Chapter 2 - The Awakening
Hannah rushed over to the medical supply cabinets lining the walls of the operating room.
She didn't know much about advanced medicine, but she knew the basics of keeping someone warm and hydrated.
She found a stack of heavy thermal trauma blankets, ripping them from their plastic packaging with frantic energy.
She layered them over Lorenzo, tucking them tightly around his shoulders to trap the heat her body had generated.
Next, she found an IV stand and a bag of warm saline solution located in the emergency supply kit.
Her hands shook as she prepared the line, praying she remembered the correct procedure from the television shows she used to watch with her mother.
She found a vein in Lorenzo’s arm, surprisingly plump now that his blood was circulating, and carefully inserted the needle.
"Please don't be mad if I do this wrong," she muttered nervously as she secured the line with medical tape.
Once the warm fluids started flowing, the change in him became much more rapid.
His breathing grew steadier, the shallow gasps turning into deep, regular inhales.
Hannah pulled the stool close to his head, watching his face intently, terrified that he might slip back into the darkness.
Ten minutes later, Lorenzo let out a low, rough groan that sounded like gravel grinding together.
His eyes slowly opened.
They were a piercing, vibrant shade of green, completely disorienting in a face that usually projected only cold authority.
He blinked several times, his pupils adjusting to the dim blue emergency lights of the room.
He tried to lift his hand, but his muscles were still incredibly weak from the paralytic toxin.
"Don't move," Hannah instructed softly, placing her hand gently over his. "You are safe."
Lorenzo turned his head slightly, his sharp eyes locking onto her face with intense confusion.
He recognized her, but his mind was clearly struggling to process why a maid was standing over him in the medical wing.
"Hannah," he rasped, his voice completely raw and broken.
"Yes, it's me, sir," she replied quickly, pouring a small cup of water from the sink and grabbing a sponge swab.
She gently moistened his dry, cracked lips, treating him with the same tender care she would show a wounded animal.
"Where... are the doctors?" he asked, his words slurring slightly.
"They left," Hannah confessed, her voice dropping to a whisper. "They think you are dead, Mr. Moretti."
Lorenzo’s eyes widened significantly, the shocking reality of her statement cutting through his lingering fog.
"Dead," he repeated slowly, tasting the word on his tongue.
"Yes," Hannah nodded, taking a deep breath before delivering the rest of the devastating news.
"You were shot, but it wasn't the bullets. They said it was a synthetic paralytic toxin."
"They dropped the temperature in the room to preserve your body, and your heart rate slowed down so much that the machines flatlined."
Lorenzo closed his eyes, his brilliant mind rapidly analyzing the tactical situation despite his physical weakness.
"An inside job," he concluded grimly, his jaw clenching with familiar, terrifying anger.
"Yes, sir," Hannah confirmed. "And Dante is upstairs right now, planning retaliation and taking over the warehouses."
Lorenzo’s green eyes snapped open, a deadly fire burning brightly within them.
"Dante," he growled, the name dripping with absolute, undeniable hatred.
"I didn't know who to trust," Hannah explained nervously, shrinking back slightly under his intense gaze.
"I was afraid if I opened the door, whoever ordered the hit would just come down here and finish it."
Lorenzo stared at the wide, soft-bodied maid in the gray uniform, completely astounded by her bravery.
She had recognized the threat, analyzed the variables, and made a tactical decision that saved his life.
"You saved me," Lorenzo stated, not as a question, but as an absolute, undeniable fact.
Hannah blushed deeply, looking down at her sensible, comfortable shoes.
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"You told me once that I shouldn't shrink for small men," she replied softly.
"I decided not to shrink tonight."
