{"id":267,"date":"2026-08-21T05:19:54","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T05:19:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/?p=267"},"modified":"2026-08-21T05:19:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T05:19:54","slug":"chapter-2-the-mother-who-died-twelve-days-earlier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/?p=267","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 2 – The Mother Who Died Twelve Days Earlier"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Six hours of screaming had pushed Dominic Moretti to the edge, and everyone inside the Chicago restaurant knew better than to go near him.<\/p>\n

Then I crossed the dining room, looked the most feared mafia boss in the city straight in the eye, and told him, \u201cYou\u2019re hurting your own baby.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

The room went so quiet I could hear the rain striking the windows.<\/p>\n

My name is Elena Russo, and until that night, I had spent four years becoming very good at being invisible.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

I carried plates.<\/p>\n

I poured wine.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

I smiled when customers complained about pasta that was too salty or steak that was two degrees colder than they wanted.<\/p>\n

Then I went home to a small apartment in Bridgeport where there were no toys on the floor, no bottles drying beside the sink, and no photographs facing outward on the dresser.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

I had learned how to build a life around one rule.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t remember.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

But that night at Bellavita, remembering became impossible.<\/p>\n

Dominic Moretti arrived shortly after seven.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Everyone knew who he was.<\/p>\n

You didn\u2019t have to read newspapers or know anything about Chicago\u2019s criminal world to recognize the way the room changed when he entered.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

The manager immediately straightened his tie.<\/p>\n

Two men at the bar stopped talking.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

A wealthy couple who had demanded our best table suddenly decided they were perfectly happy moving to the opposite side of the restaurant.<\/p>\n

Dominic walked in wearing a charcoal suit and the expression of a man accustomed to never repeating himself.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Four men followed him.<\/p>\n

One carried a black leather bag.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Another carried an infant car seat.<\/p>\n

The sight of the baby surprised me more than the guns I suspected were hidden beneath the men\u2019s jackets.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Dominic Moretti had a son.<\/p>\n

A newborn.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

No more than a few weeks old.<\/p>\n

At first, the baby slept.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Then he began crying.<\/p>\n

Twenty minutes became an hour.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

An hour became three.<\/p>\n

By midnight, the sound was tearing through every conversation in the restaurant.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

The child\u2019s small face had turned red.<\/p>\n

His little fists stayed clenched.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

He drew his legs toward his stomach and arched his back.<\/p>\n

Dominic paced beside the booth, passing him from one arm to the other with the stiff, careful movements of a man more comfortable holding a weapon than a newborn.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cBottle,\u201d he ordered.<\/p>\n

One of his men brought one.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

The baby refused it.<\/p>\n

\u201cDifferent formula.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Another bottle arrived.<\/p>\n

More screaming.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Someone suggested warm milk and came back carrying a glass of cow\u2019s milk.<\/p>\n

I nearly dropped my tray.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

The baby couldn\u2019t have been more than six weeks old.<\/p>\n

My manager, Victor, saw my expression.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cElena.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe can\u2019t drink cow\u2019s milk.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cElena.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s in pain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Victor grabbed my wrist.<\/p>\n

His fingers trembled.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat man owns half the people who own this block. We are invisible tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another broken cry ripped through the room.<\/p>\n

And suddenly I wasn\u2019t standing inside Bellavita anymore.<\/p>\n

I was twenty-three again.<\/p>\n

I was inside a children\u2019s hospital.<\/p>\n

My son Leo was lying against my chest.<\/p>\n

He had been born with a severe congenital heart defect.<\/p>\n

For eleven months, every sound he made became a language I learned to understand.<\/p>\n

There was the hungry cry.<\/p>\n

The tired cry.<\/p>\n

The frightened cry.<\/p>\n

And then there was the painful cry.<\/p>\n

That was the one I was hearing now.<\/p>\n

Leo died before his first birthday.<\/p>\n

Afterward, I quit nursing school because every hospital corridor made my legs turn weak.<\/p>\n

I boxed up my textbooks.<\/p>\n

Stopped talking to classmates.<\/p>\n

Stopped visiting friends who had babies.<\/p>\n

And became a waitress.<\/p>\n

Smile.<\/p>\n

Carry food.<\/p>\n

Go home.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t remember.<\/p>\n

But that newborn\u2019s scream was crawling under every wall I had built.<\/p>\n

I set down the tray.<\/p>\n

Victor tightened his grip.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe needs help.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s Dominic Moretti.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are invisible tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another strangled cry sounded.<\/p>\n

