Chapter 18
18
I wasn’t really sure how I got there, but a few minutes later I found myself lying on my bed.
There was a strange man peering at me. He had an enormous, rather ruddy nose and a stethoscope hanging around his neck, so I assumed he was a doctor. He was standing by the side of my bed, his hand on my forehead. Something I wasn’t very happy about, as I had a thumping headache. I flinched away from him.
‘Ah, bene , good, you are back with us,’ he said.
I think garlic had featured heavily in his last meal, and I recoiled from the aroma.
‘Is she all right? Do we need to take her to hospital?’
That was Paulo.
I struggled to sit up, feeling bruised and embarrassed. People were always talking about ‘having a fall’ at my age, and I’d had several contemporaries who had sported surgical boots or arm supports after just such a thing. Had I broken anything? I moved my limbs cautiously. Only my shoulder seemed to have suffered any injury. And my face felt sore on one side.
‘What happened?’ I said, feeling distinctly fuzzy and confused.
The doctor shone a bright light in my eyes, and I held my breath to avoid his.
‘Not too much damage,’ he said, sounding slightly disappointed. ‘You don’t feel nauseabonda – um, nauseous or faint?’
‘No.’ I tried to push myself upright and a horrible pain shot through my shoulder.
There was a bit more discussion in Italian, all of which went completely over my head, and then Paulo and the garlic-loving doctor went into a huddle in one corner, while Susie came to sit on the edge of my bed, her eyes wide with concern.
‘What on earth happened?’ I said.
‘Eric tried to lasso you,’ she said, ‘with a skipping rope. And apparently you went down like a sack of spuds.’
‘Oh God,’ I groaned.
‘He’s been taken away for a proper telling off, probably the first one he’s ever had, which will probably do him a great deal of good, and Leo and Raleigh have been rowing ever since. Leo says this ‘no no’ business has to stop, that Eric is turning into a brat, and it’s no good blaming Andrea. At first Raleigh even tried to blame the sous chef’s daughter who let Eric borrow her skipping rope, which is just ridiculous.’
I put up a tentative hand to my cheek. ‘Have I done much damage to myself? My face hurts.’
‘Just a graze on your face. Maybe a bruised shoulder. But nothing serious as far as I could understand. Paulo is furious of course.’
‘I shouldn’t have encouraged Eric to get those jeans,’ I said.
Paulo broke off his discussions at that point and came over.
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ he said firmly. ‘There’s no excuse for this. None at all.’
‘Oh dear,’ I said, feeling rather weepy and a bit foolish. ‘I’m so sorry.’
‘Stop trying to blame yourself. He’s a boy, doing what boys do,’ Paulo said, ‘no matter how much his parents try to overprotect him. The doctor thinks you will be fine. He says we should keep an eye on you in case of concussion. Other than that, some nasty bruising and a sore shoulder. He prescribes painkillers and bed rest. Perhaps for a week.’
‘But I have a flight booked to go home the day after tomorrow,’ I said.
Susie balled up her fists and pressed them to her face in anguish.
‘Well, I’m not leaving you, not like this! I couldn’t possibly. I booked the flights and everything. It’s all set up for our return too. We were going to have a bottle of bubbly at the airport, and perhaps some of those sour cream pretzels. I love those. And they never taste the same at home.’
‘Then you must stay too. Forget about the practicalities for now, just give me your booking details,’ Paulo said. ‘I’ll sort everything out.’
I sank back down onto the pillows with a sigh of relief, and then tried to get comfortable, which was almost impossible. Painkillers seemed like a very good idea indeed.
* * *
For the next hour I had a steady stream of visitors, people poking their faces nervously around the door to see if I was awake and decent. Leo brought Eric in to apologise, which the boy did, accompanied by tears and what looked like genuine remorse. He had brought me a single white rose which he placed on my bed.
‘It made Andrea better, I want you to be better too,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry. I’m not going to be a cowboy any more. I’m going to be a doctor.’
‘That’s a great thing to do,’ I said.
