The realization had hit him like a panic attack, but without the sweet release of passing out. Livia and Junior had conspired to have him clipped. His own blood had turned the Vesuvius dinner into a potential wake.
He drove to the Green Grove retirement community. The hallways smelled of floor wax and faded memories. He found Livia in her room, looking frail, a breathing mask over her face. To the world, she was a dying old woman. To Tony, she was a smiling executioner. I_soprano_5x13
As the rain began to pour, Tony found himself at Vesuvius, the doors locked against the storm. Artie Bucco let him in, his face a mask of pity and fear. They sat in the dark, eating pasta by candlelight while the lightning illuminated the empty tables. The realization had hit him like a panic
Tony looked at his family—Carmela, Meadow, AJ—huddled together in a booth. He realized then that the ducks weren't coming back. He had built a cage around his family, and the bars were made of his own sins. He raised a glass, the wine dark as blood. To the family, he said, his voice cracking. He drove to the Green Grove retirement community