“I know you very well.” Her voice shook. “Your name is Rini and I’m your wife, Luna.”
An incredulous expression entered his intelligent eyes. “Impossible! I’ve never been married.”
Help. Something was terribly wrong. Don’t panic, Luna. “Thank heaven you’re alive and that I’ve found you. You’re in a hospital in Rezana, Slovenia. I’m going to take you home. A helicopter is on the way.”
At that moment Carlo appeared at the door. He motioned her to come out into the hall. Her gaze shot back to her precious husband, who was so disoriented, she realized he was still under the effects of the anesthetic. “I have to leave you for a few minutes.”
“You can’t go. No one else understands me.” He sounded utterly frantic. It wrenched her heart.
“I promise I’ll see you in a few minutes. Trust me.”
* * *
Trust her?
That breathtaking blonde woman, a stranger, had just said she was his wife? How could that possibly be? No man could forget her if he’d been married to her. He realized he must be dreaming. It had to be the anesthetic that had put him to sleep and he’d started to hallucinate.
What was he doing in Slovenia? No words had made sense to him until he heard a voice say that she loved him. Those were the first words he’d understood since waking up in the hospital. Whoever she really was, he would have to trust her all right since she was his lifeline to get out of here.
A nurse came in to check his vital signs again. He kept waiting for the woman named Luna to return. To finally be able to talk to someone, and then she had to leave the room. He’d go out of his mind waiting for her to come back.
What if she didn’t?
He broke out in a cold sweat.
The nurse looked worried as she checked his blood pressure. After she’d listened to his heart, she left the room. Damn. How long did he have to remain in this limbo?
When he was about ready to pull out the IV and leave the room on his own to find this Luna, a strange man came in wearing a business suit. “Rini?”
According to Luna, Rini was his name.
The man smiled and patted his own chest. “I’m Doctor Romano.”
Romano? It meant nothing to him.
The man came around to check Rini’s skull. His hands were gentle, but Rini’s crown had been tender since he’d awakened in the hospital. The slight probing hurt. What was going on?
He nodded to Rini before leaving the room. Now what? Another endless wait?
Before long two male hospital workers came inside. They removed the IV and wheeled him out of the room and down the hall to an elevator. Once on the main floor, he was taken down another hall and outside where he saw a medevac helicopter standing by.
Where in the hell was Luna? Where was he being taken? He tried to get off the gurney, but they restrained him.
* * *
Luna and Carlo stayed in Dr. Miakar’s office, waiting to hear what would happen next. Soon, another man came inside. He smiled at Luna.
“Principessa Baldasseri?” He spoke Italian. “I’m Doctor Piero Romano from the Sacred Heart Hospital in San Vitano.”
“Oh, thank goodness you’re here!” She took in the fiftyish-looking brown-haired man standing there in a business suit. “You must be the neurosurgeon my grandfather-in-law sent. It was marvelous of you to come at a moment’s notice when I know how busy you must be. Thank you more than you know.”
“I’m honored to have been asked to help you
r husband. I just wanted to say that San Vitano was devastated over the reported death of the Crown Prince. I don’t have to tell you how overjoyed the King and Queen are to learn that he’s alive and will be returning. The country will celebrate the moment it hears their favorite son is alive. But I dare say no one is happier than you.”
“You’re right. No one could know how I’m feeling at this moment.” Tears gushed down her cheeks.
“I’ve already checked your husband.”