Reclaiming the Prince's Heart Read online

  CHAPTER THREE

  RINI WAS STILL sitting up in bed, looking so wonderful despite what had happened to him, she had trouble containing her joy. “I told you I’d be back, Rini. I’ll translate for Doctor Romano.”

  The doctor stood next to him. “I know you have hundreds of questions. I’ll try to answer some of them. First of all, you ended up in a hospital in Rezana because ten days ago you were deep inside a mine when an earthquake hit the region near the Italian-Slovenian border. Your head suffered a blow. By some miracle you made it out, but your mind has forgotten a lot of information.”

  “In other words, I now have amnesia.” He spoke with a dry irony that was so reminiscent of her brilliant, super-intelligent husband, she smiled.

  The doctor turned to her. “There’s nothing wrong with his thought processes.” Then he turned back to Rini. “You’re twenty-nine years old and answer to the name Rinieri Baldasseri.”

  “Everyone calls you Rini,” Luna interjected.

  His penetrating gray orbs played over her. “Co haveis vus num?”

  She took a deep breath. “Yes, I have a name. It’s Luna Biancho Baldasseri.” So saying, she pulled out four wallet-size photos of the two of them. After studying them, he handed three of them back and kept the one of them kissing, which he put on the bedside table.

  “How old are you?”

  “Twenty-six.”

  “Do we have children?”

  “Not yet.” She didn’t dare say anything about the baby yet. “We were only married six months when you left to inspect the Baldasseri King Midas Gold Mine and got caught in the quake.”

  “Why was I inspecting a mine?”

  “Because you’re a gold-mining engineer.”

  “A what?”

  “It’s true! You graduated from the Colorado School of Mines in the US and you are the head of the three-hundred-year-old gold mine for your family. It’s one of the mainstays of your country. But right now you have grandparents who adore you and are anxiously waiting outside to see you.”

  He pondered the information. “Where are my parents?”

  “They passed away four years ago.”

  “Do I have siblings?”

  “You had a brother, Paolo, who was a year older than you. When you were nine and ten, you both ran out in the road to chase your dog at the beach. A bus came by and accidentally killed him and the dog.”

  When Rini didn’t respond she said, “But you have cousins, including your favorite, Vincenzo, you don’t remember. He’s a year younger than you and was recently engaged to be married.”

  She turned to the doctor, afraid maybe she’d said too much. “I told him he has grandparents who’d like to see him. What do you think?”

  “Why not ask him how he feels right now? Remember that they’ll ask questions. If this is too much, it can wait until tomorrow.”

  She focused on Rini once more. “Would you rather rest now and see your grandparents another time?”

  “No. After staying in that hospital for so long, I can’t learn enough fast enough.”

  That sounded like her dynamic husband.

  “I’ll tell them to come in.”

  She hurried over to the door and motioned for them to enter. “He knows you’re his grandparents, but not who you are if you understand my meaning. I’ll translate for you.”

  They walked toward Rini, their eyes brimming with tears. “We thought you had died,” Antonia said, breaking down.

  Leonardo cleared his throat. “Thank the Almighty you’re alive and back home with us where you belong.”

  Rini studied the two of them. “There were many days I wondered where I came from, let alone tried to imagine where I belonged.”

  “We want you to get better and will do whatever we can to help you. The doctor wants you to stay in the hospital until all the tests are done and you’re feeling well enough to go home.”

  The love in Leonardo’s voice touched Luna to the core.

  “Engraziel,” he answered in Romansh, meaning thank you. She translated for his grandparents.

  It was Rini’s handsome face behind the hair on his head and face. It was his tall, magnificent yet underweight body inside those ghastly mint-green hospital pants and top. It was his deep, thrilling voice that came out of that compelling mouth... But the man they all loved and adored wasn’t there.

  Her gaze met Dr. Romano’s. He’d done his best to warn her about Rini’s paranoia. She turned to her husband, who had to be exhausted. “We’ll leave so the staff can get your medical regimen going.”

  “Stay with me.” He almost growled the words with an intensity that bespoke his great need.

  She wanted to throw herself into his arms and love him into oblivion. “I promise I’ll only say goodbye to them. Then I’ll be back.”

  “Luna?” his grandmother said in an aside once they were out in the hall. “We’re going to return to the palace and leave you with Rini. What has happened to him is beyond tragic and it’s obvious he needs you to communicate. Leo and I will phone the family to let them know everything that has happened. I know Vincenzo will want to come and help do some translating.”

  That might be helpful for Rini. He’d have another person to talk to. Maybe it was possible he’d recognize Vincenzo. She prayed that would happen.

  “Keep us posted.” Antonia gave her another hug.

  “You know I will, and we’ll have a long talk.” She hugged Leonardo before they both left. The doctor walked them to the elevator.

  Free to be alone with Rini at last, Luna hurried to his room. She took a deep breath and pulled up a chair near the side of the bed. She’d rather climb under the covers with him, even if he didn’t know her. “You must feel like a baby who’s just been born. All these strange people looking down at you in your crib.”

  She’d hoped he would chuckle, but he didn’t. Their happy marriage had been filled with laughter, but no longer.

