Upstairs, Downstairs Read online

  Mizuki turns and takes her hand. He begins to talk and doesn’t stop until he’s told her everything about the owner of the hair slide. He tells Kyoko how much he misses Anita and how important she is to him. He tells her everything, including their last call and misunderstanding.

  Kyoko looks straight in his eyes and without hesitation says, “Then you need to see her, and explain everything right now.”

  27

  Run Matteo, Run!

  After a moment of paralysis, Giovanna can’t refrain from making a scene. She loses her head, and starts screaming at Matteo’s window in perfect Neapolitan style. “Matteo, Matteoooo, run, please run!… Anita!!”

  He looks out of the window with a puzzled expression. The only words he can catch, amidst rambling sentences, are Anita and Trauma Centre.

  In the meantime, Giovanna’s screams ensure that Pina and the whole complex are aware – not only of the fact that Anita is in hospital – but also of the obviously intimate relationship between Giovanna and Matteo Spina.

  He comes out after a few minutes, takes Giovanna’s arm and practically drags her towards his car.

  From one window to another, questions are bouncing. Only one thing is certain: most people who have had a car accident are admitted to the Trauma Centre. This could be serious.

  Pina doesn’t have anyone with whom to share her anxiety. Carlo is at work and little Francesca isn’t the ideal listener. She thinks of writing in her diary but then decides not to. She’ll write about everything only when she knows Anita is back home safely.

  *

  Anita hears a groan coming from a pile of sheets. Looking around, she realises she’s in the Emergency Room, where she’s been taken to by the ambulance. They’ve immediately performed a CAT scan on her head, and an X-ray on her ankle and wrist – that hurt badly – and treated her bruises. Then they left her on a stretcher with the other wretched people without explaining anything. She must have fainted and when she woke up she found herself surrounded by people who told her not to move.

  A scream coming from the stretcher next to her makes her jump. It must be a woman. Finally, she sees a nurse’s uniform approaching.

  “Excuse me…” Anita raises her good hand as if she was in school.

  “Just a moment!” The nurse is with the patient next to her, adjusting a drip. Then he turns to Anita, asking: “How are you, young lady?”

  “Do I need to stay much longer?”

  “How do you feel?”

  “Well, a bit woozy…”

  “We have to wait for the CAT scan results; you should be patient. The doctor will explain everything to you … however, it seems that you don’t have anything broken. Just relax. Scooter accident, right? You’ve been quite lucky.”

  “Can I call my mother? I lost my phone in the accident…”

  “Just a minute… wait.” And the big, reassuring man disappears down a corridor.

  “Damn!” Thinks Anita. “When will I see him again?”

  However, the nurse is back in a few minutes with a cordless phone, ready to dial the number. “What’s your mother’s name?”

  “Giovanna. Giovanna Proietti.”

  “Good afternoon. Mrs Giovanna Proietti?”

  “Yes, who is this?”

  “I’m calling from the Trauma Centre. Hold on while I put your daughter on.”

  She takes the phone and hears a wild scream, “Anitaaaa!?” that makes the room tremble.

  “Mum! Mum, I’m fine! I’m ok! I fell off the scooter, but nothing serious happened. I’m fine!” Then she moves the phone away from her ear, bothered by the volume of her mother’s voice.

  Giovanna doesn’t listen and keeps screaming. “My god, Anita! I’ll burn that damn scooter… I’m coming! Right away!”

  The nurse now seems to be much less patient… Anita learns his name, Francesco, from the tag on his uniform. She tries to be heard over her mother’s loud rambling, and she begins to scream at the phone, too “Mum, I – AM – FINE! I must hang up now.”

  “You hit your head, so you must be very calm and keep still. Ok?” Francesco leaves, disappearing again down another corridor.

  *

  “Any news?” Carlo joins Rudy who sits near the vegetable garden. He’s waiting for Paolo who is watering the plants since Matteo Spina is not there.

  “No news, unfortunately. We’re almost tempted to go to the hospital. It’s almost eight!”

