Alessia in fragments — the sterile sting of disinfectant, the soft hum of machines, the rhythmic beeping that reminded her she was still alive.
Her lashes fluttered open to a blur of white ceiling lights and faint shadows moving beyond the curtain.
Pain throbbed low in her abdomen, dull but insistent. When she tried to move, a hand gently pressed her shoulder down.
"Easy, ma'am.please don't move yet."
A nurse — young, calm, her voice like warm water checked the monitors and scribbled something on a clipboard.
Alessia blinked, disoriented. "Where… am I?"
"San Lucio General," the nurse replied softly. "You were brought in last night, by an older lady we recognized as one of the morano maids . You lost some blood, but you and the babies are stable now."
"oh my babies…" Alessia's hand instinctively moved her hands around her stomach.
