Page 10 of Amadeo (Dark Legends #4)

Gia

“He’s waking up?” Amadeo’s question was instantly repeated.

I looked over from Amadeo to see Valencia standing in the open doorway. Oh, damn.

Shutting the door behind her, she rushed across the room. Moving to the side of the bed, she took Deacon’s hand in hers. Then she looked up at me. “Is that what he said? Deacon is waking up?”

I slowly shook my head. “We don’t know yet.”

“So what’s happening?” Valencia asked me.

“I need to evaluate some new information first. Then I could possibly give you some answers.”

“Possibly?” Valencia repeated.

“I just came on shift and haven’t had time to review it,” I told her.

“Ok, and do you promise to tell me first?” Valencia asked as she really looked scared now.

There was no way I would allow anyone to hurt my patient. I had promised her several times that she was his next of kin and legally had the right to receive his status information anytime it was warranted. Nodding, I replied, “I absolutely will..”

Valencia glanced at Amadeo then back at me. “Good, because they might…” Her voice faded away. “I’m his sister, so I should be told first.”

I already noted that Valencia was more than worried about this.

She probably understood the situation better than I did.

According to what I learned from Mr. Descalia and Amadeo, Deacon had committed some acts of violence toward their family.

So, I assumed she was afraid of what would happen if he did wake up. I now looked over at Amadeo.

His expression was one of concern. He stood from the chair and came over to the bed. “Valen, I am not… I mean I would never…” He shook his head. “I am sorry that you are caught in the middle. I will not be involved in any of that.”

Looking up at him, Valencia had tears in her eyes. “But will you let them drag Deacon out of here to shoot him?”

Amadeo looked surprised. “I don’t think that will happen.”

“But you can’t say that for sure,” she countered. “Stephano hates him.”

Shaking his head, he repeated his earlier statement, “I am not involved with that.”

Valencia scoffed. “Deo, you are a Descalia. So you ARE involved.”

He stared at her. “I have never shot anyone. Not for my family or because of my family.”

“Let me ask you something. Are you armed?” she asked as crossed her arms over her chest.

He paused then replied, “I have to be for the job. And to be fair, Tito is armed as well, at all times. I don’t mean for this to be an argument, but I am only here to make sure everyone remains safe. The same as Tito.”

Valen glared at him. Most likely, she didn’t appreciate the Tito remark. She and Tito were deeply in love.

I sort of felt bad for all of them actually.

I now understood the whole situation better.

“Valen, I’m not aware of the details but let me assure you…

” I made a point to look over at Amadeo as I said, “As Deacon’s physician, I will not stand by if they…

” I paused as Amadeo’s eyes showed his shock.

“I will protect my patient,” I finished.

Amadeo slowly shook his head. “Well, since you all seem to think I am some kind of killer or something…I will just be over at the door, plotting my next crime .” He nearly spat the word out. Turning, he stalked over to the chair and sat down.

I stared at him and saw his anger. In fact, he looked insulted as all hell. I had never seen him out of sorts or angry since I met him.

Valen started to cry.

Nurse Jocelyn went over and took her hand. “I know this is hard. But I just refuse to believe Amadeo would hurt anyone.”

I raised my gaze up to stare at her.

Her eyes met mine as she looked a little angry herself.

“I am not aware of the whole situation, but I know that when a family member is in a coma it always makes people upset.” She patted Valencia’s arm and told her, “I will get you a cup of that tea you like so much.” She turned and stared at me.

“Sometimes people are not what they seem. And sometimes you need to give people a chance.” My nurse then stalked across the room and went out the door.

After the door closed, my gaze swivelled over to Amadeo.

His head remained lowered as he stared at his phone.

The door opened again and Tito came in. He paused to look at Amadeo.

Looking up from his cell, Amadeo motioned his head toward Valencia.

Tito looked over at her. He saw her crying and rushed over. “Baby, what is it?”

Valen got upset all over again. “I cannot take this anymore!” she cried out. “I want him to wake up but I don't want him to wake up. Your uncle is waiting like some…Some ghoul to kill him as soon as he can walk! What am I gonna do, Tito?”

