THIN ICE |BOOK I |BWWM|

•ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 31•

•SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA•

Julia's POV

It took two nurses, four jello cups, forty minutes of coddling, a call from Olivia, and a dose of pain meds to calm Nicolai down and get him to sleep last night.

My eyes browsed every inch of Nicolai from the narrow couch I slept on- his Nintendo switch laying at the foot of his bed.

How'd we get here baby boy?

I sighed, grabbed my phone from the adjacent window sill, and rolled on my back.

There were a few texts from my mom, a voice message from Olivia last night, and a message from Matias.

Tingles in my veins ebbed and flowed with just a thought of that man's name.

Andres was a lot of things, even a liar, but he's not Adrian. He wouldn't lie about my father's death.

I tapped Matías' name as my phone diverted me to a FaceTime call.

A few rings passed before I hung up and clutched the phone to my chest.

Maybe I didn't want to know the answer. What if he said it was true about his family and my dad?

My top teeth bounced on my bottom lip as my stomach sounded the hunger alarm. I couldn't remember the last time I something that didn't have a percentage of alcohol in it.

I kicked the rough hospital blanket from my legs and slid my feet into my crocs as I shoved my unbrushed puff through my hoodie. Nicolai's breathing was finally stable and I leaned down brushing his loose curls from his forehead and planting a kiss.

As I stepped out, I noticed his nurse nearing his room.

"Hey, I was gonna head to the cafeteria for breakfast. That cool?"

"Yeah, of course! I'll be in there to do a small assessment in a minute. Just have the nurse at the desk buzz you in when you get back on the floor." She explained as she slung her stethoscope over her shoulder.

• • • •

"I wonder if they have orange spice tea?" I thought outwardly to an empty elevator as I reached the lobby of the hospital.

The line for Barnes' Café was longer than I expected it to be, but unlike Tian's restaurant, they were moving pretty quickly. I plucked my phone from my back pocket, going back to my recent messages as my thumb hovered over Matias' name. As I pulled my thumb back prepared to lay down a tap, Olivia's name took over my screen.

"Hello?"

"Julia!" My friend's distressed cry blared through the speaker.

"Olivia, sweetheart, what's wrong?"

"They shot him! They shot my dad!"

"What? Who?"

"Mancini!" -she wailed- "He sent his goons here this morning! Their price went up and we couldn't pay."

"Oh my God, where are you now?" I jumped out of line, pacing in the middle of the seating area.

"I'm at the shop with my mom. They wouldn't even let us go with him!"

"Calm down Liv. I'm on my way, okay?"

My feet tangled as I swiveled and sped back to the elevators and up to the recovery unit.

"Oh mio Dio, what if he dies?" A mixture of Aunt Sonia's shrieks and Olivia's whimpers passed to my side of the call.

"He's going to be just fine Liv. Say that."