Dino by Jaime Lewis

Chapter EIGHTEEN

Arianna sat in the chair next to her dad’s bed listening to the different sounds of machines hooked up to him. There was still no change in his condition.

Dino had dropped her off a few hours ago. He had told her to call him when she was ready, and he’d come pick her up. She tried to get him to take her to Bayside to get her car, but then he had reminded her that Bruno had picked up her keys that she left in the office.

She wasn’t sure what she would’ve done last night without Dino. Usually, she was level-headed and could work through any situation put in front of her. However, that wasn’t the case for her dad and the news she was faced with last night. She had been shaken to her core and was scared. She was still scared because the doctors still didn’t know what brought all of it on. All of the routine tests showed nothing out of the ordinary. There were still more intensive tests being run, and doctors had told her that those tests could take up to twenty-four hours to get the results back.

She still wasn’t sure if she was going to go to the bonfire. From what Dino described, it sounded like it would be a wonderful time to spend with her friends, but she didn’t want her presence to sour the mood for everyone. That wasn’t fair when it was meant to be a joyous occasion.

She did text Victoria to let her know that there still hadn’t been any change. She wasn’t surprised not to get a response back. That woman needed to go away, but for some reason, her dad kept her around, which was perplexing because, under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t put up with her type of behavior. But that was another battle for another day. The fight right now was making sure that her dad lived.

She watched the machine that measured her dad’s vitals. At first, she had no clue what all of the numbers meant, but one of the nurses had given her a quick tutorial on what they stood for and what her dad's numbers should be.

She sat forward in the chair and took his hand in hers, being careful to avoid the IV line sticking out of his hand. His skin felt cool to the touch.

“I wish you’d wake up and tell me what happened to you,” she said to him. Both the doctors and nurses said it was good if she spoke with him. They noted that many patients who were in comas could hear what was going on around them. “It’s not your time yet. I know deep in my heart that you still have a lot of fight left in you, and I want you to fight like to hell to get through whatever’s holding you back.”

She dropped her head, and the tears started to build. “You’re all I have left,” she told him.

She heard voices near the door, and when she looked up, two doctors were standing in the doorway.

“Ms. Roland?” The taller, dark-haired one with glasses asked.

“Yes.” She wiped her eyes and stood up when the doctors entered the room.

“I’m Dr. Rowtowski, and this is Dr. Bradford.” Both gentlemen shook her hand, and she greeted them.

Dr. Rowtowski spoke first. “When your dad was brought to the hospital last night, the emergency room doctors attended to him. As we advance, I’ll be your dad’s primary doctor while he’s in our care. I’ve already notified his primary care physician of his condition. Dr. Bradford here is a toxicologist.”

Arianna knew what a toxicologist was, and it concerned her why he was there.

“Arianna, as the doctor told you last night, we had sent off additional blood work to be tested for other substances.”

She shifted on her feet and had a queasy feeling in her stomach anticipating what Dr. Bradford was going to tell her.

“I’m guessing, since you’re here, that you found something.”

Dr. Rowtowski motioned to the chairs in the room. “Let’s all have a seat.”

Arianna sat down, which was good because her legs had started to tremble as the anxiety, she was feeling continued to build.  Her nerves were shot. because her nerves were running wild.

“Arianna, has your dad ever had suicidal thoughts?” Dr. Rowtowski asked, and Arianna quickly answered.

Suicide? “No! That’s absurd. Never.”

Dr. Rowtowski gave her a soft smile. “Okay, that is good to hear.”  He then glanced over to Dr. Bradford and nodded his head to go ahead with whatever he was going to say.

“Your dad’s blood had an extremely high concentration of cyanide—levels that were so high that he shouldn’t have survived.”

Arianna was stunned for a moment. She blinked a few times, staring at both doctors waiting for them to tell her that they were kidding, although it would’ve been a really sick joke. She sat up straighter and looked at Dr. Bradford. “I’m sorry. Did you say cyanide? As in the poison?”

“Yes.”

