Athena's P.O.V
The subtle beep of a monitor greets me like an old friend. Cold woolen sheets on a hospital bed contrast the intricate gold and cream walls of this room. Sitting up slowly, I adjust my eyes to the warm light reflecting off of the chandelier above me. There are no clocks or windows in the room so I can't tell what the time is but guessing by the way it's extremely quite, it's probably midnight.
Lifting up my gown, I take notice of the bandages extending from my waist to my abdomen. Bruises peak out from underneath and I don't even bother to check what my legs look like. The bedside table next to me holds a clipboard with a list pinned to it. Reaching over to it, carefully trying not to rip any stitches, I notice the statistics written on it.
On the top is my name "Athena Rodriguez", I raise my brows at the unfamiliarity of the name and continue reading what it says.
Sex: Female
Blood Type: O
Height: n/a
Weight: n/a
My eyes land on the bottom of the page where the words "Injuries and Illnesses Sustained" catches my eye. But before I can read on, the door opens revealing a greying man with a tired and sympathetic eyes. I put down the list and straighten myself up, he walks over to the end of my bed and intertwines his hands with each other.
"Athena" He starts and I bite my cheek, "I don't know how to begin but, welcome home" He smiles softly.
I turn my head to the side slightly, "If this is another sadistic mafia trick than consider me not fooled"
He laughs softly but there's a hint of sadness in his tone, "From the time Dario found you, you've been out for 3 days but during that time we were able to discover who you are and what injuries you've sustained" He pauses.
"Go on" I narrow my eyes.
"I'll allow the doctor to explain to you all the medical stuff, but I'd like to give a little background." He licks his lips, "My name is Alejandro Rodriguez" My eyes widen at the name, "The man who saved you is Dario Rodriguez, my son and your brother" He lets out a huff of air.
My mouth hangs open, "So that means" I trail off. Running a hand through my hair and tucking hair behind my ears, I shake my head and rub my eyes. "No, there's no way I can be related to you in any way. I mean, I was a foster child but my Mother left me in one of those orphanage baby drop off stations, there's video evidence of it" I laugh nervously.
Alejandro walks over to my side and sits on the armchair beside me, "I know you've experienced a life full of lies and deceit, but you're safe now" He places a hand on my arm, "You were stolen from us when you were only a few months old, what happened after that is beyond me but Dario was able to find out about your past" His voice quitens, "I may no longer be the Don, but I can promise you that Nicholas will do everything he can to keep you protected from anyone who wants to bring you harm, especially the Italians" His fist clenches.
I shake my head, "How can I trust that you're telling the truth?"
His eyes soften, "We have the same eyes Querida" a smile tugs at his lips, "Also I got the doc to take a blood test just in case Dario was lying, and everything matches up"
Sighing I reply, "Okay, can I just have a minute?" I ask and he nods, leaving the room hesitantly.
I watch as the door closes and allow myself to let the panic settle in. Within a matter of months I've went from lying cold on the floor of a meth house to whatever the fuck you can describe this situation to be. My head spins and my heart hammers through my chest. The light the chandelier emits is suddenly too bright, shrinking down into my bed, I pull the cover up to my face and sink into the pillow.
The action pulls at my stitches and the wound I didn't even know I had on my back starts aching worse than anything I've ever felt before. Laying flat on the bed I try not to move to calm down the burning sensation which floods my body, even the simple movement of breathing strains my chest too much. The sound of a hushed arguement changes my focus to whoever is behind the door. The yelling becomes louder and I tense at the noise.
The door swings open to reveal Alexander standing in the doorway with Alejandro behind him with a pissed expression. Alex just stares at me and I give him a blank stare in return. He doesn't deserve my time and I can't be bothered for his stories right now.
He turns to Alejandro, "Could we have a moment?" He asks and Alejandro gives him a nod after a moment of hesitaton.
Alex closes the door and walks over to my bed, I stiffen up and he stops walking.
"I know you don't want to speak to me"
"You're right, I don't" I reply bluntly, catching him slightly offguard.
"Let me explain and if you don't like what I have to say then, I won't bother you again" He purses his lips.
I scan both of his eyes and give him the nod of approval.
Hope is regained in his eyes, "My loyalties are to Nicholas and this mafia, I was working undercover in the Italian mafia for a few years to leak information. Whilst on a mission once, your brother Dario found me and offered me a proposal. It was to help him find you, which I agreed to obviously out of respect for this mafia. Dario will eventually tell you his side of things but I'm telling you now my story. When you came through to the Italians, I noticed the slight resemblance you had to a portait I'd seen of your Mother, but I still kept you under the radar until I was certain you were the girl we were looking for" He finishes.
"And I was" I say confidently.
"All I wanted was for this mafia to have stability and you beind here means that no one can keep you as leverage." He pauses, "Dario and I's mission isn't completely over, you were only the first part of this task but I can't say anything else until the time is right"
"I want names", I change the topic.
"Names?" His face scrunches in confusion.
"Who else is involved?" I narrow my eyes.
