The small crowd of invited guests had assembled, and several members of the press were in attendance as well. The chairs and couches in the waiting room of the clinic had been replaced with a few rows of folding chairs for the guests, facing the reception desk where an easel and a lectern were set up. 

Seated beside the lectern were the two guests of honor for this event. Alexander Knight was seated directly next to the lectern, then Don Adonis, representing Midas Air. 

Maime, having come to help Ilaria with the press conference, nodded to her. Glancing at the clock, it was precisely 11 a.m.  Ilaria stepped to the podium and microphone, a proud smile on her face. As she began to speak, the crowd found their seats and fell silent.

"Ladies and gentlemen, honored guests, and members of the press; thank you all for attending today. I am so pleased to see you all here for this momentous occasion, honoring those who have given so generously to the mission of St. Frances Xavier Hospital. In just a few weeks, St. Francis will open its doors to the residents of South Philadelphia, and provide world - class care to all who need it. No one will be refused care due to an inability to pay. Through donations from businesses and indicia like those we honor this morning, St. Francis Xavier will take up the loving example of its namesake and care for the less fortunate among us, for as we must bear in mind, there but for the grace of God we stand. 

"So, it is with my deepest gratitude that I present to you today the plans for two of the hospital's most important units, lovingly sponsored by our guests of honor."

Ilaria gestured to the easel, where Maime carefully removed the velvet cover. Flashbulbs popped off rapidly, and Ilaria motioned for Alexander Knight to stand.

"The Alexander Knight Ambulatory Care Center will serve patients who have come to St. Frances for out-patient care, and will house the recovery rooms for those post-surgery. Thanks to Mr. Knight's kind donation and pledge of support, the Ambulatory center will boast state of the art equipment and modern comfort. Ladies and gentlemen, the Troubadour himself, Mr. Alexander Knight."

The crowd burst into applause as Maime turned over the first rendering of the modern building. Ilaria clapped as well, then gave Alexander a hug, offering him the microphone.

​​​​​​

Smiling politely, Alexander broke off the hug and casually buttoned his turquoise woollen suit as he walked briskly over to the podium. Raising his arms in front of him, he encouraged the audience to calm down and take their seats. Clenching the wooden podium with his fingers he leaned in close to the Microphone and joked. "It feels strange not having the reassuring presence of my band behind me while I stand in front of an audience so I must preemptively beg for your forgiveness if I appear less comfortable than I normally do."

A few chuckles echoed from the front row as he continued. "Most of you are aware that like a majority of the impoverished citizens within this city, I was not born here but came here to fulfil the hopes I held within my eyes and the dreams that were within my heart. This city and all the people within welcomed me with loving arms wide open and offered me the chance to make something of myself. Because of that, I am greatly honoured to stand before you,  to earnestly express my heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to our dear Lord who has granted us this great opportunity and allowed us to gather here to witness the effort and achievement, that can only be described as a ‘dream come true.’

This dream has come about to its fullest culmination after many weeks of hard work, determination, perseverance and focus on achieving this noble goal. It has taken the toll of a substantial investment from many local successful businessmen whose aim and objective has been to pay back to the community and country at large that they have lived in by offering the best health care that this country will have ever seen. St Francis and its employees have only one objective and that is to serve those in need.

I am really proud and feel greatly honoured that as a team we have proven that once the determination is there, and the will to achieve is embedded in the soul, everything is possible. By the grace of the Almighty, we will continue to do more for the benefit of all Philadelphia residents for this is only the beginning of our long journey.

I would be failing in my duty if I did not mention that my own humble contribution pales in comparison to the untiring effort of Signorina Santoro, who worked tirelessly with her time and energy day and night to monitor and supervise all the works whose fruits we all see today. I sincerely thank her for her efforts. Because of you, this city is a better place. Now come on up here before I steal all your spotlight. Give her some encouragement everybody."

Gesturing to Ilaria as the crowd erupted, he stepped back and let a sly smile emerge on his face. The crowd had eaten it all up as they normally did and he could barely restrain his glee as he imagined the positive press this would bring him. He could almost picture the faces of the NOMA officials who had been trying so hard to tarnish his legacy when they heard about this. The thought alone made the expensive investment worth the effort.

Ilaria stood again and approached the podium, smiling a bit shyly. Just a year ago, standing in front of any size crowd and being expected to speak would have sent her slinking away to the nearest closet to hide. For a moment, Ilaria stood there, appreciating the changes that had come in her life. She came to America an unemployed nurse, and today she was a doctor, an airline executive, and now the Chief Surgeon and Director of a brand new hospital. With a grin, she glanced at the man who had a big part in ushering in those changes; the man she was about to introduce. The man she loved. 

