Fri. Oct 11th, 2024

Valeria!

I ran up to her side as the doctors and nurses wheeled her out of the operation room. Her appearance made my heart break into pieces. The doctors had bandaged her right arm. I assumed that her right leg was bandaged too. She had a cast around her chest.

Her head was bandaged up but, her hair was still intact and wet. She had a oxygen mask on. Her face had some bruises and scratches. I reached over to her face and caressed her cheek. Her skin felt a bit cold. Valeria . She was breathing steadily.

“We are moving her to recovery right now. Excuse us,” a nurse informed me. “When can I see her?” I asked her. “We’ll get you once she is situated into her room,” she told me and walked away with the doctors.

I watched Valeria disappear at a corner. “See. She made it,” Matthew told me. Barely . My hands closed in a fist. “Mr. Minetti.” I turned my head to see Dr. Seeley and two other doctors. “This is Dr. Bach and Dr. Fletcher,” he introduced them to me.

I shook each their hands. Matthew and Angela shook their hands too. “Adrian Minetti. My brother Matthew and sister in law Angela,” I introduced us to them. “It’s nice to meet you all,” Mr. Bach said to us.

“How is she?” Angela beat me to it. “She is doing very well. She is stable but, in critical condition. She has sustained a certain amount of spinal injury,” Dr. Fletcher told us. “What does that mean exactly?” I asked him.

“She may not be able to walk. We will only know when she wakes up. If she shows leg movements, she can go into rehabilitation. She is expected to go into rehab once she has recovered,” Dr. Fletcher told us.

Great…another thing to worry about.

“What about her concussion?” Matthew asked them. “From looking at her brain, there was some signs of trauma to the head. She is most likely will have memory loss when she wakes up. Hopefully, her memory loss is not too severe,” Dr. Bach told us.

“How bad can her memory loss be?” I asked him. “From looking at her brain from the MRI scan, I have to say that it could be from Lacunar to Retrograde amnesia,” he told me.

Lacunar? Retrograde? What the hell is that?

Dr. Fletcher sensed my confusion. “If you like, you three can come to my office and I can tell you the details of her head injury,” he told me. “I would like that,” I told him. “Follow me,” he said and excused himself from the other doctors.

We followed him to the elevator and into his office at the psychiatric/neurology department. “Have a seat,” he said to us. We sat in front of his desk. Looking around the room, he was one of the best doctors in the field.

He had his Doctorates in neurology and psychiatric. Also, he degrees in biology and life sciences. He had gotten many awards and his work was known in several magazines and medical journals across the world.

Dr. Bach took his seat and started to type something on his computer. “Let me pull out her MRI scan,” he told us. After a few long minutes, he shifted the computer screen towards us. It showed Valeria’s brain.

“You can see here that it has swollen a bit,” he pointed out to us. “She didn’t have anything broken on the skull right?” Matthew asked him. “Luckily no but, she does have a large bruise on her head. She also has some signs of head trauma due to her head being slammed against the steering wheel and the door window,” he told us.

When did she get a car? I knew that I needed to look into everything. “You said something about different types of amnesia. Can you tell us in detail of each one of them?” Angela asked Dr. Bach kindly.

“Certainly. The first type is the lacunar amnesia. Basically, a person lose a memory about one specific event. The second type is source amnesia which is the inability to remember where, when, or how previous information has been acquired even though the person was able to retain factual knowledge. I am going to tell you right now that I hope it’s one of these two,” he told us.

Worry started to build. “Why?” I asked. Dr. Bach let out a deep hard breath. I could tell that it wasn’t good. “The other types would require much patience for memory recovery,” he told us. “What are the other types?” Matthew asked.

“The first one would be post traumatic amnesia. It’s the inability to recall memories moments before an event such as an accident. Also, the person may lose knowledge of who people are. Depending on the injury to the head, it may take a long time for a person to remember,” he told us.

