The Soldier's Secret Child

Vito sat on the edge of the bed, looking distinctly uncomfortable as Nonna sat up in bed to inspect his cheek and brush his hair back behind his ears.

She felt a quick defensiveness on Vito’s behalf. Sure, the scars were noticeable. But to Lacey, they added to his rugged appeal.

Nonna saw her and her weathered face broke into a smile, her eyes sparkling behind large glasses. “There’s my sweet girl. Come in and see my boy Vito.”

“We talked already, Nonna.” Vito was rubbing the back of his neck. “Lacey, I didn’t realize you were taking care of my grandma to this extent. I’ll take her home tomorrow.”

“Oh, no!” Lacey said. “I’m so happy to do it!”

“I can’t go home!” Nonna said at the same time.

“Why not?” Vito looked from Nonna to Lacey and back again.

“I need my nursing help,” Nonna explained. “Lacey, here, is a wonderful nurse. She’s practically saved my life!”

Lacey’s cheeks burned. “I’m really a Certified Nursing Assistant, not a nurse,” she explained. “And I haven’t done anything special, just helped with medications and such.” In truth, she knew she’d helped Nonna D’Angelo with the mental side as well as the physical, calming her anxiety and making sure she ate well, arranging some outings and visits so the woman didn’t sink into the depression so common among people with her health issues.

“Medications? What’s wrong?”

“It’s my heart,” Nonna started to explain.

Vito had the nerve to chuckle. “Oh, now, Nonna. You’ve been talking about your heart for twenty years, and you never needed a nurse before.”

“Things are different now.” The older woman’s chin quivered.

He reached out and patted her arm. “You’ll be fine.”

Lacey drew in a breath. Should she intervene? Families were sometimes in denial about the seriousness of a beloved relative’s health problems, and patients sometimes shielded their families from the truth.

“If you want to move your grandma, that’s fine,” she said, “but I’d recommend waiting a couple more weeks.”

“That’s right.” Nonna looked relieved. “Lacey needs the money and I need the help.”

Vito frowned. “Can we afford this?” He looked down at his grandma and seemed to realize that the woman was getting distressed. “Tell you what, Grandma, Lacey and I will talk about this and figure some things out. I won’t leave without saying goodbye.”

“All right, dear.” She shot a concerned glance at Lacey.

She leaned down in the guise of straightening a pillow for Nonna. “I’ll explain everything,” she reassured her.

She led the way to the front room, out of earshot from Nonna D’Angelo. Then she turned to Vito, frowning. “You don’t think I’m taking advantage of your grandma, do you?”

“No!” He reached for her, but when she took a step back, he crossed his arms instead. “I would never think that, Lacey. I know you. I just don’t know if you’ve thought this through.”

She restrained an eye roll. “You always did like to interfere when your help wasn’t needed.”

“Look, if this is about that talk we had years back...” He waved a dismissive hand. “Let’s just forget that.”

She knew exactly what he meant. As soon as Vito had found out Gerry had proposed, he’d come storming over to her house and pulled her out onto the front porch to try and talk her out of it. “You were wrong,” she said now.

“I wasn’t wrong.” When she opened her mouth to protest, he held up a hand. “But I was wrong to interfere.”

That wasn’t exactly what she’d said, but whatever.

“But back to my grandma. I don’t know what her insurance is like, but I know it hardly ever covers in-home nursing care. I’m living on limited means and until I get back on my feet—”

“It’s handled. It’s fine.”

He ran a hand through his thick, dark hair. “She’s always tended to be a hypochondriac—”

“A heart attack is nothing to take lightly.”

“A heart attack?” Vito’s jaw dropped. “Nonna had a heart attack?”

His surprise was so genuine that her annoyance about what she’d thought was neglect faded away. “About two weeks ago. She didn’t tell you?”

“No, she didn’t tell me. Do you think I’d have stayed away if I’d known?” His square jaw tightened. “Not a word. How bad was it?”

Lacey spread her hands. “Look, I’m just a CNA. You should definitely talk to her doctor.”

“But from what you’ve seen, give me a guess.”

Outside, she could hear people talking quietly. Dishes rattled in the kitchen, the girls cleaning up. She blew out a breath. “It was moderate severity. She had some damage, and there are some restrictions on what she can do. Changes she needs to make.”

“What kind of changes?” He thrust his hands in his pockets and paced. “I can’t believe she had a heart attack and I didn’t know. Why didn’t you call me?”

“It’s her business what she tells people.”

His mouth twisted to one side. “C’mon, Lace.”

“I’m serious. Patients have the right to confidentiality. I couldn’t breach that. In fact,” she said, stricken, “I probably shouldn’t have told you even now.”

“You’re my friend. You can tell me as a friend. Now, what kind of changes? What does she need to do to get back on her feet?”

She perched on the arm of an overstuffed chair. “You can probably guess. It’s a lot about diet. She needs to start a gentle exercise program. I have her walking around the block twice a day.”

He stared. “Nonna’s walking? Like, for exercise?”

“I know, right?” She smiled a little. “It wasn’t easy to talk her into it. I make sure we have an interesting destination.”

“How did you get so involved?”

She let her forehead sink down into her hand for just a second, then looked back up. Vito. He’d never take her seriously. He’d always been a big brother to her, and he always would be.

He held up a hand. “I’m not questioning it, Lacey. I’m grateful. And I feel awful having been out of the loop, not helping her. I’ve had lots of personal stuff going on, but that’s no excuse.”

His words flicked on a switch of interest in her, but she ignored it. “I worked her hall at the hospital, and since she knew me, we talked. She was worried about coming home alone, but she didn’t want to bother you, and your brother’s far away. I was looking to make a change, anyway, moving toward freelance home care so I could have time to finish renovating this place.” She waved an arm toward the unfinished breakfast area, currently walled off with sheets of plastic.

“So you made a deal with her.” He still sounded a little skeptical.