Brunetti had lost count on how many hosted VIP club events he had been to just this last month alone, but it was many, so much he knew, and he could also feel it in his aching body. Brunetti wasn't a young man anymore, but the Prince refused to accept this and demanded his presence at all times. He obeyed to this although his main task as his retirement was getting closer, was to secure the Prince’s status as a European Royal. Brunetti knew that the only way to secure this was to get him to marry another royal. He had seen with his own eyes how other exiled royals had lost their titles and inheritance by getting involved with commoners. Brunetti would never let that happen, he would do whatever it took to secure his protégés legacy.
“I’m sorry, but I’ve never heard of him," Vanessa responded.
“Are you sure he is at this hospital?”
Brunetti didn’t regard this with a response. Instead, he bolted towards the closed double door that led to the emergency rooms.
“Hey, you are not allowed in there, you have to wait here. I will help you find your friend, but you must stay here.”
At that, the angry man turned around and came up to her, his face so close to hers that she could feel his breath against her cheek. He smelled of old tobacco and mint pastilles, something she hadn't experienced since her cigar smoking grandfather had been alive. She remembered that she liked the smell, but it was a distinct difference when it came from her beloved grandpa and when it came from this unfriendly man.
Vanessa stepped back to escape his mumbling threats at what would happen to her and the hospital if she didn't get him to his client. As if she owned the hospital, he didn't seem to realize she was just a nurse. She felt desperate to find someone that could help her, this was without a doubt a mad person, perhaps even dangerous.
“Let me have a look at the register.”
She almost ran inside the cubicle. The medical secretary had left the folders of incoming patients lying open at the desk.
This was unprofessional, but at least she would find out if there was a Prince at the hospital or not. She couldn't help but smirk her lips as she muttered the word prince to herself. A Prince, yeah right and I am the queen of England.
Documents containing information on patients were classified and should be locked into a safe whenever the desk was unmanaged, this time the secretary must have had other things on her mind. A mistake that could get her fired if someone was to report it. Vanessa made a mind note it was exactly what she intended to do. But first, she had to get rid of this crazy man.
She scanned through the documents. No sign of any royalties admitted to the hospital. What had the man said this royal highness name was? Sandro something? The name gave her a flashback from her childhood. Sandro Botticelli was her dear father's favorite renaissance painter. They had visited the Museum of Art countless of times, just the two of them as her mother found museums depressing.
Vanessa's mother was the opposite to her tall, blonde husband. A petite woman with Italian heritage. With her dark curls and arched eyebrows, she was in her youth compared to the great Sophia Loren. Although she was a loving mother and wife, she had quite a temper and she never let Vanessa's poor father forget how much she sacrificed to race their only daughter. She would never admit she loved every second and by the time she was pregnant she had lost all her motivation for a career that meant time away from her family. When she’d met Vanessa's father she was an aspiring actress at Broadway but gave it up to be a stay-at-home mum and help her husband run the family’s small Deli which specialized in Italian and Scandinavian wholesome raw food.
No one named Sandro either. She was about to close the file when she saw a handwritten note attached. “Alessandro Di Savoy. Car crash. Head injury. ER no 12.”
This must be the man on the stretcher, the man with the most intense dark blue eyes she had ever seen. How was he doing, how bad were his injuries? She had to find out before she got back to the angry man.
Vanessa glanced behind her and saw that the older man now had taken a seat on one of the plastic chairs, resting his head in his palms as if he was sleeping. This was her chance, and with a few steps, she entered the emergency corridor again.
Almost running she headed for emergency room no. 12 where the Prince had been admitted. She came to a halt as nurses and doctors came running towards her, she took a leap to the side as they passed her, not noticing her presence. Blue lights flashing and the doctors yelling for assistance meant only one thing, Cardiac Arrest.
She felt numb. What was she supposed to do? Even though her shift ended many hours ago, something made her stay. She moved closer so she could see into the room. And there he was. The gorgeous man from the helicopter laid on top of the operation table, cables and cords all over his almost naked body.
“Clear!” The doctor yelled as he placed the defibrillator with rigorous precision on his patient's chest. His torso rose in convulsions and fell back at the table.
The ECG showed nothing but a flat line as the machine gave away a sound painful to hear, almost as if it was crying. Without thinking, Vanessa ran into the room.
“What are you doing? Get out of here now!” a nurse yelled at her in a voice that sounded strained, it was clear she was under a massive pressure.
Vanessa ignored her, in one step, almost a leap, she got close to the bed and pushed the doctor away. She grabbed the defibrillator from his hands and without waiting for the countdown, slammed it at the man's chest and fired off a charge.
