“Where’s the doctor who operated on my arm?”
“He’s at the hospital in Rezana, Slovenia, where you were taken to treat your gash and get antibiotics.”
“How long do I have to be in this hospital?”
They were getting into dangerous territory. “If you’ll wait a minute, I’ll get the doctor, who will answer a lot of your questions.”
“Wait—”
“Rini—I promise I’ll be right back.” She didn’t know how much to tell him. This was uncharted territory.
Nervous, yet excited out of her mind that she had her husband back, she left the room and found the doctor talking with Rini’s grandparents. They turned to her and gave her another hug. She knew they were dying to see Rini.
“Doctor Romano? Rini has so many questions. So do I. What I don’t understand is, how’s it possible that he doesn’t remember any of the other languages he knows?”
The doctor shook his head. “I can’t explain how amnesia works, but what’s happened is miraculous for him and you. Your being able to get through to him speaking Romansh is going to make all the difference in his recovery. It’ll mean you need to be around him constantly and serve as his translator.”
“I’m his wife and there’s nothing I want more.” She smiled. “Right now he’s so loaded with questions, it worries me. I don’t know what I should tell him.”
“Understood,” the doctor replied. “And it’s true we don’t want to overload him. I’ll go in to talk to him.” He turned to Rini’s grandparents. “In a few minutes I’ll ask the two of you to come in.”
Leonardo nodded. “We’ll be waiting.”
“I won’t be long. Now I must see to our patient.” His comment relieved Luna. She led the way.
CHAPTER THREE
RINI WAS STILL sitting up in bed, looking so wonderful despite what had happened to him, she had trouble containing her joy. “I told you I’d be back, Rini. I’ll translate for Doctor Romano.”
The doctor stood next to him. “I know you have hundreds of questions. I’ll try to answer some of them. First of all, you ended up in a hospital in Rezana because ten days ago you were deep inside a mine when an earthquake hit the region near the Italian-Slovenian border. Your head suffered a blow. By some miracle you made it out, but your mind has forgotten a lot of information.”
“In other words, I now have amnesia.” He spoke with a dry irony that was so reminiscent of her brilliant, super-intelligent husband, she smiled.
The doctor turned to her. “There’s nothing wrong with his thought processes.” Then he turned back to Rini. “You’re twenty-nine years old and answer to the name Rinieri Baldasseri.”
“Everyone calls you Rini,” Luna interjected.
His penetrating gray orbs played over her. “Co haveis vus num?”
She took a deep breath. “Yes, I have a name. It’s Luna Biancho Baldasseri.” So saying, she pulled out four wallet-size photos of the two of them. After studying them, he handed three of them back and kept the one of them kissing, which he put on the bedside table.
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-six.”
“Do we have children?”
“Not yet.” She didn’t dare say anything about the baby yet. “We were only married six months when you left to inspect the Baldasseri King Midas Gold Mine and got caught in the quake.”
“Why was I inspecting a mine?”
“Because you’re a gold-mining engineer.”
“A what?”
“It’s true! You graduated from the Colorado School of Mines in the US and you are the head of the three-hundred-year-old gold mine for your family. It’s one of the mainstays of your country. But right now you have grandparents who adore you and are anxiously waiting outside to see you.”
He pondered the information. “Where are my parents?”