THIRD PERSON

Domenico looked disgusted at the coffee mug in his hand. He was very demanding when it came to coffee, but even his lowest expectations were simply too high here. After being escorted out of the room, he went to the cafeteria and tried his luck there. Without success. The audacity to just send him out of the room! He wouldn't have expected the two women to have that much courage. However, he had to give Josephine a certain amount of privacy, and it didn't seem wise to push past her boundaries at this point. That was something for later times when she would hopefully develop like his two youngest brothers. Or maybe they would be lucky, and she would be an angel. One could only hope.

A glance at his watch told him that the two of them now had half an hour to shower. That should probably be enough. Domenico walked back to the little girl's room at a leisurely pace. If her circulation remained stable, she would also be transferred to a peripheral ward, according to the doctor who had met him shortly after he left. He acknowledged this without a word and then left her there. She seemed to like to talk a lot, which was hard for him to tolerate. Vito was responsible for such things. He would certainly have liked to talk to her about everything, but Domenico didn't care as long as it wasn't directly important for Josephine's health.

'Speaking of the devil,' thought Domenico as he turned the corner and saw Vito accompanied by his little brother. He carelessly threw the plastic cup in his hand into the trash can and fixed his gaze on the cardboard holder in Vito's hand. "I hope it's what I think," he muttered to no one in particular as he approached. Without a word, he held out his hand to Vito, who didn't hesitate and handed over a cup. "About time," he commented before taking the first sip. This, this was coffee. It was music, a pleasure.

"Where is Josephine?" Vito ignored his brother's comment. He knew how quickly Domenico could become grumpy, especially when he didn't have coffee.

"In the room. She's fine; the monitoring of her vitals has been finished, and she wanted to take a shower. Besides, she can probably be moved to another ward if the tests are good. What is the frog doing here?" he asked, looking at Valentino.

Dismayed, Valentino placed his hand on his chest. "Brother! How can you?" Domenico rolled his eyes, even though he secretly thought it was a good idea for him to be here. "I have to get to know our new addition. More importantly, she has to get to know me so that she knows there are sensible people in our family."

"And you really think you are the right choice for this? Your brain must be worse than I thought," replied Domenico. Then he saw the bag in Valentino's hand. "Did you go shopping before you came here?"

"No, but she can't just walk around in your clothes all the time, which are at least six sizes too big for her. Matteo was kind enough to donate some of his clothes," Valentino shrugged and looked curiously at the door in front of which they stood. So she was behind it. He was excited to meet her after everything he had heard from his brothers. "Oh, one of you just has to tell him. Should we go in then?"

"Remember what we talked about!" Vito warned.

"Vito, I'm not thirteen anymore, and I don't need to be told how to behave, thank you very much."

"I'm not so sure about that," said Domenico and knocked on the door.

The older nurse with the wrinkled face opened the door shortly afterward. She looked at the other two but stepped aside when she saw Domenico. "It seems like you've had even more visitors, Josephine."

The first thing Vito noticed was Josephine's hair. It had become shorter but looked much better compared to the strands of different lengths before. There was something else about her, but he couldn't name it. "Good morning, Josephine. How are you?" he greeted her as he came closer.

"Hello, Vito. Thank you, I'm feeling better. And how are you?" she asked.

"Amazing. We brought you some hot chocolate." He looked at the nurse. "She can drink some, right?" She smiled and nodded.

"Maybe hot chocolate just wants to be called beautiful chocolate once," Josephine murmured, smiling thoughtfully.

It was the first time Vito had seen her smile honestly. "What did you say?"

"Maybe hot chocolate just wants to be called beautiful chocolate once," she repeated, still smiling. "My mother used to say that all the time." Then she remembered what Vito had said before, and he could see how her posture changed when she saw Valentino. He smiled kindly at her. He didn't know exactly what he expected, but Valentino was still surprised. She looked even smaller and thinner than he anticipated, and somehow she seemed lost in this bed. Everything about her looked so... invisible. Her skin was pale, her hair was pale, and her blue eyes were pale too. She looked vulnerable, he thought.

