The operation

Chapter 5

Lisa's POV

Alessandro kept his word because the following morning, one of the maids woke me up in time to take a quick shower. I quickly got dressed and had breakfast before going to the hospital.

Everyone but the servants was still asleep when I left the mansion. I wanted to ask Piero if he could take me to the hospital, but the housekeepers didn't understand a word of English, and I couldn't speak Italian. I decide to take the bus and quickly walk out of the gates. I sit here, waiting for the next bus. At this rate, I'm going to be late. Almost an hour later, a bus stops. When I arrived at the hospital, I quickly went to Lilani's room, only to find the bed empty.

“I should have to wake someone up to take me to the hospital.” I think, sadly.

Turning around, I walked to the waiting area. As I flip through a magazine, I constantly think about Lilani, who is in theater now.

“Please, God, please heal my sister.” I begin to pray silently.

Alessandro's POV

“Can someone tell me how Lisa got to the hospital this morning?” Grandma asks.

“I told her yesterday that Piero would take her,” I told her in a stern voice. Why should I care?

But Grandma isn't scared of me and continues, “I don't think Piero took her, Alessandro, because she can't speak Italian enough to have asked him to take her.”

Well, maybe she took the bus,” Gabriele says.

“Then she would have been too late to see her sister.” Sophia says.

“It would be her own fault if she was too late to see her sister.” I say it harder than I intend to.

“She could've woken one of us,” I continue, looking at Sophia.

“She wouldn't do that because we are still strangers to Lisa,” Grandma shouts.

“I wonder if she ever made it to the hospital. How well does she know the city?” Gabriele wonders out loud.

Shit! I forgot that she couldn't speak or understand Italian.

“I will go there myself,” I hear Grandma say.

“I think Alessandro must go and support his wife in her time of need.” Sophia suddenly speaks.

“Then why are you not supporting her, Sophia? No one is stopping you from doing that,” I say sharply.

“I'm sure your wife would appreciate it more if you supported her in her time of need, Alessandro; it seems like you don't care about her,” Sophia says disapprovingly.

“I think you should rather leave now.” I warn her in a cold voice.

“That's enough! Alessandro, I won't tolerate you talking this way. Sophia is right; you should be there supporting your wife,” Grandpa shouts. I think this was the first time I heard him yell like that.

“Antonio asks Piero to get the car ready,” I instruct. I knew if I continued to argue with them, Sophia and my brother would know something was wrong with my marriage.

“Nonna, you can come with me.” I added, not wanting to be alone with my so-called wife. I'm not even married for a whole day, and she's already causing so much chaos in my house.

“Mr. Mancini, Piero is waiting at the front.” I hear Antonio say:

“Thank you, Antonio. Grandpa will take me to the car. You and Leonardo can start with some paperwork, and I will attend to the important matters as soon as I'm back.” I quickly dismissed him.

“Sì, signor Mancini.” I felt Grandpa take my arm and lead me to the waiting car.

“Son, you should learn to act in front of others because they will surely sense that something is wrong with your marriage.” I hear my grandmother scold me.

“I will try, Nonna,” was all I could say. The drive feels so long when we finally arrive at the hospital. Grandpa helps me out, and together we walk inside.

I assume we found my wife when I hear Grandma say, “Is there any news about your sister yet, Lisa?”

“Nothing yet; they've been in the theater for almost five hours,” I hear her say sadly. Just as we were about to take a seat, I heard a male voice ask, “Mrs. Mancini, the operation was a success. We are keeping your sister under anesthesia for a few days to recover quicker so that her body doesn't have to endure so much pain; you can visit her as soon as she is back in her room“. They must be done with the operation.

“Thank you so much, Dr. Dorigo.” I hear Lisa say

I was startled by my Grandma's sudden outburst, "Lisa!" Dammit, what happened now? I wonder.

“I will take her to the next room.” I hear the doctor saying it again. Suddenly, I have this urge to walk over and tell him she's my wife and I will take care of her myself.

“Come, son. Lisa just fainted.” Grandpa informs me. As we walk into the room, I assume Lisa is lying in bed. I listen as my grandma asks, “How is she doing, Dr?” 

“Mrs. Mancini was under so much stress that her body couldn't handle all the stress. She will be fine; she must take it easy and not overstress herself.” I try to move forward, but I don't want Grandpa to think I'm worried about my wife.

“Thank you, Dr.” Grandpa kindly thanked the doctor, and I guess he left since there was silence after that.

“O, Lisa, my dear child. How are you feeling?” I hear Grandma ask after a few minutes.

“I'm fine; thank you, Grandma. Can I see my sister now?” I can hear the voice of Lisa. She sounds tired.

“Yes, we will take you to her. Come on; I'll help you.” Grandma says it softly, like she's talking to a little child. Grandpa and I followed them to where Lisa's little sister was. I wish we could go home. I had so much work to do, but I had to accompany them.

“Hello, sis. The operation was a success. You fought hard. I'm so proud of you. I am sorry I wasn't here in time to see you this morning before the operation.“ Lisa said, and it sounded like she was crying. I wonder why I have this urge to hug her; maybe it’s because of Lilani.

”Here are some people I would like to introduce to you,“ I hear her say again.

“Lilly, this is Grandma and Grandpa. Alessandro is here as well.” Grandma, grandpa, this is my sister Lilani.” Lisa introduces them to her sister, even though she can’t hear Lisa.

“Hey, Lilani, I'm glad you fought so hard during the operation; your sister is worried about you. As soon as you get stronger, the three of us will go shopping together,” Grandma says kindly. I know how much she likes children. After sitting with Lilani for a while, Grandma asks Lisa if she has eaten anything today.

