Chapter 5 - The Arrival of the Specialist
Dr. Arthur Sterling looked every bit the part of a world-renowned pediatric thoracic surgeon. He arrived at St. Catherine’s at 6:12 AM, wearing a bespoke Brioni suit beneath his white lab coat, carrying a leather medical case that looked more like an attaché case for a corporate raider than equipment for saving a child’s life.
Two of Nico’s enforcers—massive men in black suits named Marco and Dante—flanked the surgeon like Secret Service agents as he strode through the pediatric ward.
"Mr. Falcone," Dr. Sterling said briskly, shaking Nico’s hand in the hallway outside Room 204 while I hovered nervously behind them. "I was briefed on the flight. Necrotizing staph pneumonia with pleural effusion. If the local team hasn't placed a chest tube yet, what on earth are they waiting for?"
"They were waiting for you," Nico said simply. "Get in there."
The surgery lasted three hours.
Three hours of sitting in the hard plastic chairs of the waiting room, staring at the green vinyl upholstery, listening to the muffled announcements over the PA system. Nico didn't sit down once. He paced the length of the corridor, his footsteps measuring out the agonizing seconds, his phone vibrating silently in his palm every thirty seconds as reports from his syndicate captains filtered in from the city.
He didn't read them. He just swiped them away, his entire universe compressed down to the wooden door of Operating Room 3.
When Dr. Sterling finally pushed open the heavy double doors, stripping off his blue surgical cap, he looked tired, but his eyes were clear.
"He’s stable," the surgeon announced, and the word finally had the right roommates.
I let out a ragged sob, my knees nearly buckling beneath me before Nico’s arm caught me around the waist, pulling me hard against his chest. I didn't push him away. I buried my face in the lapel of his charcoal jacket, letting the smell of starch and cold air anchor me to the earth.
"The drainage was successful," Dr. Sterling continued, offering a reassuring smile. "We cleared the necrotic tissue from the left pleural space and placed a double-lumen chest tube to keep the lung expanded. He’s going to need aggressive intravenous antibiotic therapy for the next two weeks, but barring any unforeseen complications... your boy is going to make a full recovery."
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"Thank you, Doctor," Nico said, his voice thick with an emotion he was desperately trying to conceal.
"Don't thank me, Mr. Falcone," Sterling chuckled dryly, adjusting his glasses. "Thank the private jet pilot who broke three FAA altitude protocols over Lake Michigan to get me here twenty minutes ahead of schedule."