  “Pina tried to call Giovanna, but she didn’t answer. Actually, she didn’t let the phone ring long. She didn’t want to disturb her… we hoped you knew something.”

  “Not at all! This wait is very stressful…” Rudy stands up. When he is nervous he can’t stay still. The smell of wet soil permeates the air. Paolo has finished and is rolling up the hose. Then he comes close to Rudy and puts a hand on his shoulder, as if to reassure him. “Everything will be all right. Our Anita will be fine… I’m sure.” He takes Rudy’s head in his hands and brings it gently to his chest.

  Slightly embarrassed, Carlo looks away, and only then does he notice him. An elegantly dressed man has just passed through the archway, and undecided about the direction, is looking around. “Excuse me…”

  Carlo doesn’t answer. He keeps observing him, almost enchanted by the depth of his gaze and the timbre of his voice.

  “Excuse me, do you know where Anita Proietti lives?”

  “Mizuki, right? Hi! I don’t know if you remember me. I’m Rudy. We met at the Gazometre.” He gives Mizuki his hand warmly.

  “Sure, I remember.” Mizuki shakes his hand, smiling. “I was looking for Anita.”

  Suddenly an embarrassed silence falls.

  “So, you don’t know… Anita had an accident today. She’ss been taken to the Trauma Centre at the hospital.

  “An accident?!” Mizuki goes pale and the muscles of his face tighten. His heart races and all sounds become muffled. He rethinks their phone conversation, Anita’s distraught voice and his unanswered calls. “What’s happened?”

  Rudy and Paolo tell him what they know. They try to reassure him, even if they don’t have much recent information.

  Mizuki wants to run to the hospital and leave them in the middle of their sentence. He needs to control himself and try not to be rude. “I’m sorry. Someone is waiting for me in the car. I’ll go to the hospital right away…”

  He leaves, whispering to himself, “Anita-san.”

  28

  Could it Really be Him?

  Matteo Spina puts an arm around Giovanna’s shoulders to reassure her and leads her to the information desk, but mostly he wants to restore the blood flow in his hand that she squeezed so tightly on the way to the hospital.

  “Don’t worry. Everything will be fine,” he whispers. She feels comforted, but the feeling only lasts few minutes. Everything gets stirred up again when a guy with a bothered expression tells them: “Anita has been transferred from the Emergency Room to the Medical Unit on the first floor.”

  “Matteo, it must be serious!”

  He tries to reassure her again, “No, Giovanna, this is the normal procedure after an accident… just some tests.” He says this but he wonders if it’s true. He’s worried too, but as a pragmatic man he’s thinking they’ll know everything pretty soon. But when they arrive at the main door of the unit they find it closed, and it remains closed, despite Giovanna shaking the handle fiercely. She wishes she could use the magical phrase, Open Sesame! – like in Arabian Nights…

  “Please, relax, Giovanna!” Matteo tells her, pushing the intercom button. “It’s not visiting hours. They’ll let us in now…”

  Once inside, Matteo asks the first nurse they meet, and she nods toward the head nurse’s room.

  “Good evening. We’re Anita Proietti’s parents…”

  Giovanna interrupts him, panting. “What’s happened? How is she?”

  The woman has a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, madam. You’ll be able to speak to the doctor soon. Your daughter is in room 110.�
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  Giovanna rushes towards the room, and Matteo follows swiftly, without time to even thank the nurse.

  *

  “Love, what have they done to you?!” Giovanna puts a hand to her mouth.

  Anita slowly waves to them with her hand and bandaged wrist. Her forehead is stained red by mercurochrome, which makes her looks even paler.

  “Mum,” she whispers. Then she turns towards Matteo with a weak smile. “Thank god you’ve come too,” and she lets out a big sigh of relief.

  Giovanna caresses her head, smoothing her hair on the pillow. “How do you feel, love? What happened? Tell me…”

  “I feel broken, but they said there isn’t anything seriously wrong. They told me I passed out and I don’t remember anything. I woke up surrounded by people and then the ambulance arrived.”

  “Did someone hit you?”

  “No, I did it all by myself. My phone was ringing and I wanted to turn it off… I got distracted and I must have hit a bump or a pothole… or something.”

