More of a twist on canon in today's chapter. I hope you guys enjoy
(Same warnings for the previous chapters)
Chapter Eighteen
The next morning, the detective and his partner showed up to take Bruno's father's statement. He was still a little groggy from the pain medicine, but he was able to give them the details as Bruno sat by, listening with roiling emotions.
"They came to book your services the night before?" the detective asked.
"Yes," Bruno's father replied. "I was finishing up on the docks for the day and they asked to go out early the next morning."
"Do you do that a lot?"
"No…but the tourists don't usually get up as early as us fishermen. I didn't think they looked much like serious fishermen but I didn't suspect anything wrong until it was too late and we were already out on the ocean. It'd been a long day and I was tired. Didn't want to make a fuss."
Bruno clenched his hands in his lap, tightening his jaw. He'd told his father he needed to get more rest.
"Signore Bucciarati, I understand if this might be difficult, but what prompted them to shoot you?" one of the detectives asked.
Bruno's father wet his lips. "We were coming back into the marina. They had bags from the trip to the island. I just reached out to move one out of the walkway when it opened. There were drugs in it. I don't…remember much after that. I think they thought they had done me in."
Bruno reached out to wrap his hand around his father's, squeezing tightly.
"Would you be able to describe the men if we send a sketch artist over this afternoon?" one of the detectives said.
Bruno's father nodded and they closed their notebooks. "Okay, thank you, Signore Bucciarati."
The fisherman nodded, looking exhausted already.
The detectives left the room, but Bruno wasn't quite done with them.
"I'll be right back," he promised his father and hurried out after the men.
"Excuse me," he said and the detectives turned around. "Are you sure those men aren't going to try to come after my father?"
"Not unless they have reason to believe he's still alive," one of the men replied.
"How are you sure they don't know that?" Bruno demanded.
"Your father's safe here, son," the other detective told him. "Now that we have his testimony we'll be able to make a quicker job of tracking these men down. Just worry about taking care of your old man."
Bruno wasn't entirely satisfied with that answer, but the men turned and left and he was forced to go back into the room, feeling like there was still something hanging over all of them.
His father was already asleep again and Bruno sighed and sank back in the chair, wishing he could sleep as easily.
The sketch artist came a little later and Bruno watched as his father described the two men, their faces appearing on the paper.
He took a break to go get coffee and was surprised to see Trish and Narancia lingering by his father's room when he got back.
"We brought flowers," Trish told him with a smile, holding up a bouquet. "How is he doing?"
"Better," Bruno assured them, taking the flowers. Narancia also handed him a take-out box.
"Also brought you something to eat."
"Thank you," Bruno said, touched as he juggled everything.
"We'll let you get back to your dad, but let us know if you need anything," Trish told him sincerely.
Bruno nodded and watched them leave before he turned back toward the room.
Trish and Narancia were not the only visitors that day. Bruno was surprised to see Risotto, Prosciutto and Pesci show up with more flowers and cards. Several of the fishermen and their wives showed up, bringing Bruno cookies and more flowers and the news that the village was putting together a small fund to help cover the loss of profit until his father could get back on his feet. Bruno didn't have the heart to tell them that might not ever happen. Even Polpo's secretary from the school came to pop in, telling Bruno that since it was so late in the year already, that as long as he kept up with his tests and reading, no one expected him to finish his homework unless he wanted to.
It was all very overwhelming, the kindness that people showed when you were going through a hard time.
His father woke groggily later that night to look around at all the balloons and flowers, confusion on his face.
"What is all this?"
Bruno smiled. "There's been a lot of people coming over and bringing you things," he said.
His father gave a small smile. "I think it's more for you than me."
"I'm sure that's not true," Bruno protested.
His father's eyes lingered on him, sobering. "It's okay, Bruno. We'll figure it out, you know."
Bruno's throat tightened. "I'm sorry, Papa."
"Don't be like that," he said softly. "I'm tougher than that."
Bruno forced a small smile and laid his head down on the side of the bed again, sighing.
There was a soft knock on the door and Bruno looked up to see Giorno peeking his head in with Mista behind him, holding up a cooler. "Dinner delivery!"
