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dannazione = dammit  

sorellina = little sister  

ti amo = I love you  

bastardo = bastard  

bella = beautiful  

fratello = brother  

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Ricardo is waiting at the entrance of the hospital and he holds a syringe filled with a strong sedative in his right hand. He swears internally. The last thing he wants to do is sedate her again. He would much rather spar with her. The green jeep comes to a screeching halt in front of the hospital and Logan jumps out, to open the car door for Bruno.

Ricardo recognizes them immediately and runs towards them. Scorpia growls and bites Bruno in his forearm, but he doesn't flinch and continues to hold her tightly. Ricardo injects her quickly and she collapses in Bruno's arms. Ricardo picks her up and says: "I'll come find you later. Taking care of her first." He runs inside, carrying her in his arms as he yells something at another nurse.

Logan drops down to his knees and cries. Bruno sinks down to the ground with him and wraps his arms around him. "Bonnie... No...." Bruno cries along with him and after a while he sees his brothers run up to them. Ciro gets into the jeep to park it and Dino runs over to Bruno.

"Bruno? Logan? Get up please." Bruno tries to pull Logan up, but he's still crying uncontrollably. Dino yells: "Dammit Logan! You're bleeding! Get up! Now!" Logan stares at his hand in a daze and Bruno and Dino pull him onto his feet. Dino looks at Bruno's forearm and says: "Dannazione! You're bleeding too!" Bruno shrugs and tries to get Logan to move towards the entrance of the hospital. Ciro runs past them and comes back out with a wheelchair. They push Logan into it and rush over to the ER.

The brothers have their hands full with Logan, who keeps getting up, trying to look for Scorpia. Ricardo walks into the ER and says: "I figured I'd find you all here. I'll be honest with you. She is tied to a bed, heavily sedated and right now the adrenaline in her blood is at a dangerously high level."

Logan jumps up from the wheelchair and is about to run off. But Ricardo is experienced enough to see that he is not all there. He stops Logan from running and yells some sort of code at a nurse. Logan tries to push Ricardo aside with his broken hand and wails like a wounded animal. 

The nurse comes running up to Ricardo with a syringe and Ricardo injects Logan with it quickly. Ciro reacts lightning-fast and pushes the wheelchair over to Logan. Ricardo lowers him down into it and breathes out slowly.

Ricardo runs his hand across his face and says: "Man! I am sure my adrenaline is pretty high now as well." Dino looks at him and is about to open his mouth, but Ricardo stops him by saying: "Yeah, yeah. Together. Same room. But now that they're both floating in a sea of sedation, I am taking Logan for x-rays of his hand." 

Ricardo looks at Bruno's arm and says: "Make sure they clean that wound properly. Scorpion bites are very nasty!" In spite of everything, the brothers chuckle at that statement. Ricardo grins and pushes Logan towards the x-ray department.

Bruno looks at his brothers and asks: "What the hell happened?" Dino tells him what he knows so far. Bruno holds his stomach and tastes the bile in his mouth. "She's Salvatore's sister? Dannazione! Are they sure?"

Dino says: "I don't know. We gave that lawyer a good old scare, so it seemed smart to give him time to calm down." A nurse calls for Bruno and she takes him to a room to treat his arm. When he comes back out with his arm bandaged up, he finds Ricardo talking to his brothers. Bruno walks over to them quickly and catches the end of Ricardo's sentence. "... not certain if it will ever be okay."

Bruno asks: "What might not be okay?"

Ricardo says: "Logan's hand. Most of the screws were ripped from the bone. And they really don't want to put that hand through another surgery. They've contacted a specialist from a different hospital to come and look at it, to figure out the best course of action. They will most likely take all the screws out and put the hand in a cast when the wounds are healed. But we'll know for certain after the specialist has looked at it."

Bruno curses softly and says: "And I just let him drive to the hospital."

Ricardo puts his hand on Bruno's shoulder and says: "Feeling guilty won't solve anything. Come with me and I'll tell you everything I know on the way to their room." They get into the elevator and Ricardo tells them that Scorpia and Logan are in one room with Logan's left hand in Scorpia's. But they're both in restraints, because Logan was wild and strong in spite of the sedative too. But as always touching each other calmed them down a bit.

