HIDDEN

Chapter Five

She searched his face through tear-filled eyes, she blinked to get rid of the tears and they slowly raced down her face. Her whole body was sore and she couldn’t move. The pain made her nauseous, she closed her eyes and exhaled slowly.

“ It hurts! This pain is too much”, she mumbled.

Luca walked towards the cabinet and searched for a Morphine Sulfate syringe, he knew that was the only painkiller that was available.He walked back to the patient, she looked up at him her forehead was beaded with sweat. Luca could see that she was in excruciating pain. He didn’t say anything to her, not even a single word to try and comfort her, something that he will usually do with all of his patients. Luca was well known for going above and beyond to ensure the comfort and safety of his patients, he couldn’t bring himself to act his usual self with this particular patient. He lifted the bedsheet exposing her left hip, he rubbed some alcohol on there and then slowly inject the content of the syringe into her body. Mia only looked up at him and she didn’t even say a single word or even winced as the needle pricked her skin. Luca stepped away from the bed and walked towards the bin and disposed of the syringe. He glanced back at her, her eyes were fixed towards the ceiling, her face was covered in sweat. He couldn’t bring himself to wipe her face or talk to her like he cares or feels any sadness for what she was going through. He kept reminding himself that he wasn’t like this, this wasn’t the Dr. Luca that his patients would often say that he was a great Doctor with a golden heart. They would often describe him as an angel, but he couldn’t bring himself to care for Mia Conti like all of his other patients. People like Mia makes him battle with the evil within him, they surely bring out Mr. Hyde which hides in the dark place in his soul. 

Mia felt her eyelids were getting heavier and heavier until they began to drop. She heard the beeping sound of the heart monitor which slowly started to become softer until she could no longer hear it anymore, she closed her eyes and fell in a deep sleep. Luca realized that she had fallen asleep and he prayed that she will sleep the whole night. He had found it strange that she had woken up so soon but it was clear that she was still under the effect of the general anesthesia and he wondered if the fact that she couldn’t remember who she was, was only a side effect of the anesthesia. He lifted the bedsheet and checked her hip where he had injected her and he noticed the bluish mark along her left side.

She must have hit her side when she had fallen down, he said to himself. He extended his arm to touch her side to examine her to check if nothing was broken, but then he changed his mind. Instead, he tucked his hands in his pockets and walked away from her bedside. Luca pulled the chair from the small desk turned it around so that he could face her. He sat down and stared at Mia, he wondered what could his father possibly need from that woman that he was so desperate for him to save her life.

Maybe he will use her to threaten “ The lady”, what else. Threaten her but why? Look at her she looks just like an Angel, but so does the mum. I wonder if she is taking the same path as her parents? Luca said to himself as he ran a hand through his curly hair.

Luca stood up and walked towards Mia, he grabbed the thermometer and checked if she had a temperature. He checked the heart monitor and everything seemed normal. She was slowly showing signs of improvement, she didn’t have a fever, her heartbeat had increased and her oxygen level had improved. He removed the empty blood bag and changed the IV fluid bag and did something that usually wasn’t his job, emptying the urinary drainage bag, he was glad that he wasn’t the one to have inserted the catheter, that was one of the main reason that he needed a woman to attend to Mia. Luca glanced at her one more time and then he walked out of the room. He walked upstairs and out onto the balcony, a cold night breeze welcomed him. Luca reached out and wrapped his fingers around the smooth wooden balcony railing, staring out in the cold dark night. The cold breeze was announcing the beginning of autumn, the most colorful time of the year, and his favorite time of the year. He liked the chilly overnight air, the mist and the fog, the multicolored leaves which creates all of those special natural effects. Luca took in a deep breath, savoring the cool air, nothing feels as good as being surrounded by nature, the comfort and control it gives you was just unexplainable.

“ Sir”, someone said from behind him.

He opened his eyes and turned to see one of his father’s bodyguards standing behind him.

“ Just checking if everything is ok Sir ”, the man said and Luca nodded yes and the man just walked away, going on with his usual business. He should have known that his father will surround this place with armed bodyguards.

Luca gently tapped his fingers on the wooden railing, Mia Conti, because of you I’m missing out on a night of sleep, he said to himself. Then he turned and walked back towards the basement. He walked into the room to find her still sleeping. Luca checked all of her vitals and being satisfied that everything was looking normal, he walked back into his father’s office. He pulled the small leather couch placing it closer to the door so that he could still keep an eye on her. He stretched out onto the couch and grabbed the tv remote. His father had a small television hanging on the wall of his office which probably streamed only the local channels, but he didn’t care, he needed some sort of distraction from tonight's episode of his father's dangerous affairs . He flipped through the channels and yawned, putting a hand over his mouth. His body was telling him that he needed to take a break, he was so worn out that he will probably not even make it to the hospital in the morning. How could he concentrate in such a state? He couldn’t even think properly as he tried to remember if he had a surgery to attend to early morning. Slowly his eyelids dropped, he couldn’t stay awake anymore. Maybe I should just sleep for a little while….Luca told himself as he drifted off to sleep.

Luca could sense someone was approaching him and he kept his eyes closed pretending to be asleep. As he felt the person was closer he quickly reacted by grabbing that person ready to tackle him but upon hearing the voice of the old Doctor he quickly let go of him.

“ Sorry Dr. Morello”, Luca apologized as he stood up.

“ Gosh Luca! You could have given me a heart attack!”, the old Doctor said.

“ Thought it was someone creeping up on me. One could never feel safe under such circumstances”, he said bobbing towards Mia.