Bruno smiled and nodded for them to come in.
"Hey, good to see you awake, Signore Bucciarati," Mista said with a grin as he claimed the other chair in the room, pulling it over to the bed and setting the cooler on the side table. "There's extra soup in here if you want some. It's way better than this hospital food, I'm sure."
"That might do me good," Bruno's father said with a small smile, before turning to Giorno who came over to squeeze his hand. "How are you doing, son?"
"I'm all right," Giorno told him with a slightly wan smile.
Bruno stood up. "I'm going to go get a couple drinks, you want anything?"
"Just get me a soda," Mista told him, handing him some coins.
Giorno followed Bruno out to the vending machines down the hall.
"He's doing okay?" the blond asked tentatively.
Bruno nodded. "I think so."
"But he…can't walk?"
Bruno bit his lip. "That's what the doctors say."
"Bruno," Giorno said abruptly and they both halted in the middle of the hallway as Bruno turned around to look at him.
"What's wrong?" he asked, seeing Giorno's face was pale and distraught.
"What if this is my fault?" he demanded suddenly and Bruno just stared at him as he started to explain. "For humiliating my stepfather? He knows bad people, what if he directed them to your father with the intention of getting him into trouble or hurt? To…to get back at me?"
"Giorno," Bruno said in shock. "You don't actually think that, do you?"
Giorno looked away, unable to meet his eyes.
Bruno reached out and took him firmly by the shoulder. "Giorno I promise you that is not what happened. These were a couple drug dealers who have been making trouble in the area recently. I promise it had nothing to do with your stepfather."
"How can you be sure?" Giorno asked.
"Because if he had wanted to do something he would have before that," Bruno said, trying to reassure Giorno as much as possible. "Besides, he's a coward. He's more underhanded than that. I think he'd be more inclined to try and ruin my father's reputation so he couldn't act as you and Panna's guardian than try to kill him."
Giorno looked at least a little convinced and Bruno reached out to squeeze his shoulder. "Papa's going to be fine. It might take a little adjusting, but he's going to recover, and you and Panna are not going anywhere. Understand?"
Giorno finally nodded and gave a shuddering exhale. Bruno rubbed his shoulder and they continued on toward the vending machines to get the drinks.
It was nice having Mama Mista's hot food and Bruno's father did eat a little of the soup as well before he fell back asleep.
"Are you staying here again tonight?" Giorno asked. "Leone told me to let him know if he needed to pick you up."
"For tonight, yes," Bruno said. "But I might go home tomorrow to grab some new clothes."
Giorno nodded and left almost reluctantly with Mista. Bruno returned to his seat and watched television for a while before the nurse came in to check on his father before she left for the night.
His father shifted with a small sound of pain and Bruno turned to him.
"Do you need more medicine?" he asked.
His father shook his head. "No." He looked up at Bruno. "Thought you would head home with Giorno."
Bruno shook his head. "Not tonight."
"You need a bed."
"I just wanted to stay with you," Bruno told him. "Panna and Giorno are over at Mista's anyway. Everyone's fine, Papa."
He sighed and closed his eyes. "You need to take care of yourself too, Bruno."
Bruno felt the warmth fill his chest as he laid down on his folded arms beside his father's shoulder.
The next morning, Leone showed up as Bruno sat by his father while they both had breakfast that one of the nurses and brought for them.
"You here to finally get Bruno some fresh air?" Bruno's father asked.
"This is definitely an intervention," the goth replied.
Bruno sighed. "I am fine, you know."
"And I bet that crick in your back from spending two nights in a chair feels great," Leone said wryly.
Bruno's father reached out to gently pat his cheek. "I'll be fine here, Bruno. I promise. I'm just going to sleep most of the day anyway."
Leone stared insistently, and Bruno finally stood up, indeed stretching out his sore back, as he grabbed his bag of dirty clothes.
"I'll take care of him," Leone promised Bruno's father and led him out as Bruno cast one last glance backward at the figure in the bed.
He did follow Leone out to the car, but he also couldn't stop thinking that the men who had done this to his father were still out there. What would happen if they found out that he wasn't actually dead?
