Page 20 of Urgent Vows
"I don't think those needed to go," I croak.
"Actually, for the X-rays and scans it would be best you were completely naked under your hospital gown," the doctor chimes in.
Severu ignores us both and lifts me, oh so carefully, away from the remains of my wedding dress and slides me over to the treatment bed. He grabs a sterile white sheet and lays it over the top of me.
It's soft and probably has a thread count higher than the sheets on my bed at home. "Alright?"
"Ye…" I clear my throat. "Yes."
"You need to remove your jewelry as well, Mrs. De Luca." The doctor may be speaking to me, but Severu reacts as if the words were meant for him.
First, he takes the tiara from my head and places it on the table. Then he removes the remaining pins from my hair and I'm sure I look like a bedraggled urchin wearing too much makeup rather than a bride right about now.
After that, he reaches behind my neck to unhook the clasp on the necklace. "It is a shame to take this off you. It makes you look like a queen."
He's not talking noble royalty, but a mafia queen. I've heard Severu referred to as King of New York. I guess that would make me his queen. The thought is truly disconcerting. I have not yet considered all that will change in my life because I married Severu De Luca.
His fingertips brush my neck as he pulls the necklace away and I shiver.
"Do you need a blanketmi dolce gatto?" His knowing gaze says he knows exactly why I shivered, and it's got nothing to do with being cold.
But I would feel better with a blanket on top of the thin sheet covering my nudity and say so. He immediately demands one and then drapes it over the sheet.
He goes back to removing my jewelry, taking off my earrings and then my ring. Severu puts everything into a bag provided by the nurse. Seeing millions of dollars' worth of diamonds and gold in a drawstring plastic bag makes me want to laugh despite my pain.
Two women in scrubs arrive and one of them leaves the room with the gurney.
"I assume I can turn around now," the doctor says.
"Yes." Severu stands sentinel on one side of my bed.
With a look at Severu, the doctor approaches me. "I would like my nurse to remove your makeup to get a better idea of what damage was done to your face."
"Okay."
"I will do it," Severu says again.
Sheesh. Just how am I going to get X-rayed if no one else is allowed to touch me?
The nurse hands Severu a packet of cleansing wipes. It's the same brand Carlotta uses for makeup removal. How equipped is this place?
Severu takes one out and carefully wipes the makeup from my face. He uses a second one to make sure he's gotten it all without having to rub against my tender skin.
I put my good hand out, for the wipe. "I want to take off my eye makeup too."
He hands it to me, and I remove the last vestige of makeup from my face, feeling inexorably free after doing so. I really hate wearing the stuff.
The doctor reaches for my face under Severu's watchful eye and prods my cheek. Asking for pain levels, how certain pressures feel. I tell him and he seems satisfied my cheek is not broken.
The fact that there is no swelling is my first clue, but then I'm not a doctor.
"Now for your ribs." The doctor reaches for the top of the blanket and sheet, but stops when Severu barks, "I'll do it."
My husband arranges the bedding so the bruises over my left ribs are exposed and nothing else.
The initial physical exam confirms my belief that my ribs are not cracked, but as I thought Severu insists on X-rays being taken. A portable X-ray machine is brought in, and necessary safety measures are taken.
Severu does not like that he has to stand with everyone else behind a clear wall while the images are taken of first my ribs, then both my hands and forearms, though only one of them is hurt. The doctor takes an X-ray of my head as well, confirming there is no damage to my cheekbone.
