I awoke to the sound of a consistent beep ringing within my ears.

My eyes flutter open, and I take in my very dark surroundings. It doesn't take me long to realise that I'm in Matteo's bedroom, where i had originally woken up after he had kidnapped me from Alice's house.

My whole body feels heavy and stiff. I feel drowsy, yet all i want to do is get up and move. I feel like I haven't moved in years. What happened?

I turn my head slightly towards where the beeping is coming from. It's a large box-like contraption. A heart monitor. The beeping is steady and consistent--thank god. And beside the heart monitor is a IV pole, where multiple bags of fluids hang down.

My eyes follow the chords they are attached to, snaking into my hands and arms. What the hell?

I clench my eyes shut and try to remember what happened.

Matteo had locked me up in that cellar and Scott was there... I began to feel really sick, and then Matteo came down and...

I don't know what happened from there. But it must've been pretty bad for me to be connected to all these wires.

I definitely won't be able to escape any time soon in the state that I'm in.

Using my elbows for support, I begin to sit up, but grit my teeth at the amount of effort it takes me. "Don't do that." A voice says, jolting me from all my disjointed thoughts.

I look up to see the one and only Matteo Giovanni, approaching me with--worry etched on his face? It certainly stumps me as I recall all he has done to me because he believed that I deserved it. Did something happen to him when I was out of it?

"What happened to me?" I ask, clutching my head in my hands as a bout of dizziness rushes towards me.

Matteo instantly drops to his knees at the side of my bed and I feel his warm hand run over my bare shoulder. "Take deep breaths." I do as he says, and slowly feel the dizziness dissipating. "You had an infection in your brain which caused the right side to swell." He says calmly, continuing to draw circles onto my skin.

I look into his eyes. The dark brown has become a lighter shade. Underneath his eyes are dark bags, and he smells like he hasn't bathed in a while. There's also the faint scent of alcohol on his breath. "But you're alright now."

"How long have i been asleep?" I ask.

His face hardens and his lips pursed. The circles he draws become slower. "Five days."

I feel my eyes widen and I inhale a sharp breath. Five days? I've been out of it for five fucking days?

"You were in quite a bad condition. The doctor had said if you weren't treated, you probably would've died." I bite my bottom lip, and drag my hand over my head. This is a lot to process. What the hell even caused it?

Forget it actually, i don't want to know. I'm guessing it could've ranged from stress, all the way to that i was locked up in a cellar where rats shit and i was starved for days on end.

I frankly don't know what else to say.

Fuck you?

None of this would've happened if Matteo hadn't kidnapped me, but i guess there's nothing i can do about that now.

"I want to get out of here." I say as I begin to push the blankets off of my body, but his firm hand on my leg stops me.

"I'm sorry, but you can't leave your bed at the moment. The doctor still needs to examine your condition, and there are other things that need to be dealt with." He says and he pulls the blankets back over my body and I squirm when I feel something between my legs.

That better bloody not be what I think it is...

I reach up to feel on my face, a tube taped to the side of my cheek, going into my nose. Great! I have tubes going into all of my holes!

I sigh, leaning back into the plush pillows behind me. "Can i have some water?"

Matteo nods and reaches for a glass that was stationed on the bed side table, as if it were waiting for me. I take it from his hands and take large gulps, enjoying the coolness it brings to my very dry throat.

Once I'm done, I hand it back to him and he places it once again on the bed side table.

"I'm sorry, Mia." Matteo says out of the blue. My eyes snap up at him, surprised at his words. Did he just apologise to me? I think he's going to need to specify for what, considering all the shit he's put me through.

"I'm sorry that i left you down there for as long as i did. I shouldn't have done that, especially considering I brought you here without your consent. I should've further considered how you were feeling, and why you did what you did." I assume he's talking about me stabbing him with the fork, considering that is the only thing I have done to harm him in any way.

"Will you let us start on fresh terms? Will you give me an opportunity to make things right? Will you forgive me?" I almost laugh at that last question, yet his words are so sincere, and I see in his eyes just how guilty he is.

I don't think it's physically possible to forgive him. He is the one who put me through this torture, and the reason why I became so sick. But some sick, twisted part deep down inside of me wants to give him another chance, wants to see that maybe he could be a good man if given the opportunity to prove himself.

"I can't forgive you." I croak, and watch as Matteo's face falls at my words. I feel guilty, even though i know i shouldn't, because he is the one who has caused me all this pain.

"I understand." He says, with a solemn expression on his face.

"But, i can find it in myself to let you make it up to me."

Matteo's face lights up as he looks back into my eyes. Like a child who's being told they are receiving the toy they've been wanting for weeks. "Anything." He says.

"Let me go."

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