He was surprised when they pulled up in front of his house to the sight of Giorno and Fugo loading up the truck with coolers of fish.
"What are you doing?" he asked incredulously as he got out of the car.
"It's Saturday, time to go to the market," Fugo told him.
"But where did the fish come from?"
"Your father taught me a lot, so I've been going out with some of the other men and helping out," Fugo said simply. "They give me a share of product to sell off."
"I've also taken on several jobs around the area to help people with their gardens and landscaping," Giorno added.
"We're making it work," Fugo said with a shrug. "You don't have to worry about it, okay?"
Bruno felt his eyes well suddenly and he forced the feeling down, not wanting to get emotional again. "I should go help you at least."
"No."
All three of them adamantly grabbed his shoulders and pushed him toward the house.
"You need to sleep," Fugo told him firmly.
"I'll go help them today," Leone said and Bruno raised an eyebrow. Leone rolled his eyes in return. "I promise not to scare any of your customers away."
Giorno loaded a box of freshly cut herbs into the backseat and climbed in after it. "We'll be fine. Just take the day to rest. Please."
Bruno watched them drive off and stood there for a second before he headed toward the house.
He took a hot shower, getting the smell of the hospital off of him, and simply crashed on his bed after barely spending the time to get under the covers.
He was asleep within seconds.
Bruno woke later, disoriented, to the sounds of distant voices and the banging of pans. He blinked blearily, glancing at his clock and seeing that it was 5 p.m. He'd somehow slept all day!
Bruno pushed himself up, still feeling groggy and exhausted, but threw on some real clothes and headed out to see what was going on.
Fugo, Giorno and Leone all seemed to be attempting to cook in the kitchen.
"It's boiling over!" Fugo snapped.
"I know, dammit!" Leone reached out to snatch the lid off the pan. "Shit!" he practically threw it on the counter as it burned his fingers.
"What are you doing?" Bruno asked, rubbing his eyes.
"Cooking dinner," Giorno replied over his shoulder with a wry smile.
"Well, there's definitely an attempt," Leone muttered.
"I kept telling you to follow the recipe," Fugo growled.
"There's not that many instructions!" Leone protested.
Bruno sat down at the table, figuring he would let them work this out and maybe there would be dinner at the end of it, but until then he was going to stay out of the way. There were already too many cooks in the kitchen.
Eventually food was produced and they all sat down to eat.
"We can bring some to your dad afterward if you want," Leone told him.
Bruno nodded in agreement. As someone who had tasted the hospital food, he wondered how anyone could be expected to get better on that stuff.
"Do you feel a little better now after getting rest?" Fugo asked him.
"Yes, I do," Bruno replied honestly. "How was the market today?"
"Good, we sold everything," Fugo said. "And Giorno picked up a couple more jobs."
"Don't work yourself too much," Bruno told him.
Giorno shook his head. "It's mostly the afternoons and weekends. Besides, I want something to do over the summer and if I can help make a little money, even better."
"You know you don't have to worry about that," Bruno tried, but was cut off.
"Bruno. It's the least we can do after everything your father has done for us," Fugo said sincerely and Giorno nodded. "We're glad to be able to give back."
"Then thank you," Bruno replied quietly, not knowing what else to say.
They finished dinner and Giorno went to pack some up for Bruno's father while Bruno grabbed some more stuff to bring to the hospital. He wasn't tired now after sleeping all day, and he would just feel better if he stayed with his father that night.
As he put his bag by the door, he glanced at the stack of mail on the table next to it, seeing the newspaper. Something caught his eye and he unfolded it.
His heart leapt into his throat.
The two pictures of the drug dealers Bruno had watched the sketch artist draw stared out from the page. He glanced over the words as his anxiety heightened.
'Local fisherman badly injured in drug deal gone wrong' the article headline said. 'If you have seen these men, please contact authorities.'
"What's wrong?"
Bruno snapped his head up to see Leone and the others staring at him worriedly. He showed them the paper. "Look at this! They just put a target on his back! Now these men know he's not dead!"
Fugo took the paper from him, frown deepening as he read it. "They might not even be in the city anymore, Bruno."
