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“Via—”
I shake my head. “Don’t sugar coat it, Massimo, please. I need to know.”
He nods, then twines his fingers through mine. "When you went down, you caught the edge of the dresser and hurt your cheek.”
I frown. "I remember hitting it before I blacked out." I try to tug my hand from his, but he doesn’t release it. "But it’s going to be okay, right? It’ll heal, and then I’ll be able to get back on stage..."
"I’m not going to lie to you,Stellina.The doctor had to call in a plastic surgeon to consult on it."
"A plastic surgeon?" My stomach churns. Sweat beads my brow. "Wh-what do you mean, a plastic surgeon?"
"He tried to minimize the damage."
"Damage?" I gulp, "Minimize?" I tug my hand from his, and this time, he releases it. I bring it to the bandage again. "When… When does this thing come off?"
"In a few days. He told us you were lucky; the bullet didn’t hit anything major, and you narrowly missed hitting your eye. All in all, you escaped without much harm."
"How can you say that? I hurt my face," I cry out.
"It’ll heal," he says in a soft voice that sets my teeth on edge.
"It’s going to scar, probably for life."
"It won’t take away from your beauty."
"That’s what you think. You’re not a director. You don’t know how tough the camera is on the face. The slightest imperfections are magnified."
"There have been lots of actors with less than perfect faces who went on to big things."
"Oh yeah? Name one."
"Tina Fey has a faint scar on her cheek. Joaquin Phoenix has a harelip. Seal has deep scars on his face due to lupus. I can go on."
I stare at him. "Have you been reading up on this?"
Color smears his cheeks.
"Youhavebeen reading up on this. So, you’re convinced I’m going to scar, and this is your way of trying to tell me that it doesn’t matter."
"That’s not what I said."
"Then what is it you’re trying to tell me?"
"That you were lucky to escape with your life, and this doesn’t change anything."
"This changes everything." I squeeze my eyes shut. "You’ll never understand. You haven’t struggled the last few years to get to where I have. And I was there, on stage, in my first leading role, and this had to happen. I knew it was too good to be true when the director gave me the role in place of Jeanne..." I snap my eyelids open. "Oh, my god, was the bullet intended for her? Is that why I was shot at?"
He doesn’t say anything, but the look on his face gives him away.
"I was right? The bullet was meant for her?"
"We think the same people who kidnapped her and Luca came after her again, but mistook you for her."
"But Jeanne’s safe, right?" He nods and I sink back into the pillows and sigh.
"She is, and she and Penny want to see you, but I told them I’d take care of you and let them know when you’re awake."
"How did you get in here, anyway?" The tiredness washes over me. The effects of whatever painkiller they gave me must also be receding because the wound in my side begins to hurt. My limbs feel too heavy, and my cheek throbs. A fuzzy sensation invades my brain, and I struggle to keep my eyes open.
