Monza (Formula Men)

Chapter 3

Tre

Presente (Present)

"There's severe damage to his leg. We won't know how bad it is until we do more tests. On top of that, there are second degree burns and possible nerve damage," the soft-spoken man said with undeniable sadness, making me wonder how truly severe my situation was.

From the background chatter, I could gather that my parents were the ones being informed of my situation. Of course, my mother would be devastated if her only son was mangled and deformed.

Ignoring her annoying cries, I kept up the pretense that I was still asleep in a deep coma, rehashing what had happened at the track before everything crashed and went in flames.

And that damning dream of her. Of all the things to resurface in my subconscious, why in bloody Hades did it have to be her? I loathed anything and everything she represented. Selfish, money hungry, and only did things to serve herself. Once she had gotten what she had come for, she would eject you from her life as if the time you had spent with her meant not a damn thing at all.

Never would I let a woman distract me. She had been the one mistake, one I was still paying dearly for.

You see, I was the idiot who had thought her different from others. Maybe it was because she truly didn't know me at first, or maybe it was the novelty of believing that someone was interested in me without attaching the fame or fortune that many were after. To her, I simply was Luca. However, this blinded stupidity on my part blew up in my face when I learned the truth—that she was married to an older man.

Understandably, I went ballistic. There were so many instances when I was tempted to see her, to confront her about her lies, but I would always end up convincing myself that I shouldn't even bother wasting my breath.

She never gave any indication that she was engaged to be married, nor did I know if she was involved with anyone. In the very beginning, when our relationship had started blossoming, she had seemed so open and honest that I never thought it important to ask any vital questions. After all, the women I got involved with typically dropped any man they were with to be with me. That arrogant perception had blinded me from everything. So much so that I started to question my sense of judgment.

Her betrayal went far beyond my ego. She had deliberately humiliated me, and I wasn't about to simply let that go. If she thought she could walk away unscathed, then she should think again.

I had thought before the accident that I could let it slide, that I could brush it under the rug and forget she had ever existed. But then there was the dream.

The dream brought everything back to life.

The suppressed anger over her deception was back with a vengeance.

=-=-=-=

"I'm not quite a vegetable, then, am I, Vittorio?" I informally addressed the peppered-haired doctor since propriety and manners had left me. Besides, I was in this hideous hospital gown, so I felt as if I had earned the right to feel uninhibited, to do as I wanted just so I could make myself feel a little better.

My humor made him give a low chuckle, clearly amused. "Ah, not quite there, Luca. Though let's not forget that this was a close call. You could've died out there. These physical injuries will heal, but in my field, traumatic experiences affect a lot of things. Your mother insists that we leave nothing out, so a therapist will be by to speak with you later this afternoon."

My mother. The thought left an undesired taste on my tongue. I hadn't wanted to think about her when I had woken up with the most harrowing of headaches. It had felt as if something was pounding in my brain, making my ears ring with each breath and pump of my blood. I was in the most agonizing pain, but I would rather deal with that than face the woman who had given birth to me.