Chapter Twenty-Two
Wednesday, 15 th November
Rico shifted in his bed. The stiffness in his legs was driving him bananas. He’d had enough of being stuck in hospital already, but it was only Wednesday and he’d have to put up with it until Friday. Paul the physio would be here soon to run through his breathing exercises, which were painful, but necessary, according to Paul. Afterwards, he could sit on a chair by the bed for the rest of the morning. Whoopee. But bad as it was, it was better than being in high dependency and a whole lot better than intensive care. He would never forget waking up there, bright lights above shining into his eyes, strange and frightening beeps in the background, hushed voices frustratingly just out of earshot and worst of all, the concerned faces of the staff as they dealt with him and the other patients. He’d realised where he was before anyone noticed he was awake, and the relief that he was alive was soon swamped by horrible confusion about what had happened and fear of what injuries he might have. He was lucky, though. The other man had been badly burned.
Rico shuddered. At first he hadn’t been sure if Stacy and Emily were involved in the accident too, but the feeling that they weren’t was soon confirmed by the nurses. It would be good to hear Stacy’s version of Sunday morning. He checked the time on his phone – another four hours and she’d be here.
He was waiting in his chair when she arrived, pulling his in-flight suitcase and looking anxious, though a huge smile came over her face when she saw he was up. Rico’s heart immediately went into double time. This was his woman, but she didn’t know it. He would have to change that – but heaven only knew how. He wasn’t what you’d call an alluring prospect. Ralph had brought in some spares to add to the bag of clothes Rico’d had in the car, so he was sitting here in Dad’s pjs and wincing every time he moved.
‘You look much better than I was expecting!’ Stacy pulled over a chair and sat down opposite him. ‘Nice room – great you’re sharing with just one person. How are you?’
He smiled, and spoke carefully. Breathing was still a touch tricky. ‘Sore, though it’s better now they’ve removed the second drain. My roommate went home this morning so it’s a bit boring, all by myself now Dad’s gone home. Did you come by train?’
‘You bet I did – I had more than enough of driving in snow on Sunday! Ralph has your car, anyway.’
‘I know. He wants me to go back to Lugano for a while when I get out.’
She looked at him seriously. ‘You must, Rico. You’re in no state to be living in a dusty building site. Your dad says I have to persuade you to go for two weeks at least. So promise.’
He would have promised her anything. ‘I will. How are things at the hotel?’
‘The sauna’s in, and the tubs are coming on Friday. They’ll be installed next week, and the tiler will start then too. We’re a shade ahead of schedule inside, though the weather this week meant we’ve had to postpone some outside stuff.’
‘Good. Did you bring my laptop? I’ll be able to do some of my work from Lugano when I’m out.’
She put the case on his bed and opened it. ‘Laptop and its etceteras, plus all the other stuff from your list. If there’s anything missing, I can bring it on Friday before you leave.’
He shook his head. Chur was almost two hours from Grimsbach by train; he couldn’t ask her to do that twice in three days. Much as he’d love to see her on Friday, this would be goodbye for a couple of weeks. ‘It all looks fine. Thank you. The laptop’s the important thing.’
‘Okay. It’ll be dark when I get back, but tomorrow I could give you a tour of the build by Skype, if you like.’
‘I would like.’
She smiled, and Rico’s heart soared. His stupid accident had let them become better friends, anyway. Or was her friendliness today because she was a nurse, and used to dealing with people in hospitals? Whatever it was, he would take it. They chatted about the hotel and the Ticino and Emily’s visit for half an hour, then Rico shifted in his chair. His painkillers were wearing off.
Stacy got to her feet. ‘You should rest. Phone or email if there’s anything you want, and don’t worry, I’ll let you know everything that happens at Lakeside.’
He managed a smile. ‘Good. Say hi to Emily when you call her – I’m sorry I messed up her journey home.’
‘She’ll live. And so will you. Take care, Rico.’