Luca noticed there was a woman inside the room attending to Mia. She was dressed up in a nurse’s uniform and her face looked kinda familiar, he knew he had seen her somewhere before but he couldn’t remember from where exactly. The nurse walked towards them and asked him to remove the couch so that she could close the door. He did what she asked him to do and as she closed the door, he sat down and leaned his head against the back cushion of the couch. He shut his eyes and then it dawned on him that if the old Doctor was here that meant it was already morning and he quickly stood up as he looked around for his phone. He found it on his father’s desk, he checked the time and he was shocked to learn that it was nearly 8 in the morning.

“ Wow! It’s late. I better go back home have a shower and head to the hospital”, Luca said quickly tucking his phone in the back pocket of his jeans.

“ Your father will meet you at your home. He checked with your assistant, you don’t have any surgeries scheduled for today, just a patient coming in for a consultation in the afternoon”, Dr. Morello said and Luca breathed a sigh of relief.

“ Then I’ll head home. Lorenzo and I, we have a lot to talk about”, Luca said and he gazed towards the closed door.

“ By the way Doctor, the patient woke up last night. What I found a bit strange… was that, she was in a total confusion. She even asked me who she was. Please check for any blow to the head as well”, Luca said and Dr. Morello nodded and then he narrowed his eyes as he looked at him.

“ It could be a side effect of the anesthesia”, Dr. Morello said and Luca told him that was his thoughts as well.

“ When she wakes up today. We will see her reaction. I hope by then your father had figured out what will be the next step with this one. We are swimming in dangerous water here”, Dr. Morello said with a serious tone and Luca nodded yes and made his way towards the staircase. Upon reaching the stairs, he stopped and turned, looking towards the Doctor.

“ By the way Doctor, I gave her a Morphine injection last night. When I checked the wall clock it was around 10.47 pm”, Luca said and the Doctor nodded.

“ I’ll keep you posted about her condition. Go talk to your father”, Dr. Morello said and Luca hurried up the stairs, he also couldn’t wait to hear his father’s explanation for dragging him into this dangerous affair.

Lorenzo glanced around his son’s one-bedroom villa. Nodding his head in approval with what Lucas has done to the place. His son had finally upgraded his home, making it feel more homely. When he had previously been to his house, this place was dull and he had told his son that this house needed a feminine touch. He knew that his son was not the type to settle down, but it is one of his dreams to see his eldest son settled down with someone, get married and build his family. But he knew that at the mention of the word settle down, Luca will be running out and he will not looking back. Lorenzo often wondered if someone had broken his heart in the past and therefore the reason for his “I’m not the settling down type” attitude.

“ I like what you did to the place. Now that’s more homely”, Lorenzo said to Luca as he walked in the sitting room sipping on his coffee.

“ It did look a bit dull, so I called Bella and she gave the place a whole makeover”, Luca said.

Bella was the head of the interior home design department in his father’s Real Estate company and she was more than happy to remodel his house giving it this Urban modern look. But his father was not paying him a visit to talk about his new pieces of furniture, he was there so that they could talk about Mia Conti.

“ Father now that we are finally alone. Please tell me what is going on”, Luca asked as he took a seat on the couch opposite him and he placed his coffee cup on the glass coffee table in between them.

“ First, I want to say thank you for staying last night. If it wasn’t important for me, well for the whole family I wouldn’t have asked you to do that for me”, Lorenzo said and Luca could sense the sincerity in his voice.

Lorenzo cleared his throat, he took a sip of water and then looked at his son. Luca was waiting for his explanation and he really wanted his son to believe him when he will tell him that he had really changed and for good.

“ Elena has some important documents about my past. When I said I have given up on my old ways it’s the truth. I gave up this life of darkness where the need of power renders one crazy. Now because of those documents, my new found happiness and tranquility could easily be taken away from me, actually from the whole family”, Lorenzo said and his voice grew softer and convincing.

Luca narrowed his eyebrows and looked at his father. He really wanted to believe that he had changed, but what about last night? If he needed those documents why did Mia have to get wounded? What did she have to do with all of this?

“ I don’t understand one thing…well, a couple of things”, Luca said leaning forward and staring straight at his father.

“ What does Mia have to do with all of this? What do those documents contain…? How did you find out about those documents in the first place?”, Luca asked.

Lorenzo took a sip of the water, he knew that Luca will be asking loads of questions. He wasn’t going to just sit there and believe in everything that he will tell him. Lorenzo didn’t blame his son, he knew that, if Luca always found it hard to trust in his words, that was his own fault. Luca had lived through bad times and had even watched his mother fighting for her life. He knew that Luca blames him for his mother’s death but had always kept it inside. Luca was always personal and didn’t like talking about his feelings and that had made it difficult for them to be close, but what he knew was that Luca respected him and his family a lot and that was enough to make him happy. As he was about to explain to Luca what was Mia’s role in all of this, his cellphone rang. He checked the caller ID and noticed it was Dr. Morello. He glanced up at Luca with a frown as he showed him who was calling.

“ Could there be something wrong with Mia?”, Lorenzo anxiously asked.

Lorenzo hesitated before he answered the phone, he looked at Luca and then frowned as he spoke to Dr. Morello. He hung up the phone and stood up.

“ We have to go back to the countryside. Mia is awake and she’s being hysterical. She’s been asking about you constantly and refusing to let Morello check her up”, Lorenzo said walking towards the front door and he turned and looked at Luca who was still sitting down.

“ Luca lets go”, he said almost pleading with his son.

“ Why will she ask about me? Could she have remembered who I am?”, Luca’s eyes widened as he stood up.