Under My Skin

Chapter 20

Before my eyes opened, I heard Enzo yelling at someone.

"Until Niccolò is dead, nowhere is safe for her. I just can't physically keep an eye on her all the time. She'd lose all her friends, and she'd never see her family."

"Fra," Gianni spoke, "she's right there. Why do you gotta yell? You're gonna wake her up."

"Because I'm scared! And she needs to wake up!"

There was a pause and I said, "Good thing I'm a heavy sleeper."

I sat up as Enzo gawked at me, and Gianni stared at me from the chair across the unfamiliar room. Enzo towered over me as he stood next to the bed.

"Don't move. How are you feeling? Do you want me to call a doctor? I can get you some water."

"Are you okay?" I asked with bewilderment.

Enzo paused and grew more flustered with every passing second. He cleared his throat.

"How's your arm?" I asked as I noticed it was in a sling.

"I'm fine."

Well, his vulnerability lasted all of two minutes. The two men continued to just stare at me.

Gianni broke the silence, "You were out cold for three days."

"What?" I straighten up my posture.

"The doctor said you'd just wake up on your own, and that there was nothing wrong with you," Enzo explained.

"Enzo almost shot him for doing his job," Gianni chuckled to himself.

I shot Enzo a disappointed look.

"She's fine. Look, she's already mad at you for caring," Gianni said and stood up with a dramatic flair. Satisfied with my condition, he left the room.

Enzo sat next to me on the edge of the bed. He let out a long sigh before asking, "What's the last thing you remember?"

"You were fighting. Sergio betrayed us. I remembered something from my childhood."

"Before you passed out, you were rambling nonsense about something that happened fourteen years ago."

"It wasn't nonsense!"

Enzo paused.

"I remembered what happened in my room. I was probably six at the time. I've never remembered anything from that time before!"

"Don't rile yourself up."

"This is not the time to tell me what to think and do. Enzo, I remembered."

"I know. You've said that many times now."

"You don't get it."

Enzo sat on the edge of the bed and leaned towards me. He said, "I do. I'm worried about you. I don't want you to pass out again."

To be fair, he was right. I felt my heart start racing and my breathing sped up. After a calming breath, I settled down.

"Can you do something for me?" I whispered and bit my lip. Enzo leaned in a bit closer to me. "Can you bring Jade here?"

Enzo retracted his entire body into an upright position. With a sad smile, he nodded and left the room.

A few hours later, when the sun pierced through the windows with the afternoon glow, I heard nostalgic yelling muffled by the walls.

"If I found out one of you put a hand on Lu, I'm going to kill you! I don't care if you're the mafia. You're going to die. Don't ever underestimate a woman's best friend! Do you hear me?!"