He grabbed her up and wrapped his arms around her. “Shhh…calm down. We will work it out.”

“Noooo!” she sobbed. “You can’t promise that. In fact, you cannot stand up to him. He’s your boss.”

Tito paused and pulled back. “Baby—”

“No! This is something that cannot be fixed with words. Your uncle is gonna fix it with a bullet! And we all know it. Why are we ignoring that? Do I have to move in here and protect him? Does that mean you and I are enemies?” Valencia seemed to be having a melt down right in front of us.

Tears tracked down her cheeks as her body shook.

“Valen!” Tito grabbed her up and tugged her close. “I won’t let it happen, ok?”

The EEG machine next to Deacon’s bed started beeping loudly.

I swung my attention over to it and stepped closer. I checked it, then his EKG monitor. His heart rate had ticked up. I glanced down at Deacon.

His eyes popped open.

I stared at him.

“Oh, my God!” Valen shouted as she tore herself from Tito’s grasp and moved over to the bed.

I stepped up to the other side and took my penlight out to check for dilation in his eyes. I’d seen many patients wake up from deep comas and he had all the signs of it now. I checked his other monitors. His vitals were fluxing and that meant he was transitioning to an awakened state.

Deacon moved a bit in his bed.

“Oh, he is waking up!” Valencia exclaimed as she grabbed his hand.

The machines were beeping and Nurse Jocelyn was tapping buttons to adjust them. Finally, the sounds were either lowered in volume or stopped altogether.

I waited for a moment to see how far this went.

Meaning, would he entirely awaken? Or was this temporary.

It sometimes happened that they would go from a coma to a worsened state.

A vegetative one, unfortunately. I didn’t wish to upset Valencia by giving her any false hope as she had already been emotionally compromised today.

Looking up, I noted that Amadeo stood close to me now. He stared at Deacon.

They all stared at Deacon.

Finally, Amadeo gazed up at me. “Is he waking up?”

“Perhaps?”

“Perhaps?” Valencia repeated.

I nodded. “There are several different states he could be in. When a patient awakes, it could mean—”

Deacon raised his hand and grasped his NG tube then yanked on it.

Nurse Jocelyn and I gasped and jumped forward to grab his hands.

He actually paused to stare at us.

“He wants the tube out,” Valencia informed us.

I leaned closer to him and said, “You need to wait for a few minutes and please do not just pull that tube out. It may do damage if you do.”

He stared at me, his eyes full of sudden intensity.

I nodded at the nurse. “Keep a close eye on him. I will get ready.” I headed to the bag I had here. I opened it and grabbed my gloves. I was happy to see the man wake up and he didn’t seem to be unaware. Snapping my gloves on, I grabbed what I needed.

Amadeo and Tito stared at me, watching my every move.

Nurse Jocelyn asked Valencia to move back.

Tito stepped closer and tugged her away.

The nurse assisted me and it took a minute or two but we got the tube removed.

Deacon was coughing and spitting up which was normal. Breathing hard, he closed his eyes.

With a concerned gasp, Valencia stepped forward. “I-is he…?” Her voice fell away.

I tapped Deacon’s hand.

His eyes opened.

After waking up from a coma, a patient typically experienced a period of confusion and disorientation. So we still had no idea as to the state he was really in yet.

I told him, “Just take it easy. You’ve had that tube in for a couple of weeks, so it is natural for your throat to feel sore and scratchy.”

Nodding, he grasped his throat and spoke in a hoarse whisper, “W-where…?”

My head shot up and I looked over at Amadeo.

He stood close and looked from Deacon to me. He shrugged.

Tito stepped close and told Deacon, “We are friends of your sister.”

Deacon slowly turned his head to stare at him. He looked confused.

Valencia stepped forward now as the nurse moved back. “Deacon?” she said as she took his hand in hers.

His gaze shifted from Tito to her face. He still looked puzzled.

