Chapter Fifty-Six - Fletcher

Dad shouted and shoved at the nurses attempting to get him to lie down in the hospital bed. I could hear him shouting from the first floor of the hospital when Levi and I arrived.

They wanted to start the operation within two hours of the break and they were attempting to get him ready to go back into surgery.

“Dad,” I said, slicing through his hysteria. “What are you doing?”

His furrowed brow made him look mean and he had a snarl on his face. “I don’t want surgery. I have things to do. I can't be down for this long. It's ridiculous."

Levi scoffed beside me.

“You can’t do anything with a broken hip. Let them operate, stop fussing with them and be finished with it. The sooner they operate, the sooner you can go into recovery," I said.

Dad grumbled as the nurses messed with his IV. “This is ridiculous. Those steps have never been slick, not even when it rains. I should sue the shoe company. I spent over one hundred dollars on these shoes and they failed me.”

Levi elbowed me.

I walked over to the railing of the bed. “Are you sure it was your shoes? Do you think someone could have put something on the steps?”

One of the nurses looked over at me, and I gave her a look that screamed mind your business. That's exactly what we needed. For a nurse to tell the police we think someone is sabotaging my father.

She hurried out of the room, while Dad sighed heavily. “The Capellos aren’t that stupid to have done something like that, Son.”

“Dad,” Levi said. “You took their supplier…”

I shot him a look. “You don’t worry about all of that. I’ve corrected it.”

“What the hell does that mean?” he asked. “You spoke to the Capellos without asking me first?”

I shrugged. The deed was done and he couldn’t change it now. “I spoke with him to get Ava’s sister back. She’s safe, no thanks to you."

Dad glared at me. “I know we spoke about you taking over, Fletcher, but that time hasn’t come yet. How dare you go and undo what I did to prove a point.”

I bent forward, my hands wrapped around the railing of his bed and looked at him. “That was my wife’s sister and you didn’t give two craps about her. I’m sorry if it offended you. Ava is a twin. This isn’t some distant family member. I solved the problem. Now, do you think the Capellos set you up to fall or not?”

Dad tore his steely gaze away from mine and stared at the door where we’d asked one of the guards to stand. “I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. My hip is broken. To be honest, you betraying me hurts worse than my hip.”

Levi chuckled behind me and I angrily shook my head. “You went behind our backs…”

“I’m your father,” he hissed. “I’m in control of this situation. I control this branch of the family tree. I can’t believe you,” he said.

I stepped back away from him when he angrily shoved me as hard as he could. I stumbled backward over the cords of the machine next to the bed and crashed into the wall.

I heard a loud crack when my side came in contact with the ridge of the window.

“What’s going on in here?” a nurse asked while scurrying into the room.

“He shoved me,” I said, correcting myself.

She frowned. “The pain medication he’s on can cause some people to become mean and act out of the ordinary. Maybe you both should go wait in the lobby. We’re taking him back for surgery soon.”

Levi gestured for me to follow him. I stalked behind him, not giving Dad a look as I glanced down at my cell phone. It was cracked from the hit against the wall.

“Crap,” I hissed. “I can’t get in touch with Ava. My cell phone is cracked.”

“You can use mine,” Levi said.

“I don’t know her number by heart yet,” I said, rubbing my forehead. “Maybe call one of the guards to check on her,” I said.

Levi led me toward the closest lobby while making a phone call. “They aren’t answering,” he said. “Let me call the house and see if Lucinda answers.”

I waited, watching the staff walk down the hallway and newcomers take a seat on the opposite side of the room.

Levi ended the call. “No one answered at the house either. Maybe Lucinda is cooking and didn’t hear it.”

I sat back in my seat, sliding my palms against my thighs. “Something feels wrong. Try the guards again.”

Levi pulled out his phone as a doctor walked into the room to greet us. “Hi. I’m Dr. Matthews. Are you Levi and Fletcher Hines?”

I stood to shake his hand while Levi ended the call. “Yes, we’re Mr. Hines’ sons.”

“Good deal. He had a clean break in his hip. We normally like to perform the surgery within two hours, so we’re right on time. The surgery should take one and a half to two hours. He will need to stay at least one night in the hospital. We’ll send him to a rehab…”

Levi laughed. “Dad isn’t going to like that.”

The doctor lifted his brows. “Well, it’s pricey but you could hire home health to come for a week or two before he’s able to live by himself.”

“Money isn’t an issue,” I said. “We’ll most likely do that. Dad’s stubborn…”

“…and mean,” Levi said. “Will he continue to take the pain medication?”

“Yes, I heard about the incident. Some patients turn angry while on it but it soothes the pain. We’ll figure out something that doesn’t get him so worked up. I’m going to head back, do either of you have any questions?”

“Not right now,” I said.

“Good. I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”

He left Levi and me in the waiting room and I slunk down to my seat. There was something tightening in my stomach that felt off. “Something isn’t right,” I mumbled. “I can feel it.”

Levi sighed. “You’ve become a worrier since you got married,” he replied while texting on his phone. “I’ll call Duke and have him go by the house to check on her. Will that suffice?”

I didn’t want to pull Duke away from watching the Capellos, but my need to know if she was okay outweighed it. “Ask him just to swing by for a second, but attempt not to lose Mr. Capello.”

Levi nodded, stood up and walked into the hallway to make the phone call. All the while, my stomach twisted into knots and I felt myself growing numb.

This wasn’t normal. This wasn’t right. Levi came back a few minutes later and sat down. “He’s going over to check on her. Calm down, I can’t practically smell your fear.”

Levi played some Casino game on his phone while I tapped my foot nervously. Every second that passed felt like an eternity. How long did it take to get to the house?

What was taking Duke so long? I tightened my fingers around my thighs and squeezed. Levi slapped my knee and gawked at me. “Dude, you seriously need to chill out. You have the house completely guarded and you think they got past all of the guards and into the house?”

“Crazier things have happened,” I mumbled.

Levi shook his head and dug his phone out slowly. Duke’s name flashed on the screen as I watched him answer it.

“Hey…” Levi stood up swiftly. “Hold up? What? Duke. Duke? Hello?”

Levi’s wide gaze shifted toward mine. “The guards are down…he hung up, I don’t know what happened.”

I was up and out of my seat before he could think to form another sentence. I ran down the hallway, shoving past staff members, earning heated looks and shouts for me to slow down.

But I couldn’t stop. I ran until my legs were burning, fumbling with the keys while trying to get into my car.

“Fletcher!” Levi shouted from the opposite side of the car. “What are we going to do? We don’t have any guns…”

I couldn’t think about guns. I pointed toward my glove compartment as I started the engine and sped out of the hospital parking lot. “There is one in there.”

Levi opened it up and handed it to me. I placed the cool steel into my lap and weaved in and out of traffic. My heart hammered in my chest and silenced the world around me.

If something happened to Ava I would never forgive myself.

I had to save her no matter what it cost me.