Indebted to the Mafia King

*Heidi*

I open my eyes, struggling to adjust to the bright, white walls and ceiling surrounding me. I have a major headache, my eyes sting, and I feel a tightness in my chest that makes it hard to breathe. I inhale sharply, and that makes me cough. A lot.

My throat burns, and when I think I can't handle it anymore, someone walks into my room, offering me a glass of water.

There's some sort of oxygen mask in the way, so I move it aside a bit and take the glass, gulping down the liquid, instantly feeling relief.

"How are you feeling?" the kind nurse asks in a sweet voice.

I cough a few more times and return the glass to her. She sets it on the table next to my bed.

"My chest feels heavy, and I have this awful headache. My throat is also bothering me, but other than that, I feel okay," I tell her.

"That's expected since you inhaled a lot of smoke. The doctor said you should recover soon, but you will need to spend the night in observation," the nurse explains.

That's when my memory starts to return, and I can picture everything that happened the store catching on fire, everything my family built gone in the blink of an eye.... Then I remember the angel who saved me from dying a terrible death. Did he bring me to the hospital? Did anyone else get hurt?

I try to get up from the bed, but the nurse kindly pushes me back against the pillow.

"Take it easy. You might still be short of breath, so try not to exert yourself. You must get your rest," she advises. "I'll call the doctor in to see you. Your grandparents are also outside waiting to speak to you. I'll tell them that you're awake." That makes me slightly calmer. Although, if they're here, I suppose they already know what happened. I don't know if I have the strength to face them. I can't see the look of sadness in my grandfather's eyes. I don't think I can handle it. "Thank you," is all I manage to say before the nurse disappears out the door.

While I wait for the doctor to show up, I force my brain to remember details of what happened. My mind is a bit foggy, and my head hurts as if someone is pounding my skull from inside, but I remember the commotion at the bar in front of the store, then cars coming to attack the men leaning against the front entrance, and after that, the explosion.

I don't understand exactly what caused the explosion, but considering the bar frequently has suspicious customers, I guess there might have been a gang fight or something like that. Maybe someone had a disagreement with a person who works at the bar and went back to get revenge?

Who knows?

The only thing I know for sure, even though I can't prove it, is that the bar owners have something to do with this. I feel it in my gut. And even if they're the victims in this case, I will make sure they pay for the loss they made me and my family suffer.

The doctor arrives to check on me, interrupting my thoughts, but I can barely focus on what he's saying because there's too much going on in my own head. I picture different ways to approach those sulky men I assume own the joint once I'm released from the hospital.

Only my grandmother is able to pull me out of my own head when she shoots into the room as soon as the doctor leaves, her eyes filled with unshed tears.

"Oh, Heidi, honey," she cries as she comes to my side, grabbing my hand and squeezing it tight. "I'm so glad you're safe. You scared us to death!"

"I'm sorry, Granny," I reply with a hoarse voice. My throat still hurts, but I don't want to freak her out even more. I do feel better anyway, so I guess the worst has passed. "I'm so glad you and Grandpa weren't at home. I can't even imagine...." I shiver just thinking about it. I barely made it out. I wouldn't have been able to get them out by myself if they had been there at the time of the explosion. The whole building was evacuated, from what I heard, and several of the upper apartments sustained damage. Thank God they were upstate.

Which reminds me...

"Is it Christmas already?" I ask, looking at the window. Thick curtains cover it, preventing me from seeing the city outside, so I don't know if it's night or day. "How long have I been out?"

"It doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that you're alive," Grandma assures me, patting my hand.

"Where's Grandpa? The nurse said you were both waiting for me."

"He's speaking with the insurance company on the phone. He'ill be here in a minute," she answers, pulling up a chair to sit beside me.

"Did they manage to save anything?" I don't want to hear the answer to that, but I can't lay here not knowing what happened.

She looks down at our clasped hands and shakes her head. "We lost everything. Even the apartment upstairs. It could be months before we can go back after all the smoke damage."

I swallow hard, fighting back the tears that sting my eyes. I won't cry in front of her. I don't want her to see how distraught I am. Or how guilty I feel, even though none of this was my fault.

