Chapter 53 He's awake!
Vincent
A distant rhythmic beep was the first thing I registered when I came to, followed immediately by the sound of a loud screeching ring that seemed to fill every corner of my brain. Fuck! I tried to will it away as I opened my eyes to take in my surroundings. Fuck. I was boxed in. Metal, wrung and strung up together against my side, airbag puffing up right in my face, and seatbelt pulled tight around my torso.
Fuck. It took all of my willpower not to slip right back into unconsciousness at the realisation that I was upside down.
I looked around for a means of escape, my blurry eyes taking in the shattered windows and mangled doors and I tried to plan a course of action. If I could just get this seatbelt off, pull off the metal that was making it hard to breathe, with how hard it was pressing into my side, and find a way past the doors and out of the car, I could call for help.
But how do I do that? I couldn’t feel my phone anywhere or manage to free my leg from whatever was holding onto it beneath the console. I was slowly losing consciousness again and was that… is that gasoline?
Oh shit, no. I muttered to myself as a phone started ringing somewhere. Apart from the fact that it could trigger an explosion if that was actually gasoline I could smell, it was also making the ringing and hurt in my head worse.
I whipped my head to the side when a bright light suddenly shone ahead. Oh fuck no. Another set of headlights. It kept getting closer and closer and closer until I was completely enveloped in it and clunked out.
The sound of the crash echoed distantly in my ears.
I could hear the beep again. Slow, rhythmic and constant, but without the loud screeching sound that seemed to fill every part of my brain. Now it was more like a high-pitched ring with a low, distant voice that kept echoing something in my head. I tried to move my head to the side to see who it was.
Fuck. A dull pain spread through my head immediately, making me wince. I tried to make sense of the darkness around me. Was I in a dark room or were my eyes closed? I tried to push it open and was immediately hit with a very bright light, its intensity making me close my eyes instantly.
Fuck. Where was I?
I heard the voice again but closer, including the rhythmic beep that seemed to be right in my ears now. I braced myself up for the task of opening my eyes again, only to find out that it wasn’t so bad now. I blinked my eyes multiple times and took in my surroundings. Well, the mostly white ceiling that was right above me.
I heard the voice again. “...see him.”
I tried to move my legs and my arms while simultaneously trying to figure out who and where the sound was coming from. Thankfully, I could feel my legs now and the slight movement they made as I tried to adjust them.
The dull ache was still evident, though.
I moved my head to the side groggily when I heard the sound of a door opening. Dr Frank and Tasha walked in. “Oh fuck. He’s awake!” Tasha was the first to notice, as Frank had been looking down at a book as he entered. He whipped his head up, though, in blatant surprise, his figure rushing straight to my bedside as he muttered a curse.
Well, at least I knew where I was now.
“Sir. How are you feeling? "Do you know where you are?” he asked ironically as he brought out something from his coat pocket. I grunted. “Yes.”
“Where?” Jeez, my throat felt so dry. “My establishment. St Valerio.” "Where is Kael?” I tried to sit up.
"Please remain still. Let me carry out a few basic tests to make sure you don't slip right back into a coma." He emphasised the last phrase as a warning to keep my stubbornness at bay.
I reluctantly lay back onto the bed and remained still.
“Kael was just here, by the way. He had to take care of something that came up but he said he'll be back in the morning. This might be a little uncomfortable.” He added as he placed his hand on my eyelids to hold them open, and then he shone a bright light right into my pupils.
Why the fuck won't it be uncomfortable?
He let go almost immediately, though, and stepped back to take some notes again.
“Do you feel sharp pains anywhere?”
I glanced down at my body. I mean, I was pretty much bandaged all over, the hospital cloth I had on covering most of it, but I couldn't feel any sharp pains.
“What's your name?” I raised an eyebrow but still answered. I've been through all this more times than one, so I knew the routine.
“Vincent Russo.”
A few more basic questions later, we were done, and I was finally left alone with my thoughts and Tasha, who stayed behind to check my bandages and heart monitor machine, which I now realised was what I'd heard beeping distantly.
Okay. So according to Frank, it's been four days since Kael rushed me in after apparently finding me at the bottom of the cliff where he'd tracked me to, passed out, battered and barely breathing just a few feet away from my car, which he'd described as unrecognisable. It had exploded.
It was currently 1 am, and Kael said something had come up.
That made me anxious for some reason. I mean, considering the fact that Derek had been brazen enough to ambush me like that with that accident, I could think of a number of crazy things he could have done within the four days I was out.
Fuck. I was pissed. Mad. Seething.
How dare he?! The utter guts. Because I've been so lenient with him after all those stunts he pulled.
Well, not anymore. The game was on.