Page 8 of Enzo (The Amato Family #2)
GAVIN
Can we go visit yet?
PAPA
Give your brother space. But say the word, K, and I’ll make Enzo his favorite and bring it over.
KAIL
No visitors right now. He’s still healing, and needs a bit of time to get his head on straight. I’ll let you know when you can come.
GAVIN
Not even his favorite brother-in-law?
MICAH
Fuck off. I’m the favorite in-law
LARA
Excuse you. As the only girl *I* am clearly the favorite
PAPA
Children, behave
Besides, we all know I’m the favorite
KAIL
None of you are going to be allowed to visit soon if you don’t stop. Don’t you all have jobs to do?
PAPA
Not me, I’m retired
KAIL
*SIGH*
I hate you all
P utting my phone away—as if that’ll get me away from my family’s ridiculousness—I focus on Enzo, who’s sitting on the edge of his bed, scowl in place.
My heart twists at his expression. I don’t normally see the serious, grumpy side of him. With me and my family, he’s sweet, caring, and loving. I hate knowing how hard this experience is on him.
I wouldn’t expect anyone in his position to come out all sunshine and rainbows, but fuck , watching him struggle to accept his new lot in life is killing me. It’s only the beginning stages still, so I’m hoping with everything I have that this isn’t an indicator of how it’s going to go…
I don’t have any unrealistic expectations that he’ll simply accept everything has changed, but the Enzo I know takes everything in stride. I’m afraid the adjustment period is going to make things worse before there’s any sign of light at the end of the tunnel, though.
Maybe I should let my family visit. I don’t want to overwhelm him, but maybe seeing his family will help.
So far, he’s refused visits from both Benji and Roman, and neither I nor Doc have pushed the issue because we didn’t want to stress him out so soon after surgery.
If it keeps up much longer, though, we’ll have to.
Otherwise, the Boss will get involved, and well, I wish Enzo luck there.
Doc comes into the room with his new medical assistant trailing behind him.
“Oh, great,” Enzo says. “Some fresh meat to witness my humiliation.”
“Be nice, Enzo. Cristian said we’re not allowed to break him,” Doc replies, heading straight for him.
“Ignore the grump,” I tell the new guy as I move to stand beside him. “It’s…not been a very good day.”
“It’s fine.” He holds out his hand for me to shake. “I’m Soren, by the way.”
“Kail. I’ve heard a lot about you from Rose and James. It’s nice to meet you. How have you been doing? Doc driving you crazy yet?”
He laughs, his bright blue eyes shining with mirth, and his porcelain skin colors a little at his delight, making the freckles on his cheeks stand out.
With his light blond hair, delicate features, and shorter stature, he looks way too young to be as accomplished as he’s claiming to be.
But then…looks can be deceiving. I know he’s not only a highly trained nurse, but he’s twenty-five and the nephew of the Bratva Pakhan who Cristian has an alliance with.
“Just a little, but I’m getting used to it. ”
“Hey!” Doc protests from where he’s examining Enzo’s wound. “I’m a delight .”
“Sure you are, sir,” I say with a snort.
We step up to the bed and Doc finishes his assessment of Enzo’s residual limb, moving to the side so Soren can offer his hand to Enzo.
“Sorry for barging in on you like this. I can wait outside if you want me to.”
Enzo rolls his eyes. “Doc will never agree to that, but thank you. It’s fine. I… It’s just been a long day, is all. I’m not normally such an ass.”
“Liar,” I can’t help but say under my breath, earning a glare from my boyfriend, to which I just smile in response.
There’s a brief knock on the door and I turn to find James poking his head in. “Jayden and Dr. Watts are here.”
“Thank you,” Doc replies.
His bodyguard disappears, and in his place is the Amato Family physical therapist and the prosthetist Doc sourced.
Jayden’s typical impassive expression gives nothing away as he introduces himself to both the prosthetist and Soren. His brown eyes are laser focused, and I’m very happy it’s Enzo in the line of fire and not me.
Dr. Watts on the other hand, seems very nice, and her demeanor is calm and informative without being too condescending or dismissive.
She examines Enzo’s residual limb and frowns, making a few notes on her tablet.
“I’ll need to discuss with the surgeon, but unfortunately my recommendation would be to go in and reshape what’s been left behind.
” She gives Enzo a gentle smile when he slumps.
“I promise it’s not as bad as you think.
I know it sounds that way. No one wants to be told they need another surgery, but with such a traumatic amputation, there’s always the expectation you might need to have a revision surgery. ”
Enzo lets out a stuttering breath. “What does that mean exactly?”
“The orthopedic surgeon will make their assessment, and together we’ll put a plan together, but from what I’m seeing, a little reshaping of the residual limb to make sure you can comfortably fit into a prosthetic is in order.
