Chapter 5

Matteo fingered his jaw and noticed that there was some new growth of hair scratching his fingers there. He was reminded of the fact that he hadn't left the hospital for two days now. He had sent one of the hospital assistants to help him get a change of clothes and some toiletries the previous day after he was sure Elio would survive. Even though the hospital's bathroom had irritated him a bit, he had taken his bath and had a change of clothing. The only time he had left the hospital's premises was when he had gone to get some food for himself. Ever since then, he hadn't taken a step away from the hall of the intensive care unit. He wasn't taking any risk with his brother.

Matteo stood up, stretched out his body, and walked into the private room Elio had been moved into to check on his brother since it was just morning and he hadn't checked on the younger man yet. He sat down on the bed when he saw that his brother wasn't awake yet. The state his brother was in was beginning to freak him out a little. The only reason he wasn't completely losing his sanity was that the doctor had assured him that his brother was out of danger and should be awake anytime soon.

Sometimes around midnight, Elio had reacted to pains and had spoken some incoherent words to express that he felt the pain being inflicted on him through the injections. The doctor, whatever he had called himself, had smiled and assured Matteo that Elio was now out of danger. The doctor had gone on to explain the reason for Elio's partial consciousness as some sort of infection and fever whatever. Matteo had stopped listening to the man's gibberish the moment he heard that his brother would be alright since that was all he was after. After all was said and done, the doctor had wanted to move Elio to another ward full of conscious people who were down with minor ailments but Matteo had put his foot down. He had asked them to put him in a private room instead, with the assurance that he would foot the bills, no matter how much it was.

Matteo paced around the room Elio was in, lost in thought. He wondered what next to do about the situation on the ground now that Elio was taking longer than he thought to wake up. Perhaps, he should get some of his men to guard around the hospital and the room his brother was in while he gets some rest. The problem was how to move his men to the hospital discreetly without alerting the forces who were after them. He stopped pacing and went to check on his brother. The man still had his eyes closed. Matteo bent over to his brother's face and tried to examine the swell on his forehead, thinking that it could be the reason the younger man wasn't waking up.

Elio's body felt like it was on fire. There was not a single part of his body he wasn't hurting. He had been about to open his eyes to see where he was when he heard the door click open and he kept his eyes shut. Now, whoever was in the room with him kept walking about without a pause. About ten minutes later, he heard the steps returning to his side. He felt another person's breath on him as a hand dropped to his forehead. Elio sniffed in the person's perfume and realized that it felt familiar to him. He sniffed it again and opened his eyes when he realized that the smell belonged to his oldest brother, Matteo.

Matteo lifted his head and saw his brother staring at him without any emotions. Afraid that he was still in the coma stage, Matteo lifted his finger to Elio's face and moved it around as he had seen the doctor do it before. He watched as Elio's eyes monitored every movement his finger made. Assured that his eyes were functioning, Matteo pinched his brother in the arm, but the man gave no indication he felt the pain. Matteo was halfway through the door to get the doctor when he heard Elio speak.

"What is going on with you, Matteo?" Elio asked, looking around the room he was in, and saw that he was in a hospital. The poor state of the room however warned him that it wasn't a big one he was in.

"What do you mean?" Matteo walked back into the room and stood by the side of the bed.

"Are we going bankrupt? Was that why you brought me to such a poor hospital?" Elio asked, looking around the room in disgust. "Besides, why did you pinch me?" He asked, bringing his gaze back to his brother.

Matteo whacked his brother on the thigh lightly and quickly apologized when he saw him wincing in pain. He walked to the door, closed it tightly, then returned to his brother. Matteo began to explain everything that had happened ever since Elio had called him that he was in trouble. He explained how he had managed to escape with him and brought him over to the hospital just to try and save his life. He explained the ordeals that had followed afterward. From the nurse who had saved his life to the coma then back to the present moment.

"Wow. A lot had happened in my absence," Elio said and shrugged like he wasn't the recipient of the whole thing his brother had just said.

"Which brings me to the reminder. No one here knows about your identity. So, try and keep it that way," Matteo said, pointing an accusing finger at his brother.

"Which of the identities?" Elio asked, almost laughing. He burst into laughter at the forlorn look on his brother's face.

"I'm serious," Matteo said after Elio calmed down. "No one must know that you are a mafia around here." He finished.

