picnic…” She shakes her head. “She was a good mother, Vinnie. Or she tried to be, anyway.”

“She was resigned to her place in the world. In the family,” I say. “I think part of her problem with you is sheer jealousy, Sav. You’re getting to live the life she didn’t get to live. A life on your own terms, with the man you chose, not one who was chosen for you.”

“Yeah, I get that, but shouldn’t she be happy for me? I’m her kid.”

I take in a deep breath, closing my eyes and running my hands through my hair. “I think in her own way she is. She just feels… I guess she feels like I came back for you. And she was just as happy to have me overseas. Where I was safe from our grandfather.”

“I’m not sure that’s the case.”

The voice sends chills down my spine.

Savannah and I both turn around. Our grandfather stands in the doorway. He takes a few slow steps into the room.

“And how is my daughter?” he asks, his voice solemn.

“You’d know if you bothered to come last night like you said you would,” I say to him.

He snaps his head in my direction. “Watch your tone with me, Vincent. You expect to gain my trust by being belligerent?”

“I’ve done everything you asked,” I say.

He leers at me. “If that were true, you’d be in Colombia.”

“What are you talking about, Grandpa?” Savannah demands. “This is our mother. You really think Vinnie was going to get on a plane when our mother?—”

“Be quiet, Savannah,” Grandfather says. “When I want your opinion, I’ll ask for it. And believe me, that day will never come.”

Instinctively, my hands curl into fists. I could break the motherfucker’s nose right now for talking to my sister that way.

But I hold myself in check.

“Sav,” I say. “Excuse us for a moment. Spend some time with our mother.”

I walk toward Grandfather, effectively pushing him out the door and closing it behind me. I walk with him to the alcove at the end of the floor.

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