Chapter 22 - Reunion in the ICU
The private medical pavilion of the Baltimore hospital was a sanctuary of quiet efficiency.
When Damien and Ellie stepped off the private elevator on the fourth floor, Dr. Sterling was waiting for them by the nurse’s station, dressed in his pristine white lab coat with a warm, welcoming smile.
“Dr. Vance. Mr. Moretti,” Dr. Sterling greeted them, shaking their hands firmly. “Welcome back to the East Coast. I assume your flight was smooth?”
“Flawless, Doctor,” Damien replied smoothly, keeping one hand resting protectively at Ellie’s waist. “How is the patient?”
“He’s stubborn, energetic, and entirely unimpressed by intensive care protocols,” Dr. Sterling chuckled, leading them down the carpeted hallway toward Room 402. “The resection was a complete success. All pathological margins are clear of malignancy. He’s going to make a full, one-hundred-percent recovery.”
Ellie felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes again, but this time they were pure, unadulterated joy. She grabbed Damien’s hand so tightly her knuckles turned white.
When Dr. Sterling pushed open the door to Room 402, the antiseptic smell of the hospital was immediately overwhelmed by a wave of pure sibling chaos.
Sitting up in the adjustable hospital bed, looking pale and tired but unmistakably alive, was sixteen-year-old Leo. His head was wrapped in a neat surgical bandage, an IV line trailed from his left hand, and he was currently arguing animatedly with a bewildered nurse holding a tray of apple juice.
“I’m telling you, I don't want apple juice, I want a double cheeseburger from the diner down the street!” Leo protested, throwing his hands up in theatrical despair before freezing as the door opened.
Leo’s eyes landed on Ellie standing in the doorway.
The room went dead silent.
For three seconds, neither of them moved. Then, Ellie dropped her purse on the floor, covered her mouth with both hands, and ran across the room, throwing her arms around her brother’s neck so gently he wouldn't get hurt, burying her face in his shoulder as she finally let out a choked sob of pure relief.
“Leo… oh, God, Leo,” she whispered, kissing his cheek over and over again.
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“Hey, El… take it easy on the patient,” Leo croaked out, his own voice cracking with emotion as he wrapped his arms tightly around her back, burying his face in her hair. “I told you I wasn't going anywhere. I’m too stubborn to leave you stuck with my college debt.”
Damien stood by the doorway, watching the embrace with a quiet, profound stillness in his dark eyes. The formidable kingpin of Chicago, the man who had terrified syndicate bosses and dismantled New York cartels with a single word, looked at the brother and sister holding each other in the hospital bed and saw something he had spent his entire life searching for: family.