She sank back into the chair. Her mind started going a mile a minute. How could her dad have gotten cyanide poisoning?

“I know this probably comes as a shock to you. To be honest, we were shocked when we received the results. Has he acted any differently in the last few days?

“He wasn’t feeling well the day before. He complained of dizziness, fatigue. He thought it was one of those twenty-four-hour bugs.”

Dr. Rowtowski wrote down notes on his notepad. “Was he taking any medications that you know of?”

“No. He’s normally a very healthy man. He exercises regularly, he eats well.”

“Well, being physically fit may have helped him.”

“Now that you know what it is, is there something that can be done to help him more?” She asked, even though she couldn’t stop thinking about where he had gotten cyanide from. Again, her mind started to wander in many different directions.

“Yes, we have a treatment plan that we will get started right away now that we know what we’re dealing with. Because of the severity, we are going to administer the antidote hydroxocobalamin along with one hundred percent oxygen. The hydroxocobalamin will detoxify the cyanide. Then the two combined will produce nontoxic vitamin B-12.  This will neutralize the cyanide at a slow enough rate to allow the enzyme rhodanese to help boost detoxifying the cyanide in the liver.”

Arianna had no clue what all of that meant, but if it helped save her dad, then she was up for it.

“Do whatever you think is necessary.”

Dr. Rowtowski nodded. “Okay, we will get started right away. In the meantime, if you have any questions for either one of us, don’t hesitate to contact us. Also, Arianna, cyanide isn’t a chemical that is easily accessible to just anyone. My suggestion, especially if your dad was not looking to commit suicide, is to contact the police department and talk with them.”

“I will. My dad and I have many contacts in law enforcement. I’ll be sure to touch base with them today. Once you start the antidote process, is there any sort of time frame that he should wake up?”

“He is stable, and the antidote should help, but now it's on him to wake up from it.”

Both doctors stood. “Do you have any other questions for us?”

She couldn’t think of any off the top of her head, but she was pretty sure she’d have some later after everything they just told her had a chance to settle in her brain.

“Not right now. Oh, actually, there is one thing. My dad’s girlfriend. Would it be okay if she’s allowed to visit? Just for short periods of time?”

“As long you are okay with it, we can add her name to the access list.”

“Thank you. I’ll speak with the nurses before I leave today.”

They both said goodbye and left. She walked over to her dad and leaned over him, and kissed his cheek. “You heard them, Dad. It’s up to you now. Don’t give up.”

“Excuse me, Ms. Roland?”

Arianna turned just as a nurse walked in. She recognized her as one of the nurses from last night.

“Hi. And please call me Arianna.”

The nurse smiled. “I wanted to come by and introduce myself. My name is Brianna, and I’ll be one of the nurses assigned to your father. I’m going to leave my contact information with you. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out.”

Arianna took the sheet of paper that Brianna handed to her.

“Thank you.”

“I saw Dr. Rowtowski and Dr. Bradford leave. They are some of the best doctors here at the hospital.”

“That’s encouraging to hear, especially right now.”

“I know it’s tough. The hardest part is waiting. I can assure you that your dad is in good hands.”

“Thank you. I appreciate everything everyone here has done already to help my dad.”

“If you’d like, you’re welcome to bring some items from home—like pictures, a blanket for him, or anything else you’d think he might like.”

“Okay. I can swing by his place and grab a few things.” And while she was there, she’d have a look around and do a little investigating herself. At least she would if Victoria wasn’t around.

◆◆◆

The elevator opened to the second floor, and Dino walked off and was greeted by a dark-haired lady who smiled at him.

“Hi there. Can I help you?”

“Hi. I was looking for a patient's daughter. I dropped her off this morning.”

“What’s the patient's name?”

“Paul Roland.”

The nice lady gave him a warm smile.

“Oh! You must be talking about Arianna.”

He smiled. “Yes, ma’am.”

“She is a sweetheart. She left a little over an hour ago.”

He wondered how she left, considering she didn’t have her car. But that would explain why she hadn’t called him to come and get her.

