A Debt Paid (18 page)
Authors: Joslyn Black
When Calix got to the hospital, his
uncle was already there. Calix wasn’t
surprised though, his uncle did live closer,
and he didn’t have to wash his fiancé’s
blood off him. He saw a tall, balding,
slender man in a brown suit next to his
uncle. It looked like Vito’s lawyer Marco
Luciano, but he wasn’t sure as he could
only see the back of his head. As he
approached the desk where they were
standing, his uncle turned around and
walked to meet him.
anything?” he asked in a rush.
“Calm down,” Vito said simply. And
Calix nodded his head in agreement. Vito
looked up and down Calix, seeing the bright
red claw marks on his face and some that
peeked out of his collar on his neck. Vito
sneered at the sight of what someone had
done him, to them both. He was murderous
with rage.
Marco stopped talking to the nurse
at the desk. “One moment please,” he said
to the nurse. “Vito.” He turned to see what
he wanted.
“Calix is here. Bring him up to speed
and finish the papers for his blood work.
We don’t know what it is we’re looking for,
so we need to have it done quickly because
it may pass from his system soon.” Vito
went back and remained at the desk while
Marco took Calix by the arm and pulled him
away speaking in hushed tones.
“The only reason I was able to get
any information is because I informed
them I was her attorney. Her father has
been called but was unreachable. Vito
called Maria, and they are on the next flight
out. Anya isn’t stable yet. She had multiple
stab wounds to her upper body. Thankfully
nothing critical was hit. She has been
severely beaten. She has a broken nose,
fractured skull and cheekbone. Their main
concern is her blood loss.”
baby?”
“Calix, that isn’t their concern, right
now. I know it sounds harsh, but if they
don’t stabilize her, there will be no baby. I
have arranged for her to have a private
room when she is stable, as well as private
security at her door. Vito has called Danny
and Aldo. Nicco is going to be watching
you. This is very serious, Calix. The police
will charge you, because everything points
that way. So, I need you to do as I say. You’ll
get the blood work done now, and when
the police come for you, I’ll have everything
ready to post bail immediately. You
understand?”
Both men returned to the desk,
where Marco addressed the nurse once
again.
Calix sat in the dull, white walled,
family waiting room of the OR floor. Vito
was sitting a few seats over, speaking to
Marco in hushed Italian. Calix’s blood had
been drawn, pictures of his injuries taken
and he had given his official statement with
Marco present. He hadn’t been charged as
of yet, because they were still gathering
evidence from the scene. Someone had
conveniently notified the press and news
vans were filling up the hospital parking
lot. Senator Richards was big news, so, of
course, his daughter would be too.
The boys had arrived, and everyone
was in their places until they got more
information on Anya. Nicco was in the
waiting room with them, Aldo was
watching near the elevator, and Danny was
walking the halls. At the sound of the
waiting room door opening, everyone
stopped and looked at who had entered.
Nicco had taken a partial step, turning his
body to face the door.
In walked a very petite doctor. She
looked strained; her green eyes had circles
under them and her blonde hair was
thrown up in what looked like a haphazard
bun. She had the top part of her hair in a
cap, a surgical mask hanging around her
neck, and she was wearing dark blue
scrubs that seemed to be speckle with
something, but the darkness of her scrubs
hid the coloring of what it might be.
asked.
At once, all the men stood up and
came forward, all but Nicco, who took a few
steps back to give privacy. The blonde
doctor looked at the faces of all three men,
who stood close, towering over her with
their height.
Calix was about to reply, but Marco
stopped him with a motion of his hand.
“Yes, I am Mr. Luciano, her attorney,
this is Mr. Anastas, her fiancé, and Mr. Vito
Anastas, his uncle. If she is stable and being
moved, I have already informed the desk
we were bringing in private security, and
I’d like them to be placed at her door
immediately.”
She raised both hands in a stopping
motion and focused her gaze on Calix. “I’m
Dr. Williams. I’m the lead doctor that has
been working on your fiancé. The nurse has
informed me that you already have been
told of her contusions. In addition, she has
a concussion, but there is no swelling of the
brain. So, that is very good. She has two
stab wounds to her left forearm, one to her
clavicle, and four puncture wounds spread
over her upper torso and breast. The worst
of the wounds were actually from her
clavicle and forearm. As there is not a lot of
tissue and muscle on that part of the body,
the damage was greater.
“None of her puncture wounds were
deeper than two inches and no major
organs or arteries were hit, which is also
good. She will, of course, have scars. Her
biggest problem was that she lost a lot of
blood, nearly two liters. Now, I know most
doctors would have given her a blood
transfusion, but I didn’t. I gave her a
combination of hetastarch and
erythropoietin. I did this because there is
no compatibility testing needed, there’s
less chance hemolytic reactions, and there
is no degradation during storage. She is still
unconscious, which is to be expected. I
don’t know how long it will be till she
regains consciousness that just depends on
her body and its healing process, we’ll just
have to watch and wait.”
Calix didn’t understand everything
she said, and he had no idea what
erythropoietin was or that other thing, but
if it worked better, he didn’t care.
is the baby okay?”