Then Raleigh came in dressed very soberly in a dark blue dress with white cuffs and collar, which almost gave her a nurse-like appearance. She brought me some extravagant flowers and a box of truffles, to ask if I needed anything, and by the way, did I need their insurance details.
She evidently thought I might be seriously considering suing Eric for causing my injuries and she burst into tears when I assured her I wasn’t.
‘Of course, Leo and I will cover all your medical costs. I understand there is an air ambulance if you need to go to the mainland. You know, in case you get a brain haemorrhage or a deep vein thrombosis.’
‘Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,’ I said, patting her hand, and she started crying again, which was something she did very attractively and didn’t go red and blotchy as I always did.
‘I would make you some soup,’ she said, sniffling a bit and blowing her nose, ‘but I’m not allowed in the kitchens. And I’m not actually sure how to do it. I’ll ask Leo what he thinks I should do. Meanwhile, would you like me to read to you? I had a look in the bookcase in the hall and they are all in Italian, but I do have a few of Eric’s books with me.’
The prospect of Raleigh reading The Cat In The Hat to me, while tantalising, was one on which I was prepared to pass, and I reassured her I would be fine watching television. Or ideally just sleeping.
‘I’ll bring you some magazines,’ she said. ‘I have this month’s Harper’s . There’s a strange picture of someone in a black dress on the cover. To be honest, I can’t think of a single occasion where I would wear it. But there is quite an interesting exposé on blusher you might enjoy and a feature on leather trousers.’
‘Sounds ideal,’ I said, and Raleigh smiled with relief.
‘I’d better get Eric to bed. It’s well past his bedtime and it’s been quite a day.’
Moments after she had left, Sylvia, Lucia and Ceci appeared, barging past each other in the doorway like some sort of comedy act.
‘You must have absolute and complete rest,’ Sylvia said. ‘I have brought you the last of my special Belgian chocolate. My physician recommended it to me. It is full of iron. Practically a health food.’
She fished a half-eaten bar out of her handbag and put it proudly on the bedside cabinet. Then Lucia offered me a much-thumbed paperback with a very risqué cover illustration of a shirtless man grappling with a nubile woman whose clothes seemed to be falling off.
‘ Mio libro preferito – my favourite book. It’s in Italian but it may teach you some new words. It’s about an Italian nobleman who is a pirate and also an artist. And he falls in love with a woman who refuses to let him paint her portrait, so in the end he takes her off on board his ship and – well, never mind. I don’t want to spoil the story. Always cheers me up, especially chapter twenty-one.’
Ceci countered with a sneer and produced a gift of Venchi truffles in a tin designed by Dolce and Gabbana. Lucia narrowed her eyes.
I defused the situation by giving a little croak of pain.
‘Are you taking your medicine?’ Ceci asked sternly. ‘It’s no use waiting to take painkillers until you are in agony.’
‘I am,’ I said. ‘In fact, I have just taken two.’
‘But you don’t want to become too reliant,’ Sylvia added. ‘One hears such terrible stories. I was watching a documentary only the other day. A man who injured his back in work and became dependent on them. I think it was fanto, or it might have been futon. Lives ruined, the slow descent into addiction…’
Lucia scoffed. ‘Well, your back might be ruined by a futon, but I hardly think?—’
‘…or was it benzene?’ Sylvia said.
‘I promise not to take anything dangerous,’ I said.
‘And if there is anything you need, you only have to ask,’ Sylvia continued. ‘I will make it my number one priority. Ralph always said I could have been a nurse. I would have been a wonderful nurse, if I had ever trained, but my father wouldn’t allow it because of the indelicacy. Men and bed baths, that sort of thing. But I am going back to Brussels later today. I will leave word with the entire staff that you must not be left on your own for a single moment. In case you fall out of bed and break something.’
‘That’s very kind,’ I said with a huge yawn as the tablets began to take effect, ‘but I am going to get up tomorrow and try to get moving again.’
