The Deck's Ace

Part one, Chapter 4: Hospital Jello

"Raul, I will have the swordfish. You know how I like it darling, and get Torrance whatever she wants."

"I'll have a Kobe Porterhouse with saffron rice. Thank you Raul."

"Now that we are free to speak in private, I would like to go over Luke's report. He believes that you are gaining more control over your split personality."

"I love how you call the Dovolo Curse a deep mental and psychological disability."

"Oh Darling, anything that turns you into such a perfect military specimen is not a disability, it is a gift. A curse, really? Tell me, do you feel pain in your second state? I have read the reports and data, but I want to know, in your own words, what is it like?"

"You didn’t learn anything from those laboratory tests, did you?"

"On the contrary, monitoring you and your split personalities gave us a great deal of data, and quiet a few questions."

"Such as?"

"Answer my first question, what is your curse like."

"Every predominant member of my family has, at one point or another, dealt with the Dovolo Curse. How do I explain this... Alright. Does your hand have a mind of its own, or does your mind control it?"

"Sometimes I have my doubts, but we all know that the brain controls the body."

"Yes, that's true. My...ability gives my body a mind of its own, as well as my brain. Time slows down, everything becomes suddenly clear. My higher mind tells the body what needs to be done, and my body carries out the order. The body works like a second weapon."

"Such as a firearm."

"No, but your beginning to understand. Maybe weapon was the wrong word. It is more like a boxer and their coach. The coach will yell from the corner, but it is up to the boxer to carry out the plan. So in a sense I do feel pain, but I don’t. The coach understands the blows that the boxer is taking, understands how those blows effect the fighter, but he does not feel it. My body takes the hit, my body feels it, my mind does not."

"Very Interesting. Don't mind me, I am only taking notes. The reason that I ask is that there is talk among the deck of replicating your split personality. If there is a way to duplicate your abilities in our soldiers, your army would be unstoppable.

"And uncontrollable."

"One can always be controlled, it is simply a matter of manipulating what they hold dear. Now Darling, what are the triggers?"

"Any situation that raises my blood pressure. I feel that burn on the top of my skull, and then I make the choice to let the Curse take over."

"Is it always a conscious decision?"

"It is now. When I was younger it wasn’t. I just slipped into it, and my Beast had much more control than its Master. I wasn't able to make it stop without help, usually from my father or uncles, and to a later point, Rachel."

"We have seen Rachel remove you from such a state. Why do you think that is?"

"The Beast has no idea what the fuck Rae is. When I was younger, my father and uncle were larger than I, able to physically control me. The Beast saw them as stronger threats, and they scared it to the point where it would recede with the Master. But Rachel is something entirely different to the Beast. Usually it sees a threat, prey, or bystander. But it sees Rae more as an ally, sometimes a second Master. If she says to calm down, the Beast responds, and in turn so does the Master."

"Even your subconscious views Rachel as your lover. Interesting."
         
"Wow now, I wouldn’t call Rae my lover, a good friend, like my sister, but not my girlfriend."

"Darling, there is nothing wrong with homosexuality, in private."

"I'm not gay."

"That’s right, your not. People will elect a murderer, call you a war hero. But they will not elect a Lesbian. Keep that in mind."

"Damnit Maggie, I'm not gay!"

"Haha, now Torrance, is your Curse building?"

"More than you think."

"Your swordfish Madame,"

"Give me my fuckin steak Raul."


________________________________________________________


January 17th, 2002

After considerable argument, three supervisors, and the threat of a lawsuit, Rae was able to convince the Ski Patrol that they needed to send out a search party.  Torrance had been gone for five hours now. Logan and Ryan had finally stumbled into the Patrol Cabin, exhausted. Rae had taken names, so if they did find Torrance’s body, Rae would know whose lives to ruin.

The helicopter was dispatched and ski patrol began to comb the western edge of the mountain. It took them thirty minutes to find Torrance. Thirty minutes. As far as Rae knew, Torrance was laying there for the last 5 hours, all because some stupid dispatcher wouldn’t do her god damned job! Rae was livid, but Logan was quick to remind her that she had to stay calm, because they did not know Tori’s condition.

