Page 184 of Ghost Ribbon

His parents came a little after I was allowed in. His mother cried the instant she saw him. She kissed his head over and over, murmuring in Italian.

His father stood beside her with one hand over his mouth and the other braced on the bed rail. He leaned down and kissed Marco’s forehead with a sort of stunned reverence that made it look as if he still couldn’t believe his son was still physically in front of him.

I watched from the corner.

That had become my place when family arrived. I stayed close enough to intervene if needed and far enough not to intrude on blood.

Then Rei and Ilya came.

And peace, apparently, had to leave with them.

Ilya came in first. He saw Marco in bed and his entire body lit up with reckless intention.

“Mario!” he blurted, already lunging forward.

He fucking launched.

Rei grabbed the back of his shirt so fast the fabric jerked tight against Ilya’s throat.

“Are you insane?” Rei hissed, yanking him back. “Don’t you see he’s fragile? Where are you jumping like a monkey?”

Ilya stumbled backward with all the offended dignity of a cat thrown out of a room.

“I was not jumping like a monkey,” he said. “I was approaching with enthusiasm.”

“With stupidity,” Rei shot back.

“Excuse you. My enthusiasm is one of my best traits.”

“Not in a surgical recovery room.”

Marco looked between them, back and forth, like he was watching a tennis match.

Ilya pointed dramatically at Rei. “You are being mean to me in front of a patient.”

“You are being a hazard in front of a patient.”

Ilya put a hand over his chest as if wounded. “That is deeply hurtful, coming from someone whose boyfriend threatened a florist into staying open at midnight.”

Rei straightened. “That was not a threat.”

“It was absolutely a threat,” I said from the corner.

Three heads turned toward me.

Rei narrowed his eyes. “I don’t remember asking you.”

“You didn’t need to. It happened.”

Ilya, opportunistic as always, immediately pointed at me. “See? Mafia consensus.”

Rei rolled his eyes so hard I was surprised he stayed upright. “You’re both ridiculous.”

Marco made a small sound that might have been a laugh.

That sound hit the room like sunlight.

Everyone froze for half a second.