“I was informed of her pregnancy in
the OR. I have ordered a trans-vaginal
ultrasound to be done when she is in her
room. How far along is she?”
“We don’t know we only found out
tonight. I think her period is maybe four or
five days late, I’m not sure.”
“Well, depending on how far along
she is we maybe be able to get a heartbeat
with the ultrasound, which is usually not
detectable until six weeks. So, if she is very
newly pregnant there is no way to tell. We
will just have to watch out for miscarriage
or growth of the fetus. Her room is in the
ICU. She’s being moved now. There are only
two visitors allowed at a time. The nurse
will come and get you when she is settled.
Do you have any questions?”
Calix shook his head no, but Marco
spoke up, “Yes, is there a way to get a
complete categorization of her injuries
such as the angle of the entry stab wounds
and such?”
“Every bit of information I gathered
will be in my finished report.” She nodded
her goodbye and left.
Vito turned to address Nicco. “Go
tell Danny we’ll be going to her room soon.
I think ICU is one floor up. Have Aldo go to
the floor now.”
Nicco simply nodded and on his way
out briefly placed his hand on Calix
shoulder a silent jester of his empathy and
left.
“Calix,” Vito said as he put his hand
around his neck, “look at me.” Calix met his
uncle’s gaze. “She is alive, she is stable, be
grateful. Should she lose the child, you can
try again. Do not mourn when you do not
know if you have lost, capisce?” He gently
patted Calix’s cheek and then began talking
to Marco again. His uncle always had
advice, and he was ninety-nine percent
right most of the time, and he was right
now. Anya would heal, and the baby could
be fine, after all, the doctor said of no
trauma to her stomach. And should the
worst happen and they lose their child,
they could try again.
Ten minutes later, a young nurse
came to take Calix to Anya’s room. Danny
and Nicco, who waited outside the room
when he entered had followed him up to
the ICU. The lights were low, and he could
hear the rhythmic beeping of the machines
hooked up to Anya. She was so still.
Walking further into her room, he looked
for a chair he could pull up next to her bed.
In the corner was an ugly pleather, or
maybe plastic, maroon colored chair.
Sitting next to her, he couldn’t
believe that what he was seeing was real,
that this was actually happening. Cleaned
and free of blood, Anya looked like she
went head to head with a bus and lost. He
could barely find a spot of normal flesh
colored skin on the left side of her face it
was so puffed up and purple. Her nose was
bandaged, and her lip split and stitched. He
didn’t know what to do other than to sit
with her, so he cautiously held onto her
right hand as he waited for whatever
would happen next.
Vito had placed several calls in the
last few hours; he didn’t care about the
time or waking people up. He was giving
out instructions and trying to get any
information he could. Vito had been on the
dark side of life for over forty years; by the
way things were set and the timing of
everything, he knew this was planned.
Done by a professional and a damned good
one at that. There were only a handful of
men who were that good and worked in
and around this region, and he was going to
track every one of them down till he found
who did this.
Marco had left to get some sleep
after finding out that Anya was stable. He
had prepared Calix for what would happen,
knowing once the police filed charges, he
would have his hands full, and he wasn’t
the young man he used to be. It was nearly
seven in the morning now, Vito knew he
would need rest as well, so he phoned
Nicco to pass along a message to Calix that
he was leaving but would keep up tabs and
see him soon.
The sound of a cart rattling woke
Calix up. He sat up straight and cleared his
throat as a very tall and slightly plump
woman in black slacks and fuchsia top
walked in, pulling a large cart with a TV set,
keyboard, and other electronic things he
didn’t recognize. Closely following behind
her were two nurses from the front desk.
Calix stood as the rather jovial women
reached out to shake his hand.
“Hi, good morning. I’m Dr. Vanikes.
I’ll be doing Miss Richards ultrasound this
morning.”
Okay, well, Mr. Anastas, we’re doing
a trans-vaginal ultrasound this morning, so
I think a bit of privacy for Miss Richards
would be good.”
His face was stiff, and his voice a
little clipped when he responded to her.
“She is my fiancé, and that is my child, I am
not going anywhere.”
Dr. Vanikes politely nodded in
agreement as she spoke, “Okay, I suppose
that’ll be all right, but I ask that you please
stay at the head of the bed, all right?” Calix
did not answer, he simply took a step back
closer to Anya’s head. “Okay, girls, let’s get
started. Ann can you please shut the door
and pull the curtain? Sam, you get on Miss
Richards right side and hold her in
position, please. Ann the left, thank you.”
Dr. Vanikes then started to plug in
the machine and set up. “Okay, Ann, I need
her leg up a bit more please, thank you.”
Calix thought ultrasounds were
done on the belly, but this doctor was
sticking a large, white, rod shaped—for
lack of a better word, probe—with a
condom rolled on it inside Anya. What
looked like gray matter was playing on the
screen.
“Okay, Mr. Anastas, let’s see if we
can see your little bean. Her uterus looks
good, no apparent damage. Her
endometrial lining has thickened a good
amount.” She continued to twist and
reposition the probe, but nothing showed
on the screen. “Well, I’m sorry, Mr. Anastas,
she’s too newly pregnant to see the fetus.
