Underboss
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,466 No. Virginia
I took Tom's absence from Genco's bedside to be because he had effectively taken Genco's job, and Vito wouldn't want him there looking like a vulture. In the book, at least, Tom doesn't actually leave until Vito returns and formally promotes him.
"All of these men were good listeners; patient men."