Darkness

Mia's POV

It was nearly a week later and now that my arm was much better than it had been, Dr Giordiani had called me in for a check up, telling me she needed to do a scan of my arm when she had come home to remove my stitches so she could plan further treatment accordingly.

Federico had taken good care of my wound, probably more so than me, changing the dressing every day with meticulous care and making sure I was taking my medications and food on time. The man really had been the perfect boyfriend. In fact, I don't think even a real boyfriend would've been as attentive as he had been.

The lines between real and fake seemed to be blurring too much lately. Even though the two of us hadn't so much as kissed each other yet, the undercurrent of sexual tension was ever present when we were in the same room, which was pretty much twenty four by seven given that Federico hardly ever left me alone. Sometimes, I'd find him looking at me with a look of longing etched onto his features, like he wanted to hold me close and kiss me senseless, but was holding himself back.

I had tried to make a move on him a few times with random accidental touches, lounging around in clothes that showed off my body in the best possible way, but all he had done was stare, and stare, and stare some more, not once doing anything. It was extremely frustrating. Which was why I had decided that I needed some time away from him.

So, when Dr Giordiani had called me in for a check up, telling me she wanted to do a scan which couldn't be done at home, I had decided to take Angela along with me instead of Federico. The man had obviously protested, telling me he wanted to come with me, too, but I had shut him off stubbornly.

I simply had to get away from him for a while or I would probably explode because all of the pent up sexual frustration I was holding inside of me.

"Thank you for coming with me," I said to Angela as we sat in the back seat of the car.

She waved me off. "Oh, you don't have to thank me for this. Though it makes me wonder why you didn't want to go with my brother," she said, giving me a questioning look.

I huffed. "He's been a bit too... overbearing ever since I got shot. As sweet as it is that he's taking care of me and everything, I just wanted to get away from for a while, you know?"

Angela smiled at my response. "I understand. He cares too much about you. It's nauseatingly cute, but I can't say I don't like seeing him like this."

"Like what? A man who's on the verge of becoming obsessed?" I said dryly.

Angela chuckled. "No. Like a man who is crazy in love."

Her words made me freeze on my spot. Federico crazy in love? With plain, old me? As if. Just because he was taking extra care of me didn't mean he loved me. Besides, how could he? No. It simply wasn't possible. Angela had no idea what she was talking about.

Not knowing what to say to her in reply, I simply nodded my head, looking away. According to her, Federico and I were in a relationship. Of course, she would think we were both in love with each other. That was the only reason I could come up with as to why she would say something like that.

We chatted a bit about random things until the car rolled to a stop in front of the hospital entrance, and we made our way inside, Angela leading me straight to Dr Giordiani's room already knowing where she sat.

The doctor called us in right away as soon as we told the lady at the front desk that we were here. This was probably the perk of being the girlfriend of a feared Mafia Boss.

Dr Giordiani was a middle aged woman with light blonde hair and a comforting, yet clinical smile. She nodded at us as we took our seats in front of her.

"Hello, ladies. How are you doing now, Mia?"

"I'm much better now, thank you."

"That's great. You're lucky the bullet did not hit any major artery or bone. You only have a muscle tear in the area. However, I would like to do a scan to see the extent of the damage to see what treatment would suit you best," Dr Giordiani explained.

I nodded. "Sure. I'm feeling much better than I was doing a week ago, specially after you cut the stitches. Though, I still can't lift my arm all the way up."

Dr Giordiani nodded, jotting something down. "That is to be expected with muscle tears. I'll see if I can start you with physiotherapy soon once the scan results come in. My assistant outside will tell you where to go for the scanning."

I thanked the doctor before the two of us got up and moved outside to do as she had asked.

We were making our way to get the scan done when Angela's phone rang. She listened to the person on the other end, getting visibly worried as she did so.

"But how? Okay, okay, just get her to eat something and I'll be there soon," Angela said into the phone before ending the call and turning to me.

"Luca called. Emilia seems to have caught a fever suddenly and won't stop crying. She's been asking for me continuously. I'm sorry, but I really need to go to her," Angela explained, the worry clear on her face, looking like she had suddenly aged ten years in the past few minutes.

I frowned. "It's okay, you don't have to be sorry. Go and take care of your girl, I'll be just fine on my own."

"Thank you. I'll see you when you get back home," she said, giving me a quick hug before practically running out of the hospital.

I sighed. I wished Emilia would recover soon. Though with the way Angela had run off to take care of her, I wasn't too worried about the little girl. Angela wouldn't let anything bad happen to her daughter as long as she was there.

I made my way to the scan room and got my arm scanned. Once it was done, they told me that I was free to go and that the reports would be sent to my doctor directly for her to see.

I nodded before I began to make my way to the hospital's parking lot, hoping that Angela had sent the driver back and he would take me back home right away.

When I didn't immediately see the car we had come here in at the parking lot, I frowned to myself. It looked like I'd have to take a cab home.

Just as I turned around to go outside the hospital doors, someone tapped my shoulder from behind, making to turn back around.

A tall, tan skinned man with light brown eyes stood there, towering over me. "Miss Mia?"

I nodded, confused at how he knew my name. "Yes?"

"I'm Alfonso. Luca sir has sent me to pick you up from the hospital," he said to me, making me nod in realisation.

"Oh, okay. Lead the way to the car, then," I said, thankful that Luca had been kind enough to send a car for me to get back home. Maybe he didn't despise me as much as I'd thought.

"Would you like some water?" Alfonso asked me with a kind smile as he sat in the driver's seat and put his seatbelt on.

"Sure," I shrugged, reaching forward with my good hand and taking the small water bottle he had offered.

I didn't realise how thirsty I was until I drained more than half of the small bottle. "Thank you," I said to Alfonso as he started the car and began driving.

"It's no problem, Miss," he replied, giving me a small smile through the rear view mirror.

I leaned back in the seat, my eyelids getting heavier by the second. Geez. This injury had really taken it's toll and I really was weaker than I'd thought if something as simple as coming to the hospital for a scan was tiring me out so much that I felt just about ready to pass out.

Spots danced in my vision as the car moved forward and I could feel sweat beading my forehead and upper lip, feeling hot all over. I tried to alert Alfonso that I wasn't feeling particularly well, and to take me back to the hospital but I couldn't quite seem to form the words.

The last thing I remembered before the darkness took hold was Alfonso talking to someone on the phone and glancing at me worried through the rear view mirror.