Chapter 3 - THE LETTER ROSA HID FROM EVERYONE|
I stared at the envelope while the ambulance raced through Chicago's nighttime traffic.
My name was written across the front.
CLAIRE BENNETT.
Rosa had trusted me with something she apparently couldn't tell her own son.
I wanted desperately to open it.
But she was lying on the stretcher beside me, pale and barely conscious.
Her safety mattered more than my curiosity.
I carefully returned the envelope to her handbag.
At the hospital, doctors rushed Rosa into an examination room.
Luca arrived shortly afterward, escorted by Matteo.
His black suit was wrinkled.
His normally perfect hair was disheveled.
And for the first time since I'd known him, he looked like a frightened little boy.
"Where is she?"
"The doctors are examining her."
"Did she say anything?"
I swallowed.
"She told me not to let you drink anything Vanessa gives you."
Luca closed his eyes.
Then he leaned against the wall.
"My mother used to make me dinner every night."
His voice was barely audible.
"We lived in a tiny apartment above a laundromat."
I listened quietly.
"Sometimes she told me she'd already eaten at work."
He rubbed his face.
"I believed her."
A tear slipped down his cheek.
"Years later, I realized she'd been giving me her dinner."
I had never seen Luca cry before.
He looked toward the closed examination-room door.
"I promised her she'd never go hungry again."
I rested my hand on his arm.
"She knows you love her."
He shook his head.
"Love means noticing when someone is suffering."
Before I could answer, a woman in a white coat approached us.
"I'm Dr. Patel."
Luca immediately straightened.
"How is my mother?"
"She's stable, but we're concerned about severe dehydration, poor nutrition, and possible medication exposure."
"Is she going to live?"
"We're doing everything necessary to help her recover."
The doctor hesitated.
"Your mother also appears much weaker than we would expect from age alone."
Luca's jaw tightened.
"Can you tell whether someone drugged her?"
"We've ordered toxicology testing."
She looked at both of us.
"Until we understand what she has been receiving, we need a complete list of medications and supplements."
I told her everything Rosa had described at dinner.
The cold soup.
The strange powder.
The dizziness.
The missing memories.
Dr. Patel listened without interrupting.
Then she said something important.
"Temporary confusion can have many medical causes."
She paused.
"It should never automatically be dismissed as dementia."
Luca went completely still.
Vanessa had spent weeks telling everyone Rosa was losing her mind.
She had convinced him that his mother needed professional supervision.
And he'd believed her.
Two hours later, Detective Maya Torres arrived.
She was a calm woman in her early forties, with dark hair pulled into a neat ponytail.
She introduced herself and asked us to describe what had happened.
Luca told her about the text message.
I explained Rosa's dinner and the tiny bottle.
Then I remembered the envelope.
"Detective, there's something else."
I took Rosa's handbag from the chair.
Inside, the envelope remained untouched.
"She wrote my name on this."
Torres examined it.
"Did you open it?"
"No."
"Let's ask Rosa whether she wants you to read it when she's able."
Fortunately, Rosa woke later that night.
Her voice was weak.
But when she saw me, she reached out.
"Claire."
I moved closer.
"I'm here."
"Did you find my letter?"
I nodded.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Read it."
Luca sat beside her.
Rosa looked at him.
"You need to hear this, too."
With her permission, I opened the envelope.
Inside were three folded pages.
The first began with an apology.
My dear Claire, if you are reading this, I may no longer be able to explain what happened.
My hands shook.
For weeks, Vanessa has told everyone that I am becoming confused.
She says I forget meals, misplace belongings, and imagine conversations.
But I remember more than she thinks.
Luca gripped the edge of his chair.
I continued reading.
I remember the night she took my dinner away because I asked for fresh food.
I remember being locked in my bedroom after I refused the medicine.
And I remember hearing her say that Luca would soon be too sick to run his businesses.
Rosa began trembling.
"Keep reading, sweetheart."
I turned the page.
Dr. Harrison comes to the house whenever Luca is away.
Sometimes Dominic Rinaldi comes with him.
Luca's face drained of color.
They speak in the study because they think an old woman cannot understand business.
But I heard them discussing documents that would give Vanessa control of the company.
Luca stood abruptly.
"What documents?"
Rosa shook her head.
"I don't know."
Then she looked directly at him.
"But I know they were planning something for Friday."
Detective Torres began taking notes.
I unfolded the final page.
The handwriting became increasingly unsteady.
I tried to tell my son.
But Vanessa said that if I accused her again, she would have Claire dismissed.
My throat tightened.
She knows Claire needs her job.
She knows I cannot walk away from this house.
And she knows my son will believe a doctor before he believes an old woman.
I couldn't continue.
Rosa squeezed my hand.
"Finish it, dear."
I whispered the final sentence.
If anything happens to us, please tell Luca that I never stopped trusting him.
Luca covered his face.
For a long moment, nobody spoke.
Then he knelt beside his mother's hospital bed.
"I'm sorry, Ma."
Rosa touched his cheek.
"You didn't know."
"I should have."
She kissed his forehead.
"Then know now."
Detective Torres carefully placed the letter into an evidence sleeve after receiving Rosa's agreement.
"We're going to investigate every name in this letter."
But before she could ask another question, a hospital administrator entered.
"Mr. Moretti, there's a woman downstairs insisting she has legal authority over your mother's medical decisions."
Luca looked up.
"Vanessa?"
The administrator nodded.
"She's brought paperwork claiming your mother has been declared mentally incompetent."
He frowned.
"That's impossible."
May you like
The administrator hesitated.
"The paperwork also carries your signature."