I felt a twinge of unease. This whole situation was already traumatic and tense, but he seemed to be lost here.

“Do you know who I am?” Valencia asked him.

He stared at her then slowly shook his head as he managed to croak out, “No…”

Valencia gasped and looked up at me.

“This is very common when they first wake up. Just give him some time.”

The door to the room opened and in came Stephano Descalia.

I could have sworn I heard a gasp and not just from Valencia.

Marching over, the patriarch of the Descalia family stopped at the foot of the bed.

I paused, wondering who had called him. My gaze shot over to Amadeo.

He had been watching me and he shook his head.

Ok, he claimed innocence, so I wondered if it had been Tito, but I didn’t think so as he had been busy with Valencia.

Stephano glared at Deacon.

Deacon hadn’t even noticed him yet.

“Who are you?” Deacon asked Valencia in that same rasping whisper.

Her face paled a bit as she stammered, “I-I’m your sister.”

Stephano watched this closely then he swung his hard gaze over to me. Nodding at me, he motioned to the far side of the room.

I walked over to where he stood.

He stepped close and asked quietly, “What does this mean?”

“After waking up from a coma, a patient typically will experience a period of confusion and disorientation. They may need to relearn basic skills like walking and talking and may have cognitive impairments such as memory problems. The recovery process is gradual, with some individuals making a full recovery while others may have long-term disabilities.”

My answer didn’t make him happy as he scowled at me. “So, what you are saying is that he doesn’t remember anything?”

I shrugged “We don’t know that yet. But when a person has a possible brain injury it is possible that this may last beyond waking. Then again, they could suddenly or gradually remember. No two patients or injuries are the same, Mr. Descalia.”

“So you don’t know,” he snapped.

I shook my head. “Not yet and as the days go by, we will see how incapacitated he is. He may need physical therapy, or even speech therapy.”

“Santo cielo!” he swore in Italian.

“Language, Mr. Descalia,” I admonished his use of the F-word.

“Dannazione, I forgot that you are Italian.” He shook his head.

“Father, he is in no shape to be questioned just yet,” Amadeo spoke up as he stepped in beside me.

Stephano looked at him then at me. “I have no questions for him, figlio. I was asking Dr. Ribisi if it were possible that he doesn’t remember us.”

“It is very possible,” Amadeo replied. “I have been researching this type of thing.” He raised his phone.

“Oh, dios mio, not Google again?” Stephano said in disgust.

Amadeo ignored his father’s comment and read his research from his cell, “Upon waking from a coma, a patient may be very agitated and confused. They may not remember what happened before the coma or have difficulty processing current events. This period is often referred to as Post-Traumatic Amnesia if the coma was caused by a traumatic brain injury.” He raised his gaze.

“And I think a plane crash could cause that kind of injury.”

“Oh, is that so, Dr. Amadeo?” his father retorted dryly.

“STOP!”

We turned at Nurse Jocelyn’s shout to see Deacon sliding out of the bed and hitting the floor. His IV stand tipped and the nurse grabbed it.

“He looks very agitated, si,” Stephano noted.

Tito came around the side of the bed.

Tucking his cell into his breast pocket, Amadeo rushed over.

Both men reached for Deacon.

He let out a screeching yell as he raised his hands up to fight them.

I ran over and stepped close to Deacon to speak quietly, “You are further injuring yourself. Please allow them to get you back into bed.”

At my voice, Deacon seemed to instantly calm as his body went limp.

Tito and Amadeo lifted him up then placed him back onto his bed.

“Please give us time to help you,” I again spoke to him softly. “No one here shall hurt you,” I told him, then I looked over to meet Stephano’s gaze. “I am his doctor and I will help him to recover.” I swung my gaze to Valencia.

Her face was blotchy red as she looked extremely upset.

I met her terrified gaze and said in a much louder voice, “As long as I am his doctor, no one will harm Mr. Walker.” I turned my head to look at Deacon.

Settling in the bed, his body trembled as he was fighting for air. He truly was in a weakened state as he rasped out, “W-who is…Mr…Walker?”