Page 100 of Vows of a Mobster

Next, I pounded against the door with my fists.

“Hello,” I yelled.Please, this has to lead somewhere.

I heard a door open but it wasn’t the door I stood in front of. It was the neighbor, an older woman with too much makeup on. Her hair was orange, in some seventies style.

“No use banging on the door. Nobody lives there,” she said, shaking her head. She watched me like I was crazy.

“Oh.” Now what? “Did you know people that lived there before?”

She nodded in response. “They are dead.”

I took a deep breath. “Yes, I read that in the paper. Did you know the sister of Kyle’s parents, Aoife?”

Something in the woman’s expression changed. “No.” I was sure she was lying.

I swallowed hard. “Please, it is really important.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know the sister.”

I closed my eyes for a second, shutting down the despair threatening to overwhelm me.

“Okay, how about Mrs. Sullivan’s maiden name?” I asked, a slight panic in my voice. “Do you know what her maiden name was?”

She eyed me suspiciously. “What is this about?”

“I’m trying to locate a part of the family,” I muttered. It wasn’t exactly a lie. “Their son, Kyle, was a school friend.”Sort of.

“No, I don’t know what her maiden name was. Kyle is dead too.”

I gripped the handrail hard, causing pain to my fingers. This was the only lead I had. Short of hiring a private detective, which I couldn’t afford, this was all I had.

I stared at the door, hoping for some miracle against all odds but none came. All I had left was praying that Emma makes it through another round of chemotherapy.

God, I didn’t want to take her to the hospital and watch them pump her with that poison. What kind of mother did that make me? I didn’t want to see her suffer. I wanted someone to swish a magic wand and make her all better. Damn fairy tales! Those should be forbidden, because life was everything but a fairy tale.

“Are you going to stand there all day?” I completely forgot about the neighbor. I felt tired and beaten. It would seem my only option was to put my baby through another round of painful treatments and pray she survives.

“Thanks for your help,” I told her, then left her standing there. I was surprised to see her still watching me when I got in the Jeep. I glanced at the clock on the dashboard, sent a message to Marissa, letting her know I was on my way, headed to the hospital. I might as well get used to it since we would be spending a lot of time there.

My heart constricted with each mile that I neared the hospital. The fact Emma had to go through it once already was bad, but twice was too much.

Only the good ones die young.The phrase my dad used to say came out of nowhere. He used to say that all the time when one of his friends got killed while on duty. I wouldn’t let that happen. That was the dumbest phrase anyhow. She would stay with me till she grew up and was old enough to go to college, be happy, fall in love. Then she’d have her own family and have children with a love of her life.

I got to the hospital and went straight inside, to the pediatric cancer treatment floor. Considering how depressing the need to be here was, the staff had done an amazing job making the hospital floor look as comfortable and welcoming as possible.

My step faltered at seeing the first child. With all their hair gone, I couldn’t begin to tell whether the child was a boy or girl.

“Hello,” the voice was gentle, feminine. The little girl was in a white hospital gown, all her hair gone. Her blue eyes dominated her pale face. She couldn’t have been more than eight years old.

“Hello,” I barely choked out.

“Who are you here to see?” I knelt down, although I wasn’t sure whether it was for the little girl’s benefit or mine. My legs shook.

I tried to keep myself together, ashamed to be so weak when this little girl was so strong standing in front of me. I couldn’t imagine all she had gone through, but I could still see the strength in her.

“My daughter, Emma, is starting her treatment today,” I told her softly.

She nodded with understanding and strangely, I knew she understood. She shouldn’t understand but she had gone through it herself.