Her body lay broken on the rock at the edge of the mountain. The bright red of blood was so drastic against the white snow that she was hard to miss. When they found her, they were amazed that she was alive. While she lost so much blood, the snow had actually kept the swelling in her head down. Her face was almost normal to the Paramedics, except for the blatant absence of her forehead. Her skull was completely visible, glazed in a red layer of dried blood.

She was backboarded, then treated for shock and neck injuries by the Ski Patrol Paramedics. They stabilized her just enough to get her loaded into a MedEvac helicopter and flown to Denver.

The helicopter took her to St Josephs Hospital, where a team of specialists were gathering, thanks to Joel. No one knew the exact extent of her injuries, so Joel covered all of the bases, pulling specialists from all over the west coast. He was flying down as well on the private jet. The jet was reserved for members of the OR, and the Golden students. Because it was Joel flying to Dovolo, the head OR and the most important Golden, there was no problem getting the plane out of the hanger.  Despite everything that was happening with Arianna, Joel had to attend to Torrance. Torrance was golden, far more important than any of the OR. Despite their power struggles, deep down he knew, if she said jump, they jumped.

Torrance was already in surgery by the time Rae, Logan, and Ryan arrive at the hospital.  Rae knew that Torrance’s father wouldn’t bother coming. So she made the dreadful call to Torrance’s grandfather.

It wasn’t that Giovanni had ever been cruel to the girls. On the contrary, he had a special place for Torrance in his heart. But the fact was that he was Don Dovolo. With one word, he could have entire families destroyed.  It was a little intimidating.

Torrance’s uncle was actually the one to answer the phone, but after Rae explained the situation, she was handed over to Giovanni. She went ahead with the usual formalities and then explained the situation again. It didn’t bother her to explain herself over to the Godfather, because of his status and his demeanor. He was always very generous and caring to Rea.

Giovanni did not waste time. He told Rae that he would personally be flying to Denver with his sons, and that the Ski Patrol would be taken care of.



Torrance was in surgery for eleven hours. Her head looked worse than it really was. The flesh and muscles of her forehead had splattered on the rock, but her skull was only cracked. There was a severe amount of pressure on her brain, which the doctors drained. Her frontal lobe was bruised, and a brain surgeon was forced to remove the dead tissue before it infected the rest of the brain.

Her wrist was set with pins and then immobilized. Her shoulder was popped back into place, but there was significant damage to her rotator cuff. The surgery to fix the torn ligaments had been difficult because they could not move her head, but these were the best doctors that the Mid West had to offer.

She was still in surgery at midnight.  By that time, Joel had arrived, as well as the Dovolo entourage. Not only Giovanni, but his two sons, Antonio and Richard, as well as their wives and the body guards.

The kids gave their respects to Don Dovolo, the boys following Rae’s lead. While Rae and Logan had been around the Dovolo family, Ryan and Joel were quite alien to their customs. Joel found it most interesting to see what had spawned the enigma that was Torrance Dovolo. He silently watched everyone interact, noting everyone's reaction to one of the Dovolo sons, or rather, who he had brought with him.

The fact that Richard was there with his new wife was not a good thing. Richard Dovolo was Torrance’s father, and they did not get along.  He had gone through three wives since Torrance was born, and this was number four. Wife number one was Torrance’s mum, who died during a mob hit. Wife number two was killed for betraying the family. Torrance had personally killed wife number three after Mcmannis. Torrance had never met wife number four, and from what Joel could see, Torrance wasn’t going to like her.

She was a little too blond, a little too skinny, and a little too ditzy to be associated the with Dovolo that Joel knew and loved. The man she hung all over could have been her father. She screamed of college cheerleader. In fact, Joel might have found her attractive, if she weren’t sitting on Richards lap speaking in baby talk. Richard’s daughter was hurt, maybe a vegetable, and he brought a prostitute to keep him occupied. No wonder Torrance didn’t get along with her daddy.