Still nothing, just a convulsion, and the moaning beep from the machine which had nothing to count. She fired again. She could sense motion behind her as one doctor came up to her and tried to take the cords away.
“No!” Vanessa cried out, “Give me one more try.”
“It's too late,” the doctor said in a calm voice. “It's too late Nurse.”
“No, it's not, back away!”
She turned the voltage to maximum, a level she knew was hardly ever used due to its danger for the operator. It could give permanent heart damages, but at this point she didn’t care, she had to save him. She closed her eyes, pressed the cords against his chest, and fired once again.
His body arched with the force from the electricity hitting his body. The machine almost coughed as the miraculous sound of a heartbeat filled the room.
“It’s wasn't too late”, she whispered and opened her eyes and with a sigh of relief she handed the cords back to the doctor.
The doctor smiled as he took the cords from her shaking hands. The nurses focused on the patient and didn't notice when she left the room.
Out in the corridor, she suddenly got nauseous and leaned against the wall for support. What had just happened? It was a strange animal instinct that had come over her so strong she had no choice but to follow it.
As she sank to her feet, her back still pressed against the wall, one nurse came out from the room.
“Oh, it’s you. Do you know what you did in there? You saved a life,” she said with a voice that couldn't hide her emotional state of mind.
The other woman wiped away a tear from the corner of her eye and gave Vanessa a small pat on the arm.
“Good work, Nurse, now go home and rest.”
Vanessa followed her recommendation and went back to the hallway. As she reached the entrance, she remembered the angry looking man at the registry. She turned around, sighed, and walked back inside.
She found him in the same position she left him in. But now he was covering his face with his hands. She leaned closer and cleared her throat to gain his attention. The man looked up at her and when he saw it was her, he jumped to his feet.
“What took you so long? Did you find my client?” Brunetti yelled at her
“Yes, I did,” she said in a calm voice, much calmer than she felt.
“He is resting right now so you will not be able to see him right now. He had a serious cardiac attack and his heart stopped, but we made it beat again.”
“So, he is not dead?” the man w
hispered.
“No, he’s alive, very much alive,” she said and couldn't help but wonder why she felt so blissful.
“Ok, that's good, so what's the plan for his treatment. When can he leave?”
“Well,” Vanessa said, “It's not up to me. I am just a Nurse and about to go off my shift. One of the Doctors will inform you when they have any news. They will give you all the information you need,” she added with a comforting voice. She could see that under his cold facial expression, this man was in emotional pain and he seemed frightened after almost losing his friend and client.
The man looked at her as she had gone mad. He did not respond well to her information.
“I will not have another Nurse showing me around like a puppet in this depressing building. I demand you call your boss and make sure they know whom their new patient is. He must be moved to the hospital's private ward as soon as it is possible, I will not have it any other way.”
Vanessa looked at him. Who was this man? And why didn't he understand that she wasn’t in charge here and therefor couldn’t help him.
She tried to explain again, but Brunetti didn't listen, he had already made up his mind. He reached for his inner pocket and handed her a stack of neatly folded 100-dollar bills.
“Here, for your services,” he said with a patronizing voice. “Now, you do what I have told you, Nurse!”
His actions sickened her, she refused to be bought, she was better than that. She shook her head and walked away. Someone else had to handle this disgusting man, she had enough.
She could hear the man yelling after her. “Never turn your back on me! How dare you? You are just a pathetic nurse and should do as you are told!” The angry man went on and on until his voice faded away.
She blocked his voice out and stepped out to the parking area. The cold air were refreshing, she took a few deep breaths and tried to forget about everything. But she couldn't forget about the man she had just saved. The man with the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen.
Chapter 3
Vanessa came to work, in her usual manner a good fifteen minutes before her shift started. With a polite smile, she greeted her colleagues who sat around a table in the cafeteria but didn't slow down her pace. She went straight to the manager's desk without even changing into her work attire. She was well aware she would be forced to face her boss eventually on regards of last night's event in the emergency room. Vanessa preferred it to be sooner rather than later, and as her father had taught her, she took the matter in her own hands. Much better than to sit around waiting to be summoned, she thought as she walked down the corridor.
As she placed a hand on the door to give it a knock, it swung wide open. Vanessa threw herself back in a sudden motion to escape the door from hitting her head.
“Hey, take it easy,” she said annoyed to the man bolting out of the room.
She was just about to tell the man off when she recognized him and hushed herself. It was the angry man from yesterday.
“Oh, sorry,” she mumbled, not wanting to start a fight with him again. She took a few quick steps back to avoid getting in his way.
Brunetti came to a quick halt as he saw who she was and looked at her with squinting eyes.
“Well, who do we have here? Isn't it the Nurse-heroine from last night,” the irony in his voice was hard to miss. “Just the one I was looking for.”
