All Chapters of The Mafia's Bride : Chapter 81 - Chapter 83

Chapter 81AnnalisaThey say grief has five stages—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. But what about the grief of losing someone who is still breathing? What stage do you get stuck in when the love of your life looks at you like you are a total stranger?I sat by Cristiano's hospital bed, the room completely shrouded in that suffocating, sterile silence. Machines beeped steadily, a rhythm that should have been reassuring but only made my nerves more uneasy. The rising and falling of his chest was like a reminder that he was still here, but the warmth and spark that used to be in his eyes were somewhere else, somewhere I couldn’t reach.The room was cold. Or maybe it was just me that felt it.My fingers twisted into the blanket, and I forced myself to breathe evenly. Dr. Moretti’s words still echoed freshly in my head. He said, ‘Memory loss can happen after prolonged surgery. It may be temporary’I clung to the word ‘may’ like it was a lifeline on a stormy day. I ju

Chapter 83CristianoThey say you only appreciate the sky when you have been buried underground. In this hospital room, buried was exactly how I felt. Being trapped at the center of a cube of white walls, dim lights, and the space filled with nothingness where my memories should have been.Since I woke up, every minute felt like a crash course in reality. Nurses with their forced smiles and ice-cold hands poked and prodded me, but none of it dug deep enough to scratch the itch of my missing memories. I had been bed-bathed more times than I could count, their soft sponges against my skin a bitter reminder of how helpless I had become.But today, I told myself I have had enough.“I want a real bath,” I told the nurse, my voice rough, like gravel being scraped along the pavement. She pursed her lips, her pen frozen over the clipboard, and rattled off a list of medical restrictions: no showers, no standing too long, no this, no that. The word “no” clanged around my head like a jail cell d