“Do you know if anyone else came up to see him that she left with?”

“I don’t know if she left with anyone, but I can tell you that nobody else was in to see Mr. Roland today.”

“Okay, thank you, ma’am.”

She chuckled. “There is no need for the ma’am.”

He lowered his head slightly. “Sorry. It’s a habit.”

“Ah…military?”

“Yes, ma’am.” They both laughed.

He looked through the glass and could see Paul lying in bed.

“Has there been any change in his condition?” He asked.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t give any information out unless the family approves it,” she said very apologetically.

“Right. Sorry, I forgot.”

She smiled and glanced into Paul’s room. “He’s still with us so that in itself is positive news,” she winked.

And boy was it. “That is true,” he replied.

He didn’t want to take any more of her time, so he thanked her again and made his way out of the hospital and to his car.  As he pulled out of the parking lot, he looked at the time. He had about thirty minutes before he was supposed to meet everyone at the beach.

Arianna had been on his mind all day, and he was worried about her. He hit her number on his phone, and it started to ring. After the third ring, it went to voicemail. He decided to swing by her house and make sure she was okay.

When he stopped at a red light, he sent Ace a text telling him that he might be a few minutes late.

When he arrived at Arianna’s house, he got no answer at the door. Not even a bark from Nigel. He waited for about fifteen minutes, thinking she may have taken Nigel for a walk. When the fifteen minutes passed, he got in his car and drove to the beach approach. Since he was in charge of bringing half of the beer, he couldn’t be too late.

As he drove past the restaurant, he saw her car was still parked in the same spot as last night. He tried to call her one more time but again got her voicemail.

He parked and got out of the car. He could see the large group gathered down by the water. He grabbed the cooler from the back of the vehicle then started down the path. Then he thought, maybe she was already down there and had gotten a ride from Alex or Tenley. If not, hopefully, someone had spoken with her.

◆◆◆

Arianna looked out toward the water. She didn’t want to bother Dino since she knew he was at work, so she called Bruno and asked if he could come and get her from the hospital. When he picked her up, she explained what the doctors told her about the cyanide. She didn’t think she had ever seen Bruno that pissed off before. When she asked him if he knew of any reason her dad may have come in contact with the chemical, Bruno had told her that the only way her dad would have ever gone near that stuff was if someone deliberately put it in him.

They went by her dad’s house first. Since Victoria wasn’t home, they let themselves in. While she grabbed a few things to take to the hospital tomorrow, Bruno looked around the house and her dad’s work shed in the backyard. He couldn’t find anything, which left more questions.

Bruno agreed that she should talk to the police. He was good friends with the Chief of Police, so he gave him a call and explained the situation. The Chief knew her dad and was not happy with the situation.  He asked her to come down to the station and file a report and talk to investigators. She spent about an hour there talking to the Chief and a detective who the Chief assigned to work on the case. She signed some papers giving the hospital the authority to release her dad’s records. They asked both her and Bruno if there was anybody that they knew of who would want to have Paul killed. Neither one could name one person. The Chief told her to let him look over some things and that either he or the detective would reach out to her. In the meantime, if Paul’s condition changed, let him know immediately, especially if he woke up.

It had been a rough, tiring day, and she wasn’t sure if she was feeling up to hanging with her friends tonight.

She kept thinking back to her conversation with Dr. Bradford when he returned later in the day to see how her dad was responding to the antidote. He believed with the levels of cyanide in his system, being where he was found in his house, and how the chemical had attacked his body that he had ingested it.

While the doctor was there, she had tried calling Victoria to ask her a few questions, but of course, she got no answer. However, a few minutes later, she did send her a text telling her that she was out with a friend and that she would call her later. That bothered Arianna because Victoria had put on one hell of a show the night the hospital staff wouldn’t allow her back to see him. If she were that concerned for him, she’d be sitting by his side, especially now that Arianna had added her name to the visitor list. It also cast a shadow on Victoria and showed the person she indeed was.