"So long as it's not about staying clear of the women, we are good," Elio assured the older man.

Matteo sighed audibly. Perhaps, his brother doesn't understand what he was talking about completely.

"Elio. What I'm saying is that you can't go back to the city for the meantime," Matteo explained.

Elio looked at his older brother like the man had lost his mind. Stay away from the city? Then, what about his flocks of women? He was sure that they had all missed him by now. Then about his business?

"Where would I be staying if I can't go back to the city?" Elio asked.

"We could get you an apartment at the outskirts of the town. But, for now, you can't leave the hospital just yet," Matteo told him as a matter of factly.

"What?" Elio asked, incredulous. He looked at the room once again, shook his head, and stared at his brother point-blank.

"It's like you don't understand the gravity of the situation at hand," Mateo told Elio. He took his time to explain to the man just how bad the fight between the two gangs had been. He also reminded his brother about the fate that befell their father just recently. When he was done, he placed his hand on his brother's hand.

Elio looked at the hand his oldest brother had placed on him and sighed. His brother might be a ruthless person, but he never joked with his family. Elio had always basked in the love and care of the older man, especially when they had been little. If his brother was telling him to do something, Elio was sure that it was for his safety.

"But, how do I remain in the hospital? They would probably discharge me when they see that I'm okay," Elio informed his brother.

"Just form amnesia," Matteo said immediately.

Elio wondered if his brother had not figured out a plan already. Between the three brothers, Elio admits to the fact that his oldest brother Matteo was the smartest. The man was so smart that even their father would hand over a difficult task to him and feel rest assured that the man would deliver perfectly.

"Okay, good. Once I leave and the doctor comes in, just pretend you just regained consciousness," Matteo instructed, patted his brother's hand, and stood up to leave.

"Hey, Matteo," Elio called his elder brother and the man looked at him. "I'm glad to see you." He finished. The man nodded and went out, closing the door securely behind him.

Elio lay on the bed, lost in thought for a while. He couldn't believe that he had almost lost his life because of his carelessness. Worse, he had put his brother into a panicking mode and made the man come out of hiding. What if something had gone wrong with Matteo while the man was saving him? Why was he the one to always let his brothers down? Since his brother didn't care about such things, he should take his mind off it too. At this moment, all he should care about was his new act that was about to be aired.

Dahlia arrived at the hospital feeling refreshed and relaxed. The sleep and the breakfast she had energized her to work more. She waves at the security men by the front door as she walks into the hospital. Once inside, she went straight to her desk and sat down. Once she was done with her paperwork, she would go around the hospital to inspect the patients, especially that unconscious man from the day before. She wanted to see how he was doing now.

"Hey, Dahlia." A voice called at her. She looked up to see Sandra standing beside her desk with a smile on her face.

"Hi, Sandra," Dahlia greeted her back.

Dahlia almost grunted as she saw Sandra sitting down on her desk. Afraid that the old desk would give way under her weight, Dahlia pointed to the empty chair beside her. Sandra stood up from the desk and sat her ass down on the chair. Dahlia braved herself for the talk she knew she couldn't escape even if she tried.

"Do you want to know how I spent my Sunday night?" The woman asked.

Dahlia smiled at her to encourage her to continue. She knew that the woman would anyway even if she said no. She half-heartedly listened as she did her work. Sandra began to narrate how she had met this handsome dude who bought her a drink at a club. She progressed her tale-telling by letting Dahlia know that she had danced with the man and chemistry had flown between the two of them. Dahlia kept nodding her head like an agama lizard just to show that she was following the story Sandra was telling. Sandra continued the story by telling her how they had left the club together to go to a hotel so that they could finish what they started. Dahlia heard her chuckle as she narrated the part where they couldn't wait until they got to the hotel and had parked the car by the roadside and had sex right in the car. Dahlia felt Sandra slap her shoulder while laughing and didn't know what was funny to her in the story she had just told the tale of.

"What do you think, Dahlia?" Sandra asked after she was calm.

"I think that someone had been naughty during the weekend," Dahlia said with a smile. She looked up and her gaze landed on the wall. She shook her head slightly as she thought that the hospital could do with some renovation.

"Who's that man?" Dahlia heard Sandra ask and looked up. She saw that it was the brother of the unconscious man. Dahlia stood up and waved at him to get his attention.

