The lead surgeon, a gray-haired man with steady hands and decades of battlefield triage behind him, stepped forward as Mia was transferred to the gurney. He examined her for less than ninety seconds before his expression changed. He turned to the family.
"Don Valducci, the signorina's pulse is barely registering." He spoke carefully, each word measured. "It appears she was already involved in a prior incident. There are signs of recent surgery, internal suturing that has partially reopened, and..." He paused. His gaze flickered toward the two young men standing behind the Don, and something in their faces made him swallow hard.
Giacomo 'Jake' Valducci stepped forward. He was the eldest son, the senior Capo, and he carried himself with the kind of quiet menace that made hardened soldiers lower their voices in his presence. His dark eyes fixed on the surgeon like a vise.
"And what?"
The word dropped into the silence like a stone into still water.