The Mafia's Maiden

Waking Up

beep...beep...beep...beep...

It can't be time to get up already. What time is it? What day is it? Why does my head hurt so much?

beep...beep...beep...beep...

Where is the alarm clock? Why is it so hard to open my eyes or lift my arms?

beep..beep..beep..beep..

What is that noise?! Its' not shutting up.

"Hello?" My voice sounds hoarse as if I had been drinking sand instead of water. I work to open my heavy eyelids. The dim fluorescent lighting slightly burns my eyes. Where am I? I look around but can barely move my head, I see wires and things on top of and surrounding me.

beep.beep.beep.beep

There's that noise again. Why is it getting faster? What is happening?

beep.beep.beep.beep

Before I can call out again, a man dressed in a white coat enters along with one girl dressed in blue and a gentleman in an all-black suit dialing his phone waiting in the doorway. The man in the white coat flashed a light in my eyes while checking the monitors and wires on me. The girl was listening intently to the man in white while also writing down things and doing what he said. The man dressed in black left the room and once the main in white finished speaking with the girl he turned to me.

"Do you know where you are?" He asked. I shook my head no.

"Do you know what day it is?" I again shook my head no.

"Can you tell me your name?" I panicked at the realization that I didn't know the answer to this question. What is my name? Who am I? What do I even look like?

"It's alright miss," the man in white put his hand on my shoulder trying to relax me and it really wasn't working. "A man brought you to me. I'm a doctor of a private practice and I've been caring for you for...the last three years"

"Three years?" My heart started racing so fast that it felt like it had stopped. I wanted to completely fall apart but at the same time, it didn't bother me, because I didn't really have anything to be upset about. He was about to start explaining but the man in all black came back in and gave a look to the doctor, which made him stop talking. He checked over me and asked me other questions like if I was in pain before exiting and leaving me alone.

I looked at the clock and watch time pass. It took twenty minutes before someone came and knocked on my door before entering. The man was dressed in a gray suit. His hair was jet black, neatly cut, and parted to the left, his eyes were rough and dark, making the green in his eyes stand out more. He had a five o'clock shadow around his chiseled jaw, he fixed his cufflink, after noticing it had come slightly undone.

He was tall only needing to take four steps to stand right by me. With him up close now, I could see his muscles being hugged by his suit, fitting him perfectly.

"Amore, how are you feeling?" His tone was so gentle it didn't match his look. He took my hand in his and my body jerked from his unfamiliar touch. I pulled my hand away from his slowly, causing him to let go of it and put it into his pocket.

"The doctor did tell me you couldn't remember anything. Would you like me to tell you?" I was cautious about answering, not really sure if I wanted to know what happened. I mean my mind has obviously wanted me to forget. I reluctantly said yes, wanting to know who he was as well as who I was.

"My name is Maximo, but you may call me Max. Three years ago it was raining and you were traveling at night and you must have lost control of your car. I saw headlights at the bottom of the hill slowly disappearing into the water so I pulled over and went to pull you out. You weren't breathing and your heart kept stopping. We wouldn't have made it to the hospital so I brought you here to where mine works."

"Are you sick?"

"No...? Why do you ask?"

"I'm trying to figure out why you have a doctor."

"All in time. I promise. When we got here they did everything they could to keep you alive. The only issue now was for you to wake up. I won't lie, we didn't know if you'd ever wake up."

"Then why keep me? Why not make me someone else's problem?"

"The honest answer?"

"Preferably." I didn't mean to be short with him, but in an unknown world, I was already at a disadvantage, and being kept in the dark wouldn't help any. He seemed taken back by my tone, he took in a breath as if he was trying to calm himself.

"I thought you'd wake up after a couple of days and be on your way and I could pat myself on the back for saving your life. When you didn't wake up after the first month, I was told to make a decision about you."

"What kind of decision?"

"Throw you out on the street or let natural causes take their course and let you take the long nap" I raised my eyebrow at his expression and let a breath out at the idea that I might have never woken up.

"How did you manage to keep me alive then?"

"I lied and said you were my fiance and I needed to keep you alive. I told everyone we had been seeing each other secretly and that night you crashed you were on your way to see me so that we could formally introduce you." Fiance? I use all the strength in my body to raise my hand enough for me to see it. I noticed the very large diamond on top of a silver band wrapped around my ring finger.

"Am I really your fiance then?"

"Only if you want, now that you're awake I can say we decided too much has changed and we have gone separate ways and you then you can be off."

"Just like that?" I asked and he nodded his head yes.

"Where would I go? I don't even know who I am?"

"Thats why I came when they called to tell me you woke. I will give you two options."

"Okay?"

"Option one, I take care of you, help you recover, feed, clothe, house you, the whole nine yards, you never need to worry a day in your life."

"What's the catch?" It sounded too good to be true.

"That ring on your finger becomes permanent and you become my wife."

"And option two?"

"You take the ring on your finger and pawn it. Use that money to start a new life. We'll never cross paths or ever see each other again."

"Can I have time to think about it?"

"You have until tomorrow morning." He grabbed my hand and put it to his lips before turning around and leaving. I stared at the closed door thinking, hoping something would pop up in my mind, but nothing appeared. It seemed like a good idea to go with him because I wasn't sure what I was going to do without him.

Where would I go? How would I get around? Do I even know how to drive? It's been three years has anyone tried looking for me or was there anyone to look for me to begin with? Why haven't they tried to find me? Who even am I? What do I even look like?

The beeping in the background got faster and I felt like it was getting louder. I tried moving but it felt like my body weighed tons. A nurse came in and rushed to my side.

"Miss, you need to stay calm your body is really atrophied, it going to take time for your body to catch up." She put her hands on my shoulders to keep me laid back and I was to weak to fight her off so I let out a deep breath instead.

"Please get me a mirror."

"A mirror?"

"I would like to know what I look like," I said, defeated, and she let me go and went outside the door, and after a minute she came back with a handheld one. She walked back to my side and held the mirror up to my face before turning it over, showing me my reflection.

My skin was tan, I had long black curly hair that took bedhead to another level with light brown eyes that somehow sparkled in the fluorescent lighting. I looked frail as well as tired, which made me slightly smile at the irony. I looked older than I felt, which made me wonder how old I really was. I didn't know the first thing about anything, so how was I supposed to get back out there when I don't even know where 'where' is.

I looked back down at the ring and decided.

"Can you get Max back in here?" She nodded and then left the room.