I just can't bear the thought of them losing what they spent their entire lives building. I know they would hate to see me like that. I need to be strong for them, but the thought of losing our store, everything we ever owned, is overwhelming. "I'm sorry you have to spend your Christmas in a hospital room with me," I say instead, an emotionless tone to my voice. I try to shoot her a soft smile to reassure her though.

"Oh, don't be silly, sweetheart. I'm just glad you're okay. And it's not like you'll spend the entire day here. The doctor said you'll be released in the morning, so we will still have time to have lunch together as a family," she retorts, leaning back in the chair and pulling her phone out of her purse. "I'll call your grandfather and tell him to come before visitor's hours are over."

He shows up ten minutes later, saying the insurance company is going to investigate the fire and let him know what will be covered and what won't be. I bite back a retort, not wanting to stress them even more. Grandpa seems irritated enough already.

"Your Aunt Janet has an extra bedroom at her apartment on the East Side," Granny says softly, her eyes full of pity. "I think you should stay there for the time being-at least while the old apartment is being cleaned out and the store is-the store is being salvaged." I can tell by the look on her face that there's nothing salvageable, but she continues, swallowing hard, "Remember how Grandpa and I were discussing moving upstate to that nice, little retirement community were our friends live? A spot opened up. We were going to decline, but... this feels like fate, now. I think it's time we move out of the city."

"But, what about the book shop?"

"Honey," she says gently, shaking her head. "It's a total loss. Even if the insurance company covers what we lost, I'm not sure we can rebuild in the same location... Not with all the bureaucracy with the city, and the owners of the building." "So, that's it?"

"Maybe," she replies sadly. "Grandpa's doing what he can, trying to get a timeline in the event he can reopen the shop but he's old, Honey. He-he hoped to pass the shop down to you, and he's still fighting for that." "Then I'll stay. I'll stay and clean up this mess myself."

"Or, you could come with us, rest and recover in the clean air of upstate New York?"

"That won't be necessary, Granny. I appreciate the offer, but I'll do everything in my power to get our apartment and our store restored as soon as possible," I interrupt her kindly.novelbin

"You still need a place to stay until we figure out what to do," Grandpa intervenes, entering the room. "And it's not like you have money to restore the entire place by yourself. We will have to wait and see what the insurance company says about it. Darling, did you mention her Aunt Janet's open room?"

I hate feeling like my hands are tied. He's right. There's nothing I can do by myself. I don't have the money, I don't have the connections... I have nothing. I only have them. I only had the store.

"I hate to say it, but this feels like a fresh start, for all of us. Heidi, you've been taking care of us for far too long. Now you need to take care of yourself, live a little. Young women your age would have been out at parties on Christmas Eve instead of working their tails off-"

Grandpa's phone rings. He checks, mumbling something about how he needs to take it, and leaves the room.

I swallow past the obvious burns in my throat and turn my gaze to Granny. "I'm not giving up on the shop."

"I know," she whispers, patting my leg. "Once your grandpa figures out the insurance, it'll go... to you. We don't need it, and we have some money set aside to help you into your own place. It's not a lot, but while we love your old Aunt Janet, living with her... There's better out there."

"I can fix all of this, Granny. You and Grandpa won't have to go to the retirement home-not yet. We'll just-find a place to stay, together, and rebuild the shop-"

"We know that. And we really appreciate it. But you should live your life and not have to worry about us," she argues.

"Yes, I will always worry about you," I disagree. "If not me, then who? You'd do the same for me."

Granny grabs my hand, her eyes filled with love but also something else I can't quite name. "We'll feel much better knowing you're well on your own. We won't be here for much longer, and knowing you'll be fine by yourself is the best thing you can do for us right now," she explains.

I bite my lower lip, not wanting to cry and not wanting to imagine a world without them in it.

"Also, the retirement community we chose is outstanding. It has everything we could ever wish for. I guess it was a good idea to start saving money when we did so now we can afford something like this," Granny muses, smiling widely at me. "All of our friends are there, and it was time, Honey. Now it's time for you to move on, too."

I gulp, looking away from her. I can't look at her right now.

I hate that I can't give them a better life. I hate that I can't do anything to help. And I hate even more that I can't provide for them the way they have provided for me my entire life.

With renewed determination, I promise myself that, as soon as I'm out of this hospital, I'll do whatever I can to find whoever is responsible for the situation we're in and make them pay for this.