Chapter 4 - Fragmented Memories
By 2:00 AM, the Marchetti estate’s private medical wing was flooded with harsh fluorescent light.
Dr. Marcus Harrison, the Marchetti family’s private physician for over two decades, adjusted his reading glasses as he scanned the ultra-high-resolution MRI results glowing on the wall-mounted lightboxes.
Alessio stood against the wall, his arms crossed over his broad chest, his jaw set like iron. Sienna sat on the edge of the examination table, wearing a white cotton hospital gown, while Leo and Nico sat on small chairs in the corner, clutching juice boxes and refusing to let their mother out of their sight.
"It's remarkable," Dr. Harrison muttered, tapping a dark shadow on the brain scan near the hippocampus. "And chilling."
"Explain it to me in plain English, Marcus," Alessio demanded.
"She has micro-surgical incisions right at the base of her skull, hidden beneath her hairline," Dr. Harrison explained, pointing to tiny white dots on the scan. "Someone performed a highly illegal, military-grade neuro-blockade. They didn't just cause amnesia, Alessio. They used targeted radio-frequency ablation combined with synthetic chemical inhibitors to isolate her episodic memory."
Sienna touched the back of her neck, feeling the faint, thread-like ridges in her skin that she had always assumed were scars from the car windshield. "Can it be undone?"
"The chemical inhibitor the message mentioned is real," Dr. Harrison nodded grimly. "It’s a black-market compound known as Lethe-9. It blocks the neural pathways that allow long-term memories to surface. If the level of Lethe-9 drops too low without a proper neutralizing agent, it causes violent neural inflammation. Seizures. Coma. Brain death."
Alessio stepped forward, his presence overwhelming the small room. "How long does she have?"
"Based on the toxicity levels in her blood sample," Harrison sighed, "six days. Maybe seven."
Sienna felt a cold drop of sweat trickle down her spine. "They didn't just steal my life. They put a timer on it."
"They think they have leverage," Alessio growled, pulling his phone from his pocket and dialing Rocco. "Rocco. Get the heavy strike team ready. We're not delivering five hundred million to Pier 42. We're turning Pier 42 into a graveyard."
"Alessio, wait!" Sienna called out, swinging her legs off the exam table.
Alessio paused at the door, looking back at her.
"When Dr. Harrison mentioned Lethe-9," Sienna said, her breathing shallow, "a memory came back. Not a picture... a sound."
Alessio walked back to her side, leaning in close. "What sound?"
"A glass bell," Sienna whispered, her eyes turning distant as her mind fought against the chemical fog. "A bronze glass bell chiming three times. And a man with a silver ring on his pinky finger... he called himself Dr. Kane. He said, ‘The Don thinks you’re in the ground, my dear. But you’re going to build my empire.’”
Alessio’s face went entirely pale.
"Dr. Victor Kane," Alessio gritted out, his knuckles turning white. "The head of neuro-research at St. Jude’s Psychiatric Institute. He was Vanezzi’s personal doctor."
"You know him?" Sienna asked.
"I thought I executed him two years ago," Alessio said, his voice dropping into a register so dark it made the room feel ten degrees colder. "It seems I made a mistake. I didn't check for a pulse."
He turned to his sons in the corner. "Leo, Nico. Stay with Dr. Harrison."
"No!" Leo yelled, dropping his juice box. "Mama stays!"
May you like
Alessio knelt down in front of his three-year-old son, holding the boy’s small shoulders. For the first time, Sienna saw tears glisten in the mob boss’s eyes.
"Mama isn't going anywhere, Leo," Alessio swore, his voice trembling with fierce emotion. "Daddy is going to go bring back the key to fix her head. And then we are going to be a family again."
