Falling Angel | a Mafia Story

Chapter VI

"Keep the earth below my feet,

for all my sweat, my blood runs weak"

The next morning, I woke up feeling little to no better, my head still aching terribly, and there was this constant nagging feeling in my stomach that I just could not get myself rid of.

It was as if I had forgotten something of great importance, something my subconsciousness deemed highly significant, but that my head simply could not grasp properly.

So naturally, my morning was edging a catastrophe.

I had accidentally dropped two plates, sending sharp pieces of expensive china through the entire length of the dining room and I had also managed to burn several eggs in an attempt to prepare breakfast in time.

But my mind simply could not concentrate fully, it was constantly wandering far off back to the dream of the previous night, wondering what it was that I had been missing.

Then, at noon it suddenly hit me like a bullet train why I was feeling so queasy, and most importantly why I had that deeply disturbing dream in the previous night.

With bone-chilling horror I realised that today was the day that Lottie's bone marrow biopsy had been scheduled for.

The very one I had pinkie promised her to be present for to support her. A promise silly for every adult but for a 9-year-old it was like an unbreakable vow.

That realisation, and the realisation that there was no way that I would be able to keep my promise turned my awful day into a torturous nightmare, my thoughts constantly slipping off to the scared little girl that I so deeply cared about.

The hours were dragging on and by the time early afternoon came around I was losing my mind, desperately trying to distract myself with cleaning the kitchen for a third time now, vigorously scrubbing every inch as if trying to scrub away my guilt.

When suddenly the door was roughly shoved open, revealing Dario, supported by his older brother Lorenzo and Antonio.

My mind immediately dropped the issue of Lottie as it registered the large amounts of fresh blood that were oozing out of Dario's left upper leg, dripping onto the floor and leaving a fine trail of crimson.

What the...

Without even acknowledging me, they heaved him past me, Dario's brother talking heatedly into his phone in Italian.

He was speaking too fast for me to actually understand his words, but it was hard to miss the anger in his voice as he slammed his phone down on the counter seconds after.

"The Doc's not answering his god damned phone," he yelled, pulling at the roots of his dark brown hair in agitation while his worried eyes were trained on his groaning brother.

Looking back to Dario, whose face was losing more colour by the second, I finally made myself noticeable.

"What in heaven's name happened? He needs to go to the hospital, immediately," I yelled, watching in horror as Dario's once light grey trousers were turning deep red as the blood just kept pouring out of what apparently was a bullet hole.

"Business meeting gone wrong," Antonio presses out in a forced calm voice, but I could clearly see the anger and most vividly worry flashing behind his amber eyes.

You don't fucking say?

"Dario is under the top 5 most wanted people in this bloody country," Antonio growled, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers, "if he goes to the hospital now, he is sure to end up in prison for the rest of his life!"