Chapter 9

The operation went on for 5 hours because of the level of difficulty, but after all those hours standing, everything had paid off because it had been successful. Aurora had a 30 minutes lunch break in between the scheduled operation and her rounds. It was not enough to enjoy her break, she always had to scarf down her food, but she made it work.

Aurora was passionate about her career and did not mind the hard work that goes into it, so even though working in the hospital was hectic, she was happy.

She was going about her daily rounds, visiting her patients, checking their progress and medications when the nurse informed her that they needed her for an emergency case. A gunshot wound that needed tending right away, said the nurse.

Gabriel had been wheeled into the hospital in a semi-conscious state. The assignment he came to finish at city B had gone wrong, he had been shot, but thankfully it was far from his heart. Aurora was checking his shoulder, and it looked like he had lost a lot of blood. She ordered more of his blood type and scheduled one of the Operating Rooms for immediate surgery.

The subordinate who brought Gabriel in approached the doctor as she instructed people what to do, "Doctor, how is he? Will he be alright?"

"Are you his family? I need to talk to family members only, and I need them here as soon as possible. But so you know, the bullet is lodged deep in his shoulder, and we need to operate as soon as possible so we can fish it out," Aurora replied.

"Doctor, please save him. I will call for his family member. They will be here soon," the subordinate pledged.

"I will do my best. Just get me what I need," Aurora assured him as she walked toward the operating room. It was a matter of life or death, so they had to operate on him right away, but after a few hours, she came out to meet the people who brought him in.

"The patient is out of danger, but he needs to be kept under supervision for a few days," she said.

"Thank you doctor for saving his life," he said, elated that he did not have to deliver bad news to the boss. He still hadn't informed Dimitri about Gabriel's state because he was afraid of the repercussions. But hopefully, the good news would alleviate some of the gravity of the situation. They had failed to protect his brother, and somebody is bound to be punished for their carelessness.

The subordinate hands were shaking when he dialed Dimitri's number.

"What? Is it finished?" Dimitri responded in a cold tone.

"Boss… Uhm… we have good news and bad news. The bad news is that Gabriel had been shot by the enemy," he said.

"What! Is he alive? I'm going to kill those mother…," Dimitri screamed as he got up from his seat.

"Boss, Gabriel is alive. He got shot in the shoulder but the doctor took the bullet out,' he scrambled to tell Dimitri all the information before he went ballistic, "We are at the hospital and he is resting. The doctor said he needs to stay here for a few days."

Dimitri walked to the windows to calm down a little, "How did this happen? Where were his guards at? Where were you?" He was pissed he was not supposed to get hurt, he remembered his strict instructions to take the guards with him, so how did his brother get shot?

"We were all with him, but he insisted on going alone. He said he would take care of it, and if the guards are with him, they won't agree. We tried to convince him that it was not a good idea, but he ordered us and said he would shoot us himself if we did not follow his instructions.

He was there for a while then we heard gunshots, and we all stormed the building, the enemy had betrayed us and Gabriel was not happy with that, so he started shooting, everybody was already down by the time we got inside, but we did not see that one of them was still alive. The good thing was that Gabriel saw him in time, and because of his fast reflexes he was able to move away, and the bullet hit his shoulder instead of his heart,' he confessed.

"Dammit, Gabriel! What the fuck was he doing!" Dmitri cursed. He was used to Gabriel's impulsive nature and very short temper, but he still thought maybe he would just walk away when things didn't look good. People who betrayed them were not supposed to be killed, they were supposed to be left alive to suffer the consequences of betraying the Santoris family.

He will teach them a lesson they will never forget, that they should never double-cross Dimitri Santoris.

In terms of his brother, he needs to be taught a lesson as well because he was getting too brave these days, going against him and defying his instructions.

"Give me the address," Dimitri said.

Gabriel was moved to the VIP ward in the hospital as soon as his operation was finished. He had an IV attached to his arm, and he looked very weak.

"Water," he said as soon as he opened his eyes.

"Gabriel, how are you?" the subordinate hurriedly got him a glass of water.

"I feel like shit, but I'm alive," he said, "How is the situation?"

"Everyone's dead, and our men are on clean up right now. We informed the boss about your situation," the subordinate replied.

"Shit! Brother must be very angry," Gabriel sighed. He did not only disobey his brother's orders but also put his life in danger.

"It's okay. I'll tell him everything once I get home. I hope he will understand why I did it," Gabriel said.

"Boss is coming to see you. He will be here within the hour," the subordinate said.

"What? Are you kidding me? Fuck!" He is now in deep trouble, and nobody will be able to save him from his brother's wrath.

Aurora completed her daily rounds, and it was just in time for her to pick up Lorenzo from pre-school. She made good time, she thought as she looked at her watch.

The neighbor who had been babysitting Enzo moved to a different city, her son had found a better paying job, so she had no choice but to enroll Enzo in pre-school so she could work. Hiring a nanny at this time would be pointless because he would be starting school next year anyway.

Since the hospital was small, the management was more lenient with the employees, they allowed her to pick up her son and have him wait in her office until she was off for the day. It also helped that Enzo was a very obedient and nice kid, he silently sat in the corner coloring his books or just played with his toys.

Enzo was waiting for his mother near the gate, and as soon as he spotted her, he came running. "Mama you're here! Yay!" he squealed as he hugged her legs.

Aurora patted his head and asked, "Hello baby! Were you good in class today?"

"Yes, mama, I read my A, B, C's, and my numbers, and my colors. I have a star!" Lorenzo proudly showed off his hand. The teacher stamped their hands with a red star whenever they performed very well in class, it was a good motivation for the kids to do well, so they could go home with lots of stamps.

Aurora smiled. Enzo was smart, and he learned things very quickly, so she had no trouble making him study because he liked learning new things.

After all the things that happened to her, she felt very blessed to have Enzo as her son.