When It Falls Apart (The D'Angelos, #1)(94)
Brooke took Luca’s hand.
Franny opened the front door. “Mama Antonia? I’m here.”
They heard the woman’s voice before they saw her. “Don’t call me that. I’m just Mama.”
It was Franny’s turn to roll her eyes.
Antonia moved to the doorway.
For the first time since Brooke had met the woman, she wore jeans and an untucked T-shirt. Her hair was pulled back, and she wore minimal makeup. “Oh. The whole family is here, huh?”
Franny walked past her mother and into the house. “Hi, Rosa.”
Brooke tugged at Luca’s hand. “We’ll see you tomorrow,” she told Antonia.
Instead of saying anything, the woman walked in and closed the door.
“She’s going to be fine,” Brooke told him.
Luca grumbled.
“C’mon. I’ll buy you ice cream.”
He looked down at her with a smile.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
The wretched shriek of the telephone ripped Luca from his sleep.
Franny!
His hand shot out for the phone, his body came upright.
Brooke scrambled at his side.
He attempted to answer the call, only it wasn’t his phone that was ringing.
“Hello?”
Luca turned on a light. It was after midnight.
“This is her.”
He placed a hand on Brooke’s shoulder. She had her cell phone to her ear.
“Is it Franny?”
She shook her head. “My dad.”
Oh no.
Brooke slid out from under the covers. “What hospital?”
Luca followed her to the kitchen, turning on lights.
She picked up a pen and was looking around.
He found a piece of mail and turned it over for her to write on.
She jotted down the name of a hospital. “Okay. I’m on my way.”
Brooke lowered the phone, placed a hand on her chest.
Luca slid beside her. “What happened, amore?”
“They don’t know. He’s on his way to the hospital with chest pain. It might be a heart attack.”
He rubbed her arms until she looked at him. “Get dressed. Let’s go.”
“Okay.” She nodded. “Okay.”
They hustled, dressed quickly, and were walking down the stairs. “Get the car started, I’m telling the others where we are.”
Brooke’s eyes took on a deer-in-the-headlights look. “Okay.”
She made her way downstairs, and Luca let himself into his family’s apartment.
He heard Gio moving around in his room and headed there first.
“What’s going on?”
“It’s Brooke’s dad. They think he’s having a heart attack. We’re on our way there now.”
“Oh, Luca.” Gio turned off his TV and walked to him. “What hospital?”
Luca told him and left him to tell the others.
Brooke was painfully silent on the way.
Luca pushed the traffic laws and made it to the hospital in twenty-five minutes.
They made their way through the surprisingly large number of people in the emergency room lobby to the reception desk. “Joe Turner was just brought in,” Brooke said.
The lady behind the glass looked at her computer. “This is your father?”
“Yes.”
“And you are?” She looked at Luca.
Brooke pushed in. “My husband.”
“Okay . . . give me a minute.”
Brooke turned to Luca. “You’ve been promoted. Hospitals aren’t quick to let people back.”
“It’s okay, amore.” He liked the title anyway.
“Come around to the double doors.”
Brooke held Luca’s hand in a death grip as they were led out of the lobby and into the heart of the ER.
The noisy and bustling emergency room. “It’s only Tuesday,” he said to the woman walking them in.
She laughed. “Yeah, we’re slow.”
Brooke moved close. “At least we get to come back. When he had his stroke, that wouldn’t have happened.”
They were brought to Joe’s room. There were two people at his bedside, and he was hooked up to an IV, a monitor, and oxygen.
“Hi, Daddy,” Brooke said when he looked up.
Luca stopped at the door to give everyone room.
“Hi, baby.”
She walked over and took his hand briefly. “What’s going on?” she asked the staff.
“He was complaining of chest pain and shortness of breath. His blood pressure is high, but his EKG isn’t showing an acute MI. Heart attack. We’re running some tests to see what’s going on.”
“Okay.”
“He did respond to the nitroglycerine. He’s bought himself a few hours in the ER. I’m Dr. Mahoney. We’ll know more in a little bit.”
Luca saw Brooke visibly relax as the doctor left the room.
“How are you feeling now, Mr. Turner?” the nurse asked.
“Sh-shitty.”
“Dad!” Brooke looked at the nurse apologetically.
“How about on a scale of one to ten, how bad is the pain in your chest now?”
“Same.”