A Love That Sees

Chapter 5 ✨✨✨

’ FEDERICO

Lilies filled his nostrils, He could scent them strongly and he did not know whether he loved them or hated them , but they sure gave him an ache in his head. Or maybe it was the concussion?, …. Maybe.

The fresh lilies seemed to have been plucked just yesterday, and everywhere he turned he scented them. Contrary to his early belief, They didn’t give him an ache anymore and instead With each whiff of the scent he felt calm and his bones, though painful, felt a bit relaxed.

With his mind relaxed, Federico tried opening his eyes, at first it proved difficult doing such a simple task but with a few more tries of partial blinking, he successfully opened them to meet white light that attacked them immediately, making him shut them again. Wow!, He thought feeling a burn in his eyes.

He continued the process of shutting and opening his eyes a few times before being able to fully open it, adjusting them to the unfamiliar room. Once open, He surveyed the room starting from the ceiling which was above him. The ceiling was white as were the most parts of the room, there stood a chair inches away from the bed that contradicted the white and beige colours the room was aesthetically going with, which to Federico completely ruined it. The chair was orange, a clear contrast to the minimalist colours used.

However thrilled and occupied he was with the colour scheme, Federico knew better than to drool over colours when the place he woke up to was an unfamiliar place, He was quick to stay on his toes, Federico knew that he wasn’t in his house or anywhere close to it. Federico had a feeling he was in someone else’s house, from the interior he could already figure out who it may be. His eyes became heavy so he closed them for a bit feeling dizzy.

“You’re Awake”. He heard a voice say besides him making his eyes spring open again.

Federico turned slightly to his side to see his mother rubbing her eyes gently while releasing a yawn.

His mother looked tired, Her brown eyes were sunken, but She was still beautiful, Her curly hair that had small strands of white hair was packed to a bun, Her makeup was minimal, clear foundation, a neutral eyeshadow and a glossy lip, Her tan skin was still beautiful and clear although you could see wrinkles that came as a result of age, but nonetheless did nothing to affect her beauty.

“Mamacita”. He acknowledged her while managing a smile, Had she been here all this while?, If so he must have gone partially blind as he did not notice her, or maybe she had just walked in, that seemed plausible since she wasn’t sitting.

Federico tried getting up but his mother gently pushed him back down.

“You should rest Mio”. She pulled a chair close to the bed and sat on it. “Or else you’ll concussion”. Selena scolded him making Rico smile .

“It’s I’ll have a concussion, not that”. Federico corrected her laughing, As he laughed he felt his chest constrict painfully causing him to stop. He held his chest while squeezing his face as it ached. “Ow”. He exclaimed holding his chest more tightly while he tried to breathe softly to lessen the pain.

“You never listen Rico”. His mother scolded him again with a frown on her face, He knew the frown was more from his correction so he just smiled. “Is it very painful?” She asked worriedly, “Should I call the doctor?”. Federico didn’t reply, only shaking his head to signify a ‘no’ to his mother.

“Is it getting better Rico?”. Selena asks still worried as she calmly watched him.

“I’m okay,…I guess, I feel a little pain still in my chest area”. Federico said tapping his chest slowly.

“Well the Doctor said you’ll feel a bit of pain but you’ll be fine soon, I hope so”. Selena reached for his hand and squeezed it gently.

“I will Ma, I will.” He reassured her smiling. He waited again, Pausing before he asked “Where am I ?”.

“Vonn Devv Mansion, Their house hospital”. His mother confirmed his suspicions.

He said nothing to that, not even sure of what to say, If his mother allowed him to be admitted there, it was because she trusted the Vonn Devv’s to a certain degree.

His mind however drifted to the Lady who he had seen yesterday, was she related to the Vonn Devv’s?, If so, there was one other plausible answer, one that he somehow dreaded. He had met Adele Vonn Devv.

“They had brought you here, The lady did, I was so scared seeing you and Manuel covered in blood”. Selena brought her son’s hand to her lips, She placed a soft kiss on the back of his palm, something that she did when she was scared. She did so while sobbing quietly.

“Mum it’s fine, it’s okay”. Federico tried calming his mother but she still quietly sobbed , so he let her sob. Knowing her, she would only stop when she felt like it. He looked around the room unconsciously, not wanting to see his crying mother and feel more horrible than he already was.

Federico’s eyes caught a nearing shadow in the hallway and the gentle taps of wood hitting the ground, it caught his interest almost immediately and he saw himself looking at the door waiting for the arrival of the person, but apparently not his mother’s who was too immersed in her feelings.

Federico wondered who the person was and waited patiently for the person to eventually emerge.

Moments pass and a very familiar face appears in front of the door, At first glance Federico thought she was an angel with her white floral dress that fell to her feet and her beautiful contrasting red hair, but when he looked further at her he realized she was the lady from the accident, The arrogant red haired lady who he had fainted on.

Her features were as soft as he remembered, but her red hair was her best feature one that he couldn’t stop staring at. Federico watched her silently while his mother seemed to have stopped crying and was now wiping her tears loudly like she always did.

