Page 139 of Married with Mayhem

The hospital bed wasn’t made for sharing and it’s a tight squeeze but Monte manages to navigate the IV line and stretches out beside me while also being careful of the bandages on my right side.

His arms circle me with extreme care and even though I’ve just come out of surgery and there’s a bullet hole in my body, a sense of happy peace chases away the scariest of the shadows.

The worst is over. We’re alive and we’re together.

Monte helps me dial Anni’s cell phone. She snatches it up before the first ring finishes. Hearing the anguished tears in my sister’s voice while knowing that Anni hardly ever cries almost sends me into a spiral of uncontrollable weeping.

But for Anni’s sake, I remain calm and do my best to reassure her.

“Please get some rest,” I say because I’m sure she’s been up all night, worrying in agony. “And give sweet Janie a kiss from her Auntie Brina. Everything is okay here and I’ll call you later. I promise.”

She sniffs but there’s also some teasing in her voice when she says, “My little sister, the voice of reason.”

“Isn’t it nice for a change? And I’m not that much younger than you.”

“Doesn’t matter. You’ll always be my little sister.”

The emotional tears are threatening to return. “And you’ll always be my Anni.”

I’ve barely hung up with my sister when a nurse walks in to check my vitals and wheel me up to my private hospital room.

“Am I allowed to eat?” I ask her. “The last thing I ate was a carnival funnel cake and a lot has happened since then.”

“I’ll check with your doctor,” she says.

“Do you guys have bagels?” I ask. “Or better yet, pancakes?”

Monte, who walks beside my bed while it’s being wheeled through the corridors, laughs.

“I’ll see what I can do,” the nurse promises.

The second I’m settled in my hospital room, I ask for Daisy. I hate the idea of her driving up here in the middle of the night and pacing the hospital floors with worry.

Monte quickly escorts my sister to the room and she lets out a small cry of joy to see me awake and sitting up in bed. Big Man Bowie wanders in after her.

“Are you hungry?” he says. “I’ve got the truck outside. Say the word and I’ll whip you up a burger.”

Bless the man and his unending mission to feed people. I’d love a burger.

Monte and Daisy conspire to fuss over me like a pair of mother hens. When I ask about the other Castelli men, Monte worries that too many people in the room might be too much for me right now.

Of course it isn’t. Sal and Nico are family. They should be here.

Nico, following Monte’s orders, already visited the cabin to retrieve my laptop and some clothes.

“I was so worried about you,” Nico says as he hands my backpack over.

“We all were,” Sal says and he blinks away tears. “There’s only one Sabrina. We love you, kiddo. I hope you know that.”

There’s no way I’m going get through the rest of the day without crying again. “I love you guys too.”

When the doctor stops by for a quick exam, everyone except Monte leaves. Big Man Bowie has promised them all a hamburger breakfast and he says he’ll find a way to get some food up here to us.

Monte holds my hand while the doctor delivers a very sobering outline of what I can expect in the weeks to come.Apparently, all those movies where people run around good as new a week after getting shot full of holes are fiction.

Just because I escaped the worst outcome doesn’t mean there’s no damage. There will be pain and lots of physical therapy and limited shoulder mobility. In the meantime, I’ll really need to be careful.

“Looks like you’re stuck dealing with my overprotective care for a while,” Monte says. He drops a kiss on my forehead but he’s doing his best to act cheerful when he’s struggling with a lot of other emotions.

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