He sighs, "You're smart. She wasn't meant to be apart of it, but Tess is. She caught me one day talking to my brother Antonio and threatened to kill me if I didn't tell her what I was doing" He smiles slightly.
"Antonio, why do I recognise that name?" I ask.
He sighs again, "He's Lucia's uncle"
I gasp quitely, "So that means you're the unkown other brother!"
He nods repeatedly, "That was a shock, Lucia I was not aware of and nor did Antonio know of her existence"
I lick my teeth, "Are you going to get her back?"
He shakes his head, "She's under Marco's protection which means that she's safe"
"And that also means you're my cousin"
He beams, "Bingo"
I rub my forehead, "This is too much for one night"
"It's actually 11am" He corrects.
I roll my eyes,"So Tess is the person you called when I told Dario to get Marco to safety" I catch on slowly and he nods in response, "Why is Tess helping you anyways?"
"She hates Stefano more than anybody, even more than Marco. And she has every right to especially considering the ordeals that she went through because of him. Either way our mission is to take him down but I've said too much already" He winks.
"And Marco is okay?" I ask.
"He's safe now. But I'm not going to find that out for myself considering that now that my cover is blown I can no longer return to the Italians" Sadness laces his tone.
"Yeah sorry about that, I kinda blew your cover"
He smiles, "Playing triple agent was a struggle in itself, I'm glad it ended this way. And we still have Tess so we'll be fine"
"So what happens now?" I ask.
He slaps his thighs with both hands softly, "Well, I guess you recover and then start adjusting to this new lifestyle." He stands up, "Now's the time for you to live comfortably, you've earned it" He winks again.
"Thank you for helping and I'm sorry for getting angry" I offer a weak smile.
He laughs, "I would be pissed too, don't worry", he says and then leaves the room, leaving the door open for the doctor to come in.
The doctor's hair is put up in a messy bun, strawberry blonde hair is adorned by multiple boby pins sticking it up in place. Her thin tortoise glasses sit on the bridge of her nose as she strides into the room.
She gives me a warm smile, "I'm doctor Scarlett. When Tanya found out they were going to assign a male doctor to examine you she intervened and made sure that I examined you instead." She laughs softly at my confusion, "Tanya is your sister-in-law-to-be, in case you didnt' know"
My mouth makes an 'o', "I didn't take Dario for the commitment type"
Her nose scrunches at his name, "Trust me, no one does. It's Nicholas who's getting married"
It's my turn to laugh when I notice her disgust towards Dario, "What's with the contagious distate towards Dario?" I ask.
She shakes her head as she prepares her notes, "That is none of my business to discuss" She hums. "Now for the serious bit" Her voice lowers.
I bite my lip, preparing myself for what she has to say.
"Honey, I've been informed of your situation and what you've been through and the damage done isn't pretty. In terms of short term injuries, you've fractured your collarbone, internal bleeding in several areas, multiple stab wounds and a bunch more minor injuries" She pauses and watches my eyes carefuly, "For the long term injuries, you have a blood disease which is treatable but it means that you have to take medication for it. Also, your uterus has sustained..."Her voice trails off and I wince, "There's a small chance that you'll ever have children"
"I've never been good with kids anyways" I laugh softly.
Her eyes fill with empathy and she purses her lips, "I've only informed Alejanro of the less personal stuff and I won't be telling him about the uterus situation. But in terms of the blood disease, that is something he needs to know about but would you like me to leave it to you to tell him what it stemmed from?" The air is thick with silence.
"I'd like to avoid that conversation as much as I can, so I'll leave it to you" I smile.
She nods, "In terms of the infertility, I think it's best that you have someone to discuss it with. I'll always be available but I do recommend you talk to Tanya" She says cautiously.
"I'll keep it in mind", she nods at my response and starts unpacking her gear to fix my bandages. I try to keep my mind on something else to avoid the pain which torments me as the wounds become exposed to the cold air.
"I'll be back around this time tomorrow to check up on you again" She smiles and starts walking towards the door.
A knock at the doorframe catches my attention when I see Dario leaning against it.
"Hel-lo beautiful" He winks at Scarlett as she walks towards him.
She scoffs, "Move", she says but shoves him out of her way anyways.
I laugh at her gesture, "What's her deal?"
He walks over to me with a smirk, "She's just hungover on the time we had sex when she was an intern here"
I scoff a laugh, "Wow okay"
His expression become serious, "I know we're all stranger to you"
I cut him off, "But we're going to do everything we can to keep you safe" I recite.
He gives me an impressed smile, "You'll be hearing that one quite frequently"
Eventually, Dario left after ranting to me about how Alex can be the biggest pain to work with. He promised me that once I'm better, he'll explain to me why everyone hates him. I questioned him about his work with Alex and he said the same thing, that once their plan falls through correctly that they will then reveal what is happening. But right now I don't really care too much about anything, I plan on trying to avoid my fucked up life and health issues by sleeping it off, so that's exactly what I'm going to do.