"They say that, behind every great man, there's a great woman. Today, I have the pleasure of introducing a great man who has been steadfastly behind me, beside me, and usually a few steps ahead of me. Not only is he a successful Philadelphia businessman, I can say from experience that he has a generous heart for this city we call home. Especially for those facing substance addictions. For that reason, Joe Adonis has given generously of his time and resources to help St. Frances Hospital develop an addiction treatment facility that will help bring much needed hope and healing for those struggling. Please give a warm welcome to Philly's man around town, Mr. Joe Adonis."

Turning toward him, Ilaria joined the crowd in applause, and smiled adoringly as he stood to approach the microphone. 

In another life Joe would've been drunk as a skunk and possibly coked out of his mind right now, especially if he were given an opportunity to take center stage. He use to not be able to see beyond himself. He was it. Everyone around him were just ways to nudge his ego into more self indulgent moments, which led to more substance abuse, more trouble, and so the vinyl of his life spun, a broken record.

If it weren't for the women introducing him and now clapping as he moved towards he microphone, he'd still be there, sinking into an experience lubricated by something other than what he was realizing more and more was most important. It was, for lack of a non soppy equivalent word, love.

Joe removed a piece of paper from his pocket, unfolded it twice, then placed it onto the lectern. He smoothed its edges a little as he took a deep breath in.

"Life is one fucked up ride." Joe began, speaking into the microphone, and still looking down at the piece of paper.

"It gets you by the balls and drags you through the mud. It kicks you, beats you into submission. It takes you for a ride and pushes you out of the vehicle, still moving. It puts a gun to your head and demands your soul. It's a cunt of a thing."

Joe glanced up at the audience before him and began searching the many faces in the crowd.

"If you let it."

Joe gripped the podium and shuffled his stance.

"If you give in to the bullshit. If you take it for granted. If you forget about the people around you."

Adonis glanced to his side, looking at Ilaria he gave a smirk, then a nod towards Alexander, before turning his attention back to the microphone and those seated in front.

"This may not make sense to some of you. But to those that will come through the revolving doors of the Midas Center for Addiction Treatment, they know. They know the struggle. They know the loneliness you feel that you believe can be fixed by sinking into a bottle, night after night. Into some kind of substance, day after day."

Joe glanced back down at the piece of paper. It had a picture of a heart roughly drawn on it. It was a simple reminder. It was the reason he was standing here today. And the reason he wanted to put his name and his money behind this part of the hospital. To him, the equation was simple. Life minus love equaled some fucked up shit. Life plus a whole lot of heart made it all make sense. With a few nods, and after a short silence, he continued as he raised his gaze once more.

"What they may not know yet, is that there is help. Real, help. And this is why I'm here before you all. I've been there. I've lived it. I still slip and fall on my ego now and then. But I have something that they don't. True support. A true family that has my back. And that's exactly what will be built here. Those that we will help will be reminded people actually care about them. That there is life beyond addiction. That with a little help and support, with a little love, they can feel truly alive again. Thank you."

Joe gave a casual salute to the crowd and swiped the paper up, scrunching it into a ball as he turned towards where Alexander and Ilaria were, with the latter now approaching him to share a brief hug before continuing on towards the podium. Joe tossed the balled up reminder at Alexander before he seated himself back down in his original spot.

"Perfect."

Ilaria hugged Joe and ran her hand over his tie, smoothing it over his shirt before returning to the microphone. 

"As you can see, there is a lot of good work to be done when the doors of St. Frances open in a few weeks. I want to personally thank these gentlemen for their dedication and support, and take this opportunity to encourage everyone to consider supporting St. Frances Xavier Hospital and our great mission of care. 

"Now I'll be glad to take a few questions." 

"Doctor Santoro, Jakob Smith, Philadelphia Inquirer."

The man smirked thinly, his eyes held curiosity and a thirst for truth, but he had calmed himself oddly. His body language was confident, even perfect one would say. He noticed that nearly every other reporter, investigator, and other curious people had their gaze on his back, front, and one even had the confidence to look him in the eye, to which he had flashed a toothy smile, before turning his gaze back to the three important people. 

"We, The Press, know of the recent news of Alexander and his battle with the NOMA Officials, is this, excuse me if I offend you and your integrity in some form. Is this an act of genuine kindness or simply a publicity tactic to lessen the gaze of NOMA onto your Benefactor, Alexander Knight?"

Jakob smiled, his eyes holding some kind of glee, if Kaleb were here, he would probably be passed out with drool staining his one shirt. Although, he probably would have gotten a smile out of the usually stoic brick of a man. Jakob waited, his arms folding behind his back, while his body language was calm, tranquil even. 

'Let us see how you get out of this one, I am not like most of the other 'esteemed' reporters here, I won't fall for their so-called charm.'

