Chapter 101
ROO’S POV
Stillness. Not the really welcoming quiet one.
There’s little low sounds here and there, like so machines breathing next to when I didn’t want them to.
Air-conditioning too cold, cutting across my skin.The kind of silence that made your ears ring.
The kind that felt so wrong.
My eyes were heavy and painful to open, but slowly, I cracked them open.
White ceiling. Fluorescent lights flickering.
I was in the infirmary again.
Of course.
My body felt like shit.
Every muscle screaming, every breath dragging.
Head pounding like soone had slamd a bat into it — which, I won’t doubt, happened.
I tasted tal and regret. "Where the hell..." The words rasped out of as I caught movent in the corner.
My shoulders tensed on instinct, eyes snapping to it — ready, alert, ready to annihilate whoever dared.
But it wasn’t a threat.
It was the only person I gave a shit about in this world.
Nonna.
She was slumped in a chair, head tilted, chin resting on her chest. A thin blanket hung off one shoulder.
Her hand tightly clutched the side of my bed, like even in sleep, she refused to let go.
You see? Premium grandma.
I just stared. Let the sight sink in.
She looked tired. Smaller. Like the night aged her ten years.
What the hell happened to my old hag?
My head throbbed harder when I tried to think. Little mories flashed, sharp, jagged.
Three n. Hands holding down. Legs folding.
My Nonna’s voice breaking.
Screaming.
Then a needle. Cold fire flooding my veins.
And blankness.
My chest tightened.
Sothing else. Sothing missing—
My mask.
My pulse spiked. Ireached for my face, or tried to, because the second I moved, sothing yanked my hand back hard.
tal clinked. My brow furrowed.
What the...
I glanced down.
A cuff. Wrapped around my freaking wrist.
My jaw clenched so hard I thought it would shatter.
For a full second, I just stared at it, breathing slow, trying to get my anger in check. "Who the fuck cuffed ?" My voice ca out rough. Flat. Dangerous.
I yanked it hard. The fra rattled, tal biting into my skin, bringing more pain.
Pain licked up my arm, but it didn’t matter. I pulled again, teeth gritted.
"Fucking unbelievable," I muttered under my breath.
Click. Clank. No give.
Nonna stirred. Eyes fluttering open, unfocused at first, then widening when they found .
The sound must’ve woken her. "Roo?" Her voice was barely audible.
I didn’t look at her. Still glaring at the cuff.
"What is this?" I snapped, yanking again, trying to raise my hand for her to see. "You kidding right now? You cuffed to a goddamn bed?"
"Mi amore..." she whispered, shaky, but steady enough. "Calm down—"
"Don’t ’calm down’ ." My laugh was hollow. "I wake up in a fucking hospital — drugged, half-dead, chained like so animal — and you want calm?"
She flinched. Just slightly. But she didn’t back down. She never did.
"You were thrashing," she said quietly. "You hurt soone."
"What?" My head snapped up.
Her gaze softened, but it didn’t waver.
"Antonio. He ca in — you thought he was soone else. You threw a knife."
Antonio. That old man?
How the hell did I hurt him—
But then more mories ca sharper.
Blood. Knife. Ivan.
Shit.
I burst out laughing. I fucking thought of that bastard and I stabbed Antonio. What the hell.
"hahaha" My laugh bood off the walls.
Nonna reached for slowly, her hand trembling. "Roo... please, enough. You need to rest. Please, figlio mio—"
But my sharp glare cut her off.
I sucked in shaky breaths, trying to leash it all back in.
The crazy laugh died in my throat, burned into sothing harsher.
"Rest?" I rasped. "That what you call being chained up like a damn dog?"
"Mi amore, you were—"
The sound of the door opening cut her off.
Well, it seems my old hag keeps getting cut off.
My head turned to the door.
White coat. Clipboard. That face.
My vision sharpened.
Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding .
This bitch.
The sa one. The one who’d co at with a needle while I was pinned down.
I didn’t say a word, but my eyes followed her, razor-sharp. She froze for half a second under my stare.
Good. Let her know. I rembered. I saw her disgusting face.
"Ah, good," the doctor said after clearing her crappy throat, forcing cheer into her voice. "You’re awake. That’s... remarkable."
She gave Nonna a quick glance, then turned to like I wasn’t glaring daggers at her. "How do you feel?"
"How do I feel?" My tone was dry and poisonous. "Let’s see. Cuffed to a bed. Drugged. Half-dead. Feels fucking fantastic."
"Language, Roo," my old hag hissed quietly.
"Uncuff ," I demanded, eyes still locked on her.
But she didn’t move.
"I’m afraid we can’t do that yet. It’s safer for everyone this way."
Who the hell employed this bitch into my mansion?
"Safer for who?"
"For you. For her. For everyone." She nodded toward Nonna, her tone maddeningly calm. "You don’t rember, but..."
"I don’t give a damn what I don’t rember. Get. Them. Off."
Nonna’s hand covered mine, light but trembling. "Please, Roo. Listen."
The doctor exhaled. "You’ve been unconscious for nearly two months. Your body’s been through... a lot. You shouldn’t even be awake yet."
That made still. Two months?
I thought it was just last week I used Katya as bait for her bastard father — who gave the shock of him trying to kill his own princess. Or was it all his plan?
The world tilted slightly, but I forced my jaw to stay tight. "You serious?"
She nodded. "We didn’t think you’d make it. The bullet we removed—" she hesitated, shifting. "It was... abnormal. Modified. It could move, and it was shrapnel fused with so kind of unknown compound. It tore through your lower back. We had to flood your system with counter-serum. You’re lucky to be alive."
"Lucky," I repeated flatly.
"You won’t be able to use your legs right away," she continued carefully. "The treatnt—it saved your life, but it’ll take ti for the nerves to stabilize."
I blinked. Once. Twice.
No legs.
A slow breath hissed through my teeth, sothing heavy twisted in my gut but it didn’t show on my face.
"An abnormal bullet," I muttered under my breath. "That fucking bastard outdid himself."
The doctor frowned, looking confused while my Nonna’s eyes welled, but she said nothing.
I leaned my head back against the pillow, staring up at the ceiling, forcing a dry chuckle out of my cracked throat.
"Guess he really wanted gone this ti, huh."
††
Yoo guess we are getting our Roo back lol ♥
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