Page 20 of Rise
10
Antonio
I hate not beingat Vinny’s side.
I can’t stand this powerless feeling that twists up my insides as I stand outside his room, waiting for answers. Nonna Romano sits calmly in the chair meant for my men stationed at Vinny’s door day and night to makesure he’s kept safe. My men, they all come to the hospital when they're off shift. They sit in the waiting room or pace the halls, concerned for their buddy, just like I am.
Two nurses and a doctor have been in the hospital room for some time, doing who knows what as they work to stabilize him or help him wake up. We can’t see anything through the little window built into the hospital roomdoor. They’ve pulled the thick, heavy blue accordion style curtains that run along a track in the ceiling. All I can see are the bottoms of their scrubs, their sneakers and orthopedic shoes, and the wheels at the base of all the pieces of equipment and furniture in the room.
So many wheels. It makes sense that everything made for hospitals have wheels attached to them. From beds to supplyshelves, from monitoring and operating equipment to wheelchairs and portable rollaway potties. They’re all on wheels, ready to be moved to another room where they’re needed after one patient has no use for them.
The ventilator machine was turned off, at least that’s what Nonna Romano said when we stopped hearing all those insistent alarms. She says it’s a good sign.He has fight left inhim, she says. I want to believe her. The woman has the unique benefit of having seen the insides of many hospital rooms during her lifetime as the daughter, wife, cousin, and mother of powerful mob bosses. I want to trust that she’s right, but my mind won’t rest until I see for myself. With my own eyes.
Whatever they’re doing to Vinny, it better work. He can’t get worse. There’s only conditionworse than how he was. I can’t bring myself to think about it.
He has to wake up.
Fight, brother. Fight.
“What’s taking them so long?” I ask in a low voice, not intending for anyone to hear or answer the question.
“They have to adjust his medication,” Nonna says. “They’ll check his bandages too, make sure his brain is fine, and take another look at all his injuries.It’s not simple, taking him off life support. It’s supposed to take time. They can’t rush it.”
I look up at the drop ceiling above my head, frustrated. “They’ve been in there for ages. This is just… too much.” I’m supposed to be strong for my men, for this family. But it’s fucking hard, putting on a brave face day in and day out.
“Have faith in your friend,” she tells me in a softtone. “Vincenteis giving everything he has.”
With a shrug, I try not to picture what the medical team is doing behind those blue curtains as I walk over to my guys. They stop pacing for a while, standing silently around me, glancing over at Vinny’s door from time to time, watching, waiting, hoping.
A few minutes later, one of the doctors emerges from Vinny’s room and begins to speakwith Nonna Romano in hushed tones. I head back to them.
Hoping for a miracle.
A miracle can’t be too much to ask for.
For Vinny.