His last thoughts were a bit cocky, but he was a Smith after all, and they were nothing if not arrogant, but also had a lot of wits. Both of which he had in abundance, but he had learned from his time with Kaleb and their cases, that Mobsters ruled the city, and he did not want that anymore. It wasn't right, he was not his Father...

Without flinching, Ilaria made direct eye contact with the reporter who posed the not-unexpected question. Her smile was still present, just a bit more polite than warm.

"While we are aware of the situation, the Board of Directors of St. Frances Xavier were humbled by Mr. Knight's generous donation to our cause. He has met with the Board and staff members on numerous occasions, and I can assure you that his heart is genuinely behind this mission. He, along with Mr. Adonis and others are a vital part of the St. Frances family. We're here today to celebrate hope and healing, Mr. Smith, and I'm sure your readers will be far more interested in the mission of this endeavor rather than another media circus act. Next question."

Immediately brightening her smile, Ilaria moved her eyes away from the reporter, shutting down any attempt at a follow up.

Someone should have stepped up, someone should have stopped him. Only he cleared his throat once more, stopping other reporters from launching their questions towards. His body language was not guarded, his held curiosity and a tiny amount of mischief, it was clear by the way that she tried to cut him off from leading a follow-up question. His face was now soft, almost sympathetic to the true ploy behind this generous donation, but he restrained himself. He had to make sure that he kept up the perfect facade of a reporter, otherwise, his career would be over soon enough. 

"Doctor, I apologize, but that only answers one part. While I congratulate you and even jump for joy at the sight of this donation given by Mr. Knight allowing you to further your goal in healing and hope, we all have one thing on our mind. One thing that we cannot let go, you know as well as I that Mr. Knight and his recent donation is going to be called into question. "

Jakob's eyes turned cold, his eyes not looking towards Ilaria as he said this, but only to Mr. Knight, the man that made the oh so generous donation, he spoke clearly and with confidence, he needed to make people's eyes open, but how could he? After all, Mr. Knight had made such a donation that his stock and fame would rise, he would not be as infamous as he was with NOMA, but it would bring some people onto his side, allowing him some breathing space, something that he was not going to allow.

"Alexander Knight suddenly makes a generous donation and as you see right now, every newspaper worthy of the name is out here, getting coverage. Bringing light to the generous deed, but also, drawing attention away from his more infamous deeds. How can we be assured that this is not a tactic? How can we be assured that he does not associate with people of honor, such as yourself Doctor Santoro and Mr. Joe Adonis, we would not want your....rising renown to take a plummet by associating with such a man."

Jakob smirked coldly towards Alexander before he bowed his head and took up his seat once more, knowing that he was finished with his line of questioning. He looked over the gathered newspaper reporters, noticing that some of them looked at him with respect shining in their eyes, while others eyes held fear for him, not wanting an unfortunate fate to befall him.

The reporter's tone dripped with implication as he pressed her further. Ilaria didn't immediately acknowledge him. Instead, she let the uncomfortable silence he created hang in the air for a few moments before forming back to look at him. Despite a forced smile, Ilaria's eyes flashed cold as ice. Her voice, now not quite as cheerful, came firmly over the microphone. 

"Mr. Smith, while I applaud your journalistic intuition and drive for the truth, I must say that you clearly have no concept of appropriate time or place for your weasling in the name of free press. None of us are here to celebrate one man. We are here to celebrate healing. Meanwhile, you seem to prefer to cause further injury to a man who has selflessly given of himself to help this community. As for honor, my colleagues, friends, and staff have far more than you have shown here today."

Ilaria narrowed he eyes slightly. 

​​​​​​"So, Mr. Smith, it is my suggestion that you either start jumping for joy like the rest of us gathered here, or take your sniveling little implications elsewhere. Immediately."

With that final word, Ilaria's expression changed back to cool and friendly.

"I'm afraid that's all the time we have for questions. Please take some time to come and look over the beautiful renderings of these units, and feel free to take one of the provided press packets. Thank you so so much for coming."

Rosaleen rushed to get this telegram to Ilaria_Santoro,

My dearest Ilaria,

Thank you so much for the invitation to you event honoring those who have given so generously to the mission of St. Frances Xavier Hospital and The Alexander Knight Ambulatory Care Center.

I am so sorry I am unable to attend as I am in Seattle opening a new business of my own.

I hope by now you have received the generous donation I forwarded to you from Don NicodemoMangana.

So many people lack access to medical care. One of the great tragedies in this world is when children are lost to a preventable cause.

I hope people will continue to support your efforts and that of St. Frances Xavier Hospital offering lifesaving treatment to those who have nowhere else to turn.

I don’t proclaim to be this very religious person but I am so impressed with you having shown His love by serving the “least of these” on this earth as Christ challenged us to do in Matthew 25.  I pray that by God’s grace, and with the continued support of others, you can continue to bring relief to the suffering and hope to the hopeless.

Your friend,

Rosaleen.