Return to Umbria David Wagner (english novels for students TXT) 📖

carefully set down his bags, and pulled out his keys. The door had two locks, and since he had not been using either of them, he fumbled with one key trying to find which lock it fit. After more jiggling of keys he found that only one of locks was turned. After what had happened the previous night, Fabrizio had locked both when he went out, he was sure of it. That meant that Tullia was already there and had neglected to turn both latches. He closed the door behind him and hurried up the stairs.

“Tullia, sorry I’m late. The salumaio was packed.”

Between the stairs and the bags, he found he was out of breath when he pushed open the door to the living room. He looked quickly around the room, walked to the small kitchen, and put down his bags on the counter. Smiling, he tiptoed to the door of the bedroom and slowly pushed it open.

Tullia was not in the apartment.

He walked back into the living room and was about to start putting away the groceries when he noticed an envelope propped against his computer. After staring at it for several seconds he picked it up and loosened the seal. Inside was a single sheet of paper, its typed message signed in a hurried hand.

***

It had been an especially long day for the head nurse at Casa San Bernardo, and the problems had begun before she arrived at work, thanks to her demanding mother. The nurse had barely clocked in when the first crisis happened, a broken elevator. Breakfasts had to be taken up the stairs on trays to residents who could not manage the walk down. Then Signor Rossi had one of his seizures, unfortunately in front of several others, and had to be taken to the hospital. A mix-up in schedules meant she had barely fifteen minutes for lunch, and no break in the afternoon, even for a coffee. At three o’clock Signora Minoti fell again while trying to get out of her wheelchair, and just after that Signor Rossi’s son, a lawyer in Rome, called to demand an explanation of why his father was again in the hospital. Weren’t they giving him proper care?

The nurse rubbed her forehead and turned her attention to the numbers on the clipboard. Numbers—that was all that was important to her bosses, and maybe it was better that way. The details of those real stories of the Casa San Bernardo, the small and large human tragedies, were better left untold in the monthly reports. Numbers were preferable to individual stories. Signor Rossi would become a number in the rows of statistics at the end of the month, a cipher under the category of ambulance calls. Yes, it was better that way. Numbers were better for everyone.

She finished the entries in the ledger and returned the clipboard to its nail under the counter. The foyer was quiet, as it usually was at this time in the late afternoon. The residents would be starting to awaken from afternoon naps and realize that it was almost time for dinner. In the kitchen it was anything but quiet as the staff prepared for the evening meal, but the walls were thick enough to contain the din. She looked at her watch. Another fifteen minutes and the night shift nurse would arrive so she could go home. After all that had gone on this day, the evening would have to be easy in comparison, even if Mother was still having issues.

She came out from behind the counter and walked to the double doors leading to the sitting area, her heels clicking on the stone tiles. It was getting dark outside, time to turn on the lights in the other room and set up the chairs for the evening games of cards. It was the duty of the next shift nurse, but with nothing going on, she could do it, and it would make her own shift go more quickly. She walked through the doors and saw that the room was not empty, as she’d expected. Signora Vecchi had a visitor. The two of them sat in the sofa looking intently at a photo album, the same album she had shown to the policeman that morning. How nice for Signora Vecchi, thought the nurse as she walked over to turn on the light switch. The woman doesn’t get any visitors for months, and now she’s had two in one day.

***

“Dove vai, Donato?”

“I have to go out, Mama.” He cursed to himself. He had been sure she was in her room asleep since it was well past the end of her usual programs. Instead she’d dropped off again in front of the TV and woken up when he came down the stairs. She was in the habit of turning off the sound when the ads came on, and now the remote was in her lap.

“You’d better get ready for bed, Mama. You know what happens when you fall asleep in that chair, your back hurts the whole next day.”

She turned her head and smiled at her son. The screen flickered in front of her. “Yes, dear, you’re right. You’ll be careful, won’t you?”

“Of course, Mama. Buona notte.”

He slipped out the door and descended the steps into the darkness. A few stars were visible above the house, and a cold wind was blowing off the field behind it. He looked around to see if there were any lights in the windows of the neighbors, but saw only dark behind the glass. No need to wake anyone. He pointed his key at the car, causing the interior light to come on and popping the door lock. When he got inside, the engine started easily. He steered the car around the house and out to the road, just as he’d done other nights. Seeing no cars in either direction, he eased onto the road, and after shifting into second gear he finally turned on his headlights and speeded up.

He couldn’t