Vanessa pressed herself against the wall of the narrow corridor to gain distance from him. At that point, the Managing Nurse came out from her office, rescuing her from more sarcasm and irony and gestured at her to step inside. Vanessa obeyed, as she was eager to get away from the man and sank down into the chair intended for visitors.
Her boss sat down behind her desk without giving away one word or facial expression whether she was pleased or displeased with Vanessa's interference at the ER the night before. Vanessa felt clueless on what to expect. Was she going to get a reprimand for interfering with the Doctors in charge or was she about to be fired? Vanessa could feel her heart rising and her palms being moist as her boss continued to stay quiet and instead kept focusing on a pile of documents in front of her.
“Vanessa Green,” her boss finally broke the silence. “I’ve heard that you gave the medical team in the operation room a helping hand last night.” She gave Vanessa a smile she immediately corrected by tightening her lips.
Vanessa could feel her whole body relaxing, at least it didn’t seem as she would be fired.
“Well, this is certainly not normal procedure at this hospital,” she continued.
“You’re lucky you saved the patient's life,” the Managing Nurse said and hesitated for a while as she scrolled at her computer searching for information on how to continue.
After what seemed like forever she coughed as in surprise, stopped staring at the screen and tuned in on Vanessa again.
“I have to say you’re one lucky girl miss Green. I just received this email from the Board,” the managing nurse couldn’t hide her surprise as she continued to read from the screen.
“They gathered early this morning and have decided to look in the other direction this time due to fact that the life of the patient was saved.”
“This time,” she added and looked hard at Vanessa. “We will not talk about it further, and it never happened, do you understand?”
Vanessa nodded. She didn’t know how to reply. She was thankful that she was not being fired due to her actions, but she wished for her boss to recognize her initiative and maybe even given her a small compliment.
The manager went back to her papers and with an impatient gesture waved her hand at Vanessa to get up.
“Oh, and from now on you will work on the ninth floor. You can take your belongings from your locker and bring it with you upstairs. The security staff will give you clearance,” she instructed her without taking her eyes from the pile of documents.
Vanessa gave her boss a surprised look. The ninth floor, the private ward. Everyone gossiped about the private ward and all nurses she knew was dreaming about a possibility to work there. But as far as she knew, no one had been transferred from ordinary duties to the private ward. The nurses working there were hired on a whole other recruitment base.
As she went into the elevator, she hesitated for a second before pressing the button to reach floor 9. She had never been there before, not on duty at least. Vanessa just had a brief memory of being shown the area and been able to take a quick glance behind the doors.
She walked passed the guard who acted as a barrier between the private ward and the other corridors of the hospital. He sat behind a desk in front of the spotless glass doors and nodded when she showed him her passing card. She couldn't help but feel a little curious as she walked down the hallway. She had received her new schedule and from what she could see most of her time was dedicated to one patient. A Mr. Di Savoy.
The air had a perfumed scent, the seats were plush, and every surface was dustless. The nurses she saw were unhurried and moved with a serene purposefulness from room to room on their rounds. There were vases of flowers and beautiful framed pieces of art on the walls. In the corridor was a water dispenser and from most rooms the noise from a television could be heard. It was in stark contrast to the areas she normally used to spend her working hours.
The corridors she was used to had a distinct smell of bleach and the colors of the walls, that used to be painted in an uplifting color of yellow, had turned into a depressing palette of beige and grey. Scrapes from the hundreds of trolleys that had bumped into them over the years were visible on the walls. The only thing that decorated the walls of those corridors was the large blue plastic signs with the directions to other areas of the hospital.
With butterflies in her stomach, she opened the door to his suit and saw him sound asleep in his bed. She touched his shoulder. “Mr. Di Savoy,” she whispered. She touched his shoulder again, this time shaking it slightly. This made him wake up, and he opened his eyes. He gazed around the room a
nd took in his surroundings before fixing his eyes on her.
“How are you feeling?” Vanessa asked.
“I feel just fine Doctor,” he paused before continuing, “Thank you for saving my life.”
She looked at him but could not see any hints of him being coy. He appeared to mean it and she felt ashamed. After all she and Kat had gossiped about his personal life for hours last night and as Kat had kept the drinks coming, Vanessa had babbled about how gorgeous he was.
“Well, I am actually just a Nurse,” she said in a low voice.
She didn't know why but as soon as she had entered the room and had seen him, she had felt a thousand butterflies in her stomach making her almost dizzy. Her mouth felt dry as cotton and she couldn't feel her legs. She shook her head to get rid of the strange feeling. Was she allergic to some of the incense she had felt as she entered the ward or maybe she was perhaps coming down with the flu?
My Italian Prince: Clean Romance Page 2