Page 88 of Savage King

"Lungs are fine," he announces and listens to my chest. "Heart is too, as long as you don't break it." He wags a finger at Antonio. This time, I can't help but chuckle.

"If anyone's heart is in any danger, it's mine," Antonio replies dryly, creating a little hitch in mine, which I hope the good doctor missed. No such luck; he winks at me. Antonio continues, clueless as to what just happened. "Are you going to listen to mine, too?"

"You don't have one," Doc replies, eliciting more giggles from me.

"Hah," Antonio replies. "I beg to differ. A certain someone has awakened something."

"That's not your heart, that's your dick."

This time, I snort with laughter.

"Very funny," Antonio pouts.

"It's true," I come to his defense. "I heard it beat."

"Did you now?" Doc looks skeptical but walks over to Antonio with his stethoscope out. "Well, I'll be damned. There's a heartbeat. Who would have thought? Your mother is weeping in heaven."

More of my laughter gets swallowed by a startled cry as he rips the bandage off my shoulder. He's quick for an old man. I didn't even notice him returning to my side.

"Careful, old man, wouldn't want anything to happen to you," Antonio growls, and the good old doctor lifts his middle finger.

"It's better to rip the band-aid quickly. You, of all people, should know that." The older man admonishes.

"Well, this looks good. I'll clean it, and in a couple of days, we'll take the stitches out," he says to me. "No nausea? No fever, no loss of appetite…" he notices the glance between Antonio and me and sighs loudly. "Food, I'm talking about loss of appetite for food."

"No, I've been eating. Thank you. No nausea either." I manage to answer, despite the sweat running down my armpits. Antonio gives me a funny look, as if he's sensing I'm lying, but Doc is already busy, whipping out a few pieces of gauze and alcohol.

"Good, good." He cleanses my wound so carefully that I feel nothing but the slightest pressure.

"You're healing fast. That's excellent."

He packs his things. "Bill's in the mail." He lifts his hand over his head and waves as he walks out.

"Wow," I say, turning to Antonio.

He rolls his eyes. "Wow, is right. Cranky old goat."

Not even an hour later, the officiate arrives.

"Henry Nolan," Antonio introduces him.

"I have the papers ready," Henry comes straight to the point. He pulls some papers out from an old briefcase that I'm sure has seen better days, about a hundred years ago.

"I need both of your signatures here and here," he points at the first page, placing it on the desk. Being the daughter of a judge, I learned long ago to read what I sign before I do, but this looks like a pretty straightforward marriage agreement. My hand shakes as I sign it, butterflies rummaging through my stomach, but no second thoughts rear up. This is it. I'm signing on for an entirely new life, with Antonio at my side.

I look up at him, and he winks at me while he puts his name on the paper in big, swiping letters.

"I'll sign as one of the witnesses, but we need one more," Henry mumbles while scribbling his name.

"Vito!" Antonio barks.

Like a genie summoned, Vito pops in, making me wonder if he stood outside just waiting for Antonio to call him.

"I need you to sign here." Antonio hands him a pen.

"Sure." Vito doesn't even ask what it is before putting his name down. The trust between these two men never ceases to amaze me.

"So, you're getting married?" Vito asks, finally looking at the header of the document he just signed.

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