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“It’s kind of late to worry about paralysis.” Lina wiggles her feet.
“I don’t know anything about first aid! I’m a theater major!” I throw up my hands, the flashlight slashing across the square and hitting a couple exiting a shop across the way. “Sorry!”
The two stop to stare, then come toward us. “Is someone hurt?” the woman asks in a lightly accented voice. At some point, we switched to English—probably when Lina went sprawling.
“She fell and hurt her arm. Teo is calling someone.” I rise, brushing at the stains on my knees, and wave at Teo.
He raises a hand and continues his quiet conversation.
“Did she hit her head?” The woman crouches beside Lina. “I’m a nurse. May I take a look?”
Lina nods, and the woman pulls a small light from her purse. “I’m going to check for concussion.”
While she performs her examination, her companion crosses to Teo. He says something, and Teo turns to answer. The man’s posture changes—going kind of stiff, and he takes a half-step back. Does he recognize Teo? I suppose being an “unofficial” royal comes with some notoriety, but I hadn’t realized he was well-known in the city.
The two men talk while the woman, who has identified herself as Marianna, checks Lina’s eyes, head, and neck. Hans and I stand a couple of steps away to give them the illusion of privacy, but we can hear the quiet conversation.
Hans rubs his hands together. “I can’t believe I did that to her!”
“It was an accident. The cobblestones are really slippery. And we talked about her shoes before we came. She thought about putting on some boots with better traction, but the weather was supposed to be dry.” I nod at her thin-soled flats, now water stained.
“But I pulled her too fast.”
I pat his shoulder. “It could happen to anyone. Let’s focus on helping.” I grab his arm and pull him closer as Marianna gets to her feet.
“Let’s get her up. Can you help?” Marianna makes a lifting motion at Hans, then tucks her light away.
The other men hurry over, and Teo and Hans help Lina to her feet, trying not to jiggle her arm. Marianna watches critically as Lina takes a couple of steps, then sinks onto a nearby bench. Teo checks his phone. “They’ll be here soon.”
“The hospital is just a few blocks away.” Marianna waves up the street. “She could probably walk with help. Or you can wait for the medics. But they take a while for nonemergency incidents.”
The man smothers a laugh. “I don’t think it will take long.” He leans close to his companion’s ear and says something. Marianna blinks, her gaze going to Teo. She frowns, then nods. The clatter of feet moving rapidly echoes down the narrow lane. “See?”
“Thank you for your assistance.” Teo shakes hands with the man and woman, adding something in German too low and quick for me to catch. He hands them each a card, then hurries across the tiny plaza, meeting the white-clothed medics at the entry to the square.
They pause to speak with Teo, then carry their stretcher to Lina. With quick efficiency, they fold down wheels and invite her to take a seat.
“I can walk,” Lina protests. “My arm is hurt, not my legs.”
After a quick conference with Marianna, one of the medics rolls the stretcher back up the street, while the other takes Lina’s good arm and gently leads her away. We close in behind, following them up the narrow lane.
In front of the theater, an ambulance waits, its lights off and rear door open. A woman dressed in white helps the man load the empty stretcher, then turns to assist the remaining medic with Lina. They get her into the rear of the vehicle and look at us. At a quick question in German, Hans jumps forward and climbs inside. The doors shut, and the vehicle rolls away.
Teo touches my arm. “We have a car.”
I tear my eyes away from the departing ambulance with a jolt. “What?”
He extends an arm, indicating the sleek, black vehicle that eases forward to meet us. Teo grabs the back door handle and pulls it open, gesturing for me to climb inside. He slides in beside me and tells the driver to follow the ambulance.
At least I think that’s what he says. “My German seems to have deserted me,” I say haltingly in that language. I chuckle ruefully and switch to English. “I’d better not have an emergency when I’m on my own.”
“You’d be fine. Everyone speaks some English here.” Teo pats my hand. “Now if you were in Poland or China, it might be different. Although I hear Polish schools teach English as well.”
“Good thing, because my Polish is nonexistent.” I slide a hand over the leather car seat. “Must be nice to be able to call for a car whenever you need one.”
His head turns toward me, but I can’t see his face in the dark interior. “There are perks.”
Do the perks to being an illegitimate prince outweigh the downside? I try to figure out how to ask that question without being insensitive, but tonight my ability to speak English is almost as bad as my German.
