Chapter 4 - THE HOUSEKEEPER'S LIE
Lorenzo did not sleep that night.
He sat in his father's room until after midnight, watching for another movement. Giovanni's hand remained on the blanket. His breathing was shallow, and his eyes grew tired, but whenever Lorenzo spoke, they shifted toward him.
A physician arrived at dawn.
Dr. Samuel Reed had treated Giovanni for years. He examined the old man's reflexes, checked his medication chart, and asked the staff about recent changes.
“Has he been receiving his prescribed therapy?” Lorenzo asked.
“According to the records, yes.”
“According to the records,” Lorenzo repeated. “Have you personally verified it?”
Dr. Reed hesitated.
“No. The estate's nursing staff handles daily care.”
Lorenzo looked at the chart.
Several doses had been marked as administered. But the signatures were inconsistent. Some were written in different handwriting, and two entries had been added in ink that did not match the rest of the page.
“Who signs these?”
“The head housekeeper usually confirms delivery. A nurse is supposed to administer the medication.”
“Where is the nurse?”
Dr. Reed frowned. “There should be one on the morning rotation.”
Lorenzo called Mrs. Gable.
She arrived in a hurry.
“Sir?”
“Where is the nurse assigned to my father?”
“She's on leave.”
“Since when?”
“Last week.”
“Who replaced her?”
Mrs. Gable's mouth opened, then closed.
Lorenzo slid the chart across the table.
“Explain these signatures.”
“They must be administrative errors.”
“Three missed therapy sessions are administrative errors?”
“I can look into it.”
“You will do more than look into it.”
He turned to his security chief, Matteo.
“Secure every medical record. No one removes anything from this wing.”
Mrs. Gable's expression changed.
“Sir, surely you don't believe I would neglect your father.”
Lorenzo studied her.
“I believe I asked you a question.”
She left without answering.
Later that morning, Nora brought Giovanni a bowl of oatmeal. She had added warm milk, cinnamon, and sliced banana.
Lorenzo watched her test the temperature before offering the first spoonful.
“You don't have to do that,” he said.
Nora looked up. “Do what?”
“Take responsibility for everything in this room.”
“He can't do it himself.”
“That's not your fault.”
“I know.”
But she continued feeding Giovanni.
Lorenzo noticed that she spoke to his father throughout the meal. She told him about the snow, about the kitchen staff arguing over the delivery schedule, and about the baby kicking whenever she drank orange juice.
Giovanni's eyes followed her.
“Does he understand you?” Lorenzo asked.
“I think so.”
“Why?”
“Because he listens.”
Lorenzo looked at his father.
The old man's eyes were bright.
“Most people stop talking when someone can't answer,” Nora continued. “But that doesn't mean they stop understanding.”
Lorenzo felt something tighten in his chest.
He had spent years treating his father's silence as an absence. Nora treated it as a different kind of conversation.
After she left, Lorenzo asked Matteo to investigate the staff.
By noon, the first results came back.
The nurse assigned to Giovanni had not been on leave. She had resigned six weeks earlier after a dispute with Mrs. Gable. The agency had sent a replacement, but the replacement had been turned away at the gate.
The medication orders had continued anyway.
Lorenzo stared at the report.
“Who authorized that?”
Matteo checked the paperwork.
“Mrs. Gable.”
Lorenzo's expression turned cold.
“Find the nurse. Bring her here. And find out why she resigned.”
Then he looked toward the open door.
Nora was passing in the corridor, carrying a laundry basket.
“Matteo.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Make sure she doesn't have to carry that.”
Matteo blinked.
“The laundry?”
“She's six months pregnant.”
Matteo took the basket from Nora.
She looked surprised.
“Thank you.”
May you like
Lorenzo watched her disappear down the hall.
For the first time in years, someone in his father's house had reminded him what care was supposed to look like.
