Page 256 of La Dolce Vita

"I've been here many times before," he said. She shook off her confused anger and focused on Giovanni. It was probably a case of mistaken identity. So many excuses surfaced she actually found herself calming down. They passed through doors and again she searched the faces they passed for her husband.

Carlo approached. The side of his face and head was bloody. There was, even more, blood on his clothes and hands.Whose blood was it?

"Where is he?" Mirabella asked.

"I did all I could."

"What? What? What does that mean?" She felt faint. She must have looked it because Dominic held her up.

"Is he dead?" Dominic asked the question that her mind screamed.

"His heart stopped beating when we got here. I saw them. I saw them working to save his life," Carlo’s voice choked with emotion. "I tried all I could to get him here in time."

"Who shot him?" Mirabella shouted.

Carlo shook his head. "I don't know."

"Who shot him, Carlo?" Mirabella shrugged off Dominic and grabbed Carlo by his shirt. "Tell me! You were there! Who did it?"

"Lorenzo. I heard a gunshot when Marietta and I..."

"Marietta? She was there?"

Carlo put a hand to his head. He looked pale. A nurse came over. "Signor, you have to go with me. You shouldn't be up and walking around."

"I'm fine!" Carlo groaned. The nurse stepped back. He closed his good eye and looked to be trying to capture his breath. "She was there. She hit me with something. I was out. When I came to, I saw her and Lorenzo. I think. There were men there. I believe it was Armando. I don't know. She said she called Armando. So it could be him. It's all confusing." Carlo staggered, and Dominic reached to help him instead. Mirabella went to the nurses’ cubicle.

"Sono Donna Mirabella Battaglia. Dov'è?My husband? Can I speak to someone about my husband, Giovanni Battaglia?"

"Signora, I will get the doctors." The nurse said.

"He's fine. He's fine. He's not dead. He's going to be fine." Mirabella said. She put her hands to her face to stop herself from crying. A calm came over her. It grounded her. She faced both men and pulled it together.

“Giovanni is going to be okay. Carlo. You have to let the doctors help you," Mirabella said.

Two male nurses came over to take Carlo who didn't protest this time. He was too weak to do so. They put him in a wheelchair and pushed him away. Mirabella placed her hand to her heart.

The doors swung back open, and a surgeon came out. He too had blood on him. He wore scrubs and a hospital cap on his head.

"Domi," Mirabella said. She grabbed Dominic's hand. Together they braced for news.

"SignoraBattaglia, I'm Dr. Bonomo. I've been working on your husband."

"How is he?" she asked.

"Not well I'm afraid. He lost a lot of blood. We have stabilized him, but the damage is severe. He's too weak to continue through the surgery. We will need to go back in."

"Surgery? I don't understand."

"He was shot three times. Twice in the back and once in the shoulder. Lucky for him no major organs were hit. But he has a ruptured spleen. And he's bleeding internally.”

Mirabella wept.

"We are flying in a specialist from Rome. We have the bleeding under control, but the next surgery is far more delicate. If he makes it through the next twenty-four hours, we will..."

"If? If? What do you mean if? You have to save him. Please, I'll pay whatever you want. You have to!"

"Signora, we are. Your husband is a strong man. It's remarkable that he has made it this far. I can't explain it. With the amount blood he lost and the organ failure, it's a miracle. We will need another miracle to bring him through this."

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