Page 37 of Amadeo
“Tito is out looking,” Valencia said. “Along with his brother and a few of the men.” She stared at Gia. “Could this harm his health? I mean his condition?”
“I’m not sure, but if he overdoes it, yes,” Gia replied. “He could possibly be harmed.”
Valencia wrung her hands together. “How could this have happened?”
My father scoffed. “Someone planned it well,” he said as he looked over at Gia and me.
“Ok, Father.” I glared at him. “How could Gia have planned this? Deacon just woke up and who does she know here that she could get to come in and haul him off?”
Gia nodded. “In addition, he is my patient and now I cannot tend to him as I had planned. He needed therapy and some tests run. This escape may cause him harm and I do no harm.”
“But not your whole family feels that way, do they?” Stephano asked.
Blinking at him in anger, she replied. “They are not doctors, Mr. Descalia. They haven’t taken an oath. But if YOUR family wouldn't have hurt my—” She halted as if she realized she was revealing too much. She bit at her lip then went on in a softer tone, “I deny this accusation of complicity in his escape as it would harm my patient. Also, my family had nothing to do with his escape. They are not here on the estate.”
Looking thoroughly confused, Valencia looked back and forth at them. “What are you two talking about? What does your family have to do with this?”
“Yes, I want an answer to that as well,” I spoke up.
“Your nurse did seem to be in on it,” my father accused.
Shaking her head, Gia sighed. “I have no idea why. I mean she—”
“She probably knew Mr. Descalia planned on killing him,” Valencia simply came out and said it.
My father looked over at her to ask in a seething tone, “Do you know what he did?”
Valencia nodded. “Yes, I have been shown the list of my brother’s crimes. But you cannot mean to shoot down an unarmed, ill man.”
“Listen to me, mia cara,” my father told her. “He is very dangerous, armed or not. He has attempted to murder my family members. I am sorry that he is your brother, but I cannot allow someone that has harmed my family to simply GO FREE!” He raised his voice.
I noted that as he said this, Gia’s body went rigid and tense as she ducked away from underneath my arm. I looked over at her.
She glanced away.
I shook my head. “Someone needs to tell me the truth here,” I said as I raised my gaze to look at my father.
Valencia started to cry.
“Crap,” I said. “Tito is going to kick our asses.” I stepped over and took Valencia’s arm. “Something happened that we are unaware of, Valen. But whoever did this wasn’t out to harm your brother. Plus, he took the nurse with them. So, she knows what to do to help him.” I raised my gaze to my father’s angry stare. “That is probably why the nurse went along with them. She knew he needed care.”
“That makes more sense than her being in on it,” Gia agreed. “Nurse Jocelyn has great credentials. Meaning, her record is impeccable. She would do that very thing for a patient.”
My father sighed as he shook his head. “Your credentials are also impeccable, Dr. Ribisi. However, we know that it would serve you best for Deacon to be free, would it not?”
Gia raised her chin up at him. “And because of those very credentials I would NEVER mess with a patient’s safety like this. He’d just barely woken up from a coma.”
I again looked back and forth. How on earth would Deacon being free benefit her? It was more than obvious that my father knew things I did not. Then again, I wanted Gia to tell me herself. Just now however, I needed to help Valencia. She was full out crying now. Tito was out on the search and he couldn’t be present. I had never let my cousins down and I did not plan to start now. I turned to Gia and asked, “Can you come with us? I’m going to take Valen to the kitchen where Zia can get her some tea.”
Gia paused and looked over at me. “Yes, I can go with you.”
“I needed to have a discussion with Dr. Ribisi,” my father spoke up as he had shuttered his expression to that typical blank he used to take care of business.
I turned my head to glare at him. “Not alone, you won’t. I can see there are things here I am unaware of. But I can also see that whatever it is, you Father, are a danger to Gia. If that is so, I should be present when you speak to her.” I grabbed her hand as I took a crying Valencia’s elbow and went out the door, down the hall.
All the while, I could feel my fathers angry gaze scoring a hole through my back.
“He’s going to be furious,” Gia murmured quietly.