“I’ll go check on Manuel, He must be awake now”. That gained his attention, Manuel, He had almost forgotten about his best friend. He turned immediately to his mom.

“How is he mum?”. He asked.

“He is much better he woke up two days ago, he’ll just need to get his stitching removed today”. His mother got up from the seat, stretched her legs while she yawned again.

Two Days!!

“Wait, How long have I been here?”. Federico asked, more concerned than ever.

“Five days Chico”. His mother said nonchalantly making him gasp. Five Days?, It was a long time to be out.

“Wow!!”. He exclaimed again.

“I’ll leave now, If you need anything there’s a phone just tap the first number and someone would attend to you.” He nodded at her , before noticing her eyes, he had forgotten to speak again, He resisted himself from chuckling, His mum was such a Latin mother.

“Okay”. Federico said barely listening as his eyes met the lady who was still standing at the door.

“My lady”. Federico heard his mother say making him turn to her, he saw her bend slightly to greet the young statue like woman who barely responded.

“Selena”. She said shortly after, making Federico raise his eyebrows at how disrespectful she sounded. However his mother only gave her a smile before leaving.

He watched her stand there for a while before she turned to leave. Adele, The statue like lady entered the room, more like took two steps in and stayed there , not moving again.

“You are awake”. She commented, her voice still the same, soft and almost pure like.

Federico thought of her as a beautiful woman, but her attitude simply threw him off and even if she was nice, he would never truly go for her, status wise, he wasn’t even up the part.

“The least you could do is apologize”. Federico said. She turned, but didn’t look at him rather at the floor close to where she was. She stood for a few seconds as if pondering what to say before walking further into the room while tapping the floor.

When she was at a good enough position to the bed she stopped resting her both hands on her stick.

“My name is Adele”. She said softly breaking the silence.

He knew that, but that didn’t change anything, Her name meant nothing, especially if she wasn’t humble, Humility couldn’t be equated to riches, a humble person was a humble person, rich or poor.

“I know who you are”, Federico said, He watched her as her eyes widened and her shoulders surprisingly became less tensed, “I’m Federico, But you can call me Rico”. He said making her blink her eyes a few times. It went silent again as he watched her while she kept her eyes on the floor.

“Well I apologize for causing you and your friend so much pain, I have already had the driver fired, and I’ll ensure you get settled.”

Settled. He knew the meaning of that, the Rich only knew money and nothing more. Federico however felt bad for the driver who had just lost his source of income, but he knew it was better than ending in jail.

“That won’t be necessary, an apology was enough”. Federico said, He felt a pang in his head that immediately left him speechless, The pang was surely from his instant fast speaking, he had to slow down or he would end up passing out.

His eyes was still trained on Adele and he saw a slight tilt at the side of her lips, almost like she wanted to smile, It warmed him somehow, but he felt more warm when she spoke next.

“You are different”. She commented, slightly shifting on her feet.

His eyes perked up at that, “How so?,” He asked somewhat intrigued by her, He found himself wanting to continue their conversation.

“You just are….”, She gave no clear answer, Just like her aura that was full of so much mystery, He found himself smiling, but stopped when he realized he was, He was thankful she didn’t see him.

She looked nervous, and was pulling at her fingers, he noticed a pink bruise on her wrist and instantly thought back to the day of the accident, His heart sunk at it, He remembered pulling at her hand, though the memory was still blurry.

“I also want to apologize for that”. He said, Sighing with his eyes closed.

“What?”, She asked looking around still nervous.

“Your wrist”. He said and watched her sigh. Almost like she was relieved.

“Oh that!, it’s okay, I guess you were unconscious about it, My wrist is nothing compared to your injury, which I said I was sorry-“,

“You look beautiful when you speak a lot”, That shut her up quick and he watched her as she seemed even more nervous than before, shifting on her feet and all. He shouldn’t have said that.

“What beauty is there when you speak a lot?, You would just get nitpicked at, and every word you say gets used against you, I doubt there is any Beauty in that—“. Adele said, she paused again and sighed, now she was speaking too much , she hated speaking a lot and now she was Doing the one thing she disliked.

“But if you do not speak, how would people understand you enough to not nit-pick”. Federico said.

Adele stepped forward instinctively, “Maybe I do not want people understanding me,” Adele retorted.

“A quote said never trust people on what they say, but on what they do but—”

“But what?”, she asked fully interested.

“But I believe you never know what Someone wants to do, but you can always Know people from what they say and how they say things”. Federico said.

“That is an interesting way to look at things Mr Bombani”. Adele said defeated, she didn’t agree, but she said nothing more. She did not want to be understood and that was all she knew.

“I do not know you, but I believe You have more layers and The more you speak, the more I get to take one off, similarly talking about things opens your mind to things that are new, your heart is open and you are able to take things in again.”

“If that is all, I’ll take my leave”. Adele interrupted his train of thoughts causing him to look back at her. She waited for no more reply and hurriedly turned on her feet and began walking back to the door.

“Has anyone ever told you, you have beautiful hair.” Federico said altering her steps immediately.