LOST INTO THE VINE (BWWM)

CHAPTER 35

Matteo watched Nala sleep, it had been three days after her surgery, there was nothing preventing her from waking up. The surgery had been successful. The surgeon who took her case didn't think it was necessary to put her in a medically induced coma for long, just the day after surgery. All she was on was oxygen. He looked her over, her superficial bruises had healed pretty well. The bandage on her head was all she had left, He knew they shaved the part they drilled her brain through. Adiah suggested waiting for her to wake up to make the decision of either shaving her whole head or keeping her hair as it was.

Threading his fingers with Nala's, he leaned in and kissed the side of her head, "wake up, princess." Like magic, he watched as her eyes fluttered. This was not like the few times her eyes did that, because she blinked, her brown eyes looking around. He moved away and called for a nurse, calling Adiah who was at the hospital café to let her know that her sister had woken up. He went back to her, lifting her hand to his lips. The nurse came and removed the oxygen mask for a moment, to see if she was breathing properly without it first. When nothing happened, he removed it completely, checked her vitals and blood pressure then informed Matteo that she would call the doctor right away.

"Are you wearing a wig? Is it one of mine?" Nala asked him seriously, laughter dancing in her eyes. What? Subconsciously, his hand went to his head to run it through his hair, but it was tied up in a bun. "I'm not," he said. "Then it's one of Adi's...Ads, you gave him a wig?" she laughed softly, looking past him to the door where her sister stood. She rushed to where Nala was and engulfed her in a bear hug, a tear running from her face. Matteo wondered what it was like, being in her shoes, with the physical pain she endured since Nala got hit.

Adiah wiped her tear and looked at her sister, "how are you feeling?" Nala shrugged, resting her head back on the pillow. Her eyes met his again, amusement sparked, "you can take the wig off now, Matthew." He froze. Adiah did too. She'd called him Matthew. To be fair, his name was Matteo. Not the English translation of it. no one called him Matthew, never in his life.

"Why am I here anyway? Is the baby okay?" he watched as her hand went to her stomach and watched as her lips turned down in a frown. "I could have sworn she was showing already. I can't feel her kick."

His blood ran cold, something was not right, "princess..." The doctor strode in and asked for them to give him some space. He pointed two fingers in the air and asked her how many they were. She said two. He lit a pen-looking flashlight and told her to follow the movement with her eyes, she did obediently. "Nala, I'm really glad you're awake. How are you feeling?" the doctor asked. She winced, "a bit of pain everywhere. What happened?" The doctor took a listen to her heart with a stethoscope asking her what she remembers. "I was on the phone with Adiah last night after I received a letter from Matthew... " she turned to Matteo and held out her hand for him to take, smiling at him, "I didn't think you were coming home for a few more weeks." He stood rooted until Adiah nudged him forward with a glare. He closed his eyes as her hands ran over his face and into his hair, pulling. "Which kind of lace is this?" she asked, pulling harder. Adiah held her hand, the one pulling his hair from the root of his scalp, "it's glued. You're hurting him."

"Do you know where you are?" the doctor asked her. She shook her head no. The doctor explained that she was in Malaga Level One Hospital and she'd been involved in an accident when getting off the bus and was hit by a motorcycle.

"What the fuck! Malaga is in fucking Spain!" she exclaimed.

As if burned, he moved back, clasped the back of the doctor, and moved to the door with him. "What the fuck is going on? I thought you said the surgery went well," he spat. The doctor nodded, "and it did. The amnesia sometimes sets in for a few hours or days or weeks, depending on the complications caused by swelling of the brain. I honestly didn't see this coming, but there is nothing we can do if not wait it out. I'm sorry, Signore." Matteo watched the doctor walk away, not sure if he should go back in the room, but he needed to talk to Nala, who thought he was a fucking Matthew.

Taking a much-needed deep breath to calm his heart, he walked back to the room and found the sisters hugging. Feeling his presence, they detached from each other and looked his way, tears in their eyes. It pained him to see the tears in her eyes. "Y-you're not Matthew," she said, he was not sure if it was a statement or a question. But he gave a curt nod, nonetheless, "Matteo." He took a step forward, he watched as her eyes roamed over all of him. She wondered what she saw. He was in a pair of boots and snug blue jeans, with a muscle shirt, the tattoos on his hands-on display. He saw her focus on them as if trying to tell what they were and he moved closer, for her to examine them thoroughly without straining her vision.

His muscles tensed when she ran a hand on one of his tattoos, in the shape of a heart with the name Irina in it. She smiled, that small smile he liked, "I guess it should be a relief since you have another girl tattooed on you." He knew she was joking and his lips twitched. "You have met her. My daughter, I mean," he said. Just then, Cole walked in with the little girl on his hip. She squealed and struggled to get down, then rushed to Nala's side and pounced on her, "Nala!" Matteo cursed under him breathe.

Nala was uncomfortable. She did not know this man who looked like her boyfriend, but with a man bun instead of a buzz cut, a sexy as hell man bun. She saw him scrub his face in annoyance, was it? "Mariposa," his deep, whiskey-dark voice called, his eyes on the little girl in her arms. She looked at the girl, who had teary eyes, she frowned, "hey. Hey... don't cry." She wiped the tears from her eyes and asked her why she was crying. The girl told her what happened, how she was ripped from her hands, and how she had watched when Nala was run over by the motor vehicle and she fainted and she was not waking up. "I was s-so scared, Nala," she cried even harder.

She hugged the little girl, hiding her tears in the crook of the girl's neck. Her heart went out to the little girl who witnessed such a gory scene that would probably scar her for life and she couldn't even remember a thing. A rough hand skimmed down her jaw and she looked up at the man with electric blue eyes, pain swirling in his eyes. "I'm sorry," she said, she did not know what she was apologizing for. Was it that she'd forgotten who he was and the memories they'd made? Or that she put his daughter in harm's way? She didn't know.

He shook his head, "you have nothing to apologize for, princess." She found that she loved that pet name and the way he looked at her, her skin warmed and her head felt woozy, or maybe it was the after-effects of the surgery.

His hands detangled his daughter's hands from her and lifted her on his hip, his hand running in a circular motion across her back for comfort, "she needs to rest, mariposa. So she can heal faster." Irina nodded and said she would draw her a picture to make her smile. Nala smiled at that kind thought and wiped her tears away, "I would love that." She said she would ask her abuela to help her make a soup for Nala like the one she made her papa when he was sick. Waving on her father's shoulder, they walked out. Leaving Nala floored.