She looked to the right, down towards the beach approach, and saw a large fire and big crowd. A tear fell from her eye and rolled down her cheek.  Just then a gust of wind blew, sending her long locks of hair blowing in her face. She shivered and felt on edge.

As much as she wanted to be around her friends, it wouldn’t be fair to show up in her mood and ruin the fun evening for everyone. With the restaurant closed for the night, she’d take the free time to catch up on some administrative items that Bruno told her about, plus she needed to get the payroll submitted into the system so the checks would be disbursed on time.  And she had started to organize the two, four-drawer file cabinets her dad had that were full of papers—many of which could probably be shredded because they were so old.

She glanced down to tell Nigel to go inside, but he wasn’t where he had been lying. She looked all around the patio deck, but there was no sign of him. He was lying right next to her; how had she not heard him get up? Had she been that far inside her own head that she hadn’t realized he got up?

Feeling a little panicked, she scanned up and down the beach. Just as she was about to go inside to grab a flashlight so she could look on the beach, movement down by the water caught her eye. Once she could focus on the object, she saw it was not one but two dogs. She couldn’t make out if one was Nigel, so she started down the steps to the sand.

By the time she made it halfway down, the two dogs had taken off towards where the bonfire party was going on. Judging from how one of the dogs ran, she was almost one hundred percent that it was Nigel. He had a little bounce in his large stride. Trying to get him to stop, she whistled loudly.

As she jogged in the dogs' direction, she saw someone walking towards her with one of the dogs in tow. She slowed her jog to a brisk walk. Damn, she needed to start running again. She had slacked off since she didn’t have to fit herself into revealing lingerie.

Her stride came to a complete stop when she got a good look at who the kind Samaritan was that was bringing her dog back.

◆◆◆

Dino helped the guys get the fire going and then ventured over to where Alex was sitting with some of the other ladies and the rest of the team.  People were spread out all over.

“Has anyone heard from Arianna today?” He asked the group.

“No, we were hoping you had,” Alex replied as she handed him a beer.

“I stopped by the hospital on the way home to pick her up, but the nurse said she had left about an hour before I got there.”

“Maybe she went home,” Autumn chimed in.

“No, I went by there, and she wasn’t home. I’m just not sure how she left, considering she didn’t have her car.”

“Her car is still in the same spot as it was last night,” Ace stated.

“Were you able to get any update on Paul while you were at the hospital?” Alex asked.

“The nurse couldn’t say anything because of hospital policy, which I get. She did say he was still with us, though, and I did see him through the window to his room.”

“Shit,” Mia said.

“Yeah, it sucks.”

“Poor Arianna. I can’t imagine what she’s going through,” Bailey said.

Alex suddenly got up and started looking around. “What’s wrong, babe?” Ace yelled to her.

“Where did Zuma go?”

Ace scanned the beach then he pointed toward the north. “He’s up there. It looks like he found a friend to play with.”

Alex’s eyes widened. He can’t get in the water. It’s too cold.”

“He’s a Lab, for crying out loud. They love the water.”

Alex gave him her glare, and Dino wanted to laugh.

Dino turned and saw two, four-legged figures running toward them.  As they got a bit closer, Dino thought he imagined it, but the other dog looked a lot like Nigel.

Suddenly, a loud whistle pierced the air. Dino swung his head in the direction of the sound. There on the beach, jogging toward him, was the woman he couldn’t get off his mind no matter how hard he tried.

He called out to Nigel, and the big oaf trotted over to him, tail wagging and tongue hanging out.  Dino gave him a good scratch. He started walking towards her with Nigel bouncing along beside him.

He smiled as he walked closer, and she smiled back. He had missed seeing that beautiful smile of hers, but he understood there wasn’t a lot to smile at in the past two days.

“Hi,” he greeted her.

“Hi back,” she replied and bent down to pet Nigel. “You were a sneaky little boy, wandering off as you did,” she said to the dog and kissed him on the nose. When she stood back up, she looked at him. “Thanks for bringing him back.”

“No problem. He met a new friend.”