  Matteo has the distinct impression that Anita would like to add something more. He leaves the two women alone with the excuse that he’s going to look for a doctor.

  Anita does have many things to tell her mother: Mizuki’s call, his relationship with another woman, her fight with Alessandra, that bitch! But she can clearly see how Giovanna is already worried and scared and she doesn’t want to pile on even more reasons for her to be anxious. “Why should I burden her with my troubles? Especially now that she seems to be finally serene and happy with Matteo?” she thinks.

  Meanwhile Matteo Spina is talking to the physician on call.

  “Everything’s fine. It could’ve been much worse since her helmet flew off on impact. Perhaps she didn’t fasten it properly, or not at all. Often kids do that without realising how dangerous this is… are you the father?”

  “Yes!” Matteo answers impulsively.

  “Then give her a good scolding. She can’t expect to have the same luck twice… however, your daughter must remain under observation for forty-eight hours. This is the protocol in all cases of head trauma. As for the rest, it’s all fine: wrist sprain and some abrasions. Nothing serious. Please, excuse me now. I must go.”

  Giovanna joins Matteo in the corridor. He’s just finished updating her on what the doctor said when they see a beautiful Japanese couple approaching. The man speaks Italian, and they hear him asking the head nurse for Anita Proietti.

  “Excuse me, who are you?” The nurse seems intrigued.

  “I’m her fiancé.” Mizuki answers without hesitation.

  “You can only stay for a few minutes. The patient must rest.” The head nurse can’t stop observing the sophisticated woman who is with him: beautiful, like a model.

  Giovanna can’t take her eyes off him as they head towards room 110. She notices his handsome features and his dark hair that falls across his forehead. He walks with a springy step and the elegant charcoal suit can’t hide his well-proportioned, slender body.

  “That’s him.” Giovanna whispers in Matteo’s ear. “I didn’t imagine him like this…” Then she spots two nurses turning to look at him. “Matteo, this is so exciting! It’s like being in an episode of ER!”

  “Actually it’s more like a Brazilian soap opera,” thinks Matteo, “where everybody pretends to be someone they’re not: Mizuki, Anita’s fiancé and me, Anita’s father…” This thought cheers him up and he feels a sudden sense of tenderness towards his women. He’ll finally be able to take care of them openly, without any more sneaking around.

  Giovanna wants to return to Anita’s room, but Matteo stops her. “Leave them alone. I’m sure they have lots of things to say to each other.”

  *

  “You go. I’ll wait for you here,” says Kyoko.

  Since they entered the Trauma Centre, they have been plunged into the frantic world of an Italian hospital: ambulance sirens, doctors and nurses in white and other coloured coats going in all directions. However, this unit seems strangely quiet.

  As soon as Anita sees him her face lights up. Mizuki stands quietly in front of her and Anita is completely motionless. In the room’s dim light they look intensly into each other’s eyes. They could stay like this for a thousand years, without drinking, eating, moving, speaking… just happy to be there, in front of each other, until Kyoko’s curiosity breaks the spell. She peeks inside room 110: one bed is empty and in the other bed she sees Mizuki’s girlfriend. The two women’s eyes meet for a second, but Kyoko immediately withdraws. She regrets that she interrupted – even for an instant – a moment of deep intimacy. She walks down the corridor towards a waiting room that seems to be the only place with some light. A man with a grey beard and the woman with him approach her.

  Matteo addresses her. “Good evening. We’re Anita’s parents; do you know her?”

  “No, I don’t. Mizuki knows her.” And Kyoko nods towards Anita’s room.

  “We don’t know him, but I think we know who he is…” Matteo replies, restraining Giovanna from rushing back into her daughter’s room again.

  *

  In the meantime, Anita’s expression has dramatically changed. The earlier warm look in her eyes has transformed itself into a bolt of lightning that nails Mizuki to the wall.

  He takes a step forward. “Anita-san?”