"Guys, prepare yourselves. You've seen a lot already but this is going to be hard. I will personally spend as much time as possible in that room with them. And when I go to sleep at night, we'll make sure she is sedated enough to sleep through the night."

They get out of the elevator and Ricardo says: "Take a deep breath and try to stay as calm as possible. Because they pick up on emotions around them."

The brothers share a sad look and breathe slowly together. Ricardo opens the door and they follow him inside. They stare at the two beds in shock. Logan is ghostly white and whispers Bonnie continuously. Scorpia is wild and has lost her voice from crying out for Logan over and over. 

Bruno can't handle it and runs out crying. 

Ciro swears and follows him.

Dino sits down on a chair next to his sister's bed and lays his hand on top of hers. "Sorellina, ti amo." He wipes a tear from his cheek and tries to stay calm.

Ricardo says: "The doctor would like to have a word with you. He needs to know why she relapsed. To prevent us from doing or saying the wrong thing." He squeezes Dino's shoulder and walks to the other side of the room, to sit down on a chair there.

Dino says softly: "Ricardo? Thank you."

The nurse nods and says: "I just want to spar with her. I'm not giving up on her." 

The tears start to roll down Dino's cheeks and he runs out to the hallway too.

The brothers wrap their arms around each other's shoulders and let their emotions run free. When they catch their breath, Dino says: "I have to go talk to the doctor about all of this. You guys should go to mamma and Lexy. They must be so worried now that we're taking so long to get back. If anything changes, I'll let you know."

They hug each other and Dino hands the car key to Ciro, who in turn hands Logan's car key to Bruno. Dino watches his brothers walk away, with their shoulders slumped and their heads down. He turns around and finds his way to the doctor's office. He knocks at the door and is immediately called in.

"Dino. What happened? We were so hopeful when they went home."

Dino sighs and sinks down on the chair. "We all were doctor. And it seemed to go so well. I'll tell you whatever I can, but I expect you to keep most of it between us, okay?" The doctor nods and Dino tells him about Scorpia's rape and that they all hoped she would find her happiness after Salvatore's death. He also tells him about the letter and visit to the lawyer's office.

"Doctor, it's like he is still torturing her from hell. She is his sole heir because she's... according to that lawyer... Salvatore's sister."

The doctor grabs his heart and mumbles: "Oh my dear girl." He falls silent and sighs. "How cruel life can be sometimes... Okay, I will instruct everyone to not mention the name Salvatore in any way. And that Ricardo is the only one who can really handle her. I'm glad he has already decided to spend most of his time in that room with her. I expect Logan to wake up soon. But we have to keep him on a high dose of painkillers because that hand is severely damaged. They stay together, no matter what. We will work around it."

Dino nods and shoots the doctor a grateful look. He asks: "What do you think doctor? Please be honest with me."

The doctor rubs his temples and says: "It's not looking good. I wish I could tell you that I have faith in a positive outcome, but I am afraid she will suffer lasting damage from this. And I fear for Logan too if she stays stuck in the shadows."

Dino takes in a shaky breath. "It's so damn unfair. Why do they have to suffer so much? That asshole's dead and he still messes their life up. I don't expect an answer doc. I just feel so damn helpless." His phone rings and he looks at the doctor. The doctor nods and Dino answers the phone.

It's the lawyer, telling him he gathered all the evidence he could find. Dino promises to meet him within the hour and hangs up. "That was the lawyer. He has gathered the so-called 'evidence'. Doctor? Could you get me Ricardo's bank account number?" The doctor nods and sees him out.

Dino walks out of the hospital and calls a cab. He arrives at the law firm and walks straight into the office he was in that morning. The lawyer is startled when he sees Dino come in but recovers quickly. "Hello. I've collected all the evidence we have and contacted a colleague who handled the testament twenty years ago."

Dino sits down on the edge of the seat and says: "I would like to hear a summary from you and copies of the evidence to take home with me. I'm sure you understand that I want to triple check everything you tell me."

The lawyer nods and clears his throat. "Mister Santarelli composed his testament with his mother twenty years ago. His mother basically forced him to name his sister as his heir. His mother was admitted to an asylum that same year. Mister Santarelli sent a couple of his men after her, because she tried to escape from his estate with her five-year-old daughter. She crashed the car after it being shot at several times. Mother was found, but the daughter wasn't. That caused a mental breakdown for the mother and that's how she ended up in the asylum."

