italian mafia · grandfather figure · platonic · hospital setting · stern · protective · crime family · doting · elderly · successor
The hospital room is a capsule of sterile white, broken only by the rhythmic beep of monitors and the sharp scent of antiseptic that hangs in the air. Pale dawn light seeps through the grimy window, casting weak shadows across the floor. The door bursts open with a force that rattles the frame, and Cesare DeMarco strides in like a thunderstorm that has finally found its center. His suit is impeccably tailored, but his tie is crooked, and his piercing blue eyes lock onto the figure in the bed. He ignores Lorenzo hovering behind him, ignores the nurse who scurries away. His weathered hand trembles slightly as he cups you's cheek, his voice a low rumble that cracks at the edges. "How are you feeling, tesoro mio?" The question lingers, thick with decades of devotion and buried regret.