“You were right,” he whispered.
“I’ve spent the last five years almost living in hospitals. I know how they work. Just follow me, and stop looking like you are doing something illegal. We must appear as if we belong here.”
They walked down the empty whale hallway, dark now with the sunlight gone.
“It’s so deserted and creepy,” Julia said.
“It’s a sad place to be at night,” he said. He couldn’t bear the thought of his family having to be here, no matter how lovely the architects had made it look.
“Don’t worry. She’ll be all right.” Julia touched his arm.
He took hold of her arms and stopped her for a moment. “Thank you,” he said and kissed her.
She pulled away. “No time for this. We have to hurry before someone comes through. I don’t know when they do their shift changes here.”
She stopped before the double doors leading to the intensive care unit. “We’re lucky they don’t have these locked.”
“I guess they don’t expect dog thieves and rule breakers to come by at night.”
Julia peeked through the circular windows of the unit, then placed her ear against the doors. “I hear nothing. Let’s give it a shot.”
Daniel’s heart pounded. There was no option for them to fail. He couldn’t afford to disappoint his dying niece, his brokenhearted sister.
The doors opened with a hum. “Come on,” Julia whispered. They tiptoed around the wall, and then she gestured to him to bend down and crawl. He shook his head. She pointed to the rounded desk where another receptionist was asleep, her glasses askew.
“Bugger!” he swore.
Julia placed a finger on her lips and crawled on her knees next to the reception desk, pushing the bag with the puppy in front of her. He followed, praying harder than he’d ever prayed before that Lizzy would remain put and quiet. They made it across the hallway and to Mia’s room in seconds. Julia stood up and opened the door, and that’s when the dog poked its head out and let out a yelp.
Daniel pushed Julia through the door, nearly knocking her down.
“Hey,” she protested.
His heart was bolting out of his chest. He leaned his back against the closed door to calm down.
“Don’t be such a chicken,” Julia said.
Mandy laughed at the sight of the two, drenched in sweat, dressed in green gowns. “You look like two pathetic thieves in the night. Wake up, Gian.”
Gian rubbed his eyes and sat up from the couch. “You have the dog, then?”
Julia took up Lizzy and went to Mia. “Mia, look what I brought you.”
Mia lay still, her eyes glazed over, her face flushed with fever. Julia’s arms shook, and she looked helplessly at Mandy.
“She’s been like this. Her blood pressure is falling. Fever is still high,” Mandy said.
Daniel hugged his sister and let her cry on his chest.
“Mia, baby, look. Lizzy is here. See, she is here to visit you and make you feel better,” Julia whispered.
Mia didn’t stir.
“Let her be, Julia. She can’t see her.” Daniel was nauseous with fear and hopelessness. Mia was clearly dying. Nothing he could do would help her.
Julia waved Daniel away and placed Lizzy on the bed next to Mia’s lifeless fingers. She took Mia’s hand and rubbed Lizzy’s head, then back, then stomach. The dog turned, enjoying the attention, not caring about the setting.
“I think she moved her finger,” Gian said, moving closer.
“You saw it?”
Julia continued. The puppy turned over again and licked Mia’s fingers.
“Is that sanitary?” Daniel asked.
“What does it matter? She is already dying from germs. It can’t get any worse than this,” Mandy said, wiping her eyes.
Mia’s fingers moved against the puppy’s fur. A tiny movement, almost imperceptible.
“She knows the dog is there,” Gian said. He touched her forehead. “Like fire.” He sat on the chair by the bed, looking hopeless. “If it makes her passing better, let it be.”
“Don’t say that, you bloody bastard.” Mandy kicked his chair. “She is not passing.”
“Mandy, let me take you for a walk. You need to get out of here for a bit,” Daniel suggested, rubbing her shoulders.
“I’m not leaving my daughter,” Mandy cried, collapsing onto another chair.
Daniel looked at Julia, helpless. Tears welled up in his eyes, but he didn’t allow himself to cry, for fear he wouldn’t be able to stop once he started. He had to stay strong for his sister.