"You can't argue with that," he started the conversation and walked to her bed with his hand outstretched. "Hello, Josephine. I'm Nino. It's nice to meet you." Josephine timidly returned his gesture and looked at Vito, somewhat surprised. He just rolled his eyes.

"The joy is all mine," she answered carefully and looked at the third brother. He was a little shorter than Domenico and about the same height as Vito. Like his brothers, he had dark hair and his skin was tanned. Apparently, he had been abroad somewhere recently. His style of clothing was cool; Josephine couldn't describe it any other way. In fact, everything about him was cool. She looked at his bracelets with particular interest and noticed that a few of his fingernails were painted black. Nino looked so different from his brothers! The smile seemed like it was always there, and he was so relaxed.

"Valentino here," Vito pronounced his name sharply. "is our third oldest and is still studying." Then he turned to his brother. "You have a name, so use it," he reprimanded. Josephine jumped slightly when she heard Vito, but Valentino didn't seem to care. He had had this conversation with Vito many times and already knew this reaction. Domenico grinned inwardly. He didn't understand Vito's aversion to nicknames, but he also didn't see any benefit in getting involved. If Valentino only knew that Vito called him Nico when they were alone, this whole pointless discussion would take on a new dimension. Josephine stayed silent as he handed her the hot chocolate. Unsure how to react, she avoided eye contact with the three of them and examined the drink in her hand intently before drinking carefully. It was really delicious! "Vito?"

"Yes, Josephine?"

"What happens now?"

"Well, I'm sure you'll have to do a few more tests, and as soon as the doctors agree, we'll take you home." Vito could tell that that wasn't what she meant, so he sat down next to her on the bed. "I spoke to our lawyer on the phone this morning, and he has already requested your file from the CPS. I have also spoken to the responsible social worker, and he will speed up the process so that we can hopefully get temporary custody in a week. He actually wanted to come here and question you, but he has refrained from doing so given the circumstances. However, he will have to speak to you in the foreseeable future if you agree to it." He left out a few things, like that Josephine had never been reported missing or that a few officers were threatening to cause problems. She didn't need to know any of that.

"And my old foster family? Are they going to get in trouble for that?"

Vito was surprised to hear the concern in her voice. Until now, he had assumed that Josephine had no positive feelings toward them, and yet she was sitting bolt upright in front of him with her eyes wide open. His gaze briefly flickered to Domenico, who also frowned in irritation. What else was there? "Well, they'll have to explain how you ended up running away, but—"

"No! Vito, you have to tell them that my foster family is not to blame! That was entirely my fault, okay? Can you tell CPS or whoever?" Josephine spoke frantically, and her hand, which was clutching Vito's forearm, trembled. "Please!"

This time it was Vito who frowned, and he had the feeling that he couldn't understand anything anymore. "I will, don't worry," he tried to reassure her and forced himself not to ask any further questions. They would get their answers eventually, but at this moment, her well-being was more important than that. He squeezed her hand with his free one, and Josephine searched his eyes for anything that would tell her he was lying to her. She found nothing and calmed down again.

"Thanks." Exhausted, she leaned back and pulled the blanket back up to her chin.

The nurse had watched the scene with concern. Something was strange here, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that something had happened with her foster family that had traumatized the young girl. "Dear, do you remember what we just did in the bathroom?" Josephine looked at her and nodded slowly. "Good. Please don't forget that, okay?" Josephine nodded again and let the blanket fall slightly. "Besides, I see clothes in the young man's hand. How about if I help you change, and then the doctors come in, feel very important, and then we sort out the rest? Very good. Gentlemen, may I kindly ask you to leave the room for a moment?"

Vito looked at Josephine again and stood up. "We're right outside the door. If there's anything, all you have to do is call."

Domenico wanted to object that the little one had already successfully survived a shared shower and that the danger of changing clothes was therefore low, but he bit his tongue. Vito was sometimes just overcautious.

The tests that Josephine had to undergo lasted until the afternoon. She was weighed, measured, her organs were examined, she had to ride a bike, and repeatedly blow into a tube in a chamber. She noticed that all the examinations were done by women, and she was very grateful for that. Domenico had left in the meantime but came back just in time to talk to the doctor about the results. Vito was present during the examinations during which she did not have to undress and always smiled encouragingly at her when she looked at him. On Vito's instructions, Valentino had to wait outside for all examinations. He didn't agree with it but acquiesced without further comment. They would have enough time to get to know each other when she came back home.