"I don't care," Bruno said and hurried toward the phone. He dug up the card the detective had given him and called the number.
"Hello?"
"This is Paolo Bucciarati's son," Bruno said. "You know what's in today's paper?"
"Kid, we're just doing our job."
"By using my father as bait?" he demanded.
There was a shuffling in the background and muffled swearing. "The article wasn't supposed to mention your father. We just asked them to share the sketches."
"Well you should have been a little more clear on that!" Bruno snapped. "Because if they see this, they'll know he's alive and they're not gonna like that!"
"They won't be able to just sneak into the hospital. Your father's safer there than he would be at home."
"How can you be sure?" Bruno demanded.
"Look, son, we're stretched thin enough here as it is. If you see anything suspicious, call me and I'll send a man to keep an eye on things."
Bruno huffed but that was probably as good as it was going to get so he simply hung up the phone.
"Are you okay?" Giorno asked quietly.
Bruno pressed his lips into a thin line. "Fine. Let's just go."
They made their way out to Leone's car and he drove them all back to the hospital.
There were still a couple hours' worth of visiting time so all four of them sat around and chatted quietly with Bruno's father. Fugo told him about going to the market and Giorno told him about his new gardening jobs. Bruno's father looked slightly bewildered but grateful at the news.
"You boys truly are a blessing," Bruno's father said gently.
Giorno and Fugo looked both embarrassed and pleased at the same time. "We're just returning the favor."
Leone glanced at his watch. "Visiting hours are almost over, we should probably get going."
Fugo stood up, packing up the empty dishes from the meal. "Bruno?"
The dark-haired boy nodded to his overnight bag. "I'm going to stay again tonight."
"Bruno," he father admonished. "I told you I'm fine here."
Bruno gave him a slightly tight smile. "I slept all day, Papa. I just feel better staying here with you at night."
His father's brows pinched just slightly. "Bruno, is something worrying you?"
Leone watched Bruno hesitate only slightly before he replied. "No, Papa, just…I just want to stay."
His father stared at him for a long moment but didn't say anything else. Leone cast Bruno a look but the other teen didn't return it.
He did walk them out of the room though, and once they were outside the door, he said, "You two should go over to Leone's for the night."
"What? Why?" Fugo asked. "We're fine at the house."
Bruno bit his lip but pressed on. "Look, I don't know where those men are. If they come after my father they could either try to find him in the hospital or at the house, and if it's the latter, then I don't want you to be there."
Fugo rolled his eyes and Giorno shifted uncomfortably. Leone pressed his lips together.
"He does have a point. It's fine if you come over anyway." He turned to raise his eyebrows pointedly at Fugo, hoping he too would vote for making Bruno worry as little as possible right now.
Fugo thankfully seemed to catch on. "Okay, but I need to be at the marina early."
Leone nodded. "That's fine."
"Have a good night," Bruno told them.
"You too," Giorno replied as he followed Leone and Fugo out of the hospital.
They were just passing the nurse's station in the main lobby when Leone caught a name.
"Which room is Paolo Bucciarati in?"
Leone whipped his head around to see a slightly rough and disheveled man at the front desk.
"Visiting hours are over for the day," the nurse said, nonplussed, as she pointed to the sign on the desk. "You'll have to come back tomorrow."
"But what room is he in?" the man asked. "In case I want to call in before I come."
"238."
Leone nudged Fugo's shoulder. "Is that one of the other fishermen?" he asked in a low voice.
Fugo turned around to look, brows furrowing. "No…but he does look familiar."
Giorno grabbed Leone's sleeve and when the goth turned to look at him, his face was pale. "That's because he's one of the men from the police sketches," he murmured.
"Shit," Leone muttered as he watched the man leave quickly. "Bruno was right."
They hurried over to the nurses' station. "Excuse me," Leone said. "That man who was just here—do not let him in to see Signore Bucciarati, in fact if you see him again, call the police because he's the man who put him in here."
The woman paled slightly, reaching for the phone. "I should call them now…"
"Whatever you need to do, just don't let that man in here," Fugo told her firmly.
They hurried outside and Leone searched for the man, trying to see if he'd gotten into a car so they could get a license plate. "Shit, he's gone."