“I saw that. Whose dog was that?”

“Ace and Alex’s. His name is Zuma.”

“Oh. Well, it is nice to see that Nigel interacts with other dogs okay.”

He asked the question he’d been wondering.

“How did you get here?”

“Bruno.”

“Why didn’t you call me? I would’ve come to get you. I told you that I would.”

“I know. And I appreciate the offer, but I didn’t want to pull you away from work. It’s all good.”

Dino could tell something was bothering her. He could see it in her eyes, and in the defensive way, she stood. She was on guard, and he was about to find out why. He stepped closer, taking her hands into his and bringing them to his chest where he held them. He looked down into her eyes.

“What are you not telling me?”

She grinned. “Why do you think I’m not telling you something?”

He quirked his eyebrow. “I’m trained to read people, remember?”

She sighed. “After Bruno picked me up, we went by my dad’s place so I could get a few things to take to the hospital tomorrow. After we left there, we stopped at the Police Department to talk to the Chief.”

“About what?”

“About my dad and his medical episode.” She looked right into his eyes, and he could see her trying to blink away the tears. “My dad’s blood work came back. He had high levels of cyanide in his system.”

Dino stared at her. He wanted to ask her if she was joking, but from the seriousness in her voice and the expression on her face, he knew she wasn’t.

“We believe that someone tried to kill my dad.”

“Jesus, Arianna. Do they have any idea who?”

“No. Like I said, Bruno and I met with the Chief and one of his detectives. They’re opening up an investigation. Although it would help if my dad were awake to provide some key information.”

“How’s he doing? Any change?”

She shook her head. “Not yet, but now that the doctors know what they are battling, they started a new treatment plan this afternoon. As they put it—it is all up to him now.”

He pulled her into a hug. “I’m so sorry, babe. I don’t even know what to say.”

She hugged him back. “I know. I felt the same when the doctors first told me.”

“Why didn’t you come out to the bonfire?” He asked her. “Everyone was expecting you.”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Once I left the police station, I had Bruno bring me here to get my car initially. But once I was here, I didn’t want to go back to my place. I needed some alone time, and I feel close to my dad here. Plus, I was able to get some things done around the place.”

He understood what she was saying. This was her dad’s place, and there was that connection. He stepped closer and ran his hands up and down her arms, trying to infuse some warmth into her. When he looked down and saw her bottom lip start to quiver as she stared up at him, he didn’t hesitate and wrapped her up tight with his arms.

When he felt her body begin to shake, he knew she had let go, and he just held onto her as she wept. It was gut-wrenching, but he was glad he had been in the right place at the right time for her to lean on. Whatever the future held for them relationship, no relationship, he would always be there for her.

He buried his face in her hair as she burrowed further into his body. Every once in a while, he would hear a slight sniffle.

He couldn’t say he was close to his parents, but if something were to ever happen to either his mom or dad, it would still upset him, so he couldn’t begin to imagine what Arianna was feeling right now. Anger started to build in Dino. Whoever was the coward responsible for the heinous act had better hope that when they were found—and they would be—that the police find them before the community did. Because if it was the latter of the two, there was no promise that the individual would be alive to even be prosecuted. One thing was true that Arianna probably wasn’t aware of—she had the most extensive and baddest arsenal at her disposal in the form of the SEAL community here in town. Paul may not have been a SEAL, but he was a Marine and someone who was respected in the community's eyes.

Once she seemed to be all cried out, Dino gently placed his hands on her shoulders, and she tilted her head back to look upward. Even with red, puffy eyes and a little red nose, she was a keeper in his book. He seriously needed to talk to someone about what he was going through. He couldn’t continue like this. But that could wait—not too long, but right now, they had to deal with the new developments concerning Paul. And one thing he hadn’t considered—could Arianna be in danger herself?

◆◆◆

Arianna looked way up into the eyes of the man she was definitely falling in love with. No man she had ever been with had treated her with the compassion, true affection, and the support Dino had. She just wished he’d snap out of the fog that was blanketing him and realize that she could be all of those things for him as well. He may think that his heart had been damaged beyond repair, but with what she had witnessed in the three weeks of knowing him, he had a heart that was full of love.

