Chapter 312
Chapter Three Hundred Twelve
Adrik
The guys were waiting on us when we walked into the kitchen. They’d been stressed because Sephie
had seemingly taken a torn for the worse over thest week, on top of everything else. She never took
it out on any of us, but it still affected everyone to see her so cranky. And they were starting to miss her
because she basically did nothing but sleep.
“Good morning, princess,” Ivan said as she walked into the kitchen. She was in front of me, so I
couldn’t see her face, but I knew by the look on Ivan’s face that she was smiling at him.
“Super Squish,” she said as she walked to him. She looked around, noticing Stephen wasn’t in the
kitchen. “He’s downstairs getting breakfast. He’ll be right back,” Ivan said before she could even ask.
They’d banned her from trying to cook until she had the use of both arms. That was one reason why we
think she took a turn for the worse. She was trying to do too much and suffered because of it. She
wasn’t happy with the ban, but she finally relented. After every single one of us scolded her for arguing
with us.
“How did you sleep, gazelle?” Misha asked as she made the rounds in the kitchen.
“Like I was dead,” she said,ughing. Andrei handed her a cup of coffee, saying, “this will help bring
you back to life.”
Stephen walked back into the penthouse, clearly happy that she was awake. “How’s your appetite this
morning. Seph?” he asked. “I got you French toast this time. Maybe a sugar high is what you need,” he
said, grinning at her.
“That’ll keep me awake for 10 extra minutes today,” she said sarcastically. She still hugged him and
thanked him for remembering she loved French toast.
She picked at her breakfast, eating some of it, which was progress from the previous few days. She
saved the rest of it forter, in case she got hungry again. Really, she was saving it for one of the guys.
They would always eat her leftovers at some point.
“When do you meet with the policemissioner?” she asked, chasing around a bite of toast on her
te but not actually eating it.
“Tomorrow. I was waiting to see what Sal did before I met with him. He knows, loosely, what’s
happening, but I need to fill him in on everything,” I said.
“Who had Sal running on the whiteboard and who had him staying?” she asked, smiling.
Sal had stayed in his house for days after Trino delivered Anthony and Lorenzo to him. Trino had his
guys watching Sal the whole time. They could see him inside the house. Like Stephen said, if it wasn’t
Sal, it would’ve been @artbreaking. He was definitely in mourning. We were waiting to see what he
was going to do next. Trino had offered to take care of Sal. “I’m still pi ssed he would try to go around
me and make a deal with the Mexicans. I’ll be happy to take care of him for you,” he said.
“Be my guest, Trino,” I had told him. One less thing I would have to worry about. We had guys watching
Niko and Vito as well. Both paid visits to Sal while he was sh ut in his house. Both were shown Trino’s
special delivery. Both were now afraid for their
own lives.
The people in those three areas of the city were still unhappy and threatening to revolt against the
bosses. Even with being terrified for their own lives, they were still trying to collect the new taxes they’d
imposed on their people. Massimo’s underbosses were still trying to collect taxes in his area. The only
quiet areas belonged to Dario and Armando.
Trino was proving to be invaluable to me during this entire situation. I had not expected him toe
through the way he was. During one of the short windows when she was awake, I’d talked to Sephie
about it.
“I’m not that surprised that he’s proving to be as helpful as he is,” she said. I looked at her skeptically.
“He knows you trust actions more than words. Because he’s very simr to you. You’re going to need to
return the favor when ites to the Mexicans when this is over with in the city.”
I could feel her worry starting to build, but she was trying to smile through it. “You shouldn’t worry, love.
Trino took care of them by himselfst time. If we help him, it will be even faster,” I said.
She tried to take as deep a breath as she could. “I know. I still worry. I can’t help it.” I could feel her
frustration as I pulled her as close to me as possible. We were both missing the ability for me to hold
her tightly
That afternoon, Sephie had her two-week check-up with Dr. Williams. He wanted to take another x-ray
of her lung, just to make sure everything was still functioning properly. We all went to the hospital with
her.
“How’s your breathing?” he asked.
“Still not what I’d like it to be, but it’s okay,” she said.
“Is it mostly your ribs? Are you feeling like you’re not getting enough air?”
“Both, I think? I can’t take a deep breath because of my ribs, so it feels like there’s not enough air all
the time,” she said.