For a heady moment he wondered if she’d kiss him goodbye, but of course she didn’t; she merely waggled her fingers at him and left the room without looking back. Rico closed his eyes as loneliness surged back in. Looking back on it, their conversation became less positive. She’d chatted, yes, but apart from her nurse’s query about his health, they hadn’t said a word that could be construed as remotely personal. Not one word. What did that tell him? Nothing he wanted to think about.
***
Stacy trudged down the slope from Grimsbach station and along the main road to the hotel. The snow was almost gone here, good. Lights were still on at Lakeside, but work would soon be over for the day, and yet again she’d be the only human being in this big building. She should look on the bright side, though. She had a dinner date for the next two evenings, and tomorrow’s especially was going to be interesting. Martin was good company.
She turned in the gates at Lakeside and crossed the gravel driveway – it was muddy gravel now, so many build vehicles had churned it all up. Home again, and it had been good to see Rico looking better than she’d expected. They hadn’t talked about much, but he’d been bright and interested and obviously pleased to see her. Stacy screwed up her face. Too pleased, maybe, but a couple of weeks apart would let them settle back into how things should be between a friendly boss and employee. Absence makes the heart grow fonder , whispered a mocking little voice in her head, and Stacy pushed the thought away. Not her heart, and now that she was thinking about Rico’s heart, it might be an idea to check that Vreni knew about the accident. It was odds on she did, but she wasn’t on the list of people to be informed, and given that she and Rico had been out so recently, it might be good if she was added to it.
Stacy stepped through the front door of the hotel and set off to find Andy. He was taking measurements in what had been the small conference room and was now the shell of what Rico called the small spa, where the hairdresser and beautician would work. He stopped work immediately to hear the latest news about Rico.
‘He’s pretty cheerful, all things considered, and – oh my God !’ What the hell was that? Stacy clutched Andi’s arm as a loud bang came from the large spa room next door. For half a second, she was back in the car on Sunday, watching in horror as a cloud of black smoke billowed up in front of them, fear for Rico’s safety choking her.
Cheers and loud laughter were coming from the tub room, and Andi was laughing.
He patted her shoulder. ‘No worries, Stacy! It’s Gio’s fiftieth today. I guess the post-work celebrations have started already!’
Stacy’s heart was racing as they moved across the room to see into the large spa, where one of the builders was being back-slapped and teased in what sounded like Italian as well as Swiss German. The smell of fire-crackers hung in the air; was that actually safe? They’d opened a window, but still. Andi was laughing, though, so it must be okay.
Stacy stood still, taking deep breaths. A good fright every day was supposed to be good for you, keep the adrenaline flowing and all that, but two explosions in four days was at least one too many. But she mustn’t be a party-pooper; the state of her nerves wasn’t anything to do with these guys, and they were building the spa for the hotel.
She went up to Gio with her best smile and shook hands. ‘Happy birthday! Alles Gute zum Geburtstag!’
Gio beamed. He was a small, wiry man, not unlike Ralph. ‘E in Italiano?’
Stacy had no idea what Happy Birthday was in Italian. She gave her best gallic shrug.
Someone started singing, ‘Tanti auguri a te!’ to the tune of ‘happy birthday to you’, and Stacy joined in the laughter. She’d learned another phrase that might be useful here, even if it wasn’t German.
The builders packed up and left noisily, followed by Andi, and Stacy walked up the four flights of stairs. She avoided the lift now – imagine if it stuck again when she was home alone.
Okay, this might be a good time to contact Vreni. She went into the hotel employees file on the hotel computer, and picked out Vreni’s phone number. A text would be enough, wouldn’t it? She tapped:
Saw Rico today, looking well. More updates as + when.
She was still holding the phone when it rang. Oops – apparently a text wasn’t enough; this was Vreni.
‘Hi, Stacy – I heard from Rico this afternoon, so you don’t need to update me specifically. He’s doing well, isn’t he? And some time in the Ticino will get him properly back on his feet.’
Stacy had to agree. The call ended a minute later with them agreeing it was wonderful how Rico was progressing. She put her phone down, feeling rather foolish. Of course Rico would have let Vreni know how he was. He hadn’t said anything about her this afternoon, but then, why would he talk about his love life to one of his employees?
Friends only? Looked like it was boss-employee only between her and Rico.