Julia picked up a blanket and placed it around Mandy, pressing on her shoulders. “We’re here. We’re staying with you, all right?” Julia whispered. Mandy squeezed her hand in response.
Julia left the dog in the bed with Mia, and Lizzy curled up and went to sleep with her new friend. Daniel sat down on the couch and patted the seat next to him. Julia curled up against him, her head on his chest. He watched his sister’s heart breaking and knew he might die too if he couldn’t do anything to help. He closed his eyes, praying.
“Daniel, wake up.” A hand shook his knee, and he startled awake.
“What?” He opened his eyes. He must have dozed off at some point.
Julia kept shaking him. “Look at Mia.”
His niece was sitting up in the bed and laughing, Lizzy in her lap. Mandy was sitting next to her, while Gian was in the far corner of the room, crying.
“There you are, Mia,” he said, his heart skipping a beat. He didn’t dare hope. The red coloring had disappeared from her cheeks. She looked normal.
“Mandy,” he began.
“Her fever is lower, Daniel,” his sister said, her eyes glistening.
He heard Gian praying in Italian in response. He felt like praying himself, but kneeled down by Mia’s bed instead and hugged her legs. “I’m so happy to see you laughing, baby.”
“Thank you for bringing my dog, Daniel,” she said.
“It was Julia,” he pointed.
“Grazie, Julia,” the child said brightly, and Julia burst into happy tears.
Gian got up. “You should leave. We will all get into trouble soon. The sun is coming up. And we need to call nurses and doctors.”
“Don’t take my dog, please,” Mia begged.
“Can the dog stay a while longer?” Julia asked.
“You both leave now, and I’ll hide the dog and drive her back later,” Gian said. “I’ll get food from Francesca to bring back then, too. She must be very worried.”
“She is,” Julia said. Poor Francesca had gone nearly sick with worry last night when they had gone to get the dog.
“Go one at a time so as not to raise suspicions,” Mandy said.
Daniel gave Mia several kisses on her cheeks. “You get all better and come home, all right? I’ll buy a big present.”
“How big?”
“Gigante.”
“Va bene.” Mia smiled.
Daniel looked away. “I will go first. Meet you downstairs, Julia?”
“Sounds good.”
He went out the door quietly. What a night! He walked past the reception desk, not bothering to hide anymore. The receptionist wasn’t even there. He went to the caffetteria and paid for two cappuccinos and cornetti alla crema. That should perk them both up.
He waited in the hall, his hands full, but it was Mandy and not Julia who came toward him, eyeing his coffee and breakfast with hunger. Daniel handed her a paper cup and the bag. He’d get more later.
“I’m glad you came out of the room,” he said.
“Mia will be fine now. I can feel it. A mother always knows.” She took his hand. “I can’t thank you enough for what you did to save her.”
“It wasn’t me. It was Julia.”
Mandy looked around, then turned back to him, satisfied. “I know it was Julia. That’s why I wanted to talk to you before Julia comes down. You need to hold on to this woman. She is the best thing to ever happen t
o you.”
He rubbed his forehead. “Mandy, I’m confused. Didn’t you tell me to stay away from her, repeatedly? I listened. I’m well aware she is a better person than me. I would never have thought to do what she did last night.”
Mandy placed a hand on his arm. “But you did. She got you to help my daughter. When you are around her, you are different, Daniel. You light up from the inside. It’s just like me and Gian. That’s what a great relationship is. Separately, you are regular people, but together, you are one amazing unit.”
“Julia is amazing, but I’m the wrong person for her. Look how kind and loving she is. She makes miracles happen. I destroy relationships. I break hearts.” Julia was an incredible woman, and he didn’t deserve her. She should have someone kind, someone caring.
“You don’t destroy relationships. You just haven’t met the right person in the past. You are a wonderful, kind man. Julia already dotes on you. Stop being scared. Let yourself love her.”
