Chapter 13 09

Michael Corleone went into town that night in a mood of gloom.He felt that he was being drawn into the family web against his will; he hated Sonny for assigning him such an important job as guarding the phone.He was jittery about attending the family leadership caucus, as if he could be trusted with absolute confidence in such a confidential matter as murder.Right now, going to see Kay, he felt guilty about her.He hadn't been completely honest with her about his family problems. He told her bits and pieces, but each time he interspersed with jokes and colorful love affairs, so that the characters in the family organization were more like daredevils in movies, which masked their spirit. substance.As it stands now, his father has been shot in the street; his older brother is plotting his murder.Plain and simple, that's what happened, but that's not what he was going to tell Kay.He has already described the shooting of his father as more of an "accident" and that all troubles are over.Hell, now it looked like the trouble was just beginning, and Sonny and Tom "missed the analysis of the Sollozzo guy and were still underestimating him, even though Sonny was smart enough to see the danger." Michael was desperately trying to figure out what drug the "Turk" was hiding in his gourd. Clearly, he was a brave, intelligent man with extraordinary daring, and you had to expect him to surprise with a veritable surprise attack. But But Sonny, Tom, and Clemenza and Tessio thought they were far more experienced than he was. He was a "common man" in this fight, Michael thought with a little resentment. To win For his participation in this fight, they had to give him a higher medal than he had won in World War II.

Thinking about it this way, he felt guilty for not having more sympathy for his father.His father was shot full of holes, and it was strange to say that Tom understood better than anyone when he said that the old man had been shot for business reasons rather than personal vendettas.His father had paid for the power he wielded all his life, for the homage he had "extorted" from everyone around him. All Michael longed for was to get away, to get away from it all, to live his life in safety.However, the current crisis has not passed, and he cannot bear to break away from his family.He must at least help out as a commoner.After thinking about it, his mind suddenly became clear.He was troubled by the role assigned to him because it was the role of a privileged noncombatant, a man who had himself been exempted from conscientious objectors on moral grounds.Therefore, the word "common people" kept bouncing and dancing in his head, which really irritated him.

When he got to the hotel, Kay was already waiting for him on the porch. (Two of Clemenza's men drove him into town, looked around to make sure no one was following them, and let him out at a nearby bend.) They ate together and drank some liquor. "When are you going to see your dad?" Kay asked. Michael looked at his watch and said: "The visiting time ends at 8:30. I think it's better to wait until everyone leaves. They will let me in. He lives in a single ward, and there is a nurse in charge. I can sit with him for a while. He may I can't talk yet, and I don't even know that I'm visiting him, but I have to show my filial piety."

Kai calmly said: "I feel very sorry for your father. He was so solemn and kind at the wedding banquet that day. I don't believe the reports about him in the newspapers. I dare say that most of them are not true. .” Michael said politely, "I think it's untrue, too." He was surprised to find himself so tight-lipped.He loves her and trusts her.But he never wanted to tell the truth about his father and family.She is an outsider. "What are you going to do?" Kay asked. "Are you going to get involved in this gang fight?" Michael grinned, unbuttoned his jacket, and opened the left and right flaps wide.

"Look, no guns," he said. Kai also giggled. As the night grew deeper, they went upstairs to their rooms.She mixed two drinks and sat on his lap, and they took turns drinking.With the coat removed, she was naked like satin, and his hands touched her hot thighs.The two of them rolled on the bed together, and it started before they had time to take off their clothes.After they finished, they lay very quietly together, each feeling the heat from each other's body passing through their clothes to themselves.Kai complained like he said: "Is this what your soldiers call "fast food"?"

"That's it," Michael said. "That's not bad," she said in a tone that knew what it was like. They both dozed off.Michael woke up with a start, looking anxious, and checked his watch. "Oops," he exclaimed, "it's almost ten o'clock. I must go to the hospital right away." After that, he went to the bathroom to take a shower and combed his hair. Kai also came in and wrapped his arms around his waist from behind. "When are we going to get married?" she asked. "Whenever you want," Michael said, "as soon as this family feud settles down and my old man gets better, we'll get married right away. But I think you'd better explain the situation to your parents. "

"What should I explain?" Kay asked quietly. Michael ran the comb through his hair. "Let's say you befriended a brave, handsome lad from Italy who went to Dartmouth for top marks. In the war, he won the Cross and the Purple Heart. He is loyal and hardworking.However, his father is a gang leader; he specializes in killing bad guys;But this has nothing to do with his loyal, hard-working son.Can you remember all this? " Kai let go of him and stepped back, leaning his back against the bathroom door. "Is he really a gangster?" she asked. "Is he really—" She gasped—"killing people?"

Michael fixed his hair. "The truth, I don't know. Nobody knows. I wouldn't be surprised if someone said he killed someone." As he was about to go out, she asked: "When will we meet next time?" Michael kissed her. "I want you to go home and think about it in your quiet little town." He said, "I don't want you to get involved in any way right away. I'll be back at school after Christmas break and we'll be together, in the mountain town of Hannover. Okay?" "OK," she said. She watched him walk out of the house, watched him wave to her before stepping into the elevator.She had never been so kind to him, so fond of him, and if someone told her that she would never see him again for three years, she would not be able to bear the pain.

