I pushed, and the bed moved. Effie came over to watch, entranced by the operation.

“Wow! Can I get one of those, Mommy?”

“No,” came Isabella’s voice.

I smiled and came to a stop when the slight throb at my side became painful. “How long has it been?”

“Almost two weeks.”

“I baked you some M&M cookies” Effie said, coming over with a tin. “They helped Luke, and he’s out of the hospital now. If you eat these, you’ll be out soon too.”

“That so?” I asked.

Lucia took the cookie Effie had fished out for me. “I’ll give it to him after his dinner, okay? We don’t want to spoil his first proper hospital meal, after all.”

I made a face, and so did Effie. She then turned to me. “Grilled cheese is the only safe thing,” she whispered. “And no matter what you do, do not eat the pea soup.”

I laughed but had to quit; it hurt too much.

“All right,” Isabella said, taking Effie’s hand. “Time for us to go.” She looked at me. “I’m glad you didn’t die.”

“Thank you?” I guessed.

Lucia walked them out then returned to me. “Effie’s a hoot,” she said.

“Yes. And I’m staying away from that pea soup. I trust that kid.” It grew quiet as our smiles faded.

“I thought you were dead. I couldn’t feel you breathe, and you were so still. And the blood…”

Her eyes filled with tears.

I reached up to touch her face, although my arm felt sore even with that small movement. “I’m not that easy to kill off.”

“I kept the clothes I was wearing.”

“Huh?”

She shrugged a shoulder. “With the blood.”

I must have made a face when I got what she was saying.

“I know, it’s creepy.”

“You can throw those away now. I’m not going anywhere. I have a promise to keep.”

She smiled.

“Where’s Dominic?”

She shook her head. “No one knows. He disappeared after that night. Good riddance.”

“He’s not my father’s son.”

“I know.”

“He wasn’t trying to kill me. You know that, right?”

“I don’t care, Salvatore. He almost did.”

I decided to drop it for now. “My father?”

“He had a heart attack, but he’s fine. He’s home already. Roman’s been running the show apparently. Probably waiting for you to get well enough to take over.” She snorted, her face changing, darkening.

“He had a heart attack?”

“I guess seeing one son shoot another was too much even for his cold heart.”

A knock came on the door. We both turned to see Roman peek his head in.

“I heard he was awake.”

“Come in,” Lucia said and stepped aside.

“Where are your crutches?” Salvatore asked me.

“You’ve been out a while. Long enough, my ankle’s mostly fine.”

“You should use them—”

“Bossy.”