But, her uterus looks good and on track for
a pregnancy.”
“I, honestly, can’t answer that for
you. All I can tell you is that I see no
damage. My opinion is that if she hasn’t
started to spot or bleed yet, than there is a
very strong possibility that there was no
harm to the fetus. We’ll just have to watch
her closely for spotting and bleeding. Okay,
girls, let’s clean Miss Richards up and get
her comfortable.”
About two hours later, it was just
ten, and Nicco quietly walked into Anya’s
room and tapped Calix on the shoulder.
Calix knew what it was before Nicco even
said a word. He stood up, placed a soft kiss
on the top of Anya’s head, and left her
room. He was about to say something to
Danny, but Danny shook his head and cut
in before he could say anything. His deep
baritone voice boomed, even though he
was speaking softly. “No worries, Calix, my
life before hers.” And that was all that
needed to be said, the loyalty showed by
the boys, even though he was only Vito’s
nephew and not actually apart of the
‘Family’ was so strong, he knew those were
not just words spoken. He began walking to
the nurse’s desk, where he assumed
officers waited to arrest him. He was
surprised when he saw the short, stocky
frame of Detective Santos. Always in his
casual attire; he wore nothing but black
boots, jeans; a polo top; and his badge
around his neck.
greeting.
“Calix,” he replied, nudging his head
to the side to signal for Calix to follow. They
walked a ways from the desk and attentive
ears. Santos gave Calix a pointed stare then
raised an eyebrow. He knew right away
what Santos was protesting to. Calix looked
over his shoulder at Nicco, who was close
behind them, and signaled for Nicco to give
them a moment. When Nicco backed off,
the two men began to speak.
“Calix, you should know better than
that. There’s no warrant for your arrest yet,
but you are wanted for questioning.”
“No, you’re not here, so I’m going to
have to call your attorney and tell him he
needs to have you come in. I know you, I
know you didn’t do this, but the evidence is
piling up against you. There’s no forced
entry, your building only has cameras in
the front of the building and lobby since no
one is allowed up without approval, so
there was no one on video surveillance
coming in or out of the building anywhere
near the time frame in question. The
doctor’s report states that the stab wounds
on Anya’s arm were defensive. Tissue
samples were scrapped from under her
nails. Looking at you, I’m guessing it’s
gonna be yours. So far there’s no outside
trace found anywhere in the apartment. It’s
too early to know for sure, because it’s too
soon for tests to be done. There’s a rush on
this case, though, seeing how she’s the
Senator’s daughter. Your prints aren’t in
the system, but they only found one set on
the knife. And one guess as to whose they
are.”
“Vito thinks I was drugged, so do I. I
didn’t hear anything. I remember nothing.
When I woke up, I was sick, dazed, and
couldn’t walk straight. Marco had me do a
blood screening for any sedatives or
anesthetic drugs they could test for. I had
them done not more than thirty or so
minutes after I got here last night.”
“That’s good, chances are whatever
was used will still be in your system.
Whoever did this probably didn’t think
you’d get tested so fast. Might be the only
mistake he made. I’ll tell you, though, this
was a pro job, a real pro job, every shred of
evidence that we normally collect all point
to you. This guy knows the system.
Everything was timed perfectly from the
nine-one-one call to the press leak. You
really pissed someone off.”
“I have business rivals, none of
which would or could go to this extent. I
may be Vito’s nephew, but I got no business
with anybody in that circle.”
“He said it was better I didn’t know.”
“Listen, I’m gonna head back to the
precinct. Get with Marco and come in ASAP.
Don’t make me look bad.” He gave Calix a
couple quick pats on the back, and then he
left. Seeing that Santos left, Nicco walked
over. Nicco was the oldest out of the boys,
seasoned, I guess you could say, and while
the three of them were the most trusted of
Vito’s guards. Nicco had been with him the
longest. He may carry a bit more weight
than the others, which made people under
estimate him. Thinking him chubby and
slow, but he was the complete opposite.
Nicco could gut a man with in seconds.
you in?”
“You know Santos, I’m wanted for
questioning, but he’s letting me come in on
my own.”
“Probably because of the way it’ll
look in front of those news vans. If it ain’t
really against the law, Santos will always
help out.”
“No, let him rest as long as possible,
he had a long night.”
“So’d you.”
“Yeah, but he’s not a spring chicken
anymore.”
Nicco just had to laugh at that
remark. “If he’d ‘eard you,” Nicco said as he
continued to chuckle. And for that one
moment, Calix smiled.
“Call Marco, tell him to meet us at
the precinct. I want this done as soon as
possible, so I can come back to Anya.”
“K, you wanna grab a coffee and
biscotti on the way down? I could use
some. I’m betting you could too.”
“Yeah, sounds good.” Though he’d
said they were leaving, he was hesitant and
gave pause.
“Calix, Danny’s gonna call if
anything changes, and Aldo is still here.
She’s in good hands, com’ on.”