I pulled my wrist free.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walking those forty feet toward Dominic\u2019s booth felt like crossing frozen water while hearing the ice crack beneath every step.<\/p>\n

One of Dominic\u2019s bodyguards stepped in front of me.<\/p>\n

He was broad enough to block the aisle by himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s far enough, sweetheart.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe baby needs help.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGo back to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re all frightening him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The guard\u2019s expression changed.<\/p>\n

Behind him, Dominic slowly looked up.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet her through.\u201d<\/p>\n

The men separated immediately.<\/p>\n

Up close, the baby looked worse.<\/p>\n

Dark hair clung to his sweaty forehead.<\/p>\n

His stomach appeared tight.<\/p>\n

His knees kept drawing upward.<\/p>\n

Every few seconds, another scream tore out of him.<\/p>\n

Dominic looked terrible too.<\/p>\n

His suit remained immaculate, but his eyes were bloodshot.<\/p>\n

There was dried formula on one cuff.<\/p>\n

His tie had disappeared somewhere during the night.<\/p>\n

For the first time, I saw something beneath all the authority.<\/p>\n

Fear.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know how to stop this?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI might.\u201d<\/p>\n

His jaw tightened.<\/p>\n

\u201cMight?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI need to hold him.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the bodyguards actually choked.<\/p>\n

Dominic leaned toward me.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you drop him\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI won\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you hurt him, there won\u2019t be anywhere in this city you can hide.\u201d<\/p>\n

That should have frightened me.<\/p>\n

Instead, the baby screamed again.<\/p>\n

I looked Dominic directly in the eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you\u2019re hurting him right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Every person near us froze.<\/p>\n

Dominic\u2019s expression changed instantly.<\/p>\n

Danger flashed through his eyes.<\/p>\n

For one terrible second, I thought Victor had been right.<\/p>\n

Then Dominic\u2019s son let out a strangled cry so painful that every trace of anger vanished from his father\u2019s face.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo it.\u201d<\/p>\n

I reached into the bassinet.<\/p>\n

The instant I lifted the baby, grief punched through me so hard I nearly lost my breath.<\/p>\n

He was warm.<\/p>\n

Tiny.<\/p>\n

Painfully familiar.<\/p>\n

For one second, I could almost feel Leo again.<\/p>\n

I forced myself to breathe.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, little one,\u201d I whispered. \u201cI\u2019ve got you.\u201d<\/p>\n

I turned him gently belly-down along my forearm, supporting his head while rubbing his back with slow circular pressure.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s probably dealing with severe gas or colic,\u201d I told Dominic. \u201cHis stomach is tight, and every time he screams he swallows more air. All this noise and tension is making it worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dominic stared at me.<\/p>\n

\u201cColic?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

His expression hardened with immediate suspicion.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is that?\u201d<\/p>\n

Then he asked the question so seriously that under any other circumstances I might have laughed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho did it?\u201d<\/p>\n

I blinked.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho did what?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWho gave him colic?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dominic frowned.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a person. Colic is a term for intense crying in otherwise healthy babies. Sometimes digestive discomfort contributes. Sometimes there isn\u2019t one clear cause.\u201d<\/p>\n

He looked almost offended by the idea of an enemy he couldn\u2019t identify.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo nobody did this?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably not.\u201d<\/p>\n

I continued rubbing the baby\u2019s back.<\/p>\n

His crying weakened.<\/p>\n

Dominic\u2019s men stared as though I were performing surgery.<\/p>\n

The child suddenly gave a small burp.<\/p>\n

Then another.<\/p>\n

The crying stopped.<\/p>\n

Not softened.<\/p>\n

Stopped.<\/p>\n

Dominic shot to his feet so quickly his chair scraped backward.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n

I looked down.<\/p>\n

The baby\u2019s body had gone strangely limp.<\/p>\n

His eyes were half closed.<\/p>\n

His lips looked pale beneath the restaurant lights.<\/p>\n

My blood ran cold.<\/p>\n

For one terrible second, Leo\u2019s hospital room collided with Bellavita.<\/p>\n

Machines.<\/p>\n

Doctors.<\/p>\n

The final monitor tone.<\/p>\n

Not again.<\/p>\n

I shifted the baby against my chest.<\/p>\n

\u201cCall 911.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dominic\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the men reached for his phone.<\/p>\n

Dominic grabbed my shoulder.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with him?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