Because no one was allowed to see Torrance until she stabilized, they were all crammed into a private waiting room. Antonio, or Uncle Tito as Rae called him, was quite familiar with the kids. He and his wife, Martha, sat next to the kids in the waiting room. When they could get away from school, Torrance, Rae, Logan, and several other friends congregated in Tito and Martha’s lake house.

Martha was a good old fashioned Creole woman. She loved to cook, loved to sing, and was fierce in her emotions. When Torrance’s grandmother passed of cancer, Martha took over as family matriarch. She kept her boys in line, fought like a lion, but was usually gentle as a lamb. She was unable to hide her disgust for Richard and his current wife. “He just had to bring her along.”

“Yeah, because they are so concerned about Tori.” Rae chimed in sarcastically, “How old is she?”

“Twenty-two.” Martha said, twisting her wedding ring on her finger.  It was a sign of stress, but picking on Bimbo Barbie seemed to give the girls something to do.

“Oh Torrance is going to hate her on principle.” Rae chuckled, thinking of Tori tearing this girl a new one. Torrance wouldn’t just harm the girl, she would make it interesting. She would humiliate her.

Rae began putting the scenario together in her head. The Bimbo saying something out of line and Torrance calmly informing her of her place in the family. And then the Bimbo would argue, and Torrance would calmly take care of it. What would she do to this one? Rae had once seen Torrance cut the tongue from a public speaker, what could she take away from this girl? She didn’t have brains, hell her tits probably weighed more than her head. Probably implants. Oh that would be it. She would break one of the implants. Not hard, just maybe a sharp tap or an offhanded brush that would cause the bag to rupture and slowly bleed into the Bimbo's system. She would be dead within the week.

Martha's words snapped the teen back into reality, “I heard that she already tried to make a pass at Richard's will.”

“Too bad that will’s gonna be worthless.” Tito muttered, pouring a bit of bourbon from his flask into a cup of hospital coffee. Martha gave him a disapproving look, which caused a mischievous smile to cross his face. He still had a few of his boyish characteristics, which made him handsome. He put the flask away and patted his wife’s thigh, ever the loving husband. They were a good couple.

“What do you mean?” Rae asked, slightly confused.

“When Pop dies, everything that should go to Rick is going straight to Tori and Leo.” Tito said matter of factly.

“Who’s Leo?” Joel asked, whispering to Logan.

“Tori’s baby brother. They don’t talk much. Imagine Tori with half the brains and none of the baggage,” Logan said, still listening to the conversation.

It was strange that Torrance never mentioned her brother. Joel had always pegged her as an only child. It could explain some of the bad blood between Tori and her father. He made a mental note to look deeper into her psychological records.

“Does Rick know? About the children I mean.” Martha asked, still keeping the conversation at a low volume.

“He’s none the wiser. And we need to keep it that way.” He said as he kissed her temple and hugged her tight.

Conversation eventually died down as the night went on. Some tried to sleep, others caught up on old times.

Joel had brought his laptop so he began working on his OR assignment from the waiting room. Technically he wasn’t supposed to use the wireless connection in the area, but he ignored the signs on the walls. He was surrounded by a predominant mob family and body guards with guns, no one was going to ask him to stop.

Rae read every magazine in the waiting room, and then convinced a body guard to go buy her the new Harry Potter book. Sure book four had been out for a few months, but Rae hadn’t gotten a chance to sit down and read it.

Logan wandered around the hospital, particularly in the emergency department. He sat in the waiting room, watching people come in, wondering about their injuries and treatment.  Medicine fascinated him. He was worried about his girlfriend’s condition, but he couldn’t help but wonder if the surgeons were using stints, if they were using staples or stitches, how her anesthesia was going.

Ryan was suddenly aware that he was the only black person in a room with about fifteen angry white people and their guns. Usually white people didn’t bother him, but right now, amidst of all of these southern crackers, he felt very uncomfortable. He did his best to be non offensive while they all waited from some word from the doctors.