All results were in at 4 p.m. Josephine was surprised at how quickly it happened but also suspected Vito had something to do with it. The doctor was still young but seemed confident when she came into her room. She smiled encouragingly at Josephine.

"So, it's like this," she started the moment she sat down. "Your organs are fine so far. The kidneys are a little swollen, but that can go away over time. Your heart reacts quickly to stress, but with the right treatment, there won't be any long-term consequences. The blood values are not so good, same as your fat and muscle tissue. The biggest problem is your malnutrition. Our nutritionist has created a diet plan for you." She handed each of the three a copy. "And you'll need regular check-ups. As I'm told, you may continue to grow, but—"

"What does that mean?" Domenico interrupted her, tense.

"This means that her height is related to her malnutrition. When malnutrition occurs, especially at a young age, it causes normal growth to no longer occur. In Josephine's case, she is 4.8 feet (146 cm) tall, and her estimated height should be around 5.6 feet (170 cm). But it's possible that she can catch up; at least she should start growing again," she explained to Domenico and turned back to Josephine. "Your period should also start then. What can also occur are difficulties concentrating and learning difficulties. Your eye test was excellent. That's all in a short overview. Are there any questions so far?"

"It says her goal is 3.5 lbs (1.6 kilograms) per month and that she should do no to moderate exercise until she reaches a BMI of 18. Is that realistic?" Vito asked.

"Yes and no. Personally, I don't think much of such fixed rules, and my recommendation would be that she does what she feels most comfortable with. So if Josephine would like to do sports, then she can do it in a moderate form, and we will just adapt the plan. The same applies to weight gain. If she can gain weight faster, that's okay; if she can't do that at first, that's okay too. However, the portions should be kept really small because her body, and especially her stomach, has to get used to it. That also means," she looked at Domenico, "that she can refuse meals, especially at the beginning, if she notices she's getting sick." Domenico crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back. Josephine, on the other hand, was happy that the doctor had said that. She would never be able to eat everything in her life, no matter how hungry she might be. "There will also be a few nutritional supplements to improve your blood values more quickly. I also have the recipe here somewhere." The doctor began to look through her documents and after a moment pulled out a small piece of paper, which she handed to Vito.

"And when can I go?" Josephine dared to ask. The woman seemed so nice!

"Well, that depends on a few factors—"

"Can she come home with us today?" Domenico interrupted her again.

"I've already been told that you want a quick discharge." Her tone made it clear that she didn't think much of it. "Still, it would be better if she had a few more—"

"Why not today?" Vito kicked his brother against the knee, but that didn't bother Domenico. "Josephine is stable; we have everything we need, and I don't think she would achieve more here in a week than she would at home. So, what's wrong with today?" Domenico continued. Vito didn't understand his brother. Why should they take the risk? She was in optimal care here.

"That's true, but that's not the—" the doctor tried to argue, and her self-confidence seemed to weaken under Domenico's manner.

"Good. Then get everything ready; we'll take her with us and then come here for the next check-up," Domenico's voice allowed no further argument. "Thank you," he added.

"If you insist—" "Which I do." "I need a signature from you, Mr. Marini, that you take her against my recommendation. If you would just come with me," she asked Vito and didn't spare Domenico another glance. She was pissed. "And if anything should happen, Josephine, we're here 24/7, okay?"

"Thank you very much!" she replied and waited until the two had disappeared before she turned to Domenico. "Thank you."

He looked grimly toward her. "That doesn't mean I support the idea of getting you out of here this early. You know the deal: as soon as you feel even a little strange, we'll go straight back here! And you will wear the watch so I can monitor your vitals. Did I make myself clear?"



Hello there,

Unfortunately, I haven't found an treatment plan for malnutrition that has been proven by studies, so I used the one we use in our clinic. Apart from that: THANK YOU for so many reads and votes and comments! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. What do you say about Domenico's favor?

See you soon!