  “Since we had to fly a certain distance by helicopter, how did you know I’d been taken to a hospital there?”

  “I didn’t.” She leaned forward. “After the quake, seven of the miners turned up missing. One of them was Slovenian, who worked for your company on a visa. You’re the head of the Baldasseri Gold Mining Company near the Slovenian border. You’d gone there to do an inspection and implement new reforms.”

  “None of that computes to me.”

  “I know.” She fought not to break down. “To my horror you were caught in the cave-in, too, or so we thought. There were search parties to bring out the bodies, but none were found. I wanted to interview the Slovenian family, who might be able to shed some light on their missing son because I refused to give up on you.”

  “I take it I didn’t beat you often. Otherwise you wouldn’t have bothered to try and find me.”

  He said it without a smile, but there was nothing wrong with the sense of humor she’d always loved. Maybe there was hope for a happy marriage in time.

  “In another week we were going to have a family memorial service for you, Rini, but I was dreading it. I had to be certain you weren’t alive somewhere. One night I had a dream that you came to me. It gave me hope.”

  Rini groaned. “To be frank, I’d hoped never to wake up after they gave me a shot at the other hospital.”

  That hurt. Her eyes clouded over. “Are you still sorry?”

  “I’m trying to process everything.”

  She looked down, cut to the quick. “There are a lot of people who love you and are thankful you’re alive. Your grandparents adore you and can’t wait to have a conversation with you, but they realize it will have to be on your timetable.”

  He didn’t respond. “I met a policeman named Zigo, who took you to the hospital. His kindness brought me to you.” Her voice caught when she said, “I came close to fainting when I saw you asleep
in that hospital room. You’ve suffered terribly with a gash like that, and the blow to the crown of your head. Are you in horrible pain?”

  “No. I was given painkillers.”

  “Luna?” another voice sounded. She lifted her head. Dr. Romano had come into the room. “Since your husband seems wide awake, I’d like to talk to him for a minute before his dinner is brought in. Would you ask him if it’s all right?”

  She nodded and turned to Rini. “Are you up for a visit with Doctor Romano? Afterward, they’ll bring you a meal.”

  “If it will get me out of the hospital sooner, why not?” The edgy brittleness of his tone was to be expected, but this part of Rini was unlike the man she’d married.

  “He says yes, Doctor.”

  The older man pulled up a chair on the other side of the bed. “I’m going to record our conversation for my records.” Dr. Romano pulled out a tiny recorder. “I’d like you to think back to your first memory.”

  * * *

  Rini could hardly concentrate as he looked at the gorgeous woman seated by his side. She’d appeared in his hospital room in Rezana like a vision. Now she’d planted herself next to him in this hospital in Asteria. Her stunning blond beauty and perfection of female form had taken his breath. When she’d told him she loved him, he’d almost gone into cardiac arrest. Until her presence in the Rezana operating room, he’d come close to giving up on life.

  In order to concentrate right now, he closed his eyes.

  “I remember being in total darkness, completely disoriented. My head hurt like hell. The silence was terrifying because I realized I was alone and the ground beneath me was shaking. I didn’t know what I was doing or what was going on. I thought maybe I was dead and in hell.”

  * * *

  Luna put a hand to her mouth to silence her sobs, but she had to translate for both of them.

  “What did you do at that point, Rini?”

  “I don’t know exactly, Doctor. My legs were buried under something. It took what seemed like hours for me to remove what felt like rocky debris. Finally, I could move and made some progress. Then I slept for a long time.

  “When I awakened, I realized nothing had changed. It frightened the daylights out of me until I discovered I was breathing fresh air. That had to mean there was some kind of exit out of that hellhole I’d been in.”

  Dr. Romano cleared his throat. “You now know you’d been in an earthquake inside a mine. After all you’ve been through, your existence is a miracle.”

  “It is!” Luna exclaimed. Inside she was dying for him and what he’d lived through.

  “Go on if you can. Tell us what happened next.”

  “I kept crawling until I discovered myself lying on vegetation. I felt thistle-like scratches on my hands. There were more earth tremors. When I looked up, I saw a sky full of stars before I fell asleep again. Obviously, I must have slept all night because sunlight woke me up. I realized I was on a mountain, but I didn’t know why or where I was. Nothing looked familiar.”

  “I can’t imagine it.” Luna moaned the words.

  “Neither could I.”

  “Continue on if you can,” the doctor prodded him.

  “The crown and right side of my head had bled like the devil. Blood still dripped down my face. I had cuts all over my hands and arms. My gold watch was broken. I didn’t even know I had one or when I’d bought it, let alone where. All I felt was a terrible thirst. When I got up, I could barely walk, but I needed help from someone or to find a stream.

  “After a while I came to a highway and followed it until I tripped and fell. The next thing I knew, a car came by and stopped. A man got out to talk to me. He spoke a language I didn’t understand. He tried to be kind and helped me into his car. I was in and out of it before being driven to a hospital.

  “No one in there could understand me, or me them. I lost track of time over the next few days. I couldn’t eat and felt too sick to do anything.”