Matteo saw the nurse who had treated Elio waved at him. His initial thought was to ignore her and go on his way, but then he remembered how much trouble she had gone through for his brother, and he moved towards her. When he got to her place, he saw that there was another nurse with her and she was desperately trying to get his attention. Matteo ignored her completely and focused on the nurse he was there for.

"Hi. Thank you for your help the other day." He told the nurse.

"It's okay. So, how is he now? Is he better?" Dahlia asked the man. She felt Sandra pinching her and knew that the nurse wanted Dahlia to introduce her to the man in front of her.

"He's not yet awake," Matteo lied to her. He even ended it in a sigh to emphasize his point.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Dahlia said. She felt Sandra pinched her again and did the introduction. "By the way, this is nurse Sandra. We work together." She told him.

"Good for her," Matteo said, without even looking at the nurse in question. "What's your name?" He asked Dahlia.

"Dahlia. Nurse Dahlia." She answered him.

"Nice meeting you, Miss Dahlia. Well, I have to go and pay the bills," Matteo told her, then disappeared.

Elio saw a nurse walk into his room and quickly closed his eyes. He felt the nurse checking his wounds but still didn't move. Next, he felt her checking his temperature, yet his eyes remained closed. It was when the nurse brought her body low to check his forehead closely that Elio opened his eyes.  He saw that her lips were very close to his and nearly grunted. If not for the fact that he had a role to play, he would have kissed her. Damn his brother for only coming up with an amnesia solution, he thought as the nurse scrambled away from him.

"You are awake?" The nurse asked him and without waiting for an answer, she ran out of the room.

He didn't fall to notice her breathlessness when she asked the question. Elio was sure she ran away from him because she felt attracted to him. Yup, damn his brother a thousand times. But, not to worry. He would make sure he made the nurse scream his name before leaving the hospital. He saw her reappear into the room a few moments later with a man wearing a doctor's coat behind her whom Elio guessed he was the doctor in charge of his case.

The doctor stood beside him and Elio stared at the man, without blinking. The doctor brought out a flashlight, held one of his eyes open, and flashed the light from the touch into his face. Elio shut his eyes immediately. When he opened it back, he saw the doctor writing something in a file. Then, the doctor showed Elio two of his fingers and turned them about. Elio followed the movement of the fingers and wondered why everyone was doing that to him. He had lost consciousness, not his sight. Again, the doctor wrote something down. Next, he took a pin from the tray the nurse was holding and shook Elio with it suddenly.

"Ouch," Elio shouted at the assault he hadn't expected. He saw the doctor smile as he penned something into the file again.

"How do you feel?" The doctor asked him.

"My body aches," Elio answered honestly.

His brother chose that moment to walk in, saw the doctor and nurse in the room, and ran over to him in excitement. His brother hugged him tightly as if he had just gotten back from the pit of hell. The older man began to check his body like he had changed profession overnight and didn't think of informing Elio about it. After a moment, Elio remembered his supposed amnesia and pushed his brother away.

"Who are you?" He asked with a confused look.

"What do you mean? It's Matteo, your brother." He heard his brother say.

Elio looked from the doctor to his brother then back to the doctor before finally settling his gaze on the doctor. He made sure he furrowed his eyes to make his acting perfect.

"I don't know him," Elio told the doctor.

"What's your name?" The doctor asked him.

Elio pretends to think hard about the question. He frowned hard after a minute, then he answered the door.

"I don't remember." He answered in a low tone, sounding like he was afraid.

Matteo moved closer to him and held his injured hand in worry. Elio slapped the man's hand away without a second thought and he saw his brother looking worried. If Elio hadn't been aware that it was all staged, he might have believed that he had truly lost his memory just by looking at his brother's expression. Elio had always told the rest of the family that they ought to have been a family of world-known superstars since they all had top-notch acting skills.

The doctor moved closer and examined his head using the flashlight in his hand. After he was done, he sighed. He walked to the nurse, picked up an empty injection bottle, and returned to his side. Elio watched as the doctor drew out some of his blood and told the nurse to take it over to the lab. After assuring him and his brother that everything would be fine as soon as he finds out the problem. He told Matteo to leave Elio alone, that he needed to rest. Then, he left the room. Matteo winked at him and followed after the doctor. Elio heard his brother's voice from the hall asking the doctor series of questions about what had gone wrong again.