‘Very wise,’ Lucia said. ‘Deep vein thrombosis. Years ago I knew a woman who had a medical episode on a flight I was on from Athens to Bergen. The plane had to divert to Munich, and it was most inconvenient. And it was raining.’
‘Was she all right?’ I asked.
Lucia pulled a face. ‘I think so. When they lifted her out of her seat, a gin bottle fell out of her pocket. Perhaps she was just a nervous traveller.’
‘You said it was vodka the last time you told that story,’ Sylvia protested.
Lucia flapped a dismissive hand at her. ‘Well, whatever it was I’m sure she suffered no more than a headache.’
Sylvia sent me a searching look. ‘Have you still got a headache?’
‘My doctor has advised sleep now, would you mind?’ I said, and the three ladies scuttled around picking up each other’s handbags by mistake and bickering for a few more minutes before they left.
I gave a sigh of relief at being left alone in peace and closed my eyes. Then I realised I needed the loo. How was I going to accomplish this?
I poked my feet off the bed and tried to slide out, all the time my sore shoulder screaming in protest. I slid down and bumped inelegantly onto my bottom, knocking against the bedside table so that the tin of expensive truffles fell off and hit me on the head.
I rested back against the bed behind me and realised to my horror that I didn’t have the strength to pull myself to my feet. In fact, having got down there, I wondered how I was going to make any progress at all. I shuffled forwards around the bed, whimpering with every movement and wondering if I was going to be discovered by the next person to visit me in a heap on the floor.
‘I’ve found something for you to read. What on earth are you doing?’
Mercifully this time it was just Susie, who was standing open mouthed in the doorway clutching two paperbacks.
‘I need to get to the bathroom,’ I said, ‘but I’m a bit stuck. I don’t seem able to pull myself up.’
‘Oh for goodness’ sake! Why didn’t you call for some help?’
She came around to scoop me up and pull me back against the side of the bed.
‘I didn’t know who would come, and I don’t think Ceci or Sylvia would have been much use.’
‘You never know, some of those old ladies can be very tough,’ Susie said. ‘Look, if I stand next to you, you can pull yourself up.’
‘I’ll try,’ I said, grabbing hold of her arm. ‘I think the painkillers are working. I’d better get to the loo soon or I’m just going to fall asleep on the floor and wake up in a puddle.’
‘That would not be elegant,’ Susie said. ‘Perhaps if you sit on this rug I can slide you across the floorboards to the bathroom? Or shall I bring you a bucket?’
I clutched at her arm and winced. ‘Don’t make me laugh, it’s agony.’
Little by little, we reached the bathroom, much to my relief. As I stood, bent almost double, washing my hands, I looked at myself in the mirror.
I looked absolutely terrible, there was no doubt about it. My hair was sticking up at all angles, there was a big graze on the side of my face and possibly the beginnings of a black eye. Added to this dark shadows under my eyes and I looked almost as though I’d been in a bar room brawl. Perhaps it would be best if Paulo didn’t visit me. I should tell Susie to keep him out.
I hobbled back out of the bathroom and found Paulo was there already, helping Susie straighten up my bedclothes.
‘Oh please,’ I said, ‘don’t look at me, I look dreadful.’
Paulo grinned. ‘Not as bad as the time you wrapped your head in bubble wrap and fell down the stairs while you were carrying a pot of blue paint. I know it was a fancy-dress party but I never did understand what you were aiming for.’
Oh God. He did remember.
‘Come on, get back into bed,’ Susie said comfortingly. ‘We all thought it was a great attempt. It’s not everyone who could pull off Marge Simpson.’
I thought at that moment I might die of embarrassment, but instead I fell back into the comforting embrace of my bed and closed my eyes.
‘We’ll leave you to it,’ Susie said. ‘See you later.’
I waited for the sound of the door closing behind them, but just before it did, I felt someone kiss me gently on the forehead. And I knew it was Paulo. Even after so many years, I knew the touch of his lips and the scent of his skin. I fell asleep with a daft smile on my face.