Page 73 of Robbie (Confessions 1)

Dr. Ellis touched her shoulder, giving her a gentle nudge. “Cheryl? Cheryl, you have some visitors.”

As Nonna’s eyes fluttered open, Robbie’s eyes blurred all over again. God, she looked so tired. So worn out. But then she spotted his welling eyes and her eyes narrowed on him.

“Oh, you stop that right now, young man,” she said, shaking a finger at him.

Robbie sniffed and swiped away a tear from his cheek. “Don’t you dare try and tell me what to do, vecchietta. You’re the one lying in a hospital bed. Not me.”

“Oh hush. I had a little fall, that’s all.”

“Nonna, a broken hip is not a little fall,” Vanessa said as she reached for their grandmother’s hand.

“I have to agree with that,” Dr. Ellis said, as she looked over the notes on her tablet and then turned her attention back to Nonna. “We need to get some blood drawn from you in a little bit here, and then we’re going to send you up for an MRI to make sure we haven’t missed anything from the X-rays and CT scans. Once that’s complete, we’re going to need to discuss what is going to happen in the future. But let’s get through the day first and get you stabilized and out of pain. Does that sound like a plan?”

When Nonna nodded, the doctor smiled. “In that case, I’ll leave you to it. But just to let you know, the nurses will be in soon.”

“Okay,” Nonna said. “Thank you, doctor. I appreciate it, and I’m sorry to be such a hassle.”

“You’re no hassle. I’m glad we got you in here as quickly as we did.”

After the doctor left, Robbie walked to the opposite side of the hospital bed to his cousin, and slowly took a seat as to not jostle Nonna or aggravate his own self-inflicted tender areas. Once he was seated, he placed his hand over hers and sighed.

Shit, he’d never felt more ashamed of himself.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, and when she turned her hand over and squeezed his, Robbie lowered his eyes to their joined hands. “I’m sorry, Nonna. I should’ve been there. You shouldn’t have been alone. I could’ve—”

“Robert Antonio Bianchi, you stop that right now.” Nonna’s voice was firm and as strong as her fingers. “Look at me,” she said, and when Robbie raised his eyes, she said, “Do not start blaming yourself for this. Do you hear me?”

“Yes, but—”

“No. I don’t want to hear your excuses. Stop blaming yourself.” Nonna looked over at Vanessa. “Do you blame Vanessa? Are you angry at her?”

“No,” Robbie said, looking at his cousin. “But she was at a job—”

“And you were on a date,” Nonna finished for him.

“I—”

“Don’t try and deny it. I saw you get picked up last night,” she said with a tired smile. “And we’re all looking at your swollen lip this morning. I certainly hope it’s not from a fistfight.”

Robbie brought his hand up to quickly cover his mouth. Shit. He’d totally forgotten about that.

“You’re both young adults living your life,” Nonna said, and reached for Vanessa’s hand. “That’s the way it should be. You shouldn’t be staying at home in the evenings to look after an old lady like me.”

“Nonna,” they both said at the same time, but she shook her head.

“No. This is my fault.”

“It isn’t,” Robbie said, and leaned forward to kiss her cheek.

“It is, and some things are going to have to change, bello mio.” She let out a deep sigh as the nurse walked in, and then said to Robbie, “Can you call your mother for me? Try not to let her panic, but I am going to need her to come down for a little bit. There are things we all need to discuss.”

Robbie nodded, figuring as much, and then stood to get out of the nurse’s way as they wheeled Nonna out of the room. Robbie then wrapped an arm around Vanessa’s shoulder and hugged her close. It was time to pull up a seat and wait. It was going to be a long day with nothing but silence and his own guilt to keep him company.

Chapter Twenty-One

CONFESSION

You should never judge a book by its cover.

Sometimes what’s inside is more beautiful, and more tragic, than you ever thought possible.

BY THE TIME four o’clock rolled around, Priest had received a text from Julien letting him know that they were still at the hospital. That was a long day, but he’d expected that. Trips to the hospital were never quick, and as Priest pulled into the parking garage at University, he grabbed the bag of takeout he’d picked up and headed inside.

From what he understood, Robbie had come out to the waiting room with Julien when Nonna had been taken to get more tests, and according to Julien, Robbie hadn’t said more than two words.

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