A Twisted Tale

Unspoken promise

"Piero had a heart attack."

Piero Moretti was Charles's best friend. He lived in Milan but had business establishments all over Italy with majority of his holdings in Milan, Bologna, Florence and Venice.
Charles and I had so many scintillating conversations on the naughty midnight endeavours of the two best friends. And Charles had a gleam in his eyes every time he spoke of Piero. Now, he sat still and his mouth was set in a grim line.
Before I could think of something to say to make the old man feel better, I heard a grunt from the grouchy Mark sitting on the other side. "Would it kill you to not work for a day? Isn't your father's well-being your concern?" I asked irritated. Mark was being grouchy about not finishing up the meeting with a bang like he intended. I felt like giving him one whack on the head and reminding him that family was more important than taking over a position.
Knowing him, he'd only grunt some more and continue to be grouchy. So I ignored him and fell asleep while we continued to fly to Milan.
"Meera, wake up. We're here." said Mark. I woke up groggily and saw that Charles was impatiently waiting for me to get out of the plane.
And then, we proceeded towards Policlinico of Milan. That's the only thing I could pick up from the long name that Charles mentioned.
I hated hospitals. Absolutely hated them no matter how old and how beautiful they were. It reminded me of the night that Charles found me.
The memories were resurfacing with a vengeance.

10 years ago.....

I woke up in an unfamiliar room. White walls and very limited furniture was all I could see. The reality of the situation hit me a few seconds later when I realised that I had actually seen my parents die right in front of my eyes. I refused to let my mind paint that picture and instead was in denial thinking they got out alive. A doctor walked in a few seconds later with a man whom I didn't recognise. "Hey sweetie, how are you feeling now?" Asked the doctor. I didn't answer his questions but instead asked "My parents. Where are they? I know they made it out alive. I want to see them right now!"
The good doctor took nearly five minutes to calm me down as I screamed "They can't do this to me. I am fifteen. My parents are the only people I have for family. I don't have my passport either. I can't get back to India. I don't know anyone here for me to take their help. I...."
"Meera, my name is Charles Webb. Now I'm going to tell you something. Something very important. Listen to me carefully. Its very unfortunate that your parents are no more. I know it's very hard to digest this information but for your own sake you have to take this in. The truck that crashed into your car belongs to me. And I can't tell you how very sorry I am to be putting you through a situation such as this. We'll contact the Indian embassy here and they'll send you home to your relatives. We'll do everything we can to make sure that your life is settled. Though I haven't personally done anything wrong, I am responsible for the actions of my employees." said the man.
I felt him reach for my hand. That's when I looked up and saw a pair of bright blue eyes staring back at me. He squeezed my hand in an attempt to get a reaction out of me. I was under so much of duress that I blacked out once again...

Present...

Remembering the events of that night made me feel very claustrophobic. I knew I had to run away from there to avoid being pulled back into my own personal torture chamber.
"Hey, I am going to get some coffee. You wanna come with me?" I asked Mark.
Mark shook his head and said " You go ahead. I'll be here with dad. Don't want to leave the old man with his thoughts. He's already stressed."
I walked out of the waiting area and went looking for a cafe in the hospital. I paused near the cafe to pull out some change and saw a group of kids communicating with each other.
Like any other person I could have said talking. But what was fascinating was that they were talking to one another in sign language. There was silent laughter and mischevious grins on their faces. I was so engrossed watching the whole conversation that I didn't realise I bumped into someone walking right in front of me.