“Hmmm. Let’s get you x-rayed. I want to see what’s going on in there.”
He had to take her arm out of the sling to be able to see all of her lung. It was painful for her, but not
like it was before she left the hospital. I stood to the side and tried to help her with the pain as much as
I could. It worked better when I could touch her. She didn’t have tears in her eyes this time when I
walked back to the table she was lying on. I strapped her arm back in the sling and helped her sit up so
we could put my oversize sweatshirt back on her. At least she’d been staying warmer with the clothes
we got her through all this.
Dr. Williams told us to wait in the exam room while he looked at her x-rays. He had a concerned look
on his face when he walked back into the room.
“Have you been feeling fatiguetely, Sephie?” he asked, sitting on a stool in front of her.
“She’s done nothing but sleep the past few days. She’s only been awake a few hours each day,” Ivan
said. “Literally everything wears her out.”
“She’s also lost her appetite again like she did before when she took pain meds,” Misha said.
“She was starting to breathe better after the first days of being at home, but now she’s struggling to
breathe again like she did when she was still in the hospital,” Andrei said.
Dr. Williams looked to Sephie for confirmation of what they’d all just said. She simply nodded her head
in agreement. “Any sharp pains in your chest?” he asked as he put a stethoscope on and listened to
her breathing.
“Just my ribs.”
“What about a rapid heart rate?” She shook her head no. He wheeled himself to the cab on the
opposite side of the room, grabbing a needle and syringe. “You’ve got fluid building up in your lung
again. I’m thinking you’re in the beginning stages of pneumonia, but I want to run a blood test to make
sure it’s pneumonia.” He looked at me, then to each of the guys. “Have you heard her wheezing again
when she breathes?”
“No wheezing. She’s coughing again asionally, though. Usually when she tries to talk too much,”
Andrei said.
“It’s bing more frequent,” I said.
Dr. Williams took blood from Sephie’s right arm, then stood up. “I’m going to put a rush on this so we’ll
know for sure whether this is pneumonia. I can send her home with antibiotics, but that’s not going to
make her stomach any happier. If the antibiotics don’t begin to resolve it, she’s going to need to be
admitted again,” he said as he stepped out of the room.
She had tears in her eyes when I looked down at her. “I don’t want to go back to the hospital,” she said
quietly. I pulled her to me, so her head was resting on my shoulder as I wiped away the tears. She
closed her eyes, leaning on me. “I’m so tired of this,” she said so quietly that I almost didn’t hear her.
The guys were quiet, not knowing what to say, but clearly worried about her. Sephie sat quietly beside
me, with her head on my shoulder until the doctor returned. I thought she might’ve fallen asleep, but
she heard hime in the room and lifted her head from my shoulder.
“The good news is it’s pneumonia. That’s also the bad news. I’m going to send you home with
antibiotics for now, but I want to see you again in seven days to make sure it’s not getting worse. If you
start to have trouble breathing at any point, you need toe straight here. Your lung is still healing
and this could cause it to copse again.” He looked at all of us, saying, “if you hear her start wheezing
again, or she has any sharp pains in her chest, her pulse starts racing, she starts turning blue, or has
shortness of breath, bring her here.” We all nodded. “The antibiotics will be easier to handle if you can
eat something when you take them. Yogurt is usually a good choice, if you can’t manage anything
else,” he said, looking back to Sephie. She nodded her head. “On the bright side, your bones look like
they’re healing well. How’s your shoulder feel?”
“It’s not as painful when I take it out of the sling now. It still hurts, just less,” she said.
N?velDrama.Org ? content.
“That will continue to get better. Your ribs look good, but they always take the longest to heal because
they’re constantly being moved.” He looked at Ivan. “Seven days, bring her back. Don’t miss a dose
between now and then. We hopefully caught this early enough that it won’t progress into something
worse that means she has toe back here. Let her rest as much as she needs, but stay diligent
about her antibiotic.”
“We’ll take care of her,” Ivan said. The doctor stood up to leave the room. I helped Sephie stand up,
then reached down and picked her up. I could feel her exhaustion. She didn’t protest, she just wrapped
her good arm around my shoulders and rested her head against my shoulder and neck as we left the
hospital.