He placed his large warm hands on her hips and pulled her closer. He used his thumb to wipe a stray tear from her cheek.

“What do you say we get out of here?”

“Really? You don’t want to spend time with your friends?”

He grinned. “I see them all the time.”

“Where are we going?”

“To get food because I’m starving,” he said with a big grin on his face.

“Then food it is.”

Twenty minutes later, and a quick stop by her place to drop Nigel off, they pulled into the small shopping plaza not too far from the base. She knew in an instant where he was taking her, and she couldn’t stop smiling.

“The Sub Shoppe?” She turned to look at him.

“I assumed this place was okay since they sort of have a little bit of everything.”

She smiled. “I love this place. It is the only pizza I eat. The sauce alone is to die for. It’s so—”

“Sweet,” Dino finished for her, and Arianna nodded her head.

They made their way into the small restaurant, and he guided her toward the back of the place.

“It’s crowded,” he whispered close to her ear, and she nodded.

They found a table right next to the back exit, and she went to take the seat where her back would be against the wall, but Dino stopped her.

“Let me take that seat.”

She should’ve known he would want to sit there. Her dad was the same way, along with any other military and law enforcement person she knew. They never wanted their back exposed. They always wanted to be on guard and see what was in front of them with something solid at their back.

She swallowed hard. The problem now, though, was that for the last two and a half years, she had learned never to let her guard down, and that included always making sure she looked over her shoulder.

He gave her waist a good squeeze and grinned. “I promise, I’ve got your back.”

The waitress came over and took their drink order. When she returned and set their drinks down, she turned toward Arianna.

“You look very familiar. Were you on a magazine cover or something?”

Oh shit! Arianna pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. She never thought to think of a comeback to use if someone thought they had recognized her. Most of the designs she modeled were only available in Europe and advertised in Europe, but that didn’t mean her pictures wouldn’t make it across the Atlantic Ocean to the states.

She smiled and shook her head, “No, that wasn’t me. I’m afraid I’m just a nobody,” she joked, but at the same time, she could feel her nerves start to go into overdrive. The bubbly waitress seemed to buy it and went on her merry way to wait on other customers.

When Arianna turned back around, Dino was in a dead stare at her. Crap. Could he see through her lie?

“What?” She asked, putting her straw in her soda and taking a drink.

“You’re beautiful enough to be on a magazine cover.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right.”

“I’m serious.”

She picked up the menu though she already knew she was ordering a pizza.

“I’m not camera friendly. I always feel awkward when someone takes a picture of me.” That statement wasn’t a complete lie. It always did take her a few minutes to warm up when she first got in front of a photographer.

He just shook his head and grinned as if not wanting to argue over it. “Whatever.”

“Why are we both looking at the menu when both know we want pizza?” She asked with a laugh.

He laughed too and set the menu down. “Good point. What toppings?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Meat lovers?”

His big grin told her he agreed. She wasn’t going to say to him that she hadn’t had pizza in over two years. That would surely lead to questions she wouldn’t and couldn’t answer.

Proper nutrition had been the most challenging adjustment for her when she was modeling. Before modeling, she was used to eating what she wanted and when. When she was placed into the role of a lingerie model, all that changed quickly. She was given a strict diet and exercise program to follow. Every week she had to be weighed and measured. Models were given a little leeway, but if there were a significant change in either, you would’ve sworn that the person had committed treason. A few months ago, there had been an incident when she heard one of the executives at the design firm telling a model that her belly looked bloated and to go into the bathroom and make herself throw up. It had been awful to watch the young girl get berated. The sad part was the girl did what the woman ordered her to do and went right into the bathroom and made herself throw up. It had been disgusting to witness.

But tonight, she would enjoy the gooey cheese, sweet sauce, and freshly made dough because she could and didn’t have anybody to tell her she couldn’t.