BooksBarbecue
Back One Year Later
Chapters (49)
  1. PROLOGUE
  2. PART I
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. PART II
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. PART III
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. PART IV
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. EPILOGUEAMY
  48. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  49. BOOK CLUB QUESTIONS

The man shakes our hands. ‘Maggiore Gianni Ruggieri, and this is my colleague, Capitano Antonio Biondi.’

Ruggieri has a crew cut, greying at the sides and slightly longer on top, pale-brown eyes and heavy brows.

When we try and go to the ward where Bethany is, the male nurse stops us. There’s a heated discussion, with much arm-waving. Amy catches sight of our sister through the window and puts her hand over her mouth. Dr Virgili appears and listens for a moment, then gestures to the Carabinieri to go into his office. He takes one of Amy’s hands in both of his.

‘Signora Flowers. I am sorry. Your sister is still unconscious. If she wakes, the Maggiore will interview her and, we hope, catch who did this to her. So now, you wait, or you come back later. Visiting hours are in the evening, but, of course, we make the exception for you – if she regain consciousness, you can see her immediately.’

I steer Amy back to the waiting room.

‘Why did he say “if”?’ she asks, sounding panic-stricken. ‘If she regains consciousness?

I buy us both lattes in plastic cups from the machine and explain what Dr Virgili told me.

‘She could die? We need to get her a CT scan right away. We have to go to the mainland!’

‘He says the bleed might not show up yet and he’s got to keep her here and observe her. If she needs one, she can travel tomorrow.’

Amy thinks for a moment. ‘We’ve only got the villa until ten a.m. tomorrow, and the ferry, the train, the flights – they’re all booked! Who could have done this to her?’

‘I’ll stay on with Bethany, take her to the mainland if she needs a scan.’

‘Signora Flowers?’ It’s the other officer, Biondi. ‘We will take your statement now. You will be next,’ he says to me. ‘Please. This way.’

Amy follows him into Dr Virgili’s office.

33

NICK

It’s midday. Bethany still has not regained consciousness. We’ve come back to the holiday house to try and work out what to do. Matt is googling flights to see if they can change theirs, as well as looking for places to stay. I’ve been half-watching Blade Runner 2049 on my iPhone to distract myself. I already know most of the script off by heart: Pain reminds you the joy you felt was real.

‘It’s not looking hopeful,’ Matt says. ‘There aren’t enough flights for all of us to go back later, and I can’t find anywhere big enough for six or seven people. There’s only one hotel and it’s fully booked.’