Chapter 6 - WAITING FOR THE SUNRISE|
The smell of antiseptic at Saint Catherine’s Hospital was overwhelming.
Vincent sat in the hallway outside the ICU, his long frame looking entirely out of place on the small plastic waiting-room chair. Across from him, behind a glass window, Sophie was sound asleep on a cot, clutching a faded teddy bear a nurse had given her.
The elevator doors chimed open. Dr. Chen pulled off his surgical mask, his face lined with deep exhaustion.
Vincent stood up instantly. "Tell me."
"She survived the surgery," Chen said, rubbing his eyes. "We relieved the pressure on her brain and repaired her ruptured spleen. But..."
"But what, Chen?"
"She’s in a medically induced coma. The trauma was severe, Vincent. It’s up to her body now. She might wake up tomorrow... or she might never wake up at all."
Vincent closed his eyes. The weight of his entire bloody life felt like it was crashing down on his shoulders.
"She has to wake up," Vincent muttered softly. "That little girl has no one else."
"She has you right now," Chen observed, eyeing the mob boss critically. "Which is the strangest thing I’ve seen in my thirty years of practicing medicine."
Vincent didn't reply. He walked over to the glass door and watched Sophie’s small chest rise and fall rhythmically.
Suddenly, the little girl stirred. She opened her eyes, saw Vincent standing in the doorway, and rubbed her face. She slid off the bed and walked out into the hallway, her bare feet making soft slapping sounds on the tile.
"Is my mama dead?" she asked, looking up at him with devastating directness.
Vincent knelt down so they were eye to eye.
May you like
"No, Sophie," he promised. "She’s fighting. And I’m staying right here until she wins."
Sophie looked at him for a long moment, then stepped forward and wrapped her tiny arms around his neck. Vincent froze, entirely unused to affection, before slowly wrapping his massive arms around her, shielding her from the cold hospital air.