“The second one would be….” I really wanted to know the other ones. “Retrograde amnesia. It’s the inability to recall memories before the onset or beginning of the amnesia. A person is able to remember general knowledge but, not specifics. Also, overtime, older memories will be easier to recall than newer memories. If the person is exposed to something from their newer memory, that memory may return,” he told us.

“In other words, the condition is temporary,” Angela said. He gave her a nod. “The last one is Anterograde amnesia that is the inability to create new memories. A person may have memories of their past but, are not able to create new ones,” he told us.

I began to feel more worried. What happens if she has that amnesia? I wouldn’t be able to make things right.

“Also, she can have a combination of amnesias,” he told us.

“So, which type do you think she has then?” I asked him. He looked at me. “We won’t know until she wakes up,” he told me. Great. More waiting will kill me. I gave him a nod. Mathew placed his hand on my shoulder.

“You should go and see your wife. If you have any more questions, I’ll be here,” he told us. “Thank you Dr. Bach,” I said and made my way out of the office to Valeria’s room. The hallways were filling with nurses and doctors.

Valeria….will you remember me? I continued to walk towards the recovery ward.

“Adrian.”

I turned my head towards my brother and his wife. “You should go home and rest. You have been for hours,” Angela suggested to me. I shook my head. “I want to be here when she wakes up,” I told her. I am not leaving her side again.

“Matthew. I think he should stay. He already feels guilty enough for not being at her side for four years,” Angela said. Thanks Angela . Matthew gave her a nod. We walked through the hallways and found ourselves at the recovery ward.

“I’ll go ask where her room is,” Matthew said and walked away to find someone. Angela stayed with me. I paced back and forth. Please God. Please help me. Please help Valeria. “God. What’s taking Matthew so long.” I was getting impatient.

“Look who I found.”

I turned my head to see Matthew and Stephen. How did he get here so fast? Stephen opened his arms and gave me a hug. “Hey. How are you?” he asked me. I pulled away and brushed my hair back with my fingers.

“How am I? I’m in a hell of worry right now. How did you get here so fast? Aren’t you suppose to be in Hong Kong?” I asked him. He gave me a smile. “I was but, I got to San Francisco two days ago to be with my girl,” he told me.

I raised an eyebrow. “Who? Dana?” He had dated so many girls. His last relationship involved with a girl name Dana Paredes who was a model from California. I met her three years ago when they came to my office for a short visit. She was more worried about her looks and image than her relationship with Stephan.

Stephen shook his head. “She has been old history for two years. I’m dating a girl name Eugenia Balestra. I think she’s the one,” he said. Matthew had a smirk on his face. “You say that to every girl you dated,” he told his younger brother.

“I’m serious this time. She is different from the other girls who I dated,” Stephen said to me. “How did you two meet?” Matthew asked him. “We met in Italy at a cafe. She was a waitress there. I fell in love with her. We started dating since,” he told us.

Very unlike him.} “Anyways, for our anniversary, I took her to San Francisco to meet grandfather and grandmother. They approve of our relationship,” he told us. “So where is she now?” Matthew asked him. “She’s at a hotel near here right now. I told her to wait for me there,” he told him.

Matthew gave him a nod and looked at me. “A nurse said that she is in room 411,” he told me. Quickly, I walked down the hallway until I found the room She’s in here. Quietly and slowly, I opened the door.

The room was dark but, I could see the figure on the bed. Slowly, I made my way next to the bed to see Valeria. The heart monitored show that her heart was still beating. She breathed in oxygen from the mask.

I pulled a chair and sat down. Looking at her left hand, I saw bruises. Gently, I held her hand that looked very fragile. Instantly, I felt like I wanted to break down but, I had to be strong for her. I want to be the man who she was going to depend on.

Footsteps were head behind me. I forgot that my siblings were with me. “So, this is my other sister in law.” I turned my head towards Stephen who was meeting Valeria for the first time. “Yes. This is her,” I said to him and turned my attention back to my wife.

Angela walked around the other side of the bed and looked at Valeria. “I hope she remembers us,” she said with worry. Matthew walked up to Angela and wrapped his arms around his wife. “She’s going to be fine. Don’t worry,” he tried to reassure his wife.

