The Mafia’s Revenge

| 9 | Brother.

Luca's drive back to the hospital is silent, not a sound in the car. All the noise seems to be in his head. His thoughts overlapping each other, each of them trying to be louder than the other as he tries all he can to focus on the road ahead of him...

He has a lot to think about. What's going to happen now that Calvino is dead, his Famiglia and how exactly he's going to run it... and Emeliana...

He wants to forgive her, he does, he just finds it hard to do at the moment especially when this time because of all the times she decided not to listen to him, this time it almost cost Adriano his life. He hasn't been able to get over that yet... but he'll try to... he still misses her, and he doesn't want them to fall apart because of this. He won’t ever let that happen...

Luca finally reaches the hospital, wasting no time in parking and leaving his car. It's cold out today, the sun being blocked out by a thick layer of grey clouds but Luca has never let the cold bother him. He enjoys this weather actually, so it's definitely helped to brighten his mood today...

He makes his way into the hospital, moving straight to the front desk to chat with the receptionist and let her know what be is there for. Once that is sorted, Luca walks swiftly towards the same hospital room Adriano was in before. He finally reaches the door and faces the door handle, preparing himself to see his brother in such a weak state... but he can only hope for his quick recovery...

Luca sucks in a deep breath and opens the door handle, looking around the room for his brother, and once he doesn't spot him, a frown appears on his face. He's not in the room, and it immediately brings worry and confusion to Luca's features. He looks to the bed and finds that it's perfectly made, and that alone is enough to send his heart racing...

"Adriano?" Luca calls out as he steps further into the room. He doesn't understand. The receptionist said he'd be here, so where the hell is he...?

Soon after Luca calls out, there is a soft shuffling coming from the door to his left and as soon as he hears it, his head snaps towards the source, squinting his eyes carefully as he tries to decipher what exactly the noise is.

After a few moments the door opens slowly and widely, and on the other side comes someone dressed in a hospital gown, and instead of them walking, they are seated in a wheelchair... Adriano...

"Luca..." Adriano lets out as his eyes land on his brother, a smile forming on his lips as he feels relieved to see a familiar face.

"Adriano..." Luca breathes out, being equally happy to see that Adriano is finally awake. “You’re up, finally...” Luca says, trying to make it sound like he never had a doubt.

"Yeah, I woke up about 10 minutes ago... I spoke to the Doc, she was supposed to call you...” Adriano says as he rolls the wheels of the wheelchair forward, making it follow his actions as he rolls towards Luca, Luca frowning slightly, wondering how serious his injuries are for him to need to use a wheelchair.

“Don’t worry... it’s temporary, Doc’s orders... you know how intense Dr. Fitz can be...” Adriano says softly, letting out a quiet breath before he rolls over to the bedside, frowning as he tries to stand from the wheelchair and as soon as Luca sees him struggling, he rushes to his side and helps him off the wheelchair and onto the bed so he can get more comfortable.

“Thanks...” Adriano lets out in a strained voice, pain written on his face as he feels his wound stick harshly in his abdomen.

"How're you feeling...?” Luca asks him just as he steps back once Adriano is comfortable on the bed, standing up straight and crossing his arms with a concerned frown resting on his serious face.

"I'm alive...” Adriano matters as he remembers the night before when he basically risked his own life to save Emeliana, and the truth is, he would do it again in a heartbeat.

"Adriano..." Luca lets out lowly, still being worried about his brother and at this point, he makes no attempt in trying to hide it.

"I'm sorry, I feel like I was run over by a train... but I'll live. I didn't know Dr. Fitz works here..." Adriano mentions Dr. Fitz again and Luca frowns to himself, knowing fully well that she is not exactly happy about having to treat a member of the Genovese Family again...

"Neither did I..." Luca mumbles as he walks over to the chair beside Adriano’s bed and takes a seat, letting out a heavy sigh. "What did she tell you?" Luca asks as he rests his elbows on his knees and glances over at Adriano.

"My wound is healing nicely, but I should try to ease up on the walking... hence the wheelchair... just until I get my strength back.” Adriano explains, his voice croaky and Luca can easily tell that Adriano is completely exhausted and drained of energy.

"Fair enough..." Luca nods as Adriano explains, knowing that he’ll need to take it easy over the next few weeks. "I'm glad you're okay..." Luca admits and Adriano smiles lightly, knowing how worried Luca was about losing him.

"Hey, I'm not going anywhere...” Adriano reassures his older brother before something else comes to mind, the other person he was with the night before, the person he risked his life for...

"Where's Emeliana? Is she okay?” Adriano finally asks and a frown returns to Luca’s face, making him turn away in an attempt to hide going on between the two of them.

"She's fine..." Luca mumbles, being completely oblivious as to why Luca is so irritated.

"Good, she was pretty shaken up about the whole thing..." Adriano sighs to himself and Luca scoffs to himself and shakes his head, turning back to look at his brother.

"What she did was incredibly stupid and nearly cost you your life..." Luca reminds him and Adriano exhales through his nostril, seeing as his brother is even more upset about what happened than he is...

"She acted on impulse and should've waited for us, but she meant well, I know..." Adriano defend Emeliana, remembering the state he found her at it instantly makes him grimace... "I'm glad I could step in before things got...messy..." Adriano shakes his head in disgust, but at the same time, finding solace in knowing that Calvino is finally gone.

Adriano’s statement spikes Luca’s interest and makes him squint his eyes at Adriano as he tries to understand his statement a little more clearly.

"What are you talking about?" Luca asks him and Adriano raising his eyebrows, being surprised they he doesn’t know.

"She didn't tell you?" Adriano questions, shaking his head subtly.

"Tell me what...?” Luca questions quickly, impatient to get to the bottom of what Adriano is trying to say.

"Luca... when I found Emeliana... Calvino was..." Adriano hesitates to speak, wary of his brother’s reaction and Luca becomes even more anxious when he notices his brother hesitate to tell him.

"Was what?" Luca encourages Adriano to go and Adriano lets out a defeated sigh before he decides to tell Luca everything all at once and just get it out of the way.

"When I found her, Calvino was on top of her, holding her down... he was going to r**e her... he would have if I didn’t arrive in time. I threw him off her and we fought, that’s where we struggled for his gun and before I knew it, it went of and he shot me... I was only trying to protect her...” Adriano explains and once Luca hears the full story, he sits up in his chair with widened eyes, staring at Adriano in disbelief... and after that, pure and utter rage...