“Are you being punished, brother?” she joked.
“They thought it wise to send a religious instead of a layman. There are people who fear the hat.” He tapped the brim. “It’s getting more difficult to move mail through France.”
Mary Gay thanked him and went inside. She bolted the front door, sat down on a packing box, and shuffled through the mail. She whistled when she came upon a blue onionskin envelope addressed to Mademoiselle Domenica Cabrelli. She remembered when the Italian nurse arrived at Fatima House. Mary Gay had hoped that Domenica would join the order with her, but it soon became clear that Domenica would not become a nun. And now, the mail confirmed it. The return address on the envelope was Glasgow, Scotland, with the seal of Captain John L. McVicars. It was postmarked 10 August 1939. Mary Gay slashed a line through the hospital address and rerouted the letter to Dumbarton, Scotland. Before placing it on the stack, she drew a small Sacred Heart on the back for luck.
CHAPTER 23
Viareggio
NOW
Anina waited for her grandfather near the entrance of the hospital.
Olimpio pushed through the doors. “Where is she?”
“The doctor is with her. Follow me.” Anina held the elevator doors open for her grandfather. She followed him inside. When the doors closed, Anina pressed three.
“What happened?”
“She was teaching me how to make the strudel, and she had to sit down. Then she fainted.”
“Did you give her a pill?”
“What pill? She didn’t mention a pill. I brought her here as fast as I could.”
“Thank God.”
They stepped off the elevator together.
“This way, Nonno.”
Olimpio quickened his pace; when he saw his wife’s name on the door of her room, he bolted inside. Anina followed behind him.
“Matelda!” Olimpio was out of breath.
“Why are you panting?” Matelda said calmly as she sat upright in the hospital bed.
“You scared me to death.” He kissed her.
“I had a little spell. It was nothing. Anina insisted I come to the hospital, but there was no reason to—”
“You fainted, Nonna.”
“I hadn’t eaten.”
“We just had lunch.”
“Well, I hadn’t eaten much.”
“You ate a chicken breast, a bowl of soup, and a salad of tomatoes and mozzarella. Oh, and two slices of bread.”
“Well, then maybe I overindulged.”
“Did you take your pill this morning?” Olimpio asked her.
“I didn’t need it.”
“Evidently you did.” Olimpio kissed her forehead. “You’re going to kill me.”
“Before I do, get me out of here. You know that hospitals aren’t a good place for healthy people.”
Anina and Olimpio looked at each other.
“I know you think it’s funny,” Matelda said, “but I’m serious. There are more germs here than there are in the train station.”
The nurse entered with a rolling cart of machines to check Matelda’s vitals. “I’m sorry; if you’ll step outside, I will check Signora.”
“I’ll stay,” Anina offered.
“Get out,” Matelda ordered. “Allow the nurse to gather her numbers. The sooner you leave and she can poke and prod, the sooner I can go home where I belong.”
Olimpio and Anina stepped out into the hallway.
“She’s going to be fine,” Anina said nervously.
Olimpio nodded in agreement, but he wasn’t confident his granddaughter was right. This wasn’t the first time Matelda’s heart problem had brought her to the hospital, but it was the first time anyone else in the family besides Olimpio knew about it.
* * *
Nicolina jumped into the car on the passenger side as Giorgio started the engine. She yanked the seat belt across her chest for the ride from Lucca to Viareggio.
“Take it easy, Nic.”
“I’m going to kill both of them.”
Giorgio took his wife by the hand. “Stop it.”
“How can they do this to me? They call me for every little thing except when it’s life-or-death.” Nicolina yanked her hand away from her husband’s like a petulant child. “Thank God Anina was with her or I would know nothing. My father is secretive and my mother thinks she’s immortal. Those two are in their own little world, the devoted lovebirds. Leaving the rest of us out until there’s a crisis.”
“Maybe they didn’t want to upset you,” Giorgio offered.