“Love? Who said anything about love?”
“It’s not a scary word, you dimwit. It’s wonderful to love someone, to want to spend your life with them. To take care of one another. Look at me and Gian. Our hearts beat together. Our love grows deeper every day.”
“I’ll never be as good at taking care of any woman as Gian is.” He wanted love as good as Mandy and Gian’s, but that would never be possible for him.
“You might be better. You are always taking care of all of us. Last night you came here and saved my child. And convinced a woman to do it with you. Julia is absolutely in love with you.”
In love with him? Julia? Not possible. “What are you going on about?”
“Don’t let insecurity stop you from getting Julia. You don’t want to lose her.”
“She is an American. We can’t have a relationship.”
“Yeah, so what? Gian was an Italian. When you love someone, you make it work.”
“But Mandy, I don’t have time for a relationship. I have to save my job, take care of you and Mia.”
“I’m a married woman, if you haven’t noticed. I run an estate. I already have a man to take care of me. Go live your own life. And stop making up excuses. Take her out in Firenze. Tell her how you feel. Don’t hold back.”
“Oh, there you are,” Julia said, approaching.
“Julia.” Mandy turned to her. “I can never ever repay you for what you’ve done.”
Julia’s lips split into a smile. “I’m so happy Mia is better. That’s all I care about. And you already repaid me by letting me vacation at your beautiful home.”
Mandy kissed Julia on both cheeks. “I have to return to my daughter, but I’ll see you soon, when we get back, right?”
“Yes,” Julia said, waving goodbye.
Daniel bought them coffee and more breakfast. “What a night.”
“You’re telling me! I don’t know if I’m tired or excited or traumatized.”
“Have some coffee. That will help.”
They ate quietly, recovering from the events of the night. Daniel couldn’t stop thinking of what Mandy had said. He watched Julia's face, trying to find any signs Mandy was right. How did she know Julia loved him? How would he know? His chest warmed every time he thought about it, and all he wanted to do was hold her in his arms again and tell her he was falling in love with her too. But they were in a hospital caffetteria, and it all just felt wrong. He looked around. The sun was fully out now, and the hospital had filled with visitors.
“How tired are you?” he asked. He was dying to go back to the estate. To her room, to spend the day holding her, finding out how she felt about him. But he remembered how much she had been wanting to see Firenze.
“Better now, with breakfast.”
“How about a little detour on the way to Greve?”
“What do you have in mind?” She perked up, her eyes glowing with excitement.
“Come with me,” he said, pulling her along.
Chapter 22
Last night had been exhilarating. Of all the things Julia had imagined herself doing on her Italian vacation, breaking into a children’s hospital in Florence was not on the list. Sneaking Lizzy into the hospital with Daniel, her heart ready to explode with adrenaline, worrying about Mia, seeing the gratitude on Mandy’s face, gave her quite a story to tell her friends back home.
Daniel—how would she explain him to her friends? She looked at him as they walked toward the city. He looked so exhausted, his eyes rimmed with dark circles, but he insisted on showing her Florence, refueling with more espresso. He wanted to reach the city walls before the tourists came in for the day, while the old city was still open to the delivery vans quickly zooming in and out.
“You should go back to the estate to sleep. You’re about to pass out in a dirty ditch somewhere,” she admonished as they entered the old city and started down the narrow streets.
“I made you a promise. I said I’d take you to see Firenze, so here we are. I told you I wanted you to trust me.”
He put her hand firmly into his. And she followed, and she trusted. The city—“Fi-ren-ze,” she practiced saying it over and over—was magnificent, even when the tourists crowded it soon after, covering every square inch of the small city. She couldn’t get enough: The contrast between the narrow dark cobblestone streets and the tall colorful Renaissance buildings. The smells of leather, sweets, and wine everywhere. The loud voices of merchants and waiters calling for the attention of passersby.
“I love it, Daniel,” she said, touching the stones of the old bridge above the river Arno as they walked along, eating their gelato.