The lawyer takes a sip of water and Dino quickly fills the empty spots of Scorpia's history with the information he just received from the lawyer. "We contacted mister Santarelli annually to go over the testament and potentially adjust it. Especially because his sister went missing. But he refused. He didn't want to look for her and according to my colleague he didn't even want to know she existed. He basically decided she should stay missing forever."

Dino mumbles: "Bastardo."

The lawyer looks him in the eye and says: "I didn't know about this story until now and that's why I thought Scorpia knew she was his sister." The man rubs his hands together nervously.

"I don't blame you for what happened. I did at first, but not anymore."

The lawyer nods and says: "We did find Scorpia's birth certificate or actually Bella's."

Dino stares at the man in disbelief and says: "Are you kidding me? Bonnie!" The lawyer looks at him all confused and Dino says: "Bella is Italian for Bonnie. Ha! That has to be a sign!" The lawyer takes another sip of his water to give him something to do because he has no clue what Dino is talking about. "Anything else mister lawyer?"

"No that's it. I already made copies for you. I would just like to say that we're talking about a lot of money here."

Dino gets up and says: "We don't give a fuck about that asshole's money! But maybe Scorpia can come up with something fun for it. Ritually burn it or something." He takes the folder with copies from the confused lawyer and walks out laughing.

Once outside, he calls the doctor to hear if there's any news on Logan and Scorpia. The doctor explains to him that they've decided to keep them asleep till the next day. To try and lower their stress levels that way. 

Dino hangs up and calls Ciro. "Hey fratello. Pick me up at the law firm. I have some news." Ciro says he's on his way and Dino sends a message to Bruno while he waits.

Where are you?
I've just left the lawyer.
I have a lot of info now.

Bruno replies that he's coming over to mamma's house. 

Ciro arrives and stops in front of him. Dino gets in with a smile on his lips. Ciro looks at his brother for a second, before focusing on traffic. When they reach mamma's house, they see Bruno arrive on his Harley. They go inside quickly, where mamma and Lexy are already waiting for them.

Dino quickly tells them about the testament and everything about Salvatore's mom. Everyone is listening to him breathlessly and they all wait for mamma to speak up first. "So besides Scorpia there are no other living blood relatives? Good. She is ours forever." 

She smiles and adds: "Not that I would have ever let my little girl go."

Dino opens the folder he got from the lawyer and pulls the copy of Scorpia's birth certificate out of it. "I've found something really interesting though. Her real name." He hands the certificate to his mom and Bruno reads it over her shoulder.

He says: "For real? Fuck! If that's not a sign, then I don't know what is." Lexy and Ciro give him a questioning look and he says: "Her birth name is Bella."

Lexy and Ciro both whisper: "Bonnie." Lexy starts to cry and Bruno rushes over to comfort her.

Mamma says: "That's definitely a sign. It has to be. Any news about them Dino?"

Dino says: "They are keeping them asleep till tomorrow morning. And hope to calm their bodies and minds that way. What were you doing Bruno?"

Bruno says: "I was gathering things." Dino raises his eyebrow and Bruno explains: "Boxing gear, drawings made by the boys, Logan's shower gel, Scorpion Vodka, picture of Ombra, helmet, stuff like that. In case she wakes up."

Dino smiles and says: "Well done bro. I still have that MP3-player."

Bruno says: "We're off to pick up Lucas from school as soon as Enzo's awake and then we're going home. If there's any news or you need me for anything..."

Dino nods and says: "I hope those boys will provide you with some well-needed distraction. We won't be able to do anything before tomorrow morning. I am going to bed early and I'll go back to the hospital tomorrow."

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There you go, Capitolo Ventinove for you. 

I hope you'll stick with me. 
There's a reason for the sadness, I promise.

Are you able to count in Italian yet? Know some words by heart already?

(that is is you weren't already able to before you read this book)

What about Scorpia's birth name?

The clues are always there in life......if you keep your heart open to pick up on them.

See you for the next update!

I love you for reading this! 

Even if you're a silent reader! 

I made it to 1500 reads with your help.
❥ Hankie