Dinner with the Mafia ✔

Chapter 7

"I want to ask why you are always next to me when I am in danger, Atlas, but I think it is not the perfect time to ask that. Dad, I am starting to feel numb. Where is that damn ambulance?"

Dad put pressure around the knife and sighed. "It's supposed to be here by now! Phoebe, can you check with the dispatcher?" dad asked her, and she was already calling.

"Let me take you in my car. It's right around the corner." Atlas' suggestion irritated me for some reason, and dad answered him on my behalf.

"No need, Atlas. Help will be here soon."

"I am afraid not, Mr. Dante. The road the ambulance took was jammed due to snow. They said it would take about half an hour if we don't go to the hospital alone. I think Atlas' offer is valid," Phoebe explained, and I sighed.

"Fine, let's go. I want this damn knife out of my body. Something doesn't feel right. I have never been stabbed before, but I know that stab wounds don't burn your mouth or body!" I yelled and started to scratch my neck. It was too hot.

"Jolene, Joe! Look at me! Take a deep breath." Dad grabbed my face, and his tears made me comply. Phoebe put pressure around the knife this time, but she gasped as soon as she touched my body.

"Joe, you are burning up, and your shoulder is turning black. What is happening?" she asked, and I found breathing difficult.

Atlas came closer and inspected my wound. "It looks like the knife was poisoned. Here, smell it, sir."

Dad smelled the knife, and he gasped. "You are right. We need to go now. Atlas, take us to your car." Dad ordered and carried me to the car. He made sure not to touch my shoulder.

Poison? Something was definitely off. I never hurt anyone for them to harm me. Atlas just rubs me the wrong way, and I will look into the matter once all of this is resolved... that is if I do not die first.

"Joe, here. Drink some water, please. And don't close your eyes, don't you dare do that!" Phoebe's crying face made me want to cry, but I held the tears.

"Bambi, listen to Pheobe. Don't sleep, or I won't ever forgive you!" Dad said firmly, then put me inside the car. "Atlas, follow my instructions. I know a shortcut to the hospital. Now, go!"

~~~

"Help! We need help here!" I heard dad yell from the hospital entrance, but I started to feel dizzy to focus on my sight. Everything was blurry.

"What do we have here?" A doctor, or so I thought, came running from the ER and started checking me in my dad's arms. I was unsure if he was a doctor or a nurse, but I felt I could rely on them and close my eyes. "No, no. Don't sleep now, dear. Open your eyes."

"Someone stabbed my daughter awhile ago, and it seems the knife has poison. She's barely awake. Please, save my daughter!" I heard dad's plea, and I finally closed my eyes. "Bambi, open your eyes."

"I... can't... dad," I whispered. I felt like I was being tortured for simply existing in this world. I heard everything yet could not see anything.

"Put here on this bed, on her stomach. We will start with the treatment now. Please step aside, and let us do our job." The man said, and I heard their footsteps fade away. The doctor said some medical terms I had never heard before, so I focused on my breathing and thoughts.

If I die here on this table, what would dad do? Would he go crazy? Would he move on after a while?

I know that his life would definitely not be the same.

I am not afraid of dying; my death does not worry me. We are all bound to die at some point.

However, I am scared of leaving behind the ones alive because I know that dad and Phoebe would break.

I need to live, if not for me, for them!

"She's crashing!"

I am going to wake up.

"Give me the defibrillator."

I will not leave them behind.

"Clear!"

I know I am wanted.

"Again, clear!"

I am sure I am loved.

"Damn it, again. Clear!"

Open your eyes, Jolene. Now.

"Her heart stopped."

What? I am still alive!

"Doctor, please! Don't give up on my daughter. She's all I have!"

Yes, please. One more time. One more...

"CLEAR!"

This time, I even heard my heart beating inside me. I am alive?

"Her heart's beating again. Let's clean her body from the poison. We will get back to you once she's stable and poison free."

So, I will live.

"Thank you, doctor."

~~~

After hours of darkness, I finally opened my eyes to see my favorite people around me. "Good morning," I smiled as I talked, but my throat was dry, and I coughed.

"Here, open your mouth," a nurse said as she helped me drink water.

"Thank you." I cleared my throat and laid back on the bed carefully.

"I will be right across the hall. If you need anything, just press the button on your right. The doctor will be here shortly for a checkup. You are a fighter, Jolene," the nurse said and left.

"You are a fighter, indeed. I am so glad you are okay now, Bambi."

"I am glad to be alive too, dad."

"You scared the shit out of me, don't do that again!" Phoebe slapped my leg, and I chuckled.

"I am sorry. Next time, I will grow a third eye in the back of my head in case another stabber appears." I joked and then remembered Atlas. "Hey, Atlas. What were you doing there, anyway?"

He came closer, scratched the nape of his neck, and cleared his throat. "I happened to be around the block when I heard your scream. Luck, I guess."

"Luck... yeah."

~~~

Chapter 8 is out now on inkitt.

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