“It’s a bit overwhelming, isn’t it?”
“It is. Reminds me of New Orleans. It’s a city in the south of the United States, old and beautiful and completely wild.”
They stopped to look at the river, and Daniel placed his arm around her. She leaned her back against him, so solid, so warm, so comfortable. He stroked her arm, sending shivers through her body, giving promise of something much greater later. Julia turned around and kissed him, wanting to have a memory of a romantic kiss on a bridge in Firenze, no matter how clichè it would be.
Someone clapped and whistled, and they broke the kiss. Daniel tugged on her hand. “Let’s go climb the Duomo. It’s a must. I won’t forgive myself if I don’t make you do it.”
“I don’t think you need to make me. Every proper tourist is dying to climb that cathedral.”
But when they got in line for the Duomo, Julia saw the artists selling watercolors on the side. “Come, Daniel, look at these.”
The watercolors were all of Tuscany poppies, and cypress trees, and sunflowers, but one was different. It looked remarkably like La Casa delle Nuvole.
“That’s our estate.” Daniel picked up the watercolor and examined it closely.
“It looks exactly like it.”
“We should buy it for Mandy and Gian.”
“They’d love it. Mandy could hang it in the reception area.”
Julia bought herself a picture of a Tuscan road, as well, and they got back in line. As they climbed to the top, she put her arms around his neck and whispered into his ear, “I’m terribly hot and sticky. What do you say we end our day in Firenze, get back, and take a nice shower together?”
She knew the idea appealed to him as she heard his breathing quicken. He moaned and rolled his eyes, though. “I have an entire day planned here.”
“Forget your plans. Be spontaneous. We can always come back here, right?”
“I have to go to Rome tomorrow.”
“Whatever. I’ve seen enough of Firenze. I want to see more of you.” She smiled and saw a hungry look in his eyes.
Daniel kissed her then, hard, his mouth demanding, promising greater pleasures later. “Be patient,” he said, when he removed his lips, leaving her gasping. “We’ll have plenty of time later.”
They had lunch of salami and cheese and fresh bread. They stood in line at the Accademia next, and she finally got a cha
nce to marvel at David and his enormous size.
“I don’t see what the big deal is,” Daniel said. “But I’m not into sculpture.”
“Oh, Daniel, are you feeling inadequate next to David?” Julia mocked.
She regretted her mockery later when he pressed her into the outside wall of the Accademia and kissed her thoroughly until he made it obvious to her he certainly wasn’t inadequate where male parts were concerned. When he pulled away, his eyes made his plans clear, also. She and Daniel. Tonight. It would finally happen.
Julia joined him in stretching out the wait and trying to enjoy their day. She shopped in the leather goods store, and they took turns trying on outrageously expensive leather jackets and coats of all colors, pretending to want to buy lemon yellows and bright greens.
“I have something for you,” he said as she stopped to admire the chocolates in an elaborate display.
She turned, eyes wide, and he handed her a large paper bag filled with tissue paper. When did he have time to buy her a gift? She’d been watching him the entire time. “How did you manage this?” she asked.
“Just open it.” Daniel leaned against the window, and she finally appreciated his white shirt, such a contrast against the brightly colored chocolate truffles and marzipans in the window. His hair was ruffled by the wind and sprinkled with Firenze dust, and she was dying to run her fingers through it.
“Go ahead.” He gestured, interrupting her stare.
She rummaged through the pink tissue and pulled out a blue-and-brown leather purse with a stamp of the city on it. “Oh, it’s gorgeous!” She sighed and hugged him.
He looked deliriously happy. “I thought you’d need a new one since Lizzy made a home in the other.”
“You shouldn’t have bought it for me.”
“It’s only a small thank-you for helping my niece.”
“I didn’t do it to get a gift.”
“Don’t you think I know that?”
“I’ve never had a purse this lovely.”
“I’m so happy you like it.” He beamed with pleasure.
The House by the Cypress Trees Page 16
