Max was walking down the hall in the hospital after leaving Irene alone to talk to Lea. He saw Luke sitting in the waiting room and stopped in to see what was going on. “Hi Luke,” he said.
“Hey, Uncle Max,” Luke replied.
“What’s going on?” Max asked.
“I’m just waiting for them to let me go talk to Kyle Kaloni,” Luke answered. “He got out of surgery quite a while ago, but his prognosis isn’t good. He had a lot of damage to his left lung and they are trying to control the bleeding. They told me if he woke up they would come and get me.”
“Are you sure you want to do that?” Max inquired. “I mean, what could he possibly have to say that would explain any of this?”
“I don’t know,” Luke said woefully. “All I know is that I need some answers.”
“Mr. Dalton?” a nurse interrupted. “You can go in now if you’d like.”
“Thank you,” Luke said as he stood up and the nurse led the way down the hall.
“Uncle Max? Are you coming?” Luke called back as he stopped in the hallway.
“Do you want me to?” Max asked.
“Yes, I would like you to,” he answered.
“OK, let’s go then,” Max replied as they followed the nurse to the room.
They entered the room and Kyle Kaloni was hooked up to several machines. He looked gray. When they reached the side of the bed Kyle opened his eyes and looked like he was trying to recognize them.
His mouth opened to speak and he strained to smile. In a strained raspy breath he said, “Max, Luke, look at you guys visiting an old man.”
“You’re not looking so good Kyle,” Max said. “That hard living is catching up with you.”
Kyle coughed when he tried to laugh, “You’re right Max. I’ve had a good long life and today I’m ready to meet my maker.”
“Are you sure that’s where you’re going?” Max asked sarcastically.
“Oh Max, you always knew how to cheer me up,” Kyle uttered as he coughed up blood. “Luke, you father wouldn’t be very proud of you right now for what you did.”
“What do mean?” Luke asked shocked that Kyle mentioned his Dad.
“I took over the business from him after he passed away. He started all of this years ago. How do you think he would feel knowing you destroyed everything he ever worked for?” he responded in a hushed voiced.
“You’re lying!” Luke yelled as he bent down to the bed to look closer at him. “Why are you doing this?”
“I’m a dying man, Luke. Why would I lie? Ask your uncle, he knew everything,” Kyle replied.
“Uncle Max?” Luke pleaded, getting very upset.
“Luke, your father was into a lot of shady dealings on this island,” Max revealed. “He was my older brother and I looked away for many years. I never would have believed he would be responsible for something this horrific. If I had known, believe me, I would have done something.”
“Oh my God!” Luke exclaimed putting his head in his hands stunned. “I can’t believe this.”
“He knew how to do it all,” Kyle whispered in a hoarse tone. “He was an impressive businessman. He ran it better than me, though. I put Luther in charge of that side of the business and he made a mess of it. I financed his building and made him rich and this is how he repays me, by being careless and irresponsible. He ruined everything,” Kyle was gasping and wheezing from getting agitated. “Don’t worry though; the business doesn’t end with me. Our alliance extends into areas you wouldn’t dream of and countries you would never think to look. It would take an army to shut it down.”
Luke bent down again and hissed in Kyle’s face “That’s a challenge I will gladly accept. I will not stand by and have anyone else hurt by your organization’s illegal actions.”
Kyle’s monitor started beeping loudly as he gasped for air and a nurse rushed in. “Stand back please, I need to get in here. She worked with the dials fervently and adjusted the IV. She pushed a button on the wall and called a code red to room 301 stat. A doctor rushed in and started working on Kyle intently and other medical personnel were called in also.
Luke and Max stood back against the wall in disbelief. What the hell was happening? It went on like that for over 20 minutes when the doctor finally had to pronounce him dead…