Past and Present: Intertwined

Chapter 7

Vincenzo's POV

I woke up in an unfamiliar place and all I could see was a white ceiling. I can also feel that my body was immobilized and something is giving me oxygen but it is not exactly the same one used in Emilia's time. Someone entered the room, and she immediately ran out to call the doctor.

"Your Highness, I am Doctor Ricci and I will be checking on your condition. It is a miracle that you woke up so we need to thoroughly check on you." the doctor explained, and he started checking on me.

I really feel uncomfortable, it's as if I don't own my body since I can't even move a muscle. After some time, I regained some of my bodily functions so I tried to speak.

"Wha-What happened.. to me?" I asked, my voice hoarse.

"Your Highness, you have been in a coma for over 3 years." the doctor replied

"H-h-how did i-it happen?" I asked again, wanting to know the reason.

"Your Highness, the night before your coronation, Her Majesty the Queen found you lying on the floor, unconscious and your head is bleeding heavily." he started

"She told us that your room was a mess and we concluded that you slipped and hit your head hard on something. That's why you got into a coma, and we have tried various methods to wake you up but it is all in vain." he continued his narration, but my mind is somewhere else.

Thinking of what happened in the future and the doctor's story, I don't know what is real and what is not. While thinking, my head started to hurt, then I remembered. 

...

Flashback

That night, after I heard my parents' conversation, I got to know that I was the reason why Paolo, my older brother, died. I was playing outside when suddenly there was a car that lost control, so he pushed me to the side to save me. He was the one who got hit by the car and I bumped my head on something hard, that's why I can't remember anything.

After I remembered everything, I entered my brother's room and I looked around. Contrary to what I remembered from my time in the future, I only touched the mirror but my hand didn't go through.

Walking out of Paolo's room, I proceeded to enter my room. Because of my frustration, I started thrashing things around and that's when it happened... I stepped on something that made me slip and I fell to the floor hitting my head in the process. My head hit the table and everything started to become blurry, I can also remember the pain in my head and the ringing in my ears, and everything went black. 

End of Flashback

...

After remembering what happened, I realized that everything that happened to me in Emilia's time was simply a dream. A separate reality that my mind created to help me forget about the bad and traumatic experiences that happened to me. To make me believe that my brother is still alive and his death has nothing to do with me. It was because of too much grief and loneliness that my mind developed an illusion while I was in a coma. Now I know... everything is a lie that I, myself created.

"Vincenzo, are you okay?" a soft voice asked, and I looked at its source, and there, I saw my mother.

She immediately came to my bedside and carefully hugged me. She is crying simultaneously, maybe because of happiness or grief.

"Mother, where is Father?" I asked with a strained voice

"Oh baby, your father is gone. He died a year ago. I'm sorry that you didn't get to see each other before he went. He said that one thing he regrets the most is not seeing you awake and living a happy life." my mother, the queen explained while sobbing.

"B-b-but I didn't even get to say goodbye... And I now remembered what happened to Paolo." I said, with tears threatening to fall from my eyes.

My mother left after a while because she still needed to attend to her royal duties. When the night came, I couldn't keep myself from crying. To the point that I am hyperventilating and gasping for air.

'This really is a panic attack' I thought to myself, and even though I knew what was happening, I still couldn't control myself. So I let myself cry until everything was blurry and I felt so alone, then I fainted.