  Rini opened his eyes. “That’s about it.”

  The doctor got to his feet. “Thank you for bearing with me. Now it’s time for you to freshen up and enjoy your dinner. When you’re helped into the shower, try not to get that bandage wet they’ve put on your arm. Also, be careful of your head when you shampoo your hair so it won’t hurt your wound. I’ll be back in the morning to order some tests. They will tell me a lot more about your head injury.”

  After Luna translated, Rini said to her, “You can’t leave!” His eyes blazed as he stared at her. She saw fear in them and understood she was the only person he could communicate with right now.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon.”

  “Tonight?”

  “Yes, Rini. Tonight. I promise.”

  She walked out with the doctor, who told her the agenda for the next day. He’d scheduled a series of scans. “Now that he’s home, you can feel comfortable in telling him whatever he wants or needs to know. Don’t hold back. We’ll see how he gets along.”

  When they parted, Luna phoned for her driver and went home to the palazzo to pack some items for Rini.

  That look of fear had her rushing to the hospital once more. He was the most confident, in-charge man she’d ever known. For Rini to be afraid like that gave her an idea of the depth of his trauma.

  * * *

  An aide helped Rini into the bathroom but stayed outside the door. He clung to the bathroom sink and stared in the mirror. So I’m Rini Baldasseri, whoever that is. Rini for short, his alleged wife had interjected. A mining engineer? He couldn’t fathom any of it.

  The only way he could half imagine they’d been married was because she spoke the same language with him when no one else could. Several times he’d studied the photo of them kissing. They’d looked like they were devouring each other. A picture didn’t lie about their hunger for each other. Neither did the wedding band and diamond she wore on her ring finger.

  She was very, very beautiful. In fact, on a beauty scale of one to ten, his blonde wife with those lagoon-green eyes came out closer to a fifty. They’d been married six months? How was it possible he didn’t recognize her or remember her in any way?

  The doctor told him he had amnesia. He knew what it meant, but he’d never known anyone who’d had it. Maybe he did, but the amnesia had erased that memory. He simply couldn’t believe it was his problem now.

  No longer receiving an antibiotic through an IV, he began the task of shaving his beard. The hair on his face itched and drove him crazy. When he’d gotten rid of it, he groaned to see the rest of him. After looking at those pictures, he could tell he’d lost weight.

  He wore medical scrubs the other hospital had lent him. Besides hanging on him, the dull color didn’t help his sallow complexion. No shoes. Surgery socks covered his feet.

  Well, no more of this!

  He stripped down and got into the shower with hot water. Nothing had ever felt so good in his life. But how did he know that? How did he know anything now that twenty-nine years of life had just been wiped from his brain?

  Luna would be back in later. She’d promised.

  Rini knew he wasn’t the same man she’d married, not physically or psychologically. Though she was putting on a good face to be his translator, he couldn’t bear the thought that it was possible she pitied him.

  He put on the white toweling bathrobe the hospital provided. After reaching for a towel to dry his hair, he walked back into the room. The aide helped him into bed.

  The next thing he needed was a haircut. At least he had a picture of his former self. Maybe someone here at the hospital could do the job for him. The sooner he could get back to looking like the man in the photo, the sooner he might recover his memory.

  His dinner soon arrived. The smell of hot coffee and lasagna teased his senses, warming his taste buds. He’d never tasted food so wonderful and had finished everything by the time L
una had returned. Though her arms were loaded, he found himself once again noticing her five-foot-seven height and the curves of her womanly figure.

  She put two small suitcases on the floor against the wall and walked closer to inspect him. A smile broke out on her stunning face with its high cheekbones. Her luminescent green eyes played over him.

  “Wow! What a difference a shave makes.”

  He wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Good or bad?”

  “Never bad, Rini. The hair made you look like a dashing pirate. But I like what you’ve done.”

  Her comment improved his mood, relieving him of some of the anxiety building inside him over his incredible situation. “Do you think there’s a barber around here?”

  “I don’t know, but tomorrow I’ll ask Emilio, the one who usually cuts your hair, to come to the hospital. How does that sound?”

  “I’d be even more indebted to you.”

  She glanced at his tray. “You ate everything. Do you want more?”

  “Since I’m not used to such a big helping, I’m fine for now.”

  “I’m glad it tasted good to you.” She removed the tray and put it on another table. “Your grandparents chose your menu with all the foods you love.”

  “That was thoughtful of them.”

  “They love you. Your nonna wants to fatten you up.” No one wanted that to happen faster than Rini, who was desperate to get back to the man he’d seen in those little photos. “The fact that you’re alive has brought them back to life,” Luna told him. “They can’t do enough for you.”

  His gaze darted to the suitcases. “What did you bring with you?”

  “In one of them are your own toiletries and some clothes for you, including shoes, for when you’re released. I’m afraid until then you’ll have to wear a hospital gown.”

  “Let’s hope it isn’t green.”

  A smile came and went. “I don’t think so. You’ve lived through a nightmare, Rini, but you’re home now.”

  Home, as in his own home, meant nothing to him. The realization raised his anxiety level once more. “What’s in the other case?”