Chapter 6 - A Family in the Light
The morning light inside the private wing of Mount Sinai Hospital was warm and clean. The sound of a heart monitor beeped in a steady, rhythmic, perfect circle. Beep. Beep. Beep.
Aleandro opened his eyes. The white ceiling didn't look like a prison; it looked like peace.
He looked to his right. A plastic curtain separated his bed from another small, sterile crib. Through the clear plastic, he could see Lily, a small white bandage on her lower back, sleeping peacefully while holding a stuffed bear. The surgery had been a success. Her marrow had saved his life, and his body had accepted the transplant without a single sign of rejection.
"She was so brave," a soft voice said.
Sarah was sitting in the chair between the two beds. She looked exhausted, with dark circles under her eyes, but when she looked at him, she didn't look afraid anymore. She looked like the girl from Rosie’s Diner—the one who believed in tomorrow.
"Vincent?" Aleandro asked, his throat dry.
"He signed the final paperwork yesterday," Sarah said, moving to sit on the edge of his bed, taking his large hand in hers. "The Moretti family business is gone, Al. It’s been dissolved into legal real estate holdings managed by a board. The Colombo family is going away for life. The FBI closed the file. Aleandro Moretti is officially dead to the underworld. You're just Al now."
Al closed his eyes, a deep, shuddering breath filling his newly healed lungs. For the first time in his life, the air didn't taste like ash or gunpowder. It tasted like life.
"Mommy?"
A little voice called out from the crib. Lily was sitting up, rubbing her eyes. She looked over at Al’s bed and her face lit up like the sun breaking through the New York fog.
"Daddy! You're awake!"
Al sat up, the medical wires pulling taut against his chest, but he didn't care. He reached out his arms, and Sarah helped Lily climb over onto his bed. The little girl curled into his lap, her small hand immediately finding his large, scarred thumb and holding it tight.
"Look what I did," Lily said proudly, pointing to the bedside table.
Lying next to the water pitcher was a new drawing. It was drawn on hospital stationery with a blue crayon.
It showed a mother with brown hair. A little girl with curls. And a tall man in the middle, dressed in a bright blue coat. This time, the man had a face. He had large, kind blue-gray eyes, and a wide, happy smile that matched the two people holding his hands.
May you like
Al pulled Sarah into the embrace, his arms wrapping around his wife and daughter, his chin resting on Lily’s dark curls as the tears finally stopped falling. The shadows were gone. The news broadcasts were over.
They were finally out in the light.
