The Family

Untitled Part 13

Before leaving Frankie had made Don Paulo aware of his Prostate problem and his up-coming operation therefore the meeting of the Dons would have to be in three to four weeks' time. His next hurdle was to tell Joanna and face the backlash of not informing her sooner. But the truth was that the meeting of Mario and Claire coupled with his problems with the Dons somehow seemed more important. After all his Surgeon said it was fixable and that was good enough for Frankie Lazaro, and in his mind good enough for joanna. "What the fuck were you thinking," shouted joanna on hearing the news, "You are having an operation in two days' time to remove cancerous Tumours and I am what, the twenty-fifth person to find out? "You are the fourth person if you disregard my doctor." replied Frankie, trying to make light of the situation. "Now please Joanna calm down." "Calm down, calm fucking own." she screamed and stormed out of the room. Only to return ten minutes later with her nurse's head on, "Now you sit on that chair Francis Lazaro and tell me everything that was said."
10am Saturday Frankie is wheeled into the preparation room at the side of the Theatre. "Good morning, Mr Lazaro," said a very large black male nurse, "Are you a watcher or a sleeper? "I don't understand." answered Frankie. "Well, it is very simple," he said, "You can stay awake with an injection to freeze your bits, or you can be put to sleep and dream of someone freezing your bits. What will it be? "Do I get time to think? asked Frankie. "No," replied the nurse." "Very well, I will stay awake," said Frankie. "A good choice" said another one of three nurses. "Now sit up on the trolly and let your legs dangle. You will feel a little prick and I don't mean my very small colleague over here, and then I want you to count to twenty." The nurse inserted the needle just below Frankie's spine and he began to count. Eight, nine, ten, and he began to wabble. "Very good," said a nurse, "Just lie down." But Frankie couldn't move. There was no action in his legs or in fact his body from the waist down. One of the nurses lifted his legs and placed them on the trolly forcing him to lie flat on his back. Inside the Theatre a screen was placed above him cutting off his top half from the bottom. The Anaesthetist who sat next to his head would have been more at home during New York Fashion week, she was gorgeous with a very sexy Southern Accent, another ploy to make you relax. They chatted about everything from the state of the Economy to who should win Dancing with the stars. The only distraction being a small, torched head popping up and down to the beat of some music that Joanna chosen the night before. Three hours later he was in recovery with a feeling of helplessness that he had never felt before. Joanna and Mario sat on either side of his bed, staring, waiting for some kind of reaction, but Frankie could not move his lower half the anaesthetic still controlling his body. They sat him upright to take a sip of some tea they had extracted from a vending machine, but the catheter inserted in his nose made it difficult to swallow. He could see the rye smiles on their faces, "Why does pain inflicted on someone other than yourself always seem to be funny." he thought. "I have to speak to Rena," said Frankie, "I have an important meeting to arrange. Mario and Joanna ignored his request following the orders of the Ward Sister for peace and quiet. After a few hours the Surgeon minus his headlight entered the room, "Hello Frankie, how are you feeling? he asked. Frankie just shrugged his shoulders in a gesture of, ok. "We removed three Tumours," he went on, "Nasty little buggers they were, but everything else seems to be fine. You will remain with us for at least two days, longer if you feel it is required and before you leave, we can discuss your sessions of Radiotherapy. Have you any questions? "Will I be able to? "Yes, in time all will be back to some kind of normal, but for now rest is the order of the day, I will see you on my rounds in the morning." 
Two weeks later Frankie was on his feet. A meeting of the Dons had been arranged in six days' time. Mario under his own suggestion had been tagging along with Carlos Montoya on the day-to-day business of controlling one quarter of New York City. Frankie had just returned home following his daily therapy when into the drive came Mario. "Hi, Pappa," He shouted, "Time for a chat? "Of course, Mario," answered Frankie, asking his housekeeper to bring coffee. "What can I do for you, this sounds important." Mario paced the room rubbing his hands together searching for the right words. "You know I have been out and about with Carlos pappa? he said. "I do," answered an intrigued father. "Welcome to my world." "Well, I have to say I am very impressed. Everyone I spoke to would sing your praises saying that life under Don Francis was as good as it could get. People felt safe in their homes and on the streets. I must say I felt very proud." Frankie was stunned he had always known that his son's perception of his lifestyle was that of a gangster only out to make money at any cost. "I feel you have more to say Mario, enlighten me? "I want to join your organization and leave the Police Force. I could be part of or head of your security team. After all, if anything happened to you the whole structure of what you have achieved would cave in." Frankie thought for a time. "I am not saying no Mario," he replied, "But I have this meeting in a few days which could impact on us all. Let me get that over with and we can talk. In the meantime, discuss your decision with Sofi but not your mother. Weigh your pros and cons and as I have said, we will talk."