After getting out of the taxi in front of the French hospital, Michael was surprised to find the empty streets.What the hell are Clemenza and Tessio doing!Although neither of them had ever attended West Point, they both knew the common sense of setting up sentries.At least two people should be assigned to guard the porch. Even the latest visitors to the sick have left.It was almost ten-thirty at night.Michael felt a burst of tension and immediately became alert.He didn't waste time at the information desk; he knew the number of his father's fourth-floor ward.Strangely enough, no one interfered with him.He went all the way to the nurse's office on the fourth floor before a nurse asked him.But when she asked her, he pretended not to hear it, and just strode over to his father's ward.There was not even a single person outside the door of the ward.It is said that there are two detectives on guard nearby and waiting to question the old man, but what about people?Where the hell have they gone?Tessio and Clemenza, two of the commander's men, were gone.Who is in the ward?But the door was open, and Michael went in to see that there was a person lying on the hospital bed. Through the moonlight coming in from the window, Michael saw his father's face.His father's face was expressionless, his chest rising and falling slightly with uneven breathing.A hose hung from a steel frame by the bed led into his nose.There are also hoses that draw the venom out of the stomach and drip it into glass vials on the floor.Michael stayed there for a few minutes, and exited the ward after seeing that his father was not in much danger.

He told the nurse, "My name is Michael Corleone. Where is the detective who used to be his guard?" The nurse was a pretty young girl, full of confidence in the power of her office. "Why, your papa is getting too many people to visit, which is interfering with the normal work of the hospital," she said. "About ten minutes ago, the police came and drove them all away. Five minutes ago, I called the detective Answer the phone, it was an emergency call from their headquarters, so they left too. But don't worry, I will take care of your dad, I can hear any movement in his ward. That's why I left the door open on purpose. "

"Thank you," Michael said, "I'd like to sit with him a little longer, okay?" She smiled at him and said: "Sit for a while, that's ok. You won't be sitting for long, I'm afraid you have to leave too. This is a rule, understand?" Michael went back to his father's ward, took the handset off the cradle, and asked the operator at the hospital switchboard to get him to his home corner office in Long Beach.It was Sonny on the phone over there.Michael lowered his voice and said: "Sonny, I'm at the hospital. I'm late. Sonny, there's no one here, no one from Tessio's men, and no detectives at the door. I'm completely unprotected." His voice trembled slightly.It was a long time before Sonny's voice came. His voice was very low, but very impressive: "The situation you just described was a move by Sollozzo." Michael said, "That's what I deduced too, but how did he tell the police to drive them all away? Where did the police go? What happened to Tessio's men? Jesus Christ, could it be that old bastard Sollozzo? Is the NYPD in your hands too?" "Don't get excited, kid," Sonny's voice was reassuring. "We were lucky that you got to the hospital so late. You stay in the ward and lock the door from the inside. I'll send someone over there in fifteen minutes. Sit still and don't panic. Okay, Brat?" "I'm not going to panic," Michael said. For the first time since it all began, he felt a roiling urge of anger, a cold, vengeance against his father's enemies. He hung up the phone, pressed the buzzer, and called the nurse in, deciding to act with his own judgment, regardless of Sonny's orders.When the nurse came in, he said: "I don't mean to scare you, but we've got to move my dad out of here, into another ward or another floor. You unplug all these pipes and we roll the bed out, okay?" The nurse said: "You are joking! I need to get the doctor's approval first." Michael was very anxious. He said, "You've read the papers, you've read the reports about my dad. You see, it's clear that no one is guarding him tonight. I just got a tip that a few people are coming to the hospital to kill him. Believe me Me, help me." When he was serious, he was able to speak with extraordinary persuasiveness. The nurse said: "There is no need to pull out the tube, we can push the bracket with the bed." "Are there any wards available?" Michael asked in a low voice. "Yes, down the hall," said the nurse. It took a few minutes to move.The action is very fast and very stable.Then Michael said to the nurse: "You just stay here and watch over him until the assistant arrives, and then you leave. If you stay outside in the nurse's office, you could get hurt." At this moment, he heard his father's voice from the hospital bed, his voice was hoarse, but his tone was very forceful, "Michael, is that you? What happened? What's going on?" Michael bent over the bed.He took his father's hand in his. "I'm Michael," he said, "don't be afraid, listen to me and don't say a word. Especially when someone calls your name, don't you say a word. Someone is trying to kill you, you understand? But I'm Here, don't be afraid." Old man Corleone hadn't fully woken up yet, and didn't know what happened to him the day before yesterday. He was in great pain, but when he saw his youngest son, he showed a kind smile on his face.He wanted to say something, but it was too much for him to speak. "What's so scary about me now? Since I was twelve years old, there have been inexplicable people trying to kill me."