Chapter 6: Cold water bucket

WOLFGANG P.O.V.

After the doctor arrives and everyone's crisis subsides, I realize that I haven't really been breathing much since the doctor and his medical team decided to use my room as an operating room to treat Chiara's wounds. . I try to maintain my composure, to maintain the indifference that has always helped me maintain my crown as king of the German mafia, but when I think that Chiara is even more innocent than she was when I kidnapped her, and that now she could die, the mask of indifference that I always have with me, begins to tremble.

I am standing in the corridor with Magda and Hans. Magda stands by the door with her arms folded. Worry shows on Magda's face, but I can also see her disappointment in her eyes. She closes her eyes and breathes for a moment, then she looks at me, and I know what she's going to say will make me more miserable.

"How were you able to kidnap an innocent girl and put her in such a horrible room?" she tells me, her voice heavy with disapproval. She begins to shake her head vehemently. "Bruno and I didn't raise you to act this way."

I keep my composure and my face impassive, but inside I feel anger and frustration burning. I don't need Magda to remind me who I am and how I was raised. However, I try not to be rude when answering him.

"I was wrong," I say, my voice low and unconvincing. "I thought I was sure who she was."

Magda's face twists into a horrified expression.

“And that's supposed to justify you? No matter who that girl is, she doesn't deserve to pay for anyone's sins," she says determinedly. Her eyes fill with unshed tears. "You're letting the monster that killed your mother and grandmother take over. of you."

Magda's words penetrate the depths of my being. And although I don't want to admit it, I know that she is right, and that burns me. I know perfectly well that I am not the man that my mother and grandmother would have wanted me to be, but I cannot allow my own insecurities to stop me now that I am closer to destroying Aldo.

"You wouldn't understand, I don't do this-"

“You want to take revenge for his death, but I know your mother and grandmother wouldn't have wanted this for you, Wolfgang,” Magda interrupts me. She looks towards my bedroom door. “If that girl doesn't survive this, she'll just be your fault. And for any human being who has a heart of meat, that burden becomes one of the heaviest. I don't want you to live with that, son."

A nurse opens the door, the woman is accompanied by two male nurses, they don't look at me as they leave the room and disappear down the hall. Finally, the doctor also leaves the room and looks at the three of us.

"Only two people can pass," warns the doctor. "The girl will wake up when the sedative wears off, so she'll want to drink water, she's dehydrated."

Magda's lips quiver at what the doctor said.

“I'll go to the kitchen to get some water for her,” says Magda.

Hans and I follow the doctor into the room. My eyes instinctively seek Chiara's eyes, but she is unconscious on my bed. Chiara's wrists are bandaged, and the rate of her heartbeat is reflected on the heart monitor by the bed. Chiara is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life, she is completely innocent of the faults that she bears her last name, and she almost died in my house. I do my best to stay calm in front of the doctor, because what I really want is to break every object in the room and get it off my chest. Things were not going as planned.

“Mr. Wolfgang, I regret to inform you that Chiara's condition is extremely delicate,” says the doctor. “Chiara's wrists have sustained deep injuries from the fork. We have managed to repair the injured area, but she will have scars, and even so her situation is critical. Did you know about Chiara's emotional state?"

The doctor's question shouldn't have made me feel like a bucket of cold water was falling on me, but it did.

"No," I admit, the first show of submission I've given in years.

"I have to warn you about something else," his tone of voice is accusing, so I do my best not to hit him. “Chiara presents a serious picture of malnutrition. Her body is severely weakened and malnourished."

I feel Hans's gaze on me, I think he's judging me when I go to look at him, but I only find curiosity in Hans's gaze. I quickly understand without words.

“Is there a way to know how long Chiara has stopped eating well?” I ask her, and my gaze drifts towards Chiara.

“Based on her physical condition and tests, it is likely that she has been malnourished for more than a month.”

A mixture of anger and guilt invades me. In my mind, I try to blame Aldo for everything that happened, but I know that I also contributed to Chiara's misery. I look at Chiara, she lived through hell with her uncle, and I brought her to another hell. Although I try to maintain my composure, the guilt plagues me.

“Listen”, the doctor continues speaking, interrupting my thoughts “a person who has attempted suicide and is severely malnourished is an extremely serious and delicate case. Treatment and recovery will depend on several factors, including the severity of the self-inflicted injuries, the patient's physical and emotional stability, and the response to medical and psychological treatment. As for severe malnutrition, recovery will be a gradual and careful process. A full nutritional assessment will be required to determine specific deficiencies and formulate an appropriate eating plan to gradually restore essential nutrients to Chiara's body.

Finally, the doctor looked at me, and despite the suspicion in his eyes — because everyone in this town knows the rumors about who I am and what I do — he continued speaking.

“I'm not here to judge you, sometimes it's hard to realize a person's mental health, but don't ignore it or that girl will try to kill herself once again.

Hans and I share a look again, knowing each other well enough to know that we both feel the same at this moment.

I nod humbly, even though I feel like an idiot doing that.

"What am I supposed to do now?" I ask him.

The tension on the doctor's face eases.

“The support of family and loved ones is crucial, to help the patient overcome the underlying causes of the suicide attempt and promote their general well-being” He raises his hand in my direction and hands me a sheet. “The medication you need to take is written there, it is important that it be carried out thoroughly, I recommend hiring a full-time nurse for her.”

I nod once more, and when the doctor raises his hand, I shake my hand with his.

"Thank you Doctor."

The doctor smiles at me for the first time, after he seemed to want to call the police when he saw Chiara in the room in the north wing.

"Call me if you need a nurse, or if Chiara's wounds get infected." The doctor looks sadly at Chiara. "It is unfortunate that such a young and beautiful girl feels that her life is worth so little that she decides to commit suicide."

I don't answer him, because for the first time in my entire life since I got involved with the mafia, I feel like a real devil. Images of Chiara — weak and lonely in a room — appear before my eyes. I'm not a knight in shining armor, I did to her pretty much the same thing as her uncle, and I'm not going to excuse myself with ignorance. I am cruel, I consider myself a monster most of the time, but I am not Aldo Bianchi, a cowardly idiot. The injustice of it consumes me inside and my mind fills with dark thoughts.

When I look at Hans, I know that he feels the same way I do. We swore an oath when we raised this empire from the ashes, 'not to hurt innocent women and children.'

When the doctor leaves my room, Hans curses.

"This is bullshit." Hans looks towards Chiara. “Klaus told me the information that Gio gave them. Chiara has only lived one year in Sicily. But Klaus also told me that you won't let her off the hook. What are you thinking?"

“I'm not going to hurt Chiara”, I reply seriously, “but she has to stay here. What do you think will happen to her when we leave her in Verona? Aldo is going to find her and all this will have been in vain.”

"What's the new plan?"

“For now, we'll wait for Gio to pass Aldo's test. And I want you to go to Berlin, make sure everything is okay with Blaz and my business. Staying here too long may make the Berlin clans think they can take advantage of my absence.”

"OK. I'll leave tonight.” Hans turns to me and smiles. "You should feel relieved, now she's not the enemy."

I don't answer him, but I know perfectly well what Hans means. I've been holding back my desire for Chiara since the first time I saw her because I always believed that she was the same as the entire Bianchi clan, but now there's nothing to get in the way.