Page 14 of Enzo
I hate you all
Putting my phone away—as if that’ll get me away from my family’s ridiculousness—I focus on Enzo, who’s sitting on the edge of his bed, scowl in place.
My heart twists at his expression. I don’t normally see the serious, grumpy side of him. With me and my family, he’s sweet, caring, and loving. I hate knowing how hard this experience is on him.
I wouldn’t expect anyone in his position to come out all sunshine and rainbows, butfuck, watching him struggle to accept his new lot in life is killing me. It’s only the beginning stages still, so I’m hoping with everything I have that this isn’t an indicator of how it’s going to go…
I don’t have any unrealistic expectations that he’ll simply accept everything has changed, but the Enzo I know takes everything in stride. I’m afraid the adjustment period is going to make things worse before there’s any sign of light at the end of the tunnel, though.
Maybe I should let my family visit. I don’t want to overwhelm him, but maybe seeing his family will help. So far, he’s refused visits from both Benji and Roman, and neither I nor Doc have pushed the issue because we didn’t want to stress him out so soon after surgery. If it keeps up much longer, though, we’ll have to. Otherwise, the Boss will get involved, and well, I wish Enzo luck there.
Doc comes into the room with his new medical assistant trailing behind him.
“Oh, great,” Enzo says. “Some fresh meat to witness my humiliation.”
“Be nice, Enzo. Cristian said we’re not allowed to break him,” Doc replies, heading straight for him.
“Ignore the grump,” I tell the new guy as I move to stand beside him. “It’s…not been a very good day.”
“It’s fine.” He holds out his hand for me to shake. “I’m Soren, by the way.”
“Kail. I’ve heard a lot about you from Rose and James. It’s nice to meet you. How have you been doing? Doc driving you crazy yet?”
He laughs, his bright blue eyes shining with mirth, and his porcelain skin colors a little at his delight, making the freckles on his cheeks stand out. With his light blond hair, delicate features, and shorter stature, he looks way too young to be as accomplished as he’s claiming to be. But then…looks can be deceiving. I know he’s not only a highly trained nurse, but he’s twenty-five and the nephew of the Bratva Pakhan who Cristian has an alliance with. “Just a little, but I’m getting used to it.”
“Hey!” Doc protests from where he’s examining Enzo’s wound. “I’m adelight.”
“Sure you are, sir,” I say with a snort.
We step up to the bed and Doc finishes his assessment of Enzo’s residual limb, moving to the side so Soren can offer his hand to Enzo.
“Sorry for barging in on you like this. I can wait outside if you want me to.”
Enzo rolls his eyes. “Doc will never agree to that, but thank you. It’s fine. I… It’s just been a long day, is all. I’m not normally such an ass.”
“Liar,” I can’t help but say under my breath, earning a glare from my boyfriend, to which I just smile in response.
There’s a brief knock on the door and I turn to find James poking his head in. “Jayden and Dr. Watts are here.”
“Thank you,” Doc replies.
His bodyguard disappears, and in his place is the Amato Family physical therapist and the prosthetist Doc sourced.
Jayden’s typical impassive expression gives nothing away as he introduces himself to both the prosthetist and Soren. His brown eyes are laser focused, and I’m very happy it’s Enzo in the line of fire and not me.
Dr. Watts on the other hand, seems very nice, and her demeanor is calm and informative without being too condescending or dismissive.
She examines Enzo’s residual limb and frowns, making a few notes on her tablet. “I’ll need to discuss with the surgeon, but unfortunately my recommendation would be to go in and reshape what’s been left behind.” She gives Enzo a gentle smile when he slumps. “I promise it’s not as bad as you think. I know it sounds that way. No one wants to be told they need another surgery, but with such a traumatic amputation, there’s always the expectation you might need to have a revision surgery.”
Enzo lets out a stuttering breath. “What does that mean exactly?”
“The orthopedic surgeon will make their assessment, and together we’ll put a plan together, but from what I’m seeing, a little reshaping of the residual limb to make sure you can comfortably fit into a prosthetic is in order. As I said, due to the fact that this was a traumatic amputation, the residual limb isn’t quite perfect, and we want to make sure you don’t have any issues with it down the road.”
“Does this mean I’ll lose more of what I have left?”
Dr. Watts reluctantly nods. “A little, but we’ll do everything we can to make sure you don’t lose more than absolutely necessary. I don’t anticipate needing to go any higher than your knee, so in that respect, we won’t be taking too much.”
Enzo looks down at his bandaged leg, despair crossing his features for a moment before his professional mask covers up his pain.
