Chapter Sixty Eight

Chapter Sixty Eight
Camilla POV

I open my eyes to soft light streaming through sheer curtains. I am startled because there were no curtains in the hospital, and this takes me by surprise. As I lay there, I notice that I also don't hear the incessant beeping of monitors, nor do I smell the sterility that I had become accustomed too.

I can hear the faint chirping of birds and feel a soft breeze coming through the window, the sheer curtains softly billowing. The walls are painted pale blue and to the side of the window is a tall white dresser. As I become fully awake, I look down at the soft paisley blue comforter that is draped over me. I'm lying in a large bed and there is no one in the room with me. I slowly sit up and feel a twinge of pain in my head. I take a deep breath and close my eyes, trying to remember what has happened and where I am.

As I look around, I notice there is a door that is open, and it appears that it goes into an ensuite bathroom. I can see the tiled floors with the sunlight that streams in from a window. On each side of the bed are white wood nightstands with lamps. A large, upholstered cream-colored chair sits in a corner with an ottoman in front of it. A blanket has been haphazardly tossed over the arm.

A light tap on the closed door happens, right before it's swung open. A petite woman in scrubs walks in carrying a bag over her shoulder and a glass of water in her hand. I realize she looks familiar. "Oh good, you're awake," she says, as she softly shuts the door. "I'm Tanya, one of your nurses," and then I remember her. She was a nurse at the hospital. I look around. This is not a hospital.

"Where are we?" I ask.

"Italy," she says, as if I should know this. "Your boyfriend’s family home or something," she mutters.

"My what?" I say, sounding shocked even to my own ears.

"Your boyfriend. Nicholas Carmine," she looks at me with a concerned expression. "Oh no," she mutters. "I hope you don't have amnesia."

"What?" I say. "I don't have amnesia."

"Okay," she shrugs. "Well, we flew here last night. My co-worker Bridgette and I got you settled in bed, removed your IV for the sedation and gave you time to sleep. You seem okay now. I have your medications, and I need to check your vitals. Once I am done, I can help you shower if you like and get dressed," she looks at me up and down before sighing, "Or you can go back to sleep. It seems like you may need some more of that for a few weeks."

"I'm sorry," I say, shaking my head. This sends a shooting pain through my head, and I raise my hand to my forehead. "I just don't know what's happened. How are we in Italy, why are you here?" I take a deep breath and open my eyes again, "and when will these annoying headaches stop?"

"You do ask a lot of questions," Tanya says as she sits on the edge of the bed and begins placing a blood pressure cuff on my arm, along with pulse oximeter on my finger. "So, we flew here on a plane last night, your boyfriend hired us, me and Bridgette that is, and Dr. Fender. We will be with you long enough to make sure you are able to be cared for by his family and then he will have return us to New York and you will live happily ever after, the end." She gives me an unnerving smile and then proceeds to take my vitals. She is not very nice, and I remember distinctly that Nicholas had said as much back at the hospital.

I watch her as she continues to assess me and writes something on a tablet she removed from the bag. She then pulls out some bottles and sets them on top of the dresser. She reviews some notes in the notebook, opens two bottles and takes out some pills and places them in a medicine cup. "Here, take these," she tells me as she hands me the cup and the glass of water she had carried in with her.

"What is it?" I ask.

"Keppra and Tylenol," she says as she looks at her watch.

"What's Keppra?" I ask her.

She looks up from her watch. "It's your medication that the doctor would like you to take."

I set the cup on the nightstand and look at her. "I may not be a doctor or a nurse, but you know who I am?"

She raises her eyebrows at me and says nothing. "I'm about to graduate law school, so I know that you have to tell me what the medications you are giving me are for. And forgive me if I don't just trust you blankly, but frankly, you are not very nice, and secondly, I am in this predicament because people have lied to me my entire life. So, I will ask you again, what the fuck is the Keppra for?" I give her a fake smile that says "fuck off" without actually saying it.

Tanya clears her throat and looks a little sheepish. "I'm sorry if I've come across abrasive," she says. "I'm just strict and I like my patients to do well." I just stared at her. I don't particularly care what her reason is for being rude, they won't be good enough in my opinion. There is never any call to treat your patients rudely, in my opinion. "The Keppra is an anti-seizure medication. The doctor has prescribed it for you, but on a taper, so you won't be taking it for long, so long as you don't develop seizures once we remove it entirely."

"Now," I say. "Was that so hard?" I reach over and grab the cup and the water and take the pills.

"Do you want help showering?" she asks. "We can't allow you to shower alone just yet, you may pass out. We need to be sure you're safe."

"I do not want you to help me," I tell her. She has definitely rubbed me the wrong way. "I'd like to speak to Nick, can you get him please?"

"Of course," she leaves without looking back, closing the door softly behind her.

I use this time to look around the room, tossing the blanket off me and swinging my legs over the side of the bed. The floor is hard wood but has a huge plush rug that comes from underneath the bed and extends about two feet from it, all the way around. I set my feet on it and let my toes sink into the thick, soft rug. That little bit of effort leaves me woozy and the room seems to spin, so I close my eyes. My eyes are still closed when the door opens. I know it’s Nicholas, I can feel it in my bones. I can also smell his familiar cologne.

"Camilla," he says softly. "I hope you weren't planning to get up on your own?" I hear him walk over and stand in front of me. When I open my eyes, he's inches from my face, searching. He smiles and raises a hand to my cheek. "How do you feel?"

"Like crap," I tell him honestly. "Every slight movement makes my head pound or makes me dizzy."

Nicholas moves to sit next to me on the bed and then puts his arm around me and pulls me into his side. "I was so worried about you, but I'm glad we got you here safely." He kisses the top of my head. "Why won't you let the nurse help you to shower?" he asks.

"Ugh," I respond. "She is horrible. Is there someone else?" I ask him.

"My mother is here, or the other nurse Bridgette, but she's sleeping now. She tended to you the entire flight. She will be up in time for dinner and to sit with you for the night. Do you want to wait that long?" he asks.

"Well, I don't want Tanya to help me. I don't know your mother, but that seems better than her."

"I could help you," he offers.

"Funny Nicholas," I swat his arm. "You think I'm going to let you get handsy with me when I can't defend myself without having a migraine."

Nicholas goes quiet for a minute and then whispers, "I would never hurt you, nor would I take advantage of you, Camilla. I care about you," he adds.

I realize he's right and I'm being ridiculous. I must look awful anyway, I haven't had a shower since before I went into the hospital. I reach up and feel my hair. It's not as bad as I had expected. Nicholas notices my movement, "The nurses washed your hair when you were in the hospital, but not well. It was hard when you had bandages and a drain, and they used some waterless shower cap or something."

"I need a shower," I tell him. "I probably stink."

"Let someone help you," he says. "Let me help you. Or my mother, you decide."