English Rose for the Sicilian Doc

‘He has angina.’ Rose’s voice behind him.

‘Do you have any pain in your chest?’ David’s eyes had flickered open and Matteo tried the question in the hope that he could answer.

‘Yes...’

‘Okay, we’re going to sit you up straight.’ In common with most unforeseen emergencies, the priorities weren’t clear-cut, but a decision had to be made. Just as the cut to David’s head could wait, the need to get out and into the open air had to be balanced against the greater risk of trying to move David at the moment.

Rose took his other side and they gently sat David up. His breathing immediately seemed to come much more easily.

‘Do you have medication?’

‘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.