Chapter 4 - The First Time Luca Opened His Eyes
Luca Vesceri opened his eyes at 8:46 a.m.
Tessa was adjusting his IV pump when she felt him watching her.
Not movement.
Not a sound.
Simply the unmistakable sensation of being observed.
She turned.
His eyes were open.
Dark.
Focused enough to frighten her.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Tessa moved beside him.
“Good morning.”
His brow tightened.
“You’ve had a difficult night.”
His gaze shifted toward the ventilator tubing.
“Don’t try to talk.”
He immediately tried to talk.
Of course he did.
Tessa nearly smiled.
Instead, she held up one finger.
“Blink once if you understand me.”
He blinked.
“Do you know who you are?”
A slow blink.
“Do you know where you are?”
Another.
“Do you remember me?”
His eyes rested on her face.
Then he blinked once.
Something surprisingly warm touched her chest.
She ignored it.
“You’re improving. That doesn’t mean you get to be reckless.”
Luca’s gaze moved toward the glass wall.
Marco stood outside.
Renzo was gone.
Tessa watched Luca’s heart rate rise.
“Easy.”
His fingers shifted.
She placed a communication board within reach.
His hand was weak.
He pointed clumsily toward letters.
R.
E.
N.
Z.
O.
“You want Renzo?”
His jaw tightened.
He pointed again.
N.
O.
Tessa felt a chill.
“You don’t want Renzo here?”
One blink.
She lowered her voice.
“Is Renzo dangerous to you?”
Luca did not blink.
Instead his eyes closed.
Tessa waited.
Then they opened again.
He moved his finger.
D.
O.
N.
T.
K.
N.
O.
W.
Don’t know.
That was almost worse.
Luca didn’t know whether he could trust his own uncle.
Tessa leaned nearer.
“Who can I call?”
He spelled one name.
M.
A.
R.
C.
O.
She looked through the glass.
Marco remained there.
“Marco is safe?”
One blink.
For the first time that night, Tessa possessed an answer she trusted.
She opened the door.
“Marco.”
He was beside the bed immediately.
His face changed when he saw Luca awake.
All the rigid control disappeared for half a second.
“You look terrible,” Marco said.
Luca’s eyes narrowed.
Tessa almost laughed.
Marco smiled.
“There he is.”
Luca tried to reach for the communication board.
Tessa placed it near his hand.
He spelled slowly.
S.
E.
V.
E.
N.
Marco understood before Tessa did.
“The seven?”
Luca blinked.
Marco stepped closer.
“Which one?”
Luca’s hand trembled.
He spelled:
N.
O.
T.
S.
U.
R.
E.
Marco’s relief disappeared.
Luca continued.
R.
I.
N.
G.
Tessa looked between them.
“The ring from the security footage?”
Luca blinked.
Marco’s expression sharpened.
“You saw it?”
Another blink.
“When?”
Luca closed his eyes.
His breathing accelerated.
Tessa put her hand on Marco’s shoulder.
“Stop.”
“He can answer.”
“He can crash.”
Luca reopened his eyes.
He spelled another word.
C.
A.
R.
Marco stiffened.
“What car?”
Tessa looked at the monitor.
“Enough.”
Luca ignored her.
B.
L.
A.
C.
K.
S.
U.
V.
Marco looked toward the hallway.
“The night you were hit?”
Luca blinked.
Tessa frowned.
“Hit?”
Nobody answered.
She looked at Marco.
“What happened before surgery?”
“Vehicle collision.”
“That’s not what you were about to say.”
Marco remained silent.
Tessa turned toward Luca.
“You weren’t simply in an accident.”
Luca’s eyes found hers.
One slow blink.
The story changed in an instant.
Luca had not entered the hospital because of misfortune.
Someone had already tried to kill him before he arrived.
The ventilator sabotage had been attempt number two.
The syringe number three.
Tessa counted them silently.
Then realized what that meant.
The person behind it was not improvising.
They were correcting failures.
Marco’s phone vibrated.
He checked the screen.
Whatever he saw erased the last warmth from his face.
“What?” Tessa asked.
Marco showed Luca first.
A photograph.
A black SUV parked beneath a warehouse camera.
License plate unreadable.
Beside it stood a man in a long coat.
His face was hidden.
His hand was visible.
Silver ring.
Luca stared.
His heart rate jumped.
Tessa reached for the medication controls.
Then Luca raised one weak hand.
No.
His eyes remained fixed on the image.
He pointed at the ring.
Then at Marco.
Marco leaned closer.
“What?”
Luca spelled:
N.
O.
T.
R.
I.
N.
G.
Marco frowned.
“Not the ring?”
Luca blinked.
Then spelled again.
W.
A.
T.
C.
H.
Marco enlarged the photograph.
Tessa saw it.
The man wore a watch with an unusual rectangular face and dark leather strap.
Marco’s expression changed.
He knew it.
“Who?” Tessa asked.
Marco didn’t answer.
Luca’s eyes closed.
A tear slipped from the corner of one eye.
Tessa had seen patients react to pain.
This wasn’t pain.
It was betrayal.
Marco whispered the name.
“Adrian.”
Luca opened his eyes.
One blink.
Tessa looked at Marco.
“Who is Adrian?”
Marco took several seconds to answer.
“Luca’s oldest friend.”
“How old?”
“Since they were twelve.”
Tessa looked back at Luca.
The dangerous man everyone feared did not look dangerous now.
He looked devastated.
Marco lowered his voice.
“Adrian Costa controls internal logistics. Vehicles. Security rotations. Access requests.”
Including badges, Tessa realized.
Including transportation.
Including the protected route Luca had traveled the night he was injured.
“You’re sure about the watch?” she asked.
Marco nodded.
“Luca gave it to him five years ago.”
Tessa stared at the photograph.
“Then why wouldn’t Adrian hide it?”
Luca’s gaze snapped toward her.
She saw the same thought form behind his eyes.
Marco frowned.
“What?”
“If Adrian planned this carefully enough to duplicate hospital credentials and sabotage equipment,” Tessa said, “why stand beside a camera wearing something Luca would recognize immediately?”
Nobody answered.
“Maybe,” she continued, “because whoever is behind this wants you to believe it’s Adrian.”
Luca blinked once.
Marco looked at the image again.
His expression changed.
The investigation had just become more dangerous.
Because now they had two possibilities.
Either Luca’s oldest friend wanted him dead.
Or somebody close enough to know about the watch wanted Adrian blamed.
Tessa glanced toward the hallway.
Renzo Vesceri stood on the other side of the glass.
May you like
Watching them.
And around his neck hung a black badge.