"What do we do now?" Giorno asked. "We should tell Bruno."
"If the police come to keep an eye on things, then it should be fine," Fugo said, but sounded doubtful.
"We can't expect them to wait for tomorrow," Leone muttered. "If they want him dead, they'll sneak in tonight when there's fewer staff around."
"What do we do then?" Giorno asked.
Leone looked around. "There's no telling if the police will actually show up, or stay. I think we need to do our own stakeout."
It was encroaching after midnight and Leone leaned his chair back, trying to keep himself awake.
"This is not exactly an exciting pastime," Giorno said blandly from the back.
Leone sighed. "A large percentage of investigation is waiting. I need to get used to it I guess." He just hoped his excuse of 'they were staying with Bruno a little longer' was enough to get his parents to not worry about them being out so late. He doubted they would enjoy getting another call from the police if Leone and the others were forced to step in again. After all, it wasn't just delinquent classmates this time.
He spotted Fugo walking back toward the car from his trip to the gas station down the street, and leaned over to open the door for him.
Fugo got in and handed out coffees to everyone. "Still nothing?"
"No," Leone told him, taking a grateful sip of the coffee.
"What are we actually going to do if we do see them?" Fugo asked.
Leone took another contemplative sip. "Don't know. I guess alert hospital security."
Fugo eyed him. "Because I hope you're not thinking—"
"I'm not stupid, they have weapons," Leone grunted, glancing at his watch again.
"If you're tired, we can take turns sleeping," Giorno told him.
"No, I'm fine," Leone replied, before movement caught his eye and he sat up straighter. "What's that?"
They all turned around to see what he was talking about and Giorno's hand was already on the door handle. "Two men are heading in the janitorial entrance."
"Are you sure they're not doctors?" Leone asked.
"They're not wearing scrubs, and it looks like one of them is wearing the same thing that man was earlier. Same hair color too."
Leone swore and got out of the car too, grabbing his phone. "Do you remember the extension to the room?"
Fugo grabbed it from him and dialed the number as they hurried toward the lobby. "Shit, Bruno's not picking up," he said and they hurried faster, bursting through the doors.
"Is there some kind of emergency?" the nurse at the station asked them.
"You need to get hospital security up to room 238 now," Leone snapped, the three of them not stopping to explain as they rushed down the hallway.
"Excuse me?!" the nurse called after them. "Visitors are not allowed in here right now!"
They ignored her and kept going.
"You think they'll try to stop us instead?" Giorno asked.
"The more security that shows up the better," Leone snapped as they rushed up the stairs, hoping they beat the drug dealers to their destination.
Bruno had stepped out to grab a snack and coffee from the vending machine, leaving his father in a deep, medicated sleep. At least he was getting rest and rarely in a lot of pain. Bruno did worry about the fact that the doctor had said they would be weaning him off of the heavy stuff soon though. But then, he knew the recovery wouldn't be easy.
It was just something they were going to have to live with now. But he was sure they would get through it.
The door was slightly ajar and Bruno pushed it open with his foot.
There was a brief moment when he saw a silhouetted figure by the window and then an arm wrapped around him from behind, hand clamping over his mouth as something cold and sharp was pressed to his throat.
"Move and I'll cut you," a voice growled into his ear.
Bruno's heart beat heavily in his chest, frantically trying to decide what he was going to do as he watched the second man approaching his father's bed.
"Do it," the man holding Bruno grunted.
"What about the brat?"
"We'll take him with us and dump him once we get out of the city."
Bruno snarled and bit the man's hand.
"Shit!"
"Papa!" Bruno shouted as the hand was snatched from his face.
His father's eyes slid open then widened as he took in the man standing over him with a knife.
"Take him out!" the man holding Bruno demanded, trying to keep a firm grip on him.
"No!" Bruno cried.
His father had already reached up and grabbed the man's wrist, stopping the knife right before it plunged into his chest. But in his weakened state, Bruno knew he wouldn't be able to hold on long.
Everything happened at once then.
The door burst open.
"Bruno!"
