English Rose for the Sicilian Doc

‘It’s in his desk drawer. I’ve seen it there.’ Rose looked up at him, biting her lip.

He didn’t want to send Rose out through the cavern alone, but there wasn’t any choice. ‘Okay. I want you to go and get it. Be careful, and look at what’s above your head, especially at the mouth of the cave. Make sure there’s nothing coming down the hillside before you step outside. When you’ve got the medication, stay in the open and get someone to bring it back to me here.’

Matteo spoke as calmly and clearly as he could, hoping that Rose would follow his instructions to the letter. Particularly the bit about not coming back in here.

‘Got it. I’ll be as quick as I can.’

‘Don’t be quick, be careful. We’ll wait.’

Matteo sat on the cave floor next to David, supporting him upright against his own body. Despite what he’d said, he hoped that Rose would hurry. He kept his fingers on David’s pulse, counting off the seconds.

Another small tremor, this one almost imperceptible.

‘It’s just an aftershock. Nothing to worry about.’ Matteo breathed a sigh of relief when David’s pulse hardly registered any change.

‘It’s the mosaic I’m worried about.’

‘Is your angina stable?’ Since David seemed able to talk now, Matteo concentrated on the things he needed to know. The mosaic could look after itself for the moment.

‘Yes. When I felt the quake I rushed out to see what was going on. Tripped over the cable on the light.’

‘And you felt the chest pains before or after that?’

‘After. I don’t get it when I’m resting. It was just the fall gave me a shock.’

David was clearly knowledgeable about his condition and giving him the information he needed. That was a good sign and hopefully he’d be feeling a lot better soon, but Matteo still wanted the medication before he tried to move him.

‘My head hurts.’

‘You must have cut your head when you fell. It’s not too bad—we’ll deal with that when we’re outside.’

‘Yeah, okay. Thanks.’

The seconds ticked by. Matteo kept talking to David, knowing that angina itself produced its own feeling of panic, and that he had to try to keep him calm.

He looked up, hearing a noise at the entrance to the cavern. Matteo hadn’t expected much different from her, but it still brought a thrill of concern to see that Rose had decided to bring the medication herself. She hurried over to them, producing a bottle of pills from her pocket, managing to avoid looking at Matteo when she handed them over.

‘How are you doing?’ She knelt down next to David.

‘Good. Is the mosaic okay?’

Rose took his hand. From the way that she was still a little out of breath, she must have run all the way, there and back, almost certainly not stopping to check on the mosaic.

‘Don’t worry. It’s fine. I dare say it’s survived enough tremors up here, so one more isn’t going to make any difference. Here, let me wipe your face.’

She produced a bundle of paper towels from her pocket, obviously grabbed from the dispenser in the office, and broke open the bottle of water she carried, wetting a towel and carefully wiping the grime from David’s mouth. Matteo checked the dosage on the medicine bottle, tipping two tablets into his palm.

‘Under your tongue.’ David nodded, and put the tablets into his mouth.

Matteo picked up a towel and the water bottle, turning his attention to the cut on David’s head. It was dribbling blood and probably needed a couple of stitches, but it didn’t look life-threatening. Rose was sitting quietly, staring at David’s hand in hers, refusing to meet his gaze.

‘I sent someone for the first-aid kit. Are we going to try and move soon?’ She said the words quietly, almost casually.

‘It’s okay. We’ll stay here for another ten minutes...’ He broke off suddenly, reaching to tip her face up towards him, and he saw an agony of fearful impatience.

Suddenly he realised. Rose had been outside when she’d felt the second tremor. ‘Don’t worry. The second shock was an aftershock, much less than the first one. They always feel weaker underground.’

‘Yes...’ David tried to add his own reassurance and Matteo quieted him. He should concentrate on keeping the tablets under his tongue, where they’d be absorbed into his system more quickly.

Rose was breathing heavily, her hand to her chest, a look of relief on her face. It must have taken a great deal of courage to come back in, thinking that the strength of the tremors was increasing.

‘So we’ve nothing to worry about?’

‘Nothing.’ That clearly wasn’t quite true, but he would have said anything to reassure her.

She nodded and Matteo’s chest tightened as she smiled broadly. ‘Okay. I won’t be a minute.’

When she got to her feet, Matteo noticed that she’d skinned her knee. She must have fallen over at some point, but she seemed not to notice it. He turned his attention back to David, who was looking visibly better.

‘You should get Rose out of here.’ David spoke softly to him. ‘I’m all right to follow you.’

‘Just rest for a minute. We’ll get going soon enough, and I imagine that Rose will do whatever she makes up her mind to do.’

David nodded. ‘Yes. I imagine she will.’

* * *

Rose had walked to the opening between the cavern and the outer cave, and got a signal on her phone. She called Elena, who said that they hadn’t felt anything, and that the earthquake’s epicentre must be outside Palermo. William was all right. Rose promised she’d be home later, and turned back to David and Matteo.

The second tremor had catapulted her down the steps of the cabin that David’s office was housed in, and onto her knees. She’d got up and run even harder, stopping only to tell one of her colleagues where they were and telling him to fetch the first-aid kit. She’d been afraid to go back into the cave, but the medication in her pocket seemed like the only chance of bringing them both out safely. David needed it, and she knew that Matteo would never leave him behind.

They waited for ten minutes. Matteo kept them both talking, quiet and relaxed but never taking his attention from David. When he decided it was time for them to leave, she helped him get David to his feet and they walked slowly to the entrance of the cavern. Matteo helped him through into the outer cave and then out into the evening sunshine, where a group of concerned colleagues was waiting for them.

He sat David down in the chair that was waiting, next to the site’s first-aid kit, and called for someone to bring a sunshade across. Then he got to work, washing the wound on his head carefully and checking that David had no other injuries.

‘Are you going to take him to the hospital?’ Matteo had given his car keys to one of the students, and asked him to bring his car as close as he could.

‘No. He’s fully recovered from the angina attack so there’s no need for him to go to the hospital on that account. He does need to rest, though, so it’s best if I take him home and stitch the wound there.’

‘Thank you. I’ll phone Nina, his wife. I’ll tell her to expect us in half an hour?’

‘You’re coming?’ Matteo’s smile gave her the answer to that question. She wasn’t ready to leave him yet.

‘Of course I’m coming.’

* * *

He isn’t what I want.