As I said, due to the fact that this was a traumatic amputation, the residual limb isn’t quite perfect, and we want to make sure you don’t have any issues with it down the road. ”
“Does this mean I’ll lose more of what I have left?”
Dr. Watts reluctantly nods. “A little, but we’ll do everything we can to make sure you don’t lose more than absolutely necessary. I don’t anticipate needing to go any higher than your knee, so in that respect, we won’t be taking too much.”
Enzo looks down at his bandaged leg, despair crossing his features for a moment before his professional mask covers up his pain.
Dr. Watts sets a hand on his shoulder. “If this goes well, it could be the last surgery you’ll need. I’m not saying you definitely won’t need another surgery down the line, it all depends on how you heal, but then again, it could be.”
Enzo sighs. “I don’t have a choice, do I? Not if I want to be able to walk again.”
“There are other methods; however, due to the current shape and scar tissue, I’m sure the orthopedist will agree with me that surgical reshaping is necessary before we can take the steps to get it properly fitted.”
“Great, just what I wanted to hear, more time before I can get back to normal again.”
“I know this is hard, what you’ve been through is terrifying, but I promise I’m here to help. I’ll answer any questions you have and try to make this as painless a transition as possible.”
Enzo nods and looks so dejected, I ache to put my arms around him and reassure him that it’s all going to be okay. “Thank you.”
Dr. Watts gives him a gentle smile. “You’re looking good, all told.
Losing a limb in such a traumatic fashion usually isn’t cut and dry, and I’m impressed with the level of care you have.
Don’t worry about the need for an additional surgery.
It happens. Taking care of it now will mean you have a better chance of taking to your prosthesis later on.
It’d be worse if we fitted you for a limb then ended up having to take you in for surgery anyway because you hadn’t had the bone cut down enough, or the residual limb wasn’t shaped correctly, and it ended up causing more problems than you started with. ”
“Thank you, Doctor,” Enzo says, a defeated look in his eyes.
She hands him a business card. “Call me or send me a message if you have any questions.”
“Thank you again.”
She gives a gentle smile. “I look forward to working with you, Enzo. It’ll be okay. I’m here to help you through this life-changing event.”
He gives her an absent nod, and after quickly speaking with both Doc and Jayden, while taking a few more notes, she leaves.
“Right.” Jayden speaks up. “There’s nothing that says we can’t do your exercises now.”
“Seriously?” Enzo glares at the physical therapist. “I was just told I might need another surgery, where they’re going to take more of my leg, and your first thought is exercise ?”
Jayden raises one of his fiery red eyebrows.
“That’s exactly why you need to keep to a routine.
Not only is it good for your body, but your spirits as well.
It’ll take your mind off of the news you’ve just gotten.
Forty-five minutes to work your body and mind, so you can digest everything we just went over. It’s not going to kill you.”
“It might,” Enzo mutters.
“Don’t be a baby,” Jayden says cheerfully.
“I see you’re in good hands,” Doc says. “I’ll leave you to it and check back in once you’re done. Are you staying for dinner, Jay?”
“Is my brother cooking?” Jayden asks.
“He is,” Doc replies.
“Then yes, I’ll stick around.” He turns to Soren. “It was nice meeting you, Soren. You ever get tired of Doc’s cranky ass, come see me, yeah?”
“Stop trying to steal my assistants,” Doc tells him.
When Doc and Soren leave, Jayden turns to Enzo, a glint in his eye that says he’s not going to go easy. Good. Enzo needs something else to focus on other than the news he was just given. I can see the hurt in his golden eyes, even though he tries to hide it.
My heart aches and I’ve never felt so helpless before. I can dress his wound, take care of his every medical need. I can feed him, bathe him, help him to the bathroom, but what I can’t do is give him back his leg. I can’t fix the pain of having his life turned upside down.
The caretaker in me is lost to the utter helplessness of the situation. It kills me to know that everything I know about the human body, every little facet of knowledge I have about Enzo, is useless because his pain is internal—in his head and his heart. And those aren’t places I can touch or fix.
I can only hope Doc will get him a therapist who can help him, and that he’ll allow not only me and Doc to be here for him, but his friends and family too.
Because Enzo may be the strongest person I know, but that doesn’t mean he’s not also in need of a shoulder to cry on.
I want nothing more than to be that for him, if he’ll let me.
I love him more than anything, and I plan on spending the rest of my life with him. One leg or two, or even none. What matters to me is the man who holds my heart, and I’m terrified he’s going to allow this to take him away from me.
As I watch Jayden put him through his paces, I hold onto the hope that he’s here with me now, and know I’ll do whatever it takes to keep it that way.