The appearance of Leone, Giorno and Fugo was the distraction Bruno needed. He slammed his fist back into the man's groin and as he staggered back, swearing, Bruno wrenched out of his grasp, the man's knife slicing across his arm as he did.
Bruno launched himself at the other man, grabbing his knife arm and wrenching it away from his father.
The man who had been holding him went for his back, but Leone surged forward and tackled him to the ground, attempting to disarm him as Fugo and Giorno joined the fray.
Bruno took an elbow to the ribs and the man grabbed at him with his free hand, trying to shove him away, grabbing a chuck of his hair and pulling.
Bruno held on, hauling the man back as he heard further struggle behind him. He was just trying to get the knife away from his father.
"Bruno!"
Giorno had picked up a tray and slammed it into the back of the man's head.
He went down, but dragged Bruno and his father with him, the injured man landing heavily on the ground.
That was when the hospital security finally showed up, rushing in to help Leone and Fugo detain the one man and scrape the other off the floor.
"Call the police," Bruno gasped as he crawled toward his father. "And a doctor, call a doctor!"
Leone staggered to his feet, looking slightly disheveled but uninjured. He crouched next to Bruno.
"You're bleeding," he said.
Bruno glanced down at his arm and saw blood flowing out and dripping onto the floor pretty rapidly. He felt suddenly woozy but he swallowed the feeling down. Leone swore and grabbed a handkerchief out of his pocket, wrapping it tightly around Bruno's arm.
He winced, but was too focused on his father to care. "Papa," he whispered, as he held his father's head in his lap. The man's face was scrunched up in pain, breathing heavily. Some alarm was going off on a monitor but Bruno couldn't tell if that was because several sensors had been dislodged when his father fell or not.
Everything was a blur. Doctors rushed in and he was forced to move as they worked to get his father resituated. Once they saw how much Bruno was bleeding, he was whisked away to an exam room with Giorno and Leone in tow while Fugo stayed to explain to the security what had happened.
"You're going to need stitches," the nurse told him as he cleaned Bruno's wound and pressed hard enough to make his whole arm ache from shoulder to wrist as he tried to slow the bleeding.
Bruno gritted his teeth and looked up to Leone and Giorno. "Can someone please go see if my father is okay?"
Giorno nodded and hurried off as the nurse turned back to Bruno's arm and gave him a shot to numb the area.
Bruno breathed through his nose, blinking back the nauseous feeling of the stitches pulling through his skin. He swayed slightly and Leone reached out to grab his shoulder, steadying him.
He looked toward the door when Giorno came back though.
"He's okay. The doctors gave him some extra medicine for the pain but they said he didn't sustain any further injury in the fall."
Bruno sighed in relief and Leone squeezed his shoulder.
When they were finished, and Bruno's arm was bandaged, they headed back to the room and were told that the police were on their way.
Bruno watched his father sleep for a couple minutes, then took a breath and pulled the chair back over to the bed.
"What were you even doing here?" he asked the others.
Leone folded his arms across his chest. "We saw a guy who looked like one of those sketches asking for your father. We told the desk to call the police if he came back but didn't think they'd wait until tomorrow, so we waited for them."
Bruno ran a hand through his hair, wincing as his fingers found the spot where the man had nearly yanked a hunk from his head. "You should have told me."
"We didn't think they'd get that far," Fugo said.
Regardless, Bruno was still glad they had come. If they hadn't…
Leone sighed. "I guess I should go call my parents before they hear it from someone else."
The detectives who had been working the case showed up in not too much longer and took their statements. Bruno was still annoyed that they had been partly responsible for the men coming after his father, but he was honestly too tired to be angry right now.
"It's over now," the detective told him as he and his partner left. "They're in custody and your dad's safe."
Bruno nodded and turned back to his father.
"Are you going to stay here for the rest of the night?" Fugo asked him.
Bruno nodded, not even being able to consider leaving his father's side. "Yes. Tomorrow…tomorrow I'll go back home."
The others nodded and Leone, Giorno and Fugo left as Bruno once again sat watching the monitors that kept track of his father's heartbeat.
The quiet beeping actually worked to lull him into a sleep that night and he laid his head down on the side of the bed beside his father's shoulder and got what sleep he could.