AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Six
Irushed through the surgery doors. Leo was still crying. As soon as we entered, everyone stared. I wasn’t surprised. His high-pitched screams weren’t something you could ignore.
There were a few people queuing up at reception. I pushed the buggy into a corner, took Leo out and held him against my chest.
‘It’s okay, darling. It’s going to be okay. We’re at the doctor’s now. They’re going to make you better.’
I really hoped they could. I steadied him in one arm and used the other to fish my phone out from my bag. Although it hadn’t worked earlier, I still needed to try and have some sort of phrasing prepped to attempt to communicate. Hopefully now that we were here in person, it would be easier for the receptionist to understand how ill Leo was.
This was taking ages.There was an elderly lady at the front, deep in conversation. Naturally I had no idea what she was saying. The man behind her huffed. He was either frustrated about her holding up the queue or annoyed at Leo crying.Tough.It wasn’t his fault; Mr Grumpy would have to deal with it.
I quickly typed inMy baby is hot. He has a temperature. Please can I see a doctor urgently? into Google Translate. The translation flashed up on the screen. I stroked Leo’s back as I read the words out quietly to practise. I had to pronounce it properly so that I could get Leo the help he needed.
One more person in front of us.
‘Won’t be long now. All we need to do is hold on a bit longer.’ I kissed Leo on the forehead to try and soothe him, but he started kicking. He’d grown tired of waiting. Just as we got to the front of the queue, Leo kicked again and almost slipped out of my arms. I caught him just in time, but my phone crashed to the floor.
Dammit.
The receptionist greeted me and I think asked how she could help. What I wanted to say was on my phone, which was still on the floor and Leo was now wriggling around so violently, I needed both hands to steady him. I tried to remember what was on the screen.
‘Bambino…caldo…temperatura…’Fuck. How did you saydoctoragain? I could remember the French, but not the Italian, which wasn’t helpful. Sweat started rolling down my forehead. Why was it so hot in here?
Come on, Soph. Think, think, think.
‘Medico? Per favore…urgent,’ I couldn’t think whaturgentlywas, but I remembered it being similar to the English.
The receptionist frowned, looked at Leo and said something.
‘Caldo!’ I said, touching his forehead and fanning him. She must bloody understand that? There wasn’t anything else I could mime to get the message across.
Leo worked himself up so much with the crying that now he was coughing.
‘Please!Please!I really need you to help my baby!’
‘Soph?’
I turned around and saw Lorenzo rushing towards me.
Thank God.
He scooped Leo from my arms and started talking to the receptionist at a hundred miles an hour. She nodded, immediately picked up the phone and started speaking to someone. Seconds later, she hung up, then said something else to Lorenzo.
‘What’s happening? What did she say?’
‘Is okay. She asked the doctor to see Leo. We just have to wait until he finish seeing a patient.’
What a relief.
I didn’t know if Leo somehow understood or if it was Lorenzo’s soothing presence, but he started to calm down a little and his cries turned into a whimper. I felt the same. As terrified as I was about Leo, having Lorenzo here just instantly made me feel like we were safe. Like he’d do whatever he could to take care of us.
I picked my phone up off the floor and we sat down in the waiting area.
‘Sorry I could not get here sooner.’ Lorenzo stroked Leo gently on his back. ‘I was driving fromFirenzewhen you called. I come as quick as I could.’
‘I’m just relieved you got my message. You have no idea how happy we are to see you.’ I wrapped my arm around him and gave him a big squeeze. ‘I amsoglad you’re here now.’
The receptionist called Lorenzo’s name and we got up to go and see the doctor. Pretty sure we’d jumped the queue, but I’m sure the others would understand.
