Chapter 6- Pain

I'm pulled to consciousness by a deep, accented voice. It's muffled and sluggish, but its enough of reality to drag me to it. My eyelids are heavy but I force them open and begin to search through the haziness to find a mans dark eyes. Lusso.

Incomplete thoughts float foggily through my mind, but one is most whole. Lusso's eyes aren't brown, they're blue. A shade of navy so intensely shadowed, they easily appear brown. They're infatuating. They're also similar to someone else's...

I see his lips moving, and I squint at him while waiting for the hum in my ears to subsided so I can hear him. "...that your awake, we can get you to eat." I missed the first thing he was talking about, but at the notion of eating I'm already completely on board. My stomach, however, seems to reject the suggestion and churns.

My whole body is radiating pain, my stomach a major vector- Second to my head of course, which feels like a bullet is continuously ricocheting around my skull. My throat feels soar, and my sides throb a warning for me not to move.

There's three odd people watching me intently, and I try to decide if they are friend or foe. Cidney, Neil, and Lusso all watch me as if I'm a hurt alien. They regard me with concern, but also a sense of curiosity. Cidney is right next to me on the bed, and I think I trust her.

Cidney helps me into a sitting position, on a dark, comfy bed. A hot bowl of steaming chicken soup is handed to me. The radiating heat of the warm ceramic reminds me of when I used to hold my coffee in the mornings, and I miss it. I miss my apartment, the people, and the city.

I very carefully bring my shaky spoon to my mouth, but as soon as the warm broth hits my stomach I feel like I've been punched all over again. My throat constricts as it tries to remember how to swallow, and my stomach implodes around the warm liquid. I feel sick, but don't even have the energy to throw up.

I test my voice, "I can't eat." My voice is raspy, but audible.

"You need to," Neil leans forward, "Annabella, you've been asleep for the past two days."

"What? No." I'm utterly dumbfounded. I shake my head, but that only results in more pain. How could I have lost that much time?

Neil sighs. "Annabella, please try."

I'm struck by the sudden thought that these people aren't supposed to be being nice to me. They're the bad guys here. They stole my life from me. "Why are you helping me?" I say with all the conviction I can muster, addressing them all.

"Because we need you." Lusso speaks up. Right, I'm supposed to be some live in doctor. I'm going to stab a scapula in Lusso's eye socket.

I push the bowl onto the nightstand next to me. I grunt from the pain of the movement, exerting the energy I have in the small move. When I turn back to them, I feel numb. The physical pain is gone, and the fear is too. I glare at them all, and then give each and everyone of them a front row view of my middle finger.

Lusso rolls his eyes at me, and Neil actual smile. Crazy ass, I'm gonna bite him again.

"Woah now, no need for that type of attitude," Cidney gestures to my hand.

"Shut it Ninja Lady," I snap. My mind feels free when this happens, when this epic high of courage hits me. I know soon it will be sucked away from me, but I want to feel like this forever. Before it's taken, I make a rash move.

"Neil, Cidney, out please," I snap my fingers and point to the door. They seem unsure of what to do, shocked by my sudden boldness. They look questioningly to Lusso, who gives them a short nod as they slowly make their way out.

"Who are you?" I ask bluntly, right after the door fully falls shut.

Lusso's face flushes for the briefest moment, and I might have missed it if my brain didn't feel so surprisingly clear. But it's quickly back to normal, even though his voice isn't. "What do you mean?" He asks timidly. Odd for him...

I've learned to always answer a question with a question. "What do you think I mean?" I draw, stalking his every movement with my carful gaze.

He scratches the back of his neck, seemingly at a loss for an answer. "Lusso Vincent, leader of the Italian Mob." I'm stunned into silence, thought not truly shocked. When I don't question him, he moves closer to me. He smirks and sticks out his hand. "Nice to meet you."

A pulse of familiarity electrifies a tiny corner of my mind, and I tentatively reach out to shake his hand. "Have we met before?" I ask suspiciously.

"Can't say we have," He smirks still, and a glint of mischief twinkles in his eyes. I dismiss the thought, knowing I must have seen him on the news before.

"So why am I alive?" I break away from his hand, and do my best to end the intense eye contact.

A small smile lift the edges of his lips, "Because you aren't dead yet?" he draws, seemingly mocking my unspecific wording. I glare at him, and await a better answer. He signs, dropping the smile. "We need a new medic. It was either bring you here or kill you. You saw to much."

"Can't you just kill me?" I deadpan. "I haven't been here a week and already almost got beat to death."

I allow my eyes to flicker to Lusso face, and in his mysterious eyes find a glint of panic there. It's fleeting, and is replaced quickly by vast emptiness. "No," he says gruffly. "Now get up, I'm taking you to your room."