Stephen stood next to me. “So…what happened to her?” he asked. That’s right…I didn’t tell him.

“She got into a car accident. A truck ran through a red light and hit her car. She was on her way home from seeing some friends of hers,” I explained to him.

“What is she like?” he asked another question. Great….How am I going to answer that question . “She is selfless, innocent, and loyal. She is a great cook. She makes great pasta and the best coffee that I have ever tasted,” I said to him honestly.

That’s all I know about her .

“I hope I get to eat some of her cooking,” Stephen said to me. I nodded my head.

Ring…ring……

I took my phone out to see that Lorenzo was calling me. I answered the phone call. “Did you find anything?” I asked him. “Yes but, before that I want to let you know something,” Lorenzo said to me.

What could he want to tell me….

“What is it?” I asked. “It seems that your wife has been using one of the room downstairs. The one at the end of the hallway. It has her laptop, clothes, and some other personal items,” he told me. The rooms downstairs were for guests. I hadn’t finished furnishing many of the rooms except that room.

“Do you mind if you can bring her laptop here? I would like to see what she has been up to,” I told him. “Of course sir,” he told me. “Now, what did you find on Mariah?” I asked him. I really needed her off my back.

“It turns out that she had been seeing another CEO on days where you aren’t spending time with her,” he told me. So…she was seeing someone. On top of that, it’s another CEO . “Do you know who the CEO is?” I asked him.

“You aren’t going to like the name. He is one of your competitors and enemies,” he told me. “Just tell me the name.” I was getting impatient in my seat. “Dario Nazari. CEO of Nazari Hotels & Resorts,” he told me.

Nazari Hotels & Resorts had been a big competitor and enemy to my family for years. They were also trying to out compete us in providing a great Italian experience. The CEO tried to outbid me for the property in San Diego recently.

“Is there anything else?” I asked him. “Yes. From looking into her things, it appears that she had been conspiring with Nazari on the San Diego property,” he told me. “I kind of figured that considering how interested they were on trying to outbid me,” I told him.

“And there is something else,” he told me.

He told me something that I could get Mariah in hell.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Few days later……..

I never thought that I would have to live like this. I had been living in the hospital for the past few days. My siblings came to visit in the afternoons to check on us. They brought me clothes to change into as well as some essentials so that I could freshen myself up.

My parents came two days ago to see us. I explained to them everything about the accident to my behavior with my wife. They were very disappointed with me and would think about what to do with me as well as my position in the company.

My fate in the company were in their hands.

As for Valeria, she was showing little signs of improvement. When I held her hand, she would give my hand a squeeze at times. Doctors said that it could be just impulses from the nerves. I convinced myself that she was responding to my touch.

A nurse would come into the room and check on Valeria’s vitals as well as change the IV. The nurse showed me how to stretch Valeria so that her muscle’s wouldn’t become stiff. I was careful on to hurt Valeria in the process.

Right now, I was in my office expecting Mariah to show up. Matthew and Angela were watching Valeria for me. I told them my plan and they agreed to let me do what I needed to do for Valeria’s sake and mine.

Ring……Ring…..

I took the phone from my desk. “Yes.” “Mr. Minetti. Miss Winslow is here to see you,” Lorenzo informed me. Right on time. Time to get this once and for all. “Send her in,” I told him and hung up the phone. I looked at the door and waited.

The door opened to reveal Mariah in her usual black office suit. Her hair was neatly put into a bun. She wore deep bred lipstick and fake eye lashes. Her stilettos increased her height. She was more like a model than an employee.

She walked up to my desk in a flirtatious manner. “Hello Adrian. I knew that you would come back to me,” she said to me. “Have a seat,” I gestured to the seat in front of me. She sat in the seat and crosse her legs to show a lot of skin.

“So, what is this about?” she asked me with a smile on her face. What is this about? I opened my desk and pulled out my weapon.

I slammed the evidence in front of her.

“This is what it’s about.”

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