The baby made no sound.<\/p>\n

I touched his cheek.<\/p>\n

Nothing.<\/p>\n

I watched his chest.<\/p>\n

There.<\/p>\n

A shallow breath.<\/p>\n

Then nothing.<\/p>\n

I lowered him carefully onto the padded booth seat.<\/p>\n

Dominic stared.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGive me room.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cElena,\u201d Victor whispered somewhere behind me.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t ask how he knew my name.<\/p>\n

I leaned down.<\/p>\n

The baby\u2019s airway looked clear.<\/p>\n

I gently repositioned his head.<\/p>\n

Another faint breath.<\/p>\n

Too shallow.<\/p>\n

\u201cHas he eaten normally today?\u201d<\/p>\n

Dominic looked toward one of his men.<\/p>\n

Nobody answered.<\/p>\n

I snapped my head up.<\/p>\n

\u201cDominic.\u201d<\/p>\n

His eyes locked with mine.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

The admission seemed to cost him something.<\/p>\n

\u201cI picked him up this afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom where?\u201d<\/p>\n

Dominic hesitated.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy sister\u2019s house.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHas he been vomiting?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n

Again, Dominic didn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

The bodyguard named Marco stepped forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cThree times since five.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cProjectile?\u201d<\/p>\n

He looked confused.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid it shoot out forcefully?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

That changed everything.<\/p>\n

I touched the baby\u2019s abdomen.<\/p>\n

Firm.<\/p>\n

Distended.<\/p>\n

This wasn\u2019t just colic.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe needs a hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dominic\u2019s face became stone.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

I looked up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n

I thought I had heard him wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe needs medical evaluation immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have doctors.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen call one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI already did.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said the baby was probably overtired.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dominic\u2019s eyes narrowed.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re a waitress.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI studied nursing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStudied?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t finish.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo you\u2019re not a nurse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen don\u2019t tell me my doctor is wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

The baby\u2019s fingers twitched.<\/p>\n

I looked down and saw him trying weakly to breathe.<\/p>\n

Something inside me snapped.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour doctor isn\u2019t holding your son right now. I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dominic said nothing.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s six weeks old, he\u2019s been screaming for hours, vomiting forcefully, his stomach is tight, and now he\u2019s lethargic. Those are not symptoms you gamble with because you don\u2019t want attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

The room became deathly quiet.<\/p>\n

Dominic leaned closer.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have no idea why I avoid hospitals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

I stared back.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut your baby doesn\u2019t care about your reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

That landed.<\/p>\n

His jaw flexed.<\/p>\n

Rain rattled against the windows.<\/p>\n

Finally Dominic turned.<\/p>\n

\u201cCar.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of his men moved.<\/p>\n

I shook my head.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. Ambulance.\u201d<\/p>\n

His eyes flashed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely not.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe could stop breathing in traffic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dominic looked at his son.<\/p>\n

That ended the argument.<\/p>\n

\u201cCall it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eight minutes later, red emergency lights painted Bellavita\u2019s windows.<\/p>\n

Paramedics entered.<\/p>\n

I gave them the symptoms as quickly as I could.<\/p>\n

One of them looked at me.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou family?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dominic answered before I could.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

I turned.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy son calmed down for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou noticed something six people around him didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

His voice dropped.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease.\u201d<\/p>\n

That word shocked me more than anything else Dominic Moretti had said all night.<\/p>\n

Please.<\/p>\n

The most feared man in Chicago was asking.<\/p>\n

Not ordering.<\/p>\n

I looked at the baby.<\/p>\n

Then at Dominic.<\/p>\n

And I knew I was about to step back into the world I had spent four years running from.<\/p>\n

Hospitals.<\/p>\n

Fear.<\/p>\n

Machines.<\/p>\n

Children who might not survive the night.<\/p>\n

I should have refused.<\/p>\n

Instead, I climbed into the ambulance.<\/p>\n

Dominic followed.<\/p>\n

As the doors closed, he sat across from me, staring at his son beneath the oxygen mask.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s his name?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

His voice softened.<\/p>\n

\u201cMatteo.\u201d<\/p>\n

I looked down at the tiny child.<\/p>\n

\u201cMatteo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dominic kept staring at him.<\/p>\n

Then he said something that changed the entire shape of the night.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis mother died twelve days ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

I looked up sharply.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n

His expression became unreadable.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone says it was an accident.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ambulance accelerated through the rain.<\/p>\n

Dominic looked at me.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I don\u2019t believe everyone anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Six hours of screaming had pushed Dominic Moretti to the edge, and everyone inside the Chicago restaurant knew better than to go near him. Then I crossed the dining room,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=267"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":268,"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267\/revisions\/268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}