Call.
1081 Words
When Natalia managed to open her eyes, she felt an incredible heaviness, and she didn't even know where she was.
Her vision cleared a bit, and even though her body felt heavy, she lifted her head slightly to make sure nothing strange had happened.
To her right, she saw a shadow, and as she focused on it, she saw the same man who had been in the restaurant. She thought she must still be in some sort of dream.
After a few seconds, the image of this man didn't fade, and she was awake enough.
He spoke first.
"Good morning. You're Natalia, right?" he asked, furrowing his brow as if he wanted to know more than just that.
"Yes, it's me... Who are you?" the girl with long hair wanted to know.
It was only at that moment that she realized she was lying on some sort of gurney, but it wasn't a hospital. Her shoulder was in excruciating pain whenever she moved it.
"My name is Stefano Mancini. A pleasure," he replied, trying not to appear too arrogant, but he didn't succeed.
"Can you tell me why I'm here? Where are we?" the girl asked with much curiosity.
"As you may know, you were shot yesterday, a shot that was meant for me."
"Yesterday?! Damn it. I need to leave right away," the woman replied, trying to remove the IV from her arm by any means necessary.
"Oh, no. You shouldn't. It's not advisable for you to move in your condition. You need to rest."
"Rest? I don't even know where I am."
"This is my house."
"And you think that makes me feel better? I have things to do and a job to maintain. Now, if you'll excuse me. I have to go," she got up from the gurney, but she felt so dizzy that she nearly fell to the ground.
Only the man's arms stopped her from falling, holding her to prevent her from getting hurt.
Those had been pure reflexes on the stranger's part; he didn't want trouble, but it wasn't anything special related to the girl.
She ended up with her arms around the man's neck, feeling quite embarrassed by it. Their faces dangerously close, much closer than she would have liked.
Natalia's heartbeat raced, the main reason she pulled away from him, as she thought this proximity was somehow dangerous.
"You see, you're not safe on your own. You need to recover to be able to leave," he commented, as if it was the most normal thing.
"Listen. I truly appreciate your attempt to help me, but I have urgent matters to attend to. I promise you, as soon as I can stand, I'll leave," she said, very serious.
"You can leave when the medical staff gives you the clearance. It's not up to me, and it's not up to you either."
She lay back down on the gurney, with minimal hope of leaving the place.
Certainly, she felt too weak to go on her own, and even more so to take care of her family in her current state.
Ethan must be waiting for her at home; he must be worried.
"Alright... Do you have a phone? I need to talk to my family," Natalia said, a question that had her head spinning.
"Yes, here's yours. One of the restaurant staff recovered it," Stefano said calmly.
The girl felt relieved to know that she wasn't kidnapped or something of the sort, as that didn't seem right at first glance.
Natalia took the phone in her hands and immediately dialed the home number.
Three beeps later, Ethan's melodious voice answered.
"Hello?" the boy said, somewhat wary, as he knew no one called the home phone unless it was an emergency.
"Sweetie, it's me. Nat," she began explaining.
"Nat? Where are you? Mom and I were really worried; we thought something bad happened. You didn't tell us anything," the boy exclaimed in a panicked voice. "You know you always have to let us know if you're not coming back."
"I know, Ethan. I'm sorry for not letting you know; it's just that something unexpected came up. I'm trying to solve this problem, and I promise that as soon as I can, I'll be with you."
"Okay... I don't like missing school," the boy commented with a sad voice. "I miss you."
"I know, sweetie... I miss you too. See you soon, tell Mom I love her."
With that said, she ended the call, as she couldn't bear her younger brother's broken voice.
This situation pained her deeply, knowing she was the family's sole support, and now she was in this mess.
"Do you know how long I'll have to rest?" Natalia wanted to know, but the man shook his head.
At that moment, a nurse entered the room to check the patient's signs, and she was pleased to find her awake.
"Good morning, miss. I'm glad you woke up. How are you feeling?" the woman asked, looking very kind.
"Good morning. I've been better, but I wanted to ask you something."
"Tell me, that's why I'm here, to address your doubts."
"Do you know how long I'll have to rest?"
"Well, that depends on your healing process, but it could be one to two weeks until you're discharged."
"Can't we speed up that process?"
"Like I said, it all depends on how your body responds to the medications," the nurse insisted.
Natalia nodded, knowing she was between a rock and a hard place; she felt like a child in the hospital. She had a fear of needles.
There were so many details she had to take care of so as not to worry her family even more.
She would tell them there was a sudden work trip. Something like her boss hiring her and several of the restaurant girls to attend a lengthy event.
Sometimes things like that could happen.
She remained lost in her thoughts, so much so that she didn't notice when Stefano had left the room.
Now it was just her and the nurse, who was checking her reflexes and other signs.
In some way, she felt embarrassed having such an important man wanting to know about her health.
"Don't worry. Mr. Mancini will be back in the afternoon; you can talk to him then," the nurse spoke as if she had read her mind.
Suddenly, she saw the nurse tending to her IV, and everything blurred. Natalia fell into a deep sleep.
- Writer
