The doctor had come and gone before Lena began to wake up. Even though she only took one of the sleeping pills, it still had a heavy effect.
The blanket was so warm that she didn't want to get out from under it at first. Being aware that they were still in the hospital made her want to move even less.
Waking up and facing such a rough reality didn't ever become easier despite it not being the first in this kind of position.
She barely shifted her position before a gentle hand came to rest atop her head. It stilled for a moment before brushing the hair out of her face and tucking it behind her ear.
There'd only been one person in the past who did something so gentle for her.
Lena's eyes snapped open before the sudden wave of sadness could fully crash over her. She shifted her position but didn't fully jerk away from the touch.
"Sorry, that probably wasn't the best call." Samuel. He would be the only one who'd think to touch that kind of thing.
"it's fine. Has anything changed since last night?" Rolling over onto her other side, she looked across the room to her father. Julian shook his head without saying anything.
"Doctor seems to think everything is the same as the night before." Samuel answered since Julian didn't seem keen to speak.
"He did say though that he thinks Leo might wake up sooner than expected. The concussion is still bad but the swelling is starting to go down." Lena made a listening sound but didn't reply.
"If someone wakes up, it might help to get rid of some of the gloom that's covering this place. For someone who is used to being in these spaces, it's even heavy for me."
"Jovani, you're not supposed to be here." the Vedova Nera boss was supposed to return home.
"You know that I couldn't leave you guys here on your own. Who cares that I haven't slept for almost two days now. I'm actually not feeling all that bad." To make his point, he even waved his injured arm. Hardly wincing in response to the pain.
Neither Samuel or the princess were overly thrilled with his antics.
"It doesn't matter. You were supposed to be heading back. I thought that there was something going on with Alonso that you needed to deal with." Alonso who was supposed to have been back already himself yet failed to reappear on time.
"Ah." Jovani clicked his tongue, leaning forward in the hospital chair.
"Alonso is more than capable of taking care of himself. I took a call from him early. It seems that he had no problem sorting everything out himself. He'll be back later today."
Tossing the blanket to the side, Lena got out of bed. Now the size of the clothes was getting on her nerve. It was one thing to sleep in them. No way though would she be able to comfortably walk in them. They were in no way made for short people such as herself.
It wasn't like there was anything else for her to wear at the moment though. There would just have to be a lot of rolling to stop things from dragging.
"Aww, you almost don't look so dangerous in those oversized clothes. I really think that they actually might suit you, princess." Lena was about to let the other's jab go until she saw the phone come out.
"You take one picture of this, I will murder you in your sleep." Pursing his lips, Jovani gave her the best innocent smile that he could muster.
"I surely don't think that you mean that. It isn't like that photo would be going to anyone outside of this room." Was that supposed to somehow make it any better?
"What if I want a picture though, would it be bad if I take one?" Samuel suddenly jumped in. Except that he took things a step further.
He somehow managed to move behind the princess and wrap his arms around her waist. A rather gentle touch but still uncomfortable at the latest set of events.
"Maybe I want something to commemorate my fiancé being in such a cute outfit." Without thinking about it, he kissed the princess on the cheek.
For a brief second, Lena wavered. Only slightly as a pink hue descended upon her cheeks. Barely noticeable to anyone who wasn't looking for it.
"No." The princess replied firmly.
"Come now. Not even one photo? Maybe as compensation for what you did last night?" The princess shot a dangerous look over at Jovani who seemed taken aback.
"Come again?" Lena asked trying not to tense too much in the other's hold.
"You know what I mean." Samuel buried his nose against the side of her neck.
"The reason behind why I slept so much? Jovani told me what happened when I woke up before you did earlier." This news didn't lessen the dark look that Lena directed at Jovani.
Though, he seemed slightly more relieved about the whole ordeal.
"I only did what I had to exactly like what you did. Now it's time that you let go of me." Samuel didn't though. Instead, he chose to hug her that much tighter.
"Not until I get a picture first. I don't think that I'm asking too much by that. One photo I get to keep."
"I already said no. But if that's how you're going to be, you can keep hugging me for as long as you like." Lena realized only after the words left her mouth that it wasn't the wrong thing to say.
"I think that I can deal with that as a consolation prize." He brushed his nose closer to her.
"A rather pleasant prize I will take my time to enjoy." Samuel practically purred the words in her ear.
Now was neither the time nor place for this type of thing.
Lena didn't have to deal with the situation herself though as there was a sudden knock on the hospital room door followed by the doctor entering.
"I do realize that there is a lot going on for you all right now. Could you keep the number of people coming and going from the hospital down a bit? You're making some of our other patients here uncomfortable." The doctor seemed to not know where to look while speaking. Glancing at everyone in the room without letting his eyes linger on any one person for too long.
"You're right that we are dealing with a lot right now. If the other people in the hospital are getting uncomfortable, you might want to move them elsewhere." Julian responded without missing a beat.
"We're not here to cause any problems. Just likely everyone else here, we have people who we are visiting and worried about that. If that isn't something they can understand, that's hardly our problem." The doctor's Adams apple bobbed as he swallowed thickly.
"I-I understand." The doctor fumbled as he took a step back.
"If you understand, I don't think that there is any other reason for you to be here. Instead, you can kindly go and tell this to the rest of your patients if you don't want me to. Also, allow whoever is here to come in."
The doctor only mutely nodded. Turning tail quickly to go and as Julian said.
"If we didn't need that man, I swear that I might actually kill." The younger brother huffed under his breath, tucking his folded arms closer to his body.
It seemed that the devilous streak hadn't just been contained to the princess and her father. Perhaps the younger brother was the only one spared from it?
"Maybe instead of killing him, you can look at getting him replaced when all is said and done." Jovani suggested as he got up from the chair.
"You probably give them more than enough money here that you could get away with doing something like that." It was a valid point but more trouble than just making someone 'go away'.
"As for the guest. I think that I have an idea of who that might be." Jovani turned to Samuel while rubbing his hands together.
"As much as I know you're enjoying hugging your little princess there, you're going to have to let her go. I need a little something from her." Though somewhat reluctant, Samuel did release Lena. Not before planting another kiss on her cheek.
"And what exactly might you need from me?" Lena shifted away from Samuel to avoid being touched again.
"That information? The stuff that I went to all the trouble of getting for us?" Jovani asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I believe that Hester whom you called Princess should be the one coming. If so, then it's time that we got everyone to see the little gift that we managed to pick up." Lena glanced over at her fiancé when the other said this.
This again would go into the bucket of things she didn't want him to see.
But eventually he would be exposed to much worse, wouldn't he?