  Anita can’t escape. She’s trapped in this damn hospital bed. If she could, she would be like a turtle and retract her head into her shell. The only thing she can do is close her eyes and buy time. She feels Mizuki approaching, not by the sound of his steps, but because she can feel the warmth of his body. “You can’t get upset. The doctors said you must be very calm…” she tells herself whilst her heart is racing wildly. Then in a flash, her rage becomes icy determination. Anita suddenly realises that she’s very tired – the wounds and disappointment are too deep. She also realises the huge risk she took in trying to turn her phone off while riding her scooter and how lucky she was not to have been seriously hurt in that accident. And for what? Just so as not to answer his damn call…

  When she opens her eyes her gaze is as cold as ice. “Leave. Right now. I never want to see you again.”

  “Why? What’s happened?” For the umpteenth time Mizuki doesn’t understand what’s going on.

  “I don’t feel well. Please, go away.”

  “Anita, let’s talk… let me explain…”

  “What do I have to do, Mizuki? Should I scream for help?

  He sees her agitation and he’s too fond of her to insist. He leaves the room and joins Kyoko, who is talking to Matteo and Giovanna.

  “These are Anita’s parents…” Kyoko says with an uncertain smile.

  “Nice to meet you. Mizuki Murakami.” He’s so absorbed in himself that he almost bows by mistake.

  Seeing him so gloomy, Matteo thinks he’s worried about Anita’s health. “The doctor said she’s fine. They’ll keep her in another day just because of protocol. She hit her head. You know, these young women want to do too many things at the same time: driving the scooter and trying to answer their phone…”

  Mizuki’s face freezes with an expression that only Kyoko can grasp. He doesn’t have anything to add; his sense of unease is growing. He says ‘goodbye’ and hastily walks away with Kyoko.

  *

  Giovanna and Matteo look at each other, puzzled. “You know, it’s a different culture…” Matteo improvises, sensing Giovanna’s perplexity.

  “Kyoko is really adorable, but he seems like a real snob!” Giovanna exclaims. She categorically can’t stand people who have their noses in the air. Matteo can’t even reply because she has already rushed into her daughter’s room.

  As soon as she sees her, Giovanna understands that something has happened. Anita lays against her pillow, staring into space. She would like to cover her daughter with kisses and ask her a whole bunch of questions but Matteo takes her hand and again holds her back. So, thinking that she’s saying the right thing, she tells her: “Anita, we’
ve finally met Mizuki, he’s nice…”

  Anita seems to be somewhere else.

  “Not to mention his cousin, Kyoko! She’s wonderful…” This time Giovanna’s tone is more convincing.

  Anita sits up abruptly and sounding like a Zombie, she asks “His cousin?!” Then she lets herself fall back on her pillow. She’s almost paralysed by surprise.

  29

  No One

  Anita comes out of her bedroom wearing a long t-shirt. She still has her wrist bandaged and limps a little. “I didn’t sleep well.”

  As soon as she appears, Giovanna steps forward to hug her. “Does it still hurt, my love?”

  “Not really. Something else hurts…”

  “What?” Giovanna asks impatiently, while putting the coffee pot on the burner.

  “I don’t know… my head, my heart… I feel like my life is slipping away from me.” She sits down at the kitchen table, wincing in pain.

  “Love, you’re only twenty-seven! There is nothing that can’t be fixed at your age…”

  “Twenty-eight, Mum.”

  “Ok, twenty-eight… you’re still so young. Don’t worry.”

  “But I’m worrying, because there’s only one thing that I clearly know: I want Mizuki,” she pauses, “and I ruined everything.”

  “Anita, you’re too hard on yourself.”

  “I can’t stop thinking of him, Mum. Night and day. I miss him so much. And if I think about my behaviour during the last week, I can barely breathe.”

  “What did you do that was so bad? As I said, nothing is impossible to mend… especially at your age.” Giovanna hands a cup of coffee to Anita, who closes her eyes, inhaling the strong aroma.

  “Mum, Mizuki isn’t a kid. He’s a man…”

  “I realise that,” thinks Giovanna.

  “And what have I done? First I went to Umbria with Daniel, then I acted like a jealous, hysterical little girl, mistaking his cousin for his mistress!”