After a moment of silence, she finally responds, "I only had a light breakfast this morning. My mind was so consumed with worry about Lilani that I completely forgot to eat or drink anything."

“I know a nice little restaurant nearby,” I hear Grandma say again. Grandma? Can't we leave? We did our part. I thought. “We'll go to a small restaurant near the hospital.”

“I am sorry that no one was here by your side during the operation, Lisa,” Grandma says with guilt. I don’t know why she was feeling guilty; it’s not like we did something wrong.

“It's okay, Grandma; you shouldn't feel guilty about it. Besides, I am still a stranger to you,"  Lisa assures her.

“Still, it was rude and unkind of us.” Grandma keeps on apologizing. We all chatted for a while longer, and then Grandpa asked for the bill. As soon as Grandpa paid the bill, we headed back to the hospital.

We were walking into Lilani's room when Dr. Derigo asked Lisa if he could talk to her about everything that would happen as soon as Lilani woke up.

“It's okay, DR; you can talk in front of them. They are family.”. 

“We will start waking her up in the next three days, after which she will be here for another six days so that we can keep an eye on her. She will then have radiology once a week for at least six months.”. Dr. Derigo explains.

“The biopsy result will be here in a few days; I will let you know as soon as I get it.” The doctor says it again.

“Thank you so much, Doctor Rossi; thank you for saving my sister's life,” Lisa says sincerely to the specialist.

“Alright then, I will see you soon.” The doctor says I just scoffed at his overly friendly attitude toward Lisa.

Lisa, dear, we will leave now if you want to come with us.” I finally heard Grandma say

“I think I will stay a while longer, Grandma, but thank you,” Lisa tells Grandma. I wonder if she's staying because of the doctor. Well, not that I care what she does. I just married her to save her sister and have someone care for me.

“Alright, dear. I will see you later.” Grandma says so, and we finally leave.

"Has Lisa returned from the hospital?" I heard Grandma asking and almost rolled my eyes.

“Mrs. Mancini is not home yet, Mrs. Mancini.” The housekeeper says 

Mmm, this is interesting; maybe she went with the doctor.

“Leonardo, please phone the hospital and ask if my wife is still there.” I asked Leonardo. I'm pissed off that she didn't inform us that she would be home late.

“Buonasera, Good evening; I just want to know if Mrs. Mancini is still at the hospital,” Leonardo asks the person.

“Grazie,” Leonardo says after a few seconds.

“Mrs. Mancini left the hospital two hours ago after she visited her sister, Mr. Mancini,” I hear Leonardo say.

“Then she should be home by now!” I angrily yelled.

“She may have caught a bus,” I hear Sophia say. “Then she should have been here already.” I immediately corrected her. I'm beginning to regret marrying this fucking woman. They are all the same! She's probably out there having a great time with the doctor.

“Lisa, Piccina!” Sophia suddenly screams, gaining my full attention.

“What happened? You are pale.” and I rudely interrupted her before she could finish her sentence.

“Let her first tell us where she's been all along and why she just got here.” My cold voice suddenly cut through the room.

“Now is not the time for your rude behavior, Alessandro. Lisa looks really sick!” Sophia scolds me. How dare she talk back to me! I'm mad now! No one talks to me that way!

“If Lisa needs medical help, I'll call a doctor. But I cannot see how she only shows up now! She left the hospital two hours ago! Or did she meet up with the doctor?” I angrily yelled.

“I'm waiting for your answer, Lisa!” I yell again after I don't get an answer.

“Lisa! Quick, someone needs to summon a doctor!" Grandpa shouts. What the hell is happening now? It looks like she loves attention.

“I will take her to her room.” I heard Gabriel's offer.

“I will wait for the doctor; honey, you can go with Gabriel.” My grandpa says to Grandma:

“Alessandro Mason Mancini! You are one heartless bastard! You don't love your wife, do you?” I suddenly heard Sophia yell like a madwoman.

“Sophia!” Gabriel's voice comes from behind.

“Come with me.” He tells Sophia. I hear them walk away and ask Antonio to take me to my office. I think about what Sophia said about not loving Lisa; how can I love a woman I just met? I don't do love anymore! I don't believe in the word love!

“Good evening, doctor. Come through this way.” I hear Grandpa talk. After what felt like forever, I suddenly heard footsteps approaching me.

“Mr. Mancini, can I have a word, please?” The doctor asks me, and I nod, and he continues, “It seems like your wife was attacked; I saw bruises on her body, and it looks like she fell. I think all the tension of today's events was too much for her, especially after someone wanted to hurt her.“ The doctor explains.

“Thank you, Dr. Rossi. Are the injuries she sustained serious? Did someone sexually assault her?” I suddenly asked worriedly.

“As far as I can see, they did not sexually assault her; just a few bruised ribs from kicking, which will heal as long as she rests for a few days, and a bruise on her head, which may be from the fall. She may have terrifying nightmares. I will prescribe some pain medicine and help her sleep. I suggest you find out what exactly happened; Mr. Mancini, the person responsible, is still out there,” the doctor says. I want to kick myself because I didn't give Lisa a chance to explain. I'm furious because she had to take the bus back home.

I was interrupted when Gabriele burst through my office door. “Who do you think could have done this to her? I wonder how such a small girl could have escaped her attacker.” I hear Gabriele asking anxiously.

“I want you and Antonio to find out who did this to my wife and bring the bastard to me; when I'm finished with him, he will wish he never met my wife,” I say, balling my fist at my side.