"Signorina Elion Caspari."
She rose and smiled towards the nurse, a head shorter than her. The nurse gently smiled back, though she looked pretty scared. The woman sighed inwardly. Why couldn't people accept that some women were tall?
"This way, Signorina", the nurse continued, speaking English this time, and showed her towards one of the rooms.
The doctor was not much taller than her, with pale skin and blond hair. He smiled gently at her and greeted her in flawless Italian. She answered in the same language. Though she had to tell him that she was American when he started talking about her medical status. Such words she had not learned.
"Ah, well then", he said and switched language as easy as one switch the channel on TV. It surprised her to hear that his English was just as good as his Italian.
"How did you get these injuries?" he asked as he examined the deep wound in her left arm.
"I fell onto something while jogging in the woods", she answered. He glanced quickly at her face, as if to determine if she was lying or not. She grimaced.
"I know, I am extremely clumsy."
He smiled and seemed to let go of the subject.
"As far as I can see, you will be back to normal in a few weeks", he said and cleaned out the wound. She winced and fought back the urge to scream.
"Until then, be careful with what you do. Any more holes of a bullet… or a stick…"
She blinked at him in surprise, but he just continued to work with the wound.
"And I may have to amputate the arm", he finished. She nodded.
"Of course, I shall be very careful", she said. He walked over to the bench and brought out the tools he needed to close the wound.
"So how long are you in Italy?" he asked. She shrugged.
"Don't know yet, I'm here on personal business. Once they're finished off, I'll probably head back home."
"Then we have a common mission here", he said as he continued his work. "Me and my family are here on business as well. We hope it won't take too long to get things cleared up, but we'll see."
She nodded and watched him cover the scar with a white bandage.
"There", he said and smiled. She smiled back and rose from the chair she'd been sitting in.
"Thank you, doctor…"
She quickly read his name-tag.
"Cullen."
"You're welcome, Signorina Caspari